We spoke with Dan Stevens about playing a villain and working with Hunter Schafer in Cuckoo

Back in 2018, director Tilman Singer made his feature-debut with a student film called Luz. The bewildering horror film was about a young cab driver pursued by a demonic entity. Shot in 16mm and with an incredible, soul-crushing soundscape and intense synth-score, the film was an instant cult-classic. 

Expectations were high for his follow-up once it was first announced in 2021. Written for Hunter Schafer, the film puts the Euphoria actor in her first starring role. She plays Gretchen, a teenager who moves in with her father in the German Alps but becomes disturbed by strange occurrences, as her father’s boss embroils her family in a sinister plot. Building on a lot of the visionary atmospheric techniques used in his first film, Tilman Singer doesn’t disappoint. 

John Malkovich was initially slated to play the role of Mr. König, Gretchen’s father’s new boss. After dropping out due to scheduling conflicts, the esteemed Dan Stevens stepped into the sinister role. Amidst the scenic paradise, Stevens brings an edge to the character with a fixed smile and unusual curiosity in Gretchen’s mute half-sister, Alma. Stevens, who has one of cinema’s most enviable careers, walks a fine line between villainy and comedy in a film that destabilizes and creeps under your skin. 

Best known for his roles in The Guest, Downton Abbey and Legion, Stevens spoke with Cult MTL over Zoom about his role in Cuckoo. 

Justine Smith: In many of your films, including roles in The Guest, I’m Your Man and now Cuckoo, you’re playing in what can only be described as heightened reality. Does building and shaping your character within a reality that isn’t quite ours impact your approach to a role?

Dan Stevens: It does give a little freedom to do something a little more unusual. With the three films you mentioned, it’s almost like reality is skewed a little. It’s not a complete other fantasy world, it’s sorta recognizable but there’s something a little off in each of these worlds. That’s the kind of science-fiction I enjoy. The sort of horror I enjoy is almost familiar but there’s something a little uncanny and off about it.

JS: With your character in Cuckoo, would you say you’re building the character more from the inside out or the outside in? Are you drawing more from yourself, finding emotions first, or more on observation, drawing from the script and hoping the emotions follow?

Dan Stevens: With this one, it was probably more of an archetype that we were looking at. There was a slight caricature of a German man that was very familiar to Tilman and myself, you know, a very particular kind of exacting character that was just funny to us. There was also this dark fairy tale element of this type of character that is literally drawn from an 18th century Goethe poem called “Erlkönig,” a sort of dark fairy king who would murder children in the Black Forest. It was drawing on that sort of weird, twisted and dark fairy tale element, having the character rub up alongside someone as grounded, real and modern as Gretchen. We wanted to play with how jarring and weird that would feel and look like. 

JS: Tilman Singer’s first feature, Luz, is a cult classic, but he’s relatively unknown. How did your collaboration begin?

Dan Stevens: [Luz] was a film that was passed around by real horror nerd friends of mine, many who saw it at a festival. It’s like, “You’ve got to see this film.” This one was really something. You could tell it was made with a budget with extreme limitations but the inventiveness of the filmmaking, particularly the sound design, really blew me away. I’m a real nerd for sound design — good sound design really excites me. I was like, this guy is really onto something, and then the opportunity came up. I don’t think it’s any secret that it was originally supposed to be John Malkovich in the role. For a good year or so, he was attached, but quite close to production, he had to pull out and they were looking for a replacement. 

Rather than thinking, ‘What would John Malkovich have done and how can I replicate that?’ — I knew that was never going to work — it was like, ‘What would I do with it?’ I read it with Luz in mind, and I wanted to meet the person who made Luz anyway, and said, ‘This is what I would like to do with König,’ and he liked it.

JS: Speaking of sound design, I’d love to know as an actor what it means to be such a huge nerd for sound. It’s not really something you experience on set, but a part of a post-production element. For Singer, he’s really doing something innovative, almost inventing new ways of using sound in his work; incorporating it narratively as well.

Dan Stevens: Sound plays a huge part in Cuckoo. There’s so much about what we hear and don’t hear and how sound is affecting our brains and reality. I love it as a film person, not as an actor particularly, but as an audience member. It’s often neglected, and when someone is really playful with sound, it’s really exciting to me, especially if you’re watching on the big screen and you’re getting the full experience. Tilman knows how to make things look very beautiful, but with sound he uses it with great effect and I just think that’s cool. 

JS: What was the atmosphere like on set and what were the working relationships like? It’s a relatively small cast in an isolated location. 

Dan Stevens: It was a lovely small family reality. Tilman and Hunter have been talking about making this film for a good couple of years before we got to make it, with the ups and downs of COVID and everything. Hunter stayed very loyal to the project and they had become friends over that time. I really felt that I was jumping into something that was already established. There was energy and excitement. The fact that they were finally making it was a great feeling to have, but there was also the sense that Tilman was getting great stuff very quickly. Everybody felt very comfortable and confident that Tilman knew what he was doing. If you’ve seen Luz, you know that anyway, but it’s always reassuring when you do a couple of days and you’re like, this guy is shooting great stuff. The atmosphere that Hunter created, you know the energy of someone doing their first lead role in a movie, there’s excitement around that. She’s got such an innate natural talent, and that’s really fun to be around.

JS: A lot of critics describe your on-screen persona as an actor that looks like they’re having fun. Does that reflect reality and why do you think people connect with that aspect of your screen presence?

Dan Stevens: I hope that’s what comes through because, very often, it’s what I hope to achieve. It’s certainly what I like to watch, whether on stage or screen. I get a real kick out of watching someone have a good time with their role. It’s sort of an indefinable thing but you know it when you see it. Recently, I’ve been really enjoying the work in all kinds of different roles. I’ve been lucky enough to get to play. I’ve just had a blast with all of them. I’m very lucky. ■

Cuckoo is now playing in Montreal theatres. This article was originally published in the Aug. 2024 issue of Cult MTL.

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