Shot just outside of New Orleans in St. Bernard Parish, the low-budget thriller “Cotton” quietly filmed under the radar in late spring of 2009. Twenty-four year old Ashley Bell was a relative unknown when cast as a troubled girl named Nell Sweetzer. In terms of name recognition, the small film boasted little more than producer Eli Roth’s blessing. Fourteen months later, the film, now called “The Last Exorcism,” is set for a wide release just shy of 2900 theaters, and the internet is flush with early Oscar buzz for Bell’s performance.
Can you tell me a little about how you first heard of the project and how you came to be a part of it?
My agent submitted me for the project and only when I first read about Nell and first read the character breakdown, it just struck me. She’s such a complex character and I fought for her from the first audition on. She’s so complex. Getting a chance to prepare for her and research for her, both before possession and after possession, was so exciting for me. It’s just a dream role for an actress.
What was it like shooting in Louisiana in May? Had it gotten really hot by then??
It had! But I don’t think it could have been shot in any other place. It has such that Southern gothic feel, and Zoltan Honti, the cinematographer, caught that hot, humid feeling. It was probably, already at about 100% humidity out there, and so much of the Sweetzer family is based on that rural plantation house thirty minutes outside of New Orleans. That isolation and that claustrophobia were so helped by the humidity. If it was shot in L.A. or shot on a soundstage where a plantation had been built, I don’t think you’d get that energy, that Southern gothic energy. On all of our faces there was this ‘film’ of Louisiana! [Director] Daniel Stamm didn’t want any hair and make-up to be used. I think that helped so much to achieve that whole look and feel, that documentary nature of it.
Also, something that was cool was part of the sound mix I heard when I first saw the film at the L.A. Film Festival was the, ummm…those bugs!
Oh, you mean the cicadas?
Yes, the cicadas! I was going to say sequoias! The cicadas would just come alive at six o’clock every night, and they used that sound in the film. Every single day at around six or seven there was this huge symphony of bugs that would come out, and it was so loud! I couldn’t believe it! That was my first time in Louisiana or pretty much anywhere in the South and I just fell in love with it. I can’t tell you how much I loved it in Louisiana and New Orleans.
In preparation for the role as the “possessed girl” did you do any research of similar roles in The Exorcist or The Exorcism of Emily Rose, etc?
Yes. Actually, Daniel Stamm the director wanted us to watch all of the exorcism films…and then “Don’t do that!!” And when I was preparing for it, I lucked out: I had about a month of time to prepare, and that was so much fun. I really got the chance to prepare for two different characters: Nell as Nell, and then Nell when she’s either possessed or insane. She could just be going through a mental breakdown or some other kind of mental disorder, so I started researching mania and hysteria and I had a book called The Invention of Hysteria, where they had induced hysterical panics at the turn of the century, and there were these photos that were taken of women contorted out of human form. I wanted to try to keep a lot of those images in my head for physical gestures for the character.
I also researched the religious aspect. Patrick [Fabian] and I went to several extremist churches in the Valley in L.A. and I read every book I could find on exorcists that hadn’t been banned, listened to tapes and some of the Vatican lectures on exorcism. I was so happy to have the time because it was such a wide field, there was always another turn and always another clue, always something else to discover to help build the character.
What was it like working with Daniel Stamm as a director?
He’s an incredible director. Because he cast me [laughing].
Haha…hey, look, that counts for a lot!
He had such a vision, even from the auditions, it could be felt that he knew exactly what he wanted. He shoots about 20 or 30 takes a scene. This is my first big role in a film and it was very liberating to work in that many takes…he included so many times that if we had any ideas or wanted to try something or ask questions, we had that freedom.
But he always knew what he wanted. That night before the second exorcism, he asked me what I wanted to do the next day. And that’s a question, I mean, I would never in a million years dream I would get asked something that huge! I told him I was working on a back bend and some other physical things, and I showed him, and he said “Great! Let’s do it, let’s use it!” That was just so exciting. Now I feel like I’m stuck though, because everytime I go into a casting office, I have to do a back bend.
[laughter]
Well, it’s certainly a very physical performance! Did you sustain any injuries or was there any preparation you had to go through?
I got bruises and I was so proud of them! I felt like they were war wounds. I just wore them so proudly. But that’s it!
What was it like to work with Louis Herthum, who’s from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the film is partially set?
Gladly! I think we met on my first day of filming. Those eyes, he has the most crystal, sharp blue eyes and we instantly connected. There was an instant bond of the Sweetzer family. Throughout filming, there was this very close bond between him and me and Caleb [Landry Jones], who plays my brother.
Louis is so generous and unbelievably talented. Just watching him work was such a lesson. When I saw the final performance, I was blown away.
How was working with Patrick Fabian, who played Cotton Marcus?
Patrick and I sat for hours on end in the interview scenes, and he was so kind and listened, and made the environment so safe for me to open up and talk to him as my character. He does an incredible job in the film. He’s so funny while playing that “perfect preacher” character so…perfectly.
Can you talk about the location, Creedmoor Plantation, which ends up being such a big part of the film? What was it like to work there day in and day out?
Daniel actually wanted us to stay there, to sleep there at night! Which would have been really cool. When we first drove up, there was a machete in the fence. A rusted machete in the fence. We all turned to each other and were like, “We’re here! We’re home!!!” [laughter]
The plantation had just been redone before Katrina hit, I believe. Everything was polished, but warped. The stairs were warped and crooked. That whole house was a gift for everyone in the cast to walk into. There was a lot of set design, but a lot of what is in the shots was there. All of the antique furniture and all of the history was there. When you walked in the, smell of the house and the heat it kept inside, it was so helpful to this film. The first day I walked into Nell’s bedroom, that bed was there. It was just so creepy and perfect for her. It was an incredible location. You could still see the waterlines [from Katrina flooding], and that was just so haunting.
Did you get to have any fun when you were staying in New Orleans?
I had a couple days off when I wasn’t filming, and drove around to explore the city and just fell in love with it. It was my first time in New Orleans, and I just love the Southern gothic feel to it. Everything is so beautiful. Those houses are just so gorgeous. I would go down there in a second to film again.
This movie has given you tons of exposure, which I’m so happy about because your performance really impresses. Can you talk about the transition from working on this little film with a micro-budget to something that is becoming very big?
Every single day from filming was so exiting, and every single day since then the excitement has been building. Both of my parents are actors. You can sometimes spend your whole life acting, and never get to do the publicity on a film with this kind of a release.
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