The Monkey star Theo James breaks silence on taking "big swings" for Stephen King's adaptation; Oz Perkins joins in

The Monkey star Theo James reflects upon his creative collaboration with Longlegs director Oz Perkins for their latest horror comedy, The Monkey. The film marks a major success in Perkins' filmography right a year after Longlegs. The Monkey has earned nearly $14 million at the domestic box office, per Deadline, placing it behind Marvel's tentpole film.

While commercially successful, this Stephen King adaptation has also received significant praise from critics, with a 79% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. However, it isn't a conventional horror film. So, James credits director Oz Perkins for making him feel comfortable as an actor in taking creative challenges. During an interview with On Demand Entertainment, James said,

"I wanted to do one that had intelligence and elevation to it, and 'Big Dog' [writer-director Oz Perkins] is the key guy to do that. It enables you to take [creative] risks...and especially with a collaborator [Perkins] where you feel comfortable to take big swings...that is a great space for an actor to be because you can try things and not feel judged if it doesn't work. I think that's the key space to be in."

He further shared some insights on how the acting techniques can be different for different types of actors.

"It's easy to become self-conscious as an actor. It's easy if you have certain success in one sphere to think you have to always be that person and emulate that in another. Nicolas Cage is a good example of someone who doesn't care that way. As a result, it creates interesting choices."

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Oz Perkins reflects on the creative challenges in making The Monkey

Oz Perkins reflects on his decision to make The Monkey independently as opposed to working with a studio during his interview with On Demand Entertainment.

"When you're coming at something from a new point of view, someone has to take a chance. We didn't have anyone doing that on the studio side."

Perkins spoke about the challenge to convince studio executives that horror-comedy is a lucrative idea since they consider it a "nightmare" combination. Working independently allowed him to work on his idea and take creative swings.

Previously, while speaking with Inverse, Perkins shared how he brought a comedic tone to the horror of the drum-playing Monkey's absurdly gruesome tale.

“If you're lucky enough as a creator to feel authoritative about what you're doing, gosh, it makes it a lot easier. Then you're just writing from the truth. Luckily for me, that particular event happened long enough ago in my life that I'm past the devastation of it and have distance from all things in life as you get older. And so, I was able to deliver this thing to people as a comedy.”

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Also read: The Monkey ending explained: What does the monkey represent?