Already published digitally, The incantation: The devil made me do it is now available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD. The third Conjuring film again stars Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga as Ed and Lorraine Warren. It also features outstanding performance from Eugenie Bondurant as an occultist.
“The incantation: The devil made me do it It revolves around the terrifying story of terror, murder and unknown evil that shocked even veteran paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren, ”the official summary reads. “Described in their files as one of the most sensational cases, the film begins with a battle for the soul of a young boy, which then takes them beyond anything they have ever seen for the first time in US history to mark a murder suspect that would defend himself claiming to have demonic possession. “
To celebrate the home release, ComingSoon’s Jeff Ames joined in The incantation: The devil made me do it Star Eugenie Bondurant on the film, her unique career and her approach to the occult.
Jeff Ames: So I just wanted to talk a little bit about you and your overall career. What was it about the world of filmmaking that fascinated you? Because you’ve worn a lot of different hats. You were a director of short films. You obviously acted and were a producer. So what drew you to this world in the first place?
Eugenie Bondurant: Well, I was a model when I was in Europe, in Paris, and a friend who lived in New York called me and said, “Hey, I’m moving to LA and I thought good for you.” Lived in New York and then in Paris and he said, “Why don’t you come to visit?” I said, send me a plane ticket on the side and he did it. So I went and I went to see him. Fortunately, when we separated, my sister was living there with her family. When we broke up, the agency I had in LA actually started booking me and I started working and doing commercials and that then led to small pieces. So it ended now. I graduated from college and it wasn’t in the theater. I wasn’t a theater major and I didn’t even know this world would be my future, but we don’t know what’s in our future. It took an interesting turn. I’ve had an interesting life. It was fun.
It’s interesting because people get formal education and stuff like that. How did you approach these different characters that you played?
Well, I always, uh, I know I bought that was a pattern for me in the interesting, uh, roles and character roles. And I accepted that and I realized, um, if I was going to audition when I didn’t really know what I was doing, and I realized that I had better go to an acting class. So I started taking acting classes. I am also teaching at the moment. I mean, then also because I was working commercially. So we talked about advertising I think. So I took acting classes. I started, I also worked with a private coach and quickly pushed this training forward and with it the continuation of the very interesting character roles that have been my world.
Well, how would you say your acting has evolved over the years? Is that at The Conjuring an achievement that you think you could have delivered at the beginning of your career?
I may have. But back then I was booked more as a Ninja Twiggy. My first gig, it was for boss, that was a mini-series. I feel like a hundred years ago. A Jackie Collins miniseries and I had my hair combed back and I was wearing high heels. I was, of course, a bodyguard. I’m thin as a bar and I have heels with a lot of makeup on because all bodyguards are supposed to look like that. The New York Times Magazine called me a Ninja Twiggy and I thought, oh, that’s cool and I didn’t know what it was [meant]I thought, oh that’s neat. It was the first time I got a chair with my name on it on set. I thought, oh, it always will be, which is not always the case, but it was really fun. It was a really fun start. Now Twiggy has become an occultist. So I think it was a natural development. I mean, I’ve played and accepted a lot of different interesting special roles and they’re so much fun.
In your opinion, which one of them caught the eye or continues to stand out for you? When you look back on your career, [what makes you say], “If I could visit this character again, would I”?
Absolutely. I would visit the occultist again at any time. Yes Yes Yes. Immerse yourself in their world and learn more about it. Yes. She is convincing. People want to see more of her and that means I did my job well. That meant that I really am a member of The Conjuring family because when you watch all of The Conjuring movies in The Conjuring universe, we always want to know more not only about the protagonist but also about the antagonist. How did you get there? Why do they do that? I mean look at the nun. So, you know, there was a spin-off and it’s very strange. How did this character become this character? So yes, this one.
As you approached this character, the occultist, did you have a backstory in mind for her that you might want to review?
I am a doctor trained by Meisner and at Meisner you look at everything. You look at every single detail, all the facts and you see how relevant they are not just to the character but to you. There’s a way, not an advertisement, but a conversation about how relevant they are and what they mean. If I said a word like swing, what would swing conjure up? I’m not using incantation in the sense of The Conjuring, but what would it mean to you? How does it feel to you It’s the air that goes back and forth. It’s the feeling of the momentum, it’s the comfort. So Meisner acting, let’s see that. We look at all of these facts and how they all create this image of this character, but also how that character fits into the role in the story, this plot.
I am also an acting coach. I live with my acting students every week. So it’s part of who I am, I mean, I live and breathe it. So you’re also looking at how the character relates to the story and why he does it. In my case, a woman, why is she doing what she is doing? Why is it so important to her? What does that have to do with me as a person? I’m not going to ask the question, “Well, do I have an altar on the side? Do i do magic? Do I cast spells? ”No, I don’t. But when you look at her, is it love that she’s looking for? Is it retribution? What is it? And that then becomes a basis for how you can justify their actions and how it relates to the film.
That is interesting. See, I love that kind of thing. So does that help if you’re really into the nuances of character? Because with her there seemed to be a lot of small, subtle movements and only very light mannerisms and things like that. Was that something you practiced or was it some kind of instruction for you?
Both. So Michael Chaves is very specific with his villains. OK. Now i’m a bad guy. I play a bad guy and we had a very good relationship where I could bring out the emotional backstory and if it needed to be adjusted he could bring in that adjustment because I’m not looking at the monitor. Like I don’t do that. I only come from one place of truth in my head. For example, what is true for them? What is true to me Are there parallel stories? So he can then make this adjustment and refine it a little. For example the dust strike. I did it like you did, but he wanted it to be a little more specific. So we rehearsed that one sentence for a long time, pretty long actually, just to get it right. Glad I did because look at the results. I had to trust him. He had to trust me. He’s a director you really want to trust, and he needs that trust. So he’s great. It was great working with him
What would you say is the hardest part and maybe you have already covered it so apologize if I repeat myself but just curious. As an actress in a horror genre, what do you think is the most challenging aspect of the occultist?
So not emotional, actually technical, stunts. That was finally blessed. If you look at this hill, I’m a hiker, but I’m not a hiker on big, big mountains or anything. But I look at the hill and say “ahh” and then I get to the top of the hill and say, “Wow, I did that.” That’s how I felt. It was like, oh, no, no, those stunts and that technical thing. I am so grateful. I had to work with the stunt coordinator and practice and practice stunts. So it looks real. This movement is real. That sharpness is there. That is believable because that is important to me. Chaves knew it was important to me and it was important to the product.
Because I think maybe the hardest thing would be to be bowed down by an invisible demon. That’s what it was about me.
That was a no-brainer. No, that was tough. That part was tough, but we figured that out. Chaves and I worked on Zoom, believe it or not. There was a little gap when we shot this. We worked, he said that, he had his thoughts. I said, oh, let me do some research and try to interpret this from my perspective. And we have these meetings on Zoom and then sometimes I take things and send them to him. So he could get a feel for what my body could do and what I couldn’t do now. Like the contortion at the beginning of the film, I’m probably giving you something, but that was a real contortionist who did this contortion. That is why it was important to him that what was shown is something real. So what I ended up doing was actually real. Yeah, it was tough, but boy was it great fun when he said okay we’ll do this stuff. It’s the end of the movie. It was just really let’s dive into it. Let’s have fun. Yes. It looks weird and weird, but we made it look magical and real and scary in the end.
You definitely scared me and my daughter, but we watched it together.
I am so sorry that I scared your daughter.
No, it’s great. Well done. You have done good work. So that’s all that matters. Last question, but where are you going from here? How do you beat the occultist?
I can’t believe no one has asked me this question before. The occultist 2. No, I do not know. But it was great. I don’t know the answer to that, but I can tell you it would be great to work with this production team again. So they could be topped.
