With director and co-writer Rodo Sayagues and co-writer Fede Álvarez’s Don’t Breathe 2 opening in theaters this weekend, I recently spoke about Stephen Lang about making the sequel to the huge hit from 2016. If you’re not aware, the first Don’t Breathe was made for around $10 million, and it went on to gross an impressive $157 million at the worldwide box office. In the sequel, which takes place several years after the first film ended, Norman Nordstrom (Lang) is living a quiet life with a new daughter figure (Madelyn Grace) when his past sins catch up to him. As you can imagine, you’re going to get plenty of action-horror sequences that feature brutal and bloody violence. Don’t Breathe 2 was produced by Sayagues, Álvarez, Sam Raimi and Robert Tapert.
During the interview, Stephen Lang talks about the success of the first film, why he tends to stay in character on set, if he enjoys playing someone with a broken moral compass, what people would be surprised to learn about the making of both Don’t Breathe and Don’t Breathe 2, if he likes to do his own stunts, and more. In addition, talked about James Cameron, the Avatar sequels, and Avatar 5. If you’re not aware, Cameron has previously announced that Lang is the villain in all four sequels.
Since I knew he wasn’t going to tell me anything that would spoil the storyline or plot, I decided to ask his reaction to reading the scripts. Lang told me:
“When I finished the last script, I was weeping. I just thought it was so beautiful. Yeah, the final script because he's telling a great, great story, an original story, a beautiful, beautiful story, and I was just incredibly moved by it. I hope and I trust and believe that audiences will be, too, because one of the things that he does really, really well is he moves it from the page to the stage in a way that that is very literal. You know what I mean? You really see it. What you read is what you get from him, I think, and more.”
Check out what he had to say in the player above and below is exactly what we talked about.
Stephen Lang
- Has he ever pulled Sayagues and Álvarez aside and said, “you know you guys come up with some pretty messed up stuff.”
- What did he hope the first film would do at the box office?
- What would people be surprised to learn about the making of Don’t Breathe 2?
- How both films were filmed in Europe even though it takes place in Detroit.
- Does he enjoy playing someone that has a broken moral compass?
- How he tends to stay in character when he’s on set.
- Does he like to do his own stunts?
- What was it like reading the Avatar sequel scripts for the first time?