Lee Daniels’ Mom Was Afraid of Him Directing an Exorcism Movie, So He Hired an On-Set Spiritualist to Keep the Cast and Crew Safe: ‘We Prayed Every Day’

SPOILER ALERT: This article discusses plot points in “The Deliverance,” now playing on Netflix.

With films like “Precious,” “The Paperboy” and “The Butler,” Lee Daniels is one of Hollywood’s most adventurous directors — but many fans were surprised to learn that his newest film, “The Deliverance,” was a horror movie. By his own admission, Daniels is known for dramas, and while there are supernatural elements in “The Deliverance,” they are squarely situated in a family story based on true events. In the film, Ebony (Andra Day) is a single mother taking care of her three kids (Caleb McLaughlin, Demi Singleton and Anthony B. Jenkins) and sick mother (Glenn Close) in a new house that seems to be haunted. As the family gets tormented by demons, Ebony also has to face off against a social worker (Mo’Nique), who is increasingly worried about the kids. The story is based on the well-known “Demon House” case from Gary, Indiana, and Ebony is based on Latoya Ammons, the matriarch of that family.

Daniels, who directed the movie from a script by David Coggeshall and Elijah Bynum, spoke to Variety about the spirituality of the film, Close’s unique role and why he doesn’t think he’ll ever make another horror movie.

This is your first horror movie. What about the script made you want to tackle it?

Right after “Precious,” I got offered this script and I didn’t want to do it. I thought it was too similar to “Precious,” in that there was abuse going on. Also, my mom talked me out of it because she really believed I’m an open portal for all sorts of energies, and she really felt that if I was going to do that, something bad was going to happen to me. But the story sat with me. We’re in a dark time right now and I try to tell stories that I believe are relevant to the times or the place that we’re in, and to me, it was really about finding a higher power. It wasn’t the jump scare that Netflix initially wanted me to do.

This dysfunctional family finds a higher power, and in this time that we’re in, I think that is what we need to find, whether it’s Buddha, whether it’s Allah, whether it’s Jesus, whether it’s yourself. How do you love yourself more? Because tomorrow isn’t promised and we don’t know what’s happening out here, and it’s dark. I think this is trying to scare you to your Higher Power. I don’t know whether I succeeded, but that’s what I was trying to do.

Ebony goes through so much in the movie, but she never breaks. Beyond the script, how did you and Andra develop such a complicated character?

It’s great because we have a shorthand. I have a shorthand with all of my actors, but I really had a shorthand with her because we worked so intimately on the last movie that we both did [2021’s “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”].

I wanted to work with her on this because she’s a born-again Christian. She is very, very spiritual. At the end of the film, she’s speaking in tongues, and that’s not me — that’s her. That’s God working through her, because she speaks that language at church. That’s her talking with God. So we had dialogue there, but she just went off and I was in awe of it. My AD said, “Are we rolling?” I go, “Yeah, we’re going to use all of this.”

What horror films have inspired you?

I don’t know that there’s a film that’s like this. I don’t think so. But for me, I’m not into jump scares. I am into jump scares if they’re done well. There was one great film recently, “Talk to Me.” I loved it so much, but I don’t know how to do that. I wanted to tell it from a grounded perspective, and I wanted it to feel like “The Exorcist.” I wanted to feel like “The Omen” one and two. I wanted to feel like “Rosemary’s Baby.” I wanted to feel these characters, you’re drawn in and seduced by real people. You think it’s “Precious,” and then I yank the rug from under you and you think, “Oh, no, this is something else.” It was a homage to those types of films. I hope I succeeded.

Some of the human characters are the scariest elements of the movie. In fact, it’s almost a relief when you find out something supernatural is happening, because you think, “OK, Ebony hasn’t lost her mind.” How were you able to elevate the tension in that way?

I didn’t think the horror was going to work unless we were completely invested in the realness that was happening. Those kids were going to be taken, and that’s the truth. Those kids did get taken by the social worker, and Ebony was left fighting both the demon in her house and also the courts for her kids. And was Ebony hitting the kids? What defines abuse? A motherly hit versus going in for a punch?

I wanted to make sure that we see that she’s rough, she can go out there and tackle boys, men. Then she comes back and has a confrontation with her son.

Did you ever interact with the real-life family at all during this process?

Twice. I spoke to Latoya before so we could get her rights. Then I think maybe I spoke to her once, had a question, maybe I spoke to her a second time. I never met her, but I didn’t want to, because I was nervous based on what my mom said and what I felt. I think we’ve told her story — other than her mother being white, which is something that I really wanted to do. I felt that, again, it was distancing myself from the actual story. We shot in Pittsburgh and I told the story in Pittsburgh as opposed to Indiana. I just wanted to distance myself in any way from it. She found her higher power and I think that’s what I was trying to get at. I hope she enjoys the film.

Audiences have never seen Glenn Close in a role like this before. How did you discuss it with her? 

I don’t think she understood the woman at first. I think what was great for Glenn was a quarter of the way through this shoot, I told her to gain weight, and then I told costumes to take in the outfits. So she’s like, “Wait a minute. What? What? What? What? What? There’s cellulite.” And I said, and Mo’Nique and the African American women on the set said, “This is how we roll.” There is a sense of body positivity that she had been unaware of because of the tropes of Hollywood, and there was a freedom she said she felt. She talks about this publicly and, to me, that was the biggest compliment, that she was able to walk away with a sense of freedom that a lot of Black women wear regularly.

We don’t see this character either. I know her, so many other African Americans know this woman. She’s in the hood, she’s ride or die. She’s got Black kids, she only dates Black men and she’s beloved by the community for the most part. There’s no Karen situation going on. We’ve never seen this character before and that’s part of the reason why I was desperate to tell that story.

Your mother was concerned about the energy this movie might bring your way. Did you feel any of that energy while making the film?

I had a deliverer on set the whole time, someone who actually did this for a living. Also, it was really to help Aunjanue [Ellis-Taylor, who plays a deliverer] with her work, but also to protect us from the set. Listen, I read those books about the making of “Poltergeist” and the making of “The Exorcist.” And I’m like, “Nope, not today, Satan. Ain’t happening today up in this motherfucker.” So we prayed every day. Interestingly enough, HR from Netflix tapped me the first day we started praying and said, “This could be offensive to people and you can’t.” I go, “Wait a minute — we’ve got to figure something out, because I can’t go in this jungle without praying every day.” So we figured out a system where I could say, “I don’t mean to be offensive, but for those of us that aren’t into prayer, feel free to leave the set.” And there were a few people that did, but most people, most of the 200 or so crew knew that they wanted to be protected. They clearly read the same books that I had.

Would you want to direct more horror in the future?

No. I wanted to check a box because I’m known for drama. I’m known for doing that really well and I wanted to stretch my muscle in a way that I hadn’t before. There’s a different sort of pacing that this film has that my other films don’t have, and it was a learning experience for me. If there is a “Deliverance 2,” I will be producing it and I will not be directing it, because it requires a certain part of your brain to think. It’s just … It was long, man. So I’ll stretch my brain with a romantic comedy, maybe next. OK, so that’s a lie. [laughs] I would never … I wouldn’t even know how to begin.

Are there any other genre boxes you’d like to check off?

I want to see a grounded superhero film. There are a couple of things that I’m working out right now. One is a series for Disney+ and the other one is a film, and they’re superheroes. I have not seen a grounded superhero where I am invested, and I want to play in that playground.

I’m going to stick with drama. I’m inspired by Cassavetes. I’m inspired by old-school directors who are studying the human condition.

I wanted to ask about the future of “Empire.” I know the Cookie project didn’t make it to fruition, but do you foresee any chapters in the future?

What we’re going to try to do is “Star,” because that seems to be what everybody’s asking for online, and I didn’t think that. I thought “Empire” was the Big Kahuna, but apparently everybody’s really wanting “Star.” I’m going to do a movie with Queen Latifah and everybody, all the girls from “Star.”

This interview has been edited and condensed.