The discovery of the unicorn’s curative properties leads to a series of darkly comedic and increasingly horrific events.
Ive spoken to a lot of people, and many ask, “What is that first film?”
Because the truth is, you might only get to do one.
Image via A24
ALEX SCHARFMAN: Its something I debated for a long time.
You just learn from so many steps along the way.
This checked a number of boxes in terms of excitement levels.
From when I started developing with A24, it was almost five years ago.
I had written it before that, done a version of it, and I’d outlined before that.
Will Poulter, Richard E. Grant, and Tea Leoni also star in A24s mystical horror film.
Image via A24
Youve mentioned that youve produced around 20 projects.
SCHARFMAN: It’s so hard because it’s a perspective thing.
For one, there’s just a certain familiarity and comfort level on set.
Image via A24
I like being on a set.
I know what that environment is like, and I like problem-solving within that space.
Did we get the performance that we need?
Image via A24
Are there diminishing returns, or should we move on?
I think it’s more of a perspectivegetting closer to that 10,000-hour thing, building that comfort level up.
Making a movie, you makethousandsof decisions.
You just make thousands upon thousands of decisions.
There’s something to helping other people make those decisions.
You’ve now made your first film; you had VFX, you had big movie stars.
Image via A24
SCHARFMAN: We had a great time making the movie.
I got sad when the production process was ending.
I was like, Oh man, I love shooting this movie.
Image via A24
I loved our cast.
I loved our crew.
We really got very lucky.
It was a real no assholes policy, and we succeeded with that.
But at the same time, you only learn that through the process.
So, I don’t know, it’s tough.
There’s just so many logistics and all those thousands of decisions stacking up.
Yeah, I’ve heard that from everyone.
But I was certainly in the pressure cooker.
I think prep was probably more stressful than the actual shooting.
Sometimes with prep, youre just pushing a boulder up a hill.
However you set it up to go, thats where its going to go.
So, I think the prep was really the most stressful part for me.
Once I started shooting and the actors were there, that got much more into the play.
How much did you debate the title?
Was it alwaysDeath of a Unicorn, or did you almost have something else?
SCHARFMAN: It was literally only ever calledDeath of a Unicorn.
I never entertained another title.
That was what it was for most of the history of the project.
No, you made the right call, 100%.
The title that you have is the right title.
I had another script idea that was like, Death of a Blank, years ago.
I mean, I never even wrote it.
It was more of a short story than anything.
I don’t know why, it’s just the kind of structure I like.
Again, this is your first film, and you put together this insane cast.
I’m joking around, but it’s crazy.
SCHARFMAN: My kompromat is very much secure and locked away.
No one will ever know, because they all did the movie.
That was the deal.
You do the movie, the kompromat stays locked away.
No, I don’t know.
I just wrote this script that I thought would be fun to be in ifIwas an actor.
I honestly just got very lucky.
I kind of took that as an invitation that someday I should write something for him specifically.
Avy, I’m very lucky to have her on the team.
She’s just a genius.
She’s a legend.
She’s put together some of the best casts of any movie, like period.
Keep shooting for the stars.
We just got very fortunate.
It definitely helps with Paul, but then each domino that you push helps you get the next one.
Because once you start assembling an all-star lineup, it’s so much easier, I would imagine.
He doesn’t say much, but he’s always there.
But yeah, absolutely.
It makes my job very easy.
SCHARFMAN: I was really touched by that.
I wanted to cry because I love Anthony.
He’s such a team player and just down to Earth, andreally, really talented.
It was cool to see that room light up for him.
I don’t know what to say other than that’s surreal.
I think he did great work in the movie.
The sky’s the limit for that dude.
Talk a little bit about getting into the editing room.
You have your assembly cut or your first director’s cut.
This is going to come together?"
SCHARFMAN: That’s one of those things where being a producer helped me.
I’ve watched a lot of assemblies.
It’ll never be this bad ever again… hopefully.
Watching rough cuts, watching assemblies, you have to develop the goggles you need.
But the assembly made me laugh.
I trusted my editor, [Ron Dulin].
He made some good choices.
We made them better over time.
You have some great death scenes in the movie.
Can you talk about how you came up with those scenes?
Was it all in the script?
How much were you figuring it out in pre-production, working with makeup and stunts?
SCHARFMAN: Those were all scripted.
Those were all storyboarded in prep, some of them in very early prep, in fact.
Because to get this movie greenlit, we had to know what all the creature shots were.
So we had a bid to match, so Here’s what everything costs.
That was sort of the nature of the beast with that.
That’s part of the fun of writing sometimes.
You’re like, What are the inventive ways I can do this?
At a certain point, you want to keep things fresh.
You don’t want to just do the same thing.
It’s part of the spectacle and the fun of the movie.
Oh, 100%.
I saw it with a huge crowd, and people were erupting.
SCHARFMAN:There’s a cathartic rage-joy from the unbridled violence and the inventivenessin a way.
It’s basically because you wrote characters that I wanted to see killed.
Death of a Unicornis in theaters now.
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