#natasha kermani

[kellyvela]

A couple of behind the scenes pictures from The Dreadful shared by Young Jago actor, Zachary Cohen.

[thegoregoregirls]

1000 Women in Horror

Regia – Donna Davies (2026) Questo è l’anno dei documentari horror di Shudder, che rappresentano un buon punto di partenza se si vuole cominciare ad affrontare un determinato argomento. In questo caso, l’argomento è quello che, tra una cosa l’altra, tratto su questo blog da quasi quindici anni, e non solo: si può affermare che lo vivo ogni santo giorno sulla mia pelle. Vi sarà quindi facile…

1000 Women in Horror

[kellyvela]

Knight Service: The Dreadful with Natasha Kermani

One question I always like to ask towards the end is like if there was one memorable moment for this production, what was it? Could have been like a scene that was like a one shot, like we only got one take and you got it or something that happened behind the scenes that's really funny. Or even maybe during your process and stuff like that. What has been your most memorable moment so far with this movie?

But I'll say like one moment that is very funny that I think did the rounds 'cause I think Sophie talked about it. But it was the first kiss that Sophie and Kit, they had to kiss each other for the first time and they really are like very, very close friends. Like brother and sister sort of relationship. And so they had to do the kiss and there was a lot of tension sort of leading up to it. And they do the kiss and it's romantic and beautiful and the shot is gorgeous and Oh my God, it's perfect. And then they sort of come apart and they both just start doing like this vomit gag sort of fake vomit thing. And everybody sort of laughed and it broke the tension and it was just a perfect example of their ease and their comfort and just they're just very natural and chill folks. So I think they even made that moment that could have been very awkward into like a very funny sort of sweet memory for everyone.

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[kellyvela]

Knight Service: The Dreadful with Natasha Kermani

(...)

I just was so fascinated by this relationship between the two women as the center of the story. You know, not only is it unusual to see women during wartime sort of back at home, but even women of the of the working class, it's even sort of unusual to see. So we see all these movies about like the kings and the Lords going to war with each other, and it's all very sort of hoity, toity and like huge nations are at stake.

But what happens if we just talk about two people and their relationship with each other, you know, in the context of this time of war and these really upsetting things are happening around them, you know, all while they're sort of going into winter, right? So there's this feeling of threat, I think, in the environment.

And so, Anne as the main character is sort of waiting at the beginning of the movie, she's waiting for her husband to come back. She's waiting for her life to start. She's in a stasis almost. And so when this inciting incident happens that the husband is not coming back, she gets the news that he's not coming back. It sort of rocks her world and she needs to start redefining what she's going to do with the years and the time that she has left.

Now, that's in opposition to Marsha's character, right, Who who also gets the news that this man is not coming back. Her relationship to him is different. And, and for her, instead of an opportunity for change, independence, it's fear because she does not want to be left behind. She does not want to be alone. And so that's really the tension between these two, these two women. So, you know, Anne and Sophie are very much the center of the story, but I think it's really the two women and the push and pull between them that that that threads throughout the movie.

(...)

What Sophie really brought to the role was, you know, she, this character could have very much just been a blank slate at the beginning of the movie, right? Who sort of is learning or being spoken to, receiving information. But Sophie made this choice to sort of give her an inner strength and an inner curiosity from the beginning, which I love because now from the very first frame of the film, you see the woman who she will eventually become. And, and that through line, I think feels much more elegant with the way that she took the direction that she took the character. And so I was just thrilled to see her sort of give this character that strength from the very beginning.

(...)

That's actually really the horror of it [Loss & Grief], right? And I think the idea that you're waiting, waiting, waiting for a loved one to come home and they don't come home is one hell of an inciting. It's incident for me, you know, and it's the real life horror that people really do deal with. And and all of the mythology and the fantasy and the fun and the window dressing comes out of that.

But it all of the horror, this sort of Green Knight figure that's wandering through, it all has to do with with with processing this genuine human emotion. And it needs to have that outside in approach. And so for me, it was very, very important that the movie be grounded in something relatable, but something that is like an eternal truth, you know, through time, through space, through culture, that is this very simple conceit that is at the heart of the story. And then we can kind of extrapolate from there, you know, and have fun and have a haunting and a super armor and all that kind of stuff. But it really needed to be grounded in in something that felt very real.

(...)

[kellyvela]

Given the intense fandom around Game of Thrones, did you feel added pressure once Sophie Turner and Kit Harington were cast in The Dreadful? And what are you hoping GoT fans, and audience members in general, take away from the film?

It was really lovely to see these two actors back onscreen together! I’m also a fan of Game of Thrones, so I was just as excited to see them back onscreen again. There’s a real sweetness to their relationship and a feeling of two people having grown up together, which fit perfectly with the narrative of the film, so that felt like a really good fit. I’m hoping fans come to the film with an open mind, as these actors have grown into amazing performers in their own right, and are very much NOT simply playing roles we’ve seen them play before. I think it’s exciting to see them in such a different light, and I hope fans agree.

Natasha Kermani Explains Why Horror Is the Perfect Genre for Emotional Storytelling

Industry Insider Profile: Natasha Kermani

[kellyvela]

The, you know, you have Kit and Sophie, obviously, they've got this working relationship already, built-in chemistry. Is that, was that a bit of a challenge, because did you have to break it down a little bit, so we have these fresh characters and the conflict it feels a little bit more fresh as they're coming together, if you see where I'm going with this.

I do. Yeah. So, it's actually very interesting. Kit and Sophie are very close friends, but they hadn't actually seen each other in quite a while. Just their lives, their families, they've been so busy. And so, when we all met up for the wardrobe fitting, I think they hadn't seen each other in like four or five years, something like that. So a lot of that distance was actually their reality despite having, you know, stayed in touch and wanted to work together, and having all these memories of growing up on Thrones together. So I think that they were so sort of distanced from that experience. And they have lived so much life in between that they really came back together from where they are now, and not really trying to step back into the shoes of Jon and Sansa. They really wanted to come to the role from this more mature place that they are both at now in their lives. But like you say, it is sort of a nice little shortcut for us because they're playing characters who were childhood friends. And so that relationship and that history that they share, and that we as the audience share, I think really enriches their, that experience of seeing them on screen together.

I mean just as an aside, was it ever, because there is the intimacy between these characters, was it ever a little bit weird from that perspective between the characters or between the actors or even the fact that the actors played siblings on Game of Thrones?

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that's like one of the first things Sophie said. She's like, "Well, it would be like kissing my brother." So, but they got over it and I think there was enough of stuff that they were looking forward to that they were able to sort of get over the fact that they had to kiss each other.

[kellyvela]

. . . . so she [Sophie] she very kindly uh had the idea of Kit and then sent it to him and I think he read it like over a weekend and said, "Yeah, that sounds great." And I think, you know, they had sort of been looking for something to work on together because they hadn't worked together since Thrones. Um, and they they had such a good time working together and always felt like they had really great sort of on-screen chemistry and and um very sort of charismatic together. And so this was an opportunity for them to sort of uh check that box.

"this was an opportunity for them to sort of check that box."

The box of playing lovers???

👀

[kellyvela]

What was that like for you? You know, Sophie Turner, Kit Harington, Marca G Harden, these are huge heavy hitters. And I'm wondering specifically with the Game of Thrones lore when you had Sophie and Kit, did that change the script for you at all? I'm wondering if you like rewrote anything based on, you know, what the fandom was going to be looking for.

No, I mean, it was very different. Our script is very different. Their relationship is very different, obviously. Um, and Kit and Sophie didn't want to do that. They didn't want to change anything. Um, and you know, I think it was so funny like we didn't really talk that much about Game of Thrones, um, except for them to say that they missed working together and that they wanted to work together again. And so it was really just born out of their friendship and their desire to to collaborate again. And um, yeah, I would say the biggest change is that character was originally named John. At the end of our first call with Kit was like, uh, maybe we should maybe we should change the name of this character and I said, yes, I think that's right. Um, and he had very long hair at the time and he, you know, he cut it really short. So, so there was a little bit of like trying to distance. Uh, but no, we didn't really change anything in the plot. I think the story is in the world is significantly different from Thrones.

—Natasha Kermani