Becky co-director Jonathan Milott says there was a simple pitch for the film, which stars Kevin James as an escaped neo-Nazi prisoner and Lulu Wilson as the child who dispatches him and his minions in the woods behind her house: “ultraviolet Home Alone with a 13-year-old girl as the protagonist.”
In the latest MovieMaker Interviews podcast, we talk with Milott and co-director Cary Murnion about why they set out to make their very gory film, and what kinds of conversations they had to have with Wilson and her parents, given the subject matter. You can listen on Spotify or by clicking the arrow here.
Wilson’s parents were always present, and Becky even filmed a few scenes at her parent’s actual home, with her real mother playing her mother onscreen.
“It’s not just the type of thing where they dropped off their kid on a set and hoped for the best,” Milott said. “They were there every day. If there was anything in terms of a stunt or in terms of a gore effect or anything, obviously it wasn’t just a conversation with a 13-year-old girl.”
They also talk about Kevin James took on the villain role after he was originally cast as Becky’s father. Simon Pegg was originally cast against type in the Kevin James role, but when he left the film, James stepped in. Joel McHale then stepped in to play Jeff, Becky’s dad.
Becky breaks the old showbiz rule about not working with children or animals — two rescue dogs figure heavily in the film. One of the film’s unforeseen challenges, Milott and Murnion explain, was dealing with a dog in heat who kept harassing a canine co-star.
And we finally talk about one of the films Milott and Murnion bonded on when they first met: Michael Bay’s Alcatraz action movie The Rock.
Becky in now in theaters and drive-ins and available on VOD and digital.
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