How 'Euphoria' Prepared Hunter Schafer for Summer's Scariest Movie

Hunter Schafer and stylist Dara have a knack for nailing show-stopping red carpet fashion that always feels project-appropriate. So was the fact that Schafer was on-set, permitting her from doing any in-person press for her upcoming horror film, Cuckoo, going to stop them from dreaming of what type of look they could have done? Absolutely not. “I think it would've been really fun to do some sort of homage to the hooded woman in the movie with a big coat and boots and a veil and sunglasses and just go all the way with that look,” Schafer tells me.

But alas. Instead, I’m talking to Schafer virtually over Zoom, where she still appears effortlessly style in a two-piece suit and hair noticeably darker than when we last left Euphoria High (“It’s my natural color!”) Despite the screens between us, Schafer is enthusiastic and engaged as she finally gets to discuss Cuckoo, a psychological horror film that has been in the making since 2020. “I've been sitting with it for a long time,” she says.

Here, Schafer talks the making of the movie, what is up for interpretation, and how Euphoria prepared her for the movies most emotional scenes.

Hi! How is your day going?

Good. I'm so excited after all this time to be talking about Cuckoo, getting so close to it finally coming out.

How long has your journey with this movie been now?

It's been a long time. This movie first came into my life in 2020, but I didn't get to film it for almost another two years, and then it's been almost another two years since. So I've been sitting with it for a long time.

Have your thoughts on the film and what it means changed at all since you’ve had some time to process and reflect?

Something that I've learned as I've done more projects and been through the process of putting them out into the world is that the more distance and space I have after finishing it, the easier it is for me to watch it objectively and appreciate it as a movie. So I can certainly do that with this one now. I've seen it several times now, having taken it to a few festivals and everything, and I love watching it every time. I don't want to cringe and close my eyes every time I'm on the screen. I fell in love with this movie when I first read the script, and I still am in love with it now.

When you read the script, were you able to picture how it would look on screen?

What really helped illustrate the world was seeing [director] Tilman Singer's first movie movie, Luz, which was a student film that he made on a shoestring budget. It is stunning. It is a beautiful, beautiful film, and that really sold me, honestly. Something being on the page is one thing and then bringing it to life is a whole other thing, and he can do both and do it really well. Knowing that he was the whole package in that way made me feel really confident about jumping in headfirst with this movie.

You guys also had the rare occurrence where you're filming where the movie is actually set. How did living in Germany for a month or so inform the performance, as well as your life at the time?

I've had quite the rounds with Germany. I've filmed three movies there now, and I've only filmed five movies, so more than half of the movies I've done have been filmed there. This one was my first time. There's something really fun about how quintessentially German [it is]. I don't think I really understood German archetypes to a depth that I would learn from this movie. Even with Dan Stevens's performance and that sort of character of a German man, I learned a lot about that country and language.

“Thankfully, by the time I filmed this movie, I had some experience from two seasons of Euphoria in the family and friend drama space.”

In the film, your character Gretchen is a sort of punk musician. Did you listen any music in particular to get in her head space?

I remember some of the first songs that Tilman sent me because we had been talking before making the movie. He's like a proper punk, I would say, and he sent me a song called “Psychocandy” by Jesus and Mary Chain which tonally reflects Gretchen really well.

Do you always listen to music to help get into a character?

I’ve found music to be a really powerful tool. Especially when I was newer to acting, I needed whatever I could find to help me, and music was a big part of that. I find music really visual, and that's how I act, as well; it's creating visual spaces in my head that I can put myself in for scenes.

Since this is a horror film, your character goes through a lot of physical trauma in the movie, but there are also some deeply emotional moments, as well. Do you find one to be harder than the other to do?

Thankfully, by the time I filmed this movie, I had some experience from two seasons of Euphoria in the family drama and friend drama space, and knew how to get myself to those really hardcore emotional places when I needed to.I will say the biggest thing with doing stuff like that is knowing that the people you're making this thing with have your back. There's the fear of like, "Oh, what if I go too far and I lose control of the emotion.” Tilman literally held my hand off camera through some of the scenes. Then with the physical stuff, I loved it. I had never done action before, and I was just so psyched to throw myself into it and just have fun. It's really nice because you can get out of your head for those scenes and just give everything.

Did you discover any skills that you were not aware that you had or had the capability of doing?

It was my first time throwing a fake punch for a project, I think. That was fun and I did it to my father in the movie, which is no joke. I didn't know what filming action was going to be like, but I really fell in love with it on this day. I have it in my toolkit now.

Recently a friend of mine asked me what the movie was about, and even though I’ve seen it, I honestly couldn’t fully describe it. How would you sum it up?

I usually say something really stupid and something that sounds insane because it is hard to summarize. As far as the technicalities of a lot of what's happening goes, you have to use your imagination sometimes because the movie isn't going to spell it out for you. I'm excited to see what people are going to take away from it and how they'll find their own meanings.

What’s wild is that it’s already being heralded as a cult classic, before it even comes out. Euphoria is also a living cult classic — can you feel that energy on set as an actor?

At the beginning, putting these projects out into the world was really tough for me because it feels like your baby, and then all of a sudden it's not yours anymore, and that's a very weird, dissonant thing to go through with something that you put your soul in. I try not to think too much about how people will receive it, especially when I'm making it. Now obviously I'm thinking about it a lot because promoting it and trying to get people to go see it.

Have you seen any of the big horror films that have come out this summer?

I saw Longlegs. I’m obsessed with Nicolas Cage's performance. That was golden to me.

As a big horror fan yourself, what do you view as the ultimate horror movie?

Suspiria. I think dance and horror together is so delicious and exciting, and I fucking love Suspiria — the original and the Luca Guadagnino one.