She wanted to work with Jeffrey Dean Morgan, I wasn't familiar with his work, but I watched some of his work and I thought he was brilliant as he has that undertone of being a nice and good guy with that dark sensibility hiding under that smile that he has (laugh).
Christopher Lee was someone that Hammer Films wanted me to consider - and what is there to consider it's Christopher Lee? I sent him the script and he responded to the material, I spoke to him on the phone before we met and that was that.
- The Resident has this claustrophobic feel to it as Juliet becomes like a prisoner in her home so what challenges did you face shooting in such a confined space?
We knew this so we built everything, we built all the apartments, all the hallways, all the interiors in New Mexico - where all the sets were shot and all the exteriors were shot in New York.
So we always had that in mind, and I had an Oscar winning cinematographer in Guillermo Navarro and he designed all the sets to work for our purposes.
And a big other challenge, which was something that I was intrigued about and I think Guillermo was intrigued about as well, was so much of the happens in the dark hours of the day when there is no light and that was another challenge.
But we planned very much we went through ever scene and did a lot of story-boarding, designing things to work for us. In this type of film we had to shoot in a little bit of a rush but since we were so well planned we managed to do it.
- How did you create that closed in feeling - there is some quite interesting lighting used?
The biggest thing with the light it that we reflected every light, so there is not straight light in the film, to get that dimension and that indifferation between light and darkness - which I think creates that claustrophobic feel.
Also we chose lenses that had out of focuses lenses to it because I think that the imagination of those watching the film an be used to trigger those fears and it's more intriguing to have them imagine things than actually show them.
I don't like films that have a lot of blood and a lot of violence I like films that make you think of the violence that might happen.
I think it's very uninteresting to see an axe in someone's head we wanted to hint at thinks and create tension and claustrophobia - to do that we had to use darkness and light - to suggest things and now always hammer them home.
- Also the movie is very grounded in reality so how deliberate a choice was that?
It was very deliberate because for someone to feel psychological fear a person has to feel that it's real.
I also had that intention, as I explained earlier, I didn't want to make a movie that extended my music video and commercial career where everything is glossy and beautiful, I too all those things and threw them away, I wanted to make a very reality based film, like those of the seventies.
So yes I really wanted to that so it would have a very naturalistic feel, epically for a female audience but men as well, that this could happen to me. I didn't want to make hyper-reality because I don't like films that do that.
- The Resident is only the second movie from Hammer Films in thirty years so how excited were you to work with such a horror movie institution?
Well I was very excited about Hammer Films but I was also worried because they are a horror film company and I wasn't trying to make a horror film here I wanted to make a psychological thriller.
But when they had the same intention I was very excited - I think everyone on the film was excited that the film starts with the Hammer logo and we can always say that we worked for Hammer Films.
- And you have mentioned already that this is your first feature length movie after working in music videos, documentaries and TV so how did you find directing your first movie?
It's naturally a different beast completely making films, also the fact that there is a Hollywood company involved and I am a first time director so there a lot of fighting and getting your point across when you are making your first film.
The biggest challenge that you have is telling the story and since I was able to write the story, in a sense that Hilary Swank wanted to make it, I felt confident about the story.
But on a movie we shot thirty days in a row instead of just two or three so it was physically exhausting. Plus I have put a lot of pressure on myself making this movie as it is going to determine, it's already determined, the next twenty or thirty years of may career because I'm not planning to go back to pop videos and commercials I want to do films.
So in that sense it was different and difficult but I knew that going in so to me making your first film with this crew and cast was just brilliant.
- Juliet is a very strong female character so what did Hilary Swank bring to the part?
I needed someone who was strong and independent as well as sexy and vulnerable, I think vulnerability is very important to the film; and possible our biggest challenge as Hilary has done such strong female parts we didn't want to the audience to feel that if there was a problem she was just going to solve it.
But she was just immaculate and I loved working with her. We were constantly working together and she was very supportive throughout the production, if there were any problems she would take my side.
And for the character she was a doctor of emergency doctor, dealing with life and death, and she can pull that off - if Jessica Simpson was playing a doctor I think the audience would leave within five minutes (laughs).
- Finally what's next for you?
Well I have got two movies that are moving forward the first is Nicholas North with is an adventure film that I wrote. I'm also adapting a book by Sophie Oxenham into a screenplay it's a book about women during WWII and also in Berlin in 1991 and it's about human trafficking.
The Resident is released 11th March.
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw