Multi-hyphenate Lucy Liu steps into her horror role in 'Presence'
Lucy Liu, who’s starred in titles from box-office action movies to crime dramas to musicals, now takes on a horror lead role in the new film “Presence.”
The ever-expansive actor, producer, director and artist plays the role of Rebekah, the family matriarch. Liu, 56, said the film, from director Steven Soderbergh and in theaters Friday, uses horror in an unexpected way to tell the story of unspoken family dynamics.
The movie features a young family who bought a 100-year-old suburban house from a real estate agent played by Julia Fox. There, family issues begin to unfold in a claustrophobic setting, depicted from the point of view of a mysterious spirit presence. The movie uses horror to touch on lesser-discussed family issues like child favoritism or communication breakdowns within marriages.
“The backdrop is a reality of a family dynamic and how this entity interacts or sees this family,” Liu told NBC News. “When people are in their own worlds, they don’t know how bad it sounds and how dysfunctional it can be until you see it from another perspective.”
The film doesn’t tie up loose ends and leaves audiences hanging, which she said horror is uniquely poised to do.
“Horror is a very specific genre that doesn’t necessarily need to be a tangible person or entity like Jason [from ‘Friday the 13th’], like things people imagined in the past,” Liu said. “This movie has a lot of suspense and when I watched it, it seemed like a thriller because things are unfolding and unraveling for the audience as they are watching it. It becomes a mystery that keeps people on the edge of their seats.”
The first-person point of view of the ghostly presence was captured by Soderbergh as he crept around the set in his martial arts slippers, cloth shoes, following the actors with a handheld camera.
As a director herself on TV episodes of “Elementary,” “Luke Cage” and “American Born Chinese,” Liu said she was inspired by her experience working with Soderbergh as he brought his ideas to life in new and innovative ways.
