Warning: The following interview contains spoilers for Spiral: From The Book Of Saw, now available on VOD.
The long-running Saw franchise made a Blockbuster-style comeback with Darren Lynn Bousman’s Spiral: From The Book Of Saw. Continuing Jigsaw’s legacy, the film follows Detective Zeke Banks (Chris Rock) and his rookie partner Detective William Schenk (Max Minghella) crossing paths with the new Jigsaw copycat. As the serial killer targets corrupt police officers, the investigation takes a personal spin for Banks when his father and former police captain, Marcus Banks (Samuel L. Jackson), gets roped into the bloody mayhem.
CBR spoke to Marisol Nichols, who leads the investigation against the Jigsaw copycat as Spiral‘s Captain Angie Garza. Nichols is best known as 24‘s Nadia Yassir and Riverdale‘s Hermione Lodge. While she’s played numerous TV and film law enforcers, Nichols credited her real-life work with the FBI for helping her prepare for Spiral. She also discussed working with Chris Rock and recounted her experience playing one of the Saw’s trademark “games.”
CBR: Were you a fan of the Saw franchise or horror in general before landing the role?
Marisol Nichols: Yeah, I’m a big horror-thriller fan. I love stuff like that, particularly when they’re a good sort of psychological thriller. I really, really enjoy things like that. But I had never really been a part of one. So it’s kind of cool to finally be a part of one, especially something like not only the Saw franchise that people love and embrace so much but sort of the new take on it. With guys like Chris [Rock] and Sam [Jackson] and Max [Minghella], it was just really kind of a dream. It was phenomenal. I was so happy!
How did the opportunity to be in Spiral come up? What attracted you to the role?
What attracted me to the role was that it read like Seven, like when you read the script, I was like, “God, this reminds me of Seven,” which is pretty phenomenal, and I really liked it. It’s funny, I wish there was some crazy amazing story about how you get roles, but there never is. I got a call from my reps, and they’re like, “Hey, there’s a thing if you want to read the script. If you’re interested, they’re interested in you.” And I was like, “Okay!” It just kind of happened like that. It was really fun!
I read somewhere that your character was originally written as a male before you came in, which I’m super glad because there were very few women actually in the film. So how did that switch occur?
It was just like you said. [The role] was originally written for a man. Then they said, “We’d like to make him a woman.” I don’t know if my rep suggested it, which she’s done several times for me, but I’m glad they considered it. I’m like, “You kind of need a female in here; otherwise, it’s all men and all testosterone.” [laughs] Not that my character doesn’t have testosterone, but it is the time for women to be in these strong roles. To me, there’s a lot of women that are way stronger than men out there, so I really liked that.
Fans put a lot of expectations on new installments. In that regard, what kind of emotions did getting the role bring up, knowing there was that extra pressure of joining an established franchise?
Well, it’s funny, I tend to do that. My first role was in Vegas Vacation, which was an established vacation franchise. 24 was very established when I joined in Season 6. So with this one, I was like, “All right, well, here we go again.” The only difference is social media, which changes everything. Thankfully, I was pretty naïve when I walked into it. I was like, “Okay. Great.” And then, after I did the role as it was coming out, I was like, “Oh, Jesus Christ!” I had no idea that the fans were so passionate about it. So, then I was like, “Oh, okay. It’s too late now. Hopefully, my performance is good.”
Do you want to talk a little bit about what it was like working with Chris Rock?
It was phenomenal! It was so great! Chris is a force in his whole area [laughs]. I’d hang out with him all day if I could. He’s just so fun. Also, he’s really intelligent. I was surprised by that. I don’t know why I was surprised by that, but I was surprised by that. I’ve worked with different comedians before. I don’t know if I was just naïve. But of course, he’s intelligent because to be able to see life from a different viewpoint and see the funny in everyday experiences and people that we all go through. And of course, you have to have the intelligence to then make that money. So working with him was a real joy.
There was also his dedication to making the film legitimate with a really good script and a really good story. And then his performance was something he’d never done. And kudos to him for having the balls to do something like this when normally he doesn’t have to do any of that. He’s comfortable. He probably doesn’t have to work again for the rest of his life. So, to see somebody of his caliber take a chance and do something that’s uncomfortable and out of his box, I really respect the hell out of that.
Along that same vein, you also get to do some scenes with Samuel L. Jackson. What was that like working with him?
It was phenomenal. He’s a legend! So, to be able to do that and work with him and work opposite of him, it was just like I was pinching myself. It was phenomenal!
I am aware of the undercover work you do with the FBI to help catch sexual predators, which is amazing. Was that real-life experience helpful when preparing for this role as a police captain?
Hugely! It’s the difference between myself acting like a TV cop or acting like a movie cop and actually experiencing these situations and working hand in hand with law enforcement in various countries and various situations really doing it. It’s the difference between doing a ride-along as research and actually being deputized as law enforcement, which is what I am so I can do these things that I do. So it’s just taking real-life experience and going, “Okay, I get it.”
In Spiral, you are an unfortunate victim of the copycat Jigsaw, and your trap was pretty gnarly. Can you fill us in on what it was like shooting that behind the scenes?
Actually, it was kind of cool [laughs]. I was like, “Oh, great! This is so phenomenal. It looks so gruesome.” I’m like a kid in a candy store because I know how it’s going to translate to the audience. So I’m like, “This is going to be great!” So it was really fun. I was really honored because the crew — when you’re on a set, you always want to impress the director. You always want acknowledgment coming from your director. But when the crew’s nodding at you — they applauded when I was done. So I was like, “Yes!” Those guys, you don’t have to impress, but when you do, it’s phenomenal.
After watching the film with all the effects, is there a scene you’re most excited for the audiences to see?
I love Samuel Jackson’s death scene. I also love when he’s coming in there — which we have in the trailer — where he’s like, “Do you want to play, motherfucker?” I love that [laughs]. So I would say that scene and that scene between him and Chris is phenomenal. I also really love the reveal. And I’m selfish, so I really like my scene with Chris where I scream at him. At least that’s what I was excited for my friends and family to see.
Chris Rock is a comedian, so I’m sure there were lots of goofing off and bloopers. Is there a fun moment you can recall that happened off-screen?
Yeah, I was asking [Chris] about what do you when family members who you barely know — you don’t talk to at all, but they’re related to you in a distant way — ask you for money because that sort of happens to me. I’m like, “I don’t even know you. I’ve never even met you, man.” And [Chris] did this whole bit. He goes, “Marisol, there’s a reason why superheroes hang out with other superheroes. Otherwise, people will be asking them, ‘Hey, Superman can you come fix my sink. It’s clogging.'” He did this whole bit, and it was really funny. Then later, I saw that he does that bit in his stand-up. So, I was like, “Ha, Ha.”
So Spiral isn’t your first time in a major horror franchise. You played Dawnie in Scream 2, which was a small role. However, I recently came across a fan theory that links a lot of your roles together, starting with Dawnie surviving the sorority attack and moving to Riverdale to start over as Hermione. I’m not sure if you’ve heard that theory, but do you think Riverdale fans might be onto something with that?
I think that’s so cool! I love that! It’s fantastic, and I really like that theory. I’ve heard some really wild ones out there, but I like that one. It’s very cool. I tip my hat to whoever put that out there.
Do you want to shout out a few genre films that you really enjoy as a horror fan yourself?
Yes, very happily! The Exorcist is my all-time favorite. The Ring is phenomenal. Then I watched the original Japanese version; it’s phenomenally scary and really good. It’s pretty old school, you might have to look it up, but there’s an old movie called Phantasm. It kind of messed me up [laughs]. Then I love The Silence of the Lambs. Seven is phenomenal. Let me see. I can just keep going. The Amityville Horror. I could go on. I love that stuff.
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, Spiral: From the Book of Saw arrives July 20 on VOD.
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