From director David Yarovesky, the Netflix family horror-fantasy flick Nightbooks follows Alex (Winslow Fegley), an imaginative boy with a passion for writing scary stories who finds himself captured by an evil witch (deliciously brought to life by Krysten Ritter) that expects him to tell her a new tale every night, right when he’s sworn to never write again. Forced to reignite his creativity in order to stay alive, he enlists the help of Yasmin (Lidya Jewett), another young prisoner, in the hopes that together they can break fee.
During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, which you can both watch and read, Ritter talked about playing someone who’s just so much fun, taking on a character very different from what people saw her do on Jessica Jones, developing her backstory, finding the look of her fashionista witch, her homage to Freddy Krueger, and what her son thought of the blue hair. She also talked about her progression as a director and why the upcoming Girl in the Woods was a project that appealed to her.
Collider: This character seems like she would just be an absolute blast to play because she’s so ridiculously awesome. What was it about her that intrigued you and made you want to play her?
KRYSTEN RITTER: You’re so on the money. I wanted to play her because it was just too much fun. I love anytime a character is unpredictable and has a lot of colors and a rich backstory, which this has in spades. I love that she is funny and fabulous and over the top and evil and villainess, and then sometimes childlike in her own way. And then, the next minute, she’s truly terrifying. So, this was an opportunity for me to just have fun and ham it up and go for it. I also love to change it up and I had never played a witch before. I was like, “All right, this is very different from how people have been seeing me for the past couple years, on Jessica Jones. So, let’s be the big bad.” That was a dream role and something that I had too much fun doing.
Did you have a real sense of her right away? Did you know how crazy and wild she could get? Did you have a full sense of that, or was that something that developed through conversations?
RITTER: Yeah, that’s something that develops. You find the character more and more by sitting with it. I always approach my characters like, “Okay, what’s the first thing I notice?,” and then I start digging, digging, digging. You wanna always be informed by her backstory. I don’t wanna give it away for people who haven’t seen the movie, but her backstory informs why she is the way she is, why she dresses the way she does, and why she’s there. So, I’m starting from that place, and then just the more comfortable you get with something, the more fun and more free you’re able to be. I also always work with my longtime acting teacher, Marjorie Ballentine, and we able to just push and push and push and find more colors. So, this was definitely the role of a lifetime.
Do you see her as terrifying? Do you see her as misunderstood? Do you see her as a victim of her circumstances? How do you view her?
RITTER: What’s so great about this character is she’s all of those things. She’s somebody who found herself in really horrible circumstances, and then arguably even worse circumstances and decided, “You know what? I’m just gonna take this magic and have fun because why not?” So, I think she’s a little bit of everything. That’s what’s so great and that’s what I look for as an actress, somebody you can’t put in box.
This is also something of a fashionista witch.
RITTER: Yes.
What was it like to see her wardrobe come together? How would you describe her fashion sense?
RITTER: Her fashion sense is inspired by her taste that she had as a child. Now that she has magic and is emotionally stuck and stunted as a child, it’s like, how can she have the most fun with it? Collaborating with our amazing costume designer, Autumn [Steed], she basically had a look book and an idea before I came on board, that I was super into. We just kept collaborating back and forth on the direction to take her. The idea was to do something we have not seen before, pay homage to the great witches and stay in the world, but really do something fresh and original and unique. I think she really hit it out of the park with these costumes. Her brain and her imagination for these looks was just so much fun for me.
There’s the fashion and there’s the blue hair, but can we also talk about the leather gloves with the fingernails? What were those like to wear? Can you actually do anything when you’re wearing them?
RITTER: I absolutely could not do anything. We had some tricks for getting them off quickly and easily, so I could go be with my baby and not be dangerous. It was a way for her to be fabulous. Because the magic comes from her hands, we wanted it to be something that your eye catches and something that elevates the magic. Also, there’s Freddy Krueger vibes with those blades on her fingers. It was just a really fresh and fun thing to do, that is also fabulous and practical.
How did your child feel about the look? Was he ever freaked out by the hair or the clothing, or was he very approving of the whole ensemble?
RITTER: I would practice my lines on him and he thought it was the funniest thing, ever. He would just laugh and laugh and laugh at me. I still will sometimes practice the lines and he will even himself [do the witch cackle]. We have this fun language because of this character. He was down with the blue hair and he sat with me in hair and makeup a lot. I actually put my costumes on, on set. Normally, actors have a trailer with all their costumes and people will come help you get ready in your room. But because I had my baby in there, I didn’t want him to be too freaked out by it. So, I would just get to set and throw everything on there, which is not glamorous. It was dirty, but I didn’t want him to be too thrown or confused. I had to change the way we do things a little bit to accommodate the working mom life.
You directed an episode of Jessica Jones and you’re directing again with Girl in the Woods. What was it that interested you in that and made you want to get so heavily involved with that project?
RITTER: Directing is an extension of what I already love about the industry and love about storytelling. I am so fortunate to have an amazing career, where I got to observe and take in all of these amazing directors around me. On Jessica Jones, knowing that character through and through, and understanding that story, and understanding Melissa Rosenberg and what she was going for, she supported me to take the step and sit in that chair. It’s something that I absolutely love and it’s a lot of work, but it’s one of the most rewarding creative jobs there is. I just finished directing the pilot and first four episodes of Girl in the Woods, which will be on Peacock for Halloween. It’s a story about another young, female, bad-ass monster hunter, which I’m just thrilled for everyone to see.
I’m sensing a theme with the bad-ass women.
RITTER: Right on. There’s never too many bad-ass women.
Did it feel very different to direct something that you weren’t also acting in?
RITTER: Yeah. I find it hard to direct and act, so it was nice to be able to just direct – just direct, when it’s so much work – and not have to be in hair and makeup. The actors on that show were so fantastic that I definitely had a few moments where I was like, “Oh, I wish I could do a scene with them. Can I be in this somehow?” It just depends on what the material is.
Nightbooks is available to stream at Netflix.