Longlegs Cast And Crew Burst Into Applause After One 'Masterclass' Performance On Set

This post contains mild spoilers for "Longlegs."

After a lengthy, impressive marketing campaign that maintained pretty much all of the mystery (which is tough to do these days), director Oz Perkins' "Longlegs" hit theaters recently. Based on the early response from critics and the huge turnout at the box office, it seems the much-hyped horror flick was worth the wait. Not just for a totally transformative performance by Nicolas Cage as the killer either, as the whole cast delivers their A-game. Specifically, Alicia Witt, of "Orange is the New Black" fame, gives a performance in the film that's been labeled as a masterclass.

Witt recently spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about her unexpected turn as Ruth in the film. Ruth is the mother of Maika Monroe's Lee, the FBI agent tasked with tracking down a mysterious serial killer, played by Cage. Ruth ends up becoming one heck of a character during the twisted ending of "Longlegs." While we won't fully spoil it here, the character gave Lee an awful lot to work with. Speaking about filming that ending, Witt explained why it was such a fulfilling experience:

"It wasn't the most intense, but it was the most fulfilling — and the most thrilling experience I've had on a set so far. We took two days to film it, and my coverage was towards the end of the second day, so over the span of that time, Oz had seen all the variations of how I was playing with Ruth. He ended up giving me, I think, six different one or two-word directives before each of my takes — each diametrically opposed from the last. I felt like he was shining a spotlight on me for the whole cast and crew to watch, putting me out on a tightrope and knowing what I was capable of after six weeks of working together."

Witt certainly had a lot of heavy-lifting to do in the film's climactic scenes. As THR points out, Witt had gone through a lot of personal tragedy prior to filming, including losing both of her parents in December 2021, as well as overcoming a cancer diagnosis. Witt described it all as "cathartic." Through that catharsis, she managed to capture something pretty special, it turns out, as the cast and crew applauded her performance when it was over:

"We went from rage and intense grief, to reverence for the proceedings, to out of it, to warning, to exhausted, if I remember correctly. In between each one, we would just reset and wipe tears away et cetera, and go right away again. When it was all over, there was a round of applause. Blair Underwood came over and shook my hand and said, 'That was a masterclass.' I feel so emotional all over again just thinking about it, and no matter what I experience from this point forward, that will always be a highlight."

Fortunately, Witt is getting the recognition she deserves here. Witt has been acting for most of her life, dating back to her work in David Lynch's "Dune" and "Twin Peaks" as a child actor. She's also no stranger to the horror genre, having previously starred in the slasher "Urban Legend" as well as "The Exorcist" TV series. Witt has been grinding away as an actor for decades and, at long last, this performance has shined a well-deserved spotlight on her talents.

Witt is managing to carve out a large chunk of praise in a film where Cage also turned in an eye-popping, transformative performance as the Longlegs killer. It speaks volumes about just how damn good she is on screen. To that end, "Longlegs" has been met with rave reviews, with /Film's Bill Bria praising it as the most terrifying horror movie of the year. Witt is, in no small part, responsible for that.

"Longlegs" is currently playing in theaters.