Cuckoo Stars Hunter Schafer And Dan Stevens Want More 'Freaky Weirdos' In Horror [Exclusive Interview]

Tilman Singer's "Cuckoo" is easily one of the best horror films of 2024, an unapologetically twisted horror story that will delight fans willing to let a movie take some truly wild swings and attack their senses. It's a movie that thrives in, as I previously described it, "breaking the rules, throwing traditional convention to the wind, and believing that logic is for the birds." I first saw "Cuckoo" during the Overlook Film Festival, where the film made a nest in my brain and has remained there ever since. I called it "a maddening head trip from start to finish" in my review, and remain absolutely dazzled by Singer's fearless commitment to embracing the beauty in the bizarre.

The film stars Hunter Schafer ("Euphoria," "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes") as 17-year-old Gretchen, who moves to the German Alps with her father and his new wife and daughter. They meet Herr König (Dan Stevens) upon arrival, a man who has seemingly charmed Gretchen's parents ... but she sees him for what he rightfully is: a total freaky weirdo. Refusing to sit nicely in any one genre box, "Cuckoo" echoes the tantalizing power of the midnight movies, while never shying away from the silly fun to be had.

I recently had a chance to chat with Schafer and Stevens and learn why they signed up for this cuckoo-bananas movie, and why the two can't seem to stay away from genre films. Good news, no spoilers here!

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

The two of you have both appeared in films and shows that span the spectrum in terms of genre, particularly heightened genres like sci-fi and horror. So my question for the two of you is, is that a deliberate choice for you, and if so, what is it about these specific genres that speak to you? Hunter, I'd love to start with you.

Schafer: I wouldn't say it's deliberate. Everything that I'm getting excited about doing is really truly just from a natural reaction standpoint, but they're trend within those natural reactions, and I just have ... I've always loved sci-fi, and I have a feeling it's going to stay that way. Sci-fi thrillers. This movie fits right into that. It's right up my alley.

Beautiful. And Dan, how about you?

Stevens: Yeah, I mean, particularly with horror, I love the way that it connects with audiences immediately, whether something is working by an audience reaction to a horror film. They often speak to the fears of our age, which I love, that there's often a little subtle thread of social commentary going on behind it, and it's also a kind of breeding ground, to borrow a "Cuckoo" kind of phrase, for a lot of our best filmmakers. A lot of our most prominent filmmakers started out in horror, and it's just a great kind of training ground for those tricks and tools of a filmmaker, and you really get to see great, very inventive filmmaking brains at work in the kind of more lo-fi, independent horror space.

I couldn't agree more, and Hunter, up until this point, many of the projects that audiences most likely know you from are, generally speaking, these very gripping ensemble pieces, with the exception of "F*** Anyone Who's Not a Sea Blob," which is a truly phenomenal leading performance, one that you not only co-wrote but is a relatively contained piece. Meanwhile, you're in every scene of "Cuckoo," and this is an incredibly physically demanding role for you. How did your preparation for the film differ than your previous projects, or did it not?

They haven't come out in this order, but this was my first movie I ever filmed. I auditioned for this role during Covid, at the very beginning of Covid, and then I had to go film season 2 of "Euphoria" afterward. So it ended up being almost a two-year gap between getting the role and then actually shooting a movie. So I had a lot of time to think and get to know Tilman [Singer] and practice butterfly knife and learn the basics. I'm really thankful for that time, but there's only so much sort of prep I think I could have done, it being my first movie and all. I did feel this sense of, "I just need to dive headfirst into this and see what happens," and that's also kind of what happens.

And Dan, on the opposite side of this, I say this with all the love in my heart, but thank you for what feels like a continued quest to play as many charming little freaks and weirdos as humanly possible.

Stevens: [laughs] Thank you.

I was thrilled. I saw this movie at the Overlook Film Festival a few months back, and I lost it when this movie pivoted into what is a hard action movie because it feels like I'm getting "The Guest" sequel that I've been waiting for, which was just great. So what was it like to return to a role that required you to once again stalk and attempt to kill a ridiculously talented blonde woman who's about to become horror's new favorite final girl?

Stevens: Amazing. Well, first of all, I'm happy to contribute to the freaks and weirdos representation on screen. I think that's very important, and yeah, I love a movie with a good turn, where you're in one mode and then it switches into another. "The Guest" is definitely one of those, and this is, I guess, another one, where you're taking the audience on a real roller coaster just by throwing them from one genre to another. And those are the kind of movies I love watching, and they're great fun to be a part of because there is ... whatever is going on, on the screen, underlying it all is a kind of slightly mischievous sense of humor in terms of how playful we're being with our audience, and I love being a part of those projects.

On the note of playfulness, was it on the page to find as many pronunciations of Gretchen as humanly possible, or was that actor instinct?

Stevens: That was me being very loyal to the German language. [laughs] That is the correct pronunciation of that name. If you come from where Herr König comes from, the Americans insist on pronouncing it a different way, and he's never going to get on board with that.

Incredible. So Hunter, this is such a hyper-specific journey of weirdness for Gretchen to go on. When was it in reading the script that you had the thought, "I have to play this character"?

Schafer: I think what really did it for me was seeing Tilman's first movie, "Luz." Jessica [Henwick, co-star] said earlier, I think she watched "Luz" first, and before even reading the script, she was like, "Okay, yes, I want in," and I didn't do it in that order, but I think if I did, I would've had the same reaction because Tilman is just such a unique and exciting director. I was like, "I don't care what ... I would play a tree." I just wanted to be in the world, but to be able to play Gretchen was really exciting, and energetically, I think it was a nice departure from Jules, who I'd been spending two years with before, and kind of still angsty teenage girl, but a different flavor, and a nice way, a nice entry point into the moviemaking world.

Dan, just going back to your freaks and weirdos, just a rogues gallery of characters that you've created, where does Herr König rank for you in terms of the scale of your weird little freaks that you've played?

Stevens: I mean, I love all my weird little freaks equally. I couldn't possibly put them in order, but he's definitely up there in terms of how fun they were to play, largely because of the environment that was created. A role can be incredible, and yet the experience of putting it in the story can be difficult, or the people you're working with don't make it as fun or whatever. But with this, it was so fun, and seeing how grounded and real and awesome Hunter's performance was, and to get to kind of bring Herr König into those seeds and just be the freaky little weirdo that he is ... playing with that dynamic was a lot of fun, and I think Tilman enjoyed how different our performances were and how just playing with those contrasts, I think, creates some really fun dynamics.

I saw "Cuckoo" the same weekend that "Abigail" premiered at Overlook, so it was a nice little bit of tonal whiplash going from each character, and also, huge pop in "Abigail" when she says that your name is "Adam Barrett," and I was like, "That was for us. That was for the hardcore nuts out there."

Stevens: Oh wow, for sure!

Hunter, I'm sure, as Dan can attest to this, horror fans are ride or die and will follow you into the dark, so do you have a desire to keep playing within the horror genre, and if so, what horror roles would you like to try?

Schafer: Totally. Well, you know what? Next time, I would love to be like a creature or something, like what Kalin [Morrow], who played The Hooded Woman in our movie, was doing. She's a dancer. It looked like so much fun, and I really love anything physical, so maybe to be on the other side of the story, the more antagonistic.

Stevens: And join the freaky weirdos.

Schafer: Yeah, I want a freaky weirdo role now!

"Cuckoo" is now playing in theaters everywhere.