remember before we get started whatever it says to you do not listen to it it will play
on your heart it will play on your mind my name is Apostle Bernice James the
other person present is Evy Jackson the mother father we ask that you
cleanse and sanctify us for this Deliverance Ebony get back Anu this is an amazing performance
and we get to see you preaching and she's so fiery and persuasive and powerful
and we think yeah she might be able to do it then at the exorcisms her
demeanor changes completely um and I want I want you to tell me was it
a way of coping with the subject matter uh um you mean in um in terms of like how
I was able like just kind of getting through the getting through the work of it yeah in both
regards if you wouldn't mind yeah you know I I I had a I had an incredible uh teacher in Apostle
Lewis Dickens um and he so thoroughly prepared me for for playing this playing this role um um I you
know this is a different tradition you know and he he practices the the Deliverance um tradition and
he has done it mainly in Western Africa um and so he was trying to pour into me his his practice
uh and he did the best he could and um he was so thorough with with with what he what he tried to
to teach me so I had a great I had a great deal of preparation and then you know what for me I
brought to it is just a great tremendous amount of respect for my own experience with with going to
church you know and we didn't cast out demons in my Baptist background but we definitely definitely
believed in the Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit and the transformative power of that so I just
tried to you know honor that as much as I could could if you believe you shall be saved you did such a great job it was incredible
oh thank and I mean I can still I still look to her looking down at the children with that calm
demeanor that I guess forced I don't know um and thinking she is someone to look up to um how
how were the children protected in this did they understand what was happening the actors actors uh
yeah I I think so I didn't you know I I know that um that we I tried to and I know Andrew was did
an incredible job at at you know um putting her arms around them and and and and of course they're
in a situation where they are in Peril but they shouldn't feel that way as children you know so
um um I I know she did and I tried to do as much as I could to make them feel like yeah you you are
being chased by demons but only when the camera's rolling that's great and I was saying it reminds
you know thinking back to The Exorcist and how that affected people um and what made it such
a great film and this one because I really like it is that they do respect what happens they do
respect people's beliefs and and the idea that there may be such a thing as demonic possession
um and that makes all the difference because exploitation doesn't work no you know it doesn't
it doesn't yeah so now um do you you're obviously too young to remember when The Exorcist came out
but I think think there'll be a lot of attention paid to to Deliverance because these are things
that we don't talk about but some people might need to talk about it and learn how do you see it
well you know I I feel that um you know today I I I I told a reporter earlier journalist earlier
that I was having a mommy day today you know and um my mother my mother visits me um she left a
few years ago but she visits me and I'll do the the craziest the most mundane thing and I and
I'll have this presence overcome me and I know it's my mother I know that and I know that and
I just get I get feel I get filled with that and I think that you know that's in in in the western
tradition we we sort of reject those ideas but in other Traditions they embrace them and I I think
the embracing of that embracing um our grief as something that we live with and and reidentifying
it as not as something that's sad but just as something that we live with the people who have
left us they still live with us and so I have that connection to that spirit world in that way
and I'm I'm thankful for it wow that is amazing um you know and it's not it's more W widespread than
I thought I I'm Anglican in Canada and uh I asked my Minister about it a few years ago oh yeah we do
that but you know obviously no details but it is it's more widespread than we think and I wonder if
people don't talk about these things due to shame or being thought of as uneducated or something
and that's why I think it's important for a film to be out that tackles it in a way if you could
comment yeah I think so and I think tackles it in a way that this film does that it's not it's not
just it's not just the the sensationalism of it right it's not just you know scaring people but
you you live with you live with this family you see you see the inner workings of it you see the
vulnerability of Ebony and how she is trying so hard to save her family but can't because nobody
believes her you know and I think anybody can relate to that you know whether it's a demon
coming or just you're going through your life and then you and it's hard already and then some
crazy thing comes along and possesses your house you know whatever that whatever that is you know
so I I I I love that the take on this is is goes beyond the you know the demon Factor the scare
Factor the scare factor I yeah yeah exactly thank you so much what a pleasure to speak to you you
too you too thank you for your time you shall be saved you shall be saved hi Lee hi an been
fantastic film I really enjoyed it I mean enjoy that's a funny word to use but I
know when people say they enjoy it I go huh huh um you know I've always been drawn to
your films and it's because you really take risks you know there was precious there's this
and other ones um do you ever feel like you just want to make a like a soft shoe kind of dance
film well I was you have to take a risk I was just thinking of doing my next film as a as a
romcom but that would be an even bigger risk because I'm sure it would bite the bullet I I uh
but and then again I thought that this jumping into the horror space would bite the bullet I
like to do things um fantastic you know I like to do things that are um that challenge me and I
felt that um you know in this it's not really a horror it's faith-based Thriller I think I think
with elements of horror but I think uh I I'd never been in this space before and so I was doing
it to challenge my just my muscle I you know just to see what that was like and also to throw
the dice up against the wall to see uh whether or not some of this story resonates with the world
it's been a long time since we've had a film about this subject matter on possession a long long
time uh through a film that's respectful of it so you know I congratulate you on that as well um
now you're bringing a story to us that is based on a real incident do people have a hard time
wrapping their head around that it was a real incident that happened did you initially I did
which is the reason why I didn't want to do it in the beginning um well I didn't want to do it
in the beginning first because I I just come when it was offered to me it was offered to me when
I done precious and I didn't want to do a movie about a woman beating a kid because I felt it
was a repeat and then my mother told me not to do the film because she knew that it was about
possession and and she knows how I work I'm a portal and um and uh and and I felt that you
know when that Portal's open you know negative demons you know evil could come towards me but
then I realized we're in some dark times really dark times right now and I felt like it's more
about finding the light and me finding my light whether for me it's Jesus Christ but for others
it could be Buddha or or you know Allah or you know or yourself what is your higher power because
we are in dark times I believe and uh we need to find uh we need to find a light so I'm
scaring you I'm scaring you to find your light you shall be Sav but I mean that's you know you drive
people to Faith I mean that's that was part of the message of it not that that's a
good way to do it to have possession but you know you get the gist um how did you get
Glenn Close to where those outfits very difficultly uh she she uh it took her a second
to understand the world and once she understood it you know that it was really about body
positivity and what the African-American woman is like you know the potty positivity that
uh they have it was in it was like another world for her and she uh she embraced it and uh and
I'm really grateful that she was able to uh to to believe in me and jump off the cliff with me
with this character because I I've never seen her like this I've never seen her like this
no no I was thinking at the time occasionally Fatal Attraction Fatal Attraction yeah it doesn't
compute but it was really powerful and I think I don't know but maybe it allowed her to be
more of the character I think so for sure yeah can you tell me um the children uh how
did you protect them and how did you get them to do the movements or how was that I was Mor
the little boy is is is uh is incredible this is uh his first starring role and he was a
blessing he you know I I I produce a film I produce a television show called Wonder Years that
he was in and he guest start in and I thought he'd be incredible for this and uh and sure enough
he was I think it was the hardest role in the film to do you know uh yeah I would yeah it
looks like it and uh and Caleb is is is one of the most breathtaking young uh actors around
and Demi I saw her in um in the Will Smith film about um the the William sisters she starred as
one of the William sisters and uh I I was blown away by her they really poured themselves into
this I I was nervous you know there were some things I was nervous with her about because she
they're all kids and I want to make sure that I'm respectful of them and uh you knowa you can't
just so but uh it it worked out it worked out magically well thank you so much and nice to see
you congratulations you too thank you very much [Music]