In Netflix’s Damsel, Millie Bobby Brown claws her way through a cavern, flings herself off cliff sides, and swings a sword at a dragon. While the first act of the movie carefully builds up the tension, the moment that the corrupt prince throws Brown’s character, Elodie, into a dragon’s lair, it’s nonstop action.
[Ed. note: This post contains some spoilers for Damsel.]
Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) says that out of all the intense action, one scene in particular proved the most difficult to film. After falling into the cavern and running away from the monstrous beast within, Elodie squeezes through a tight cave tunnel to avoid dragon flame. What made the sequence particularly difficult wasn’t just the scope of the action, but making sure that Brown could overcome her anxiety over performing it.
Photo: John Wilson/Netflix
“Millie has claustrophobia,” he says. “So we had to have a lot of conversations in order to calm her down to make her feel that she would be protected and comfortable with the scene. And she said, ‘OK, it’s gonna be intense for me, but I’m happy to do it for you. So let’s make it but please make it in the quickest way.’ The intensity of the scene comes from the fact that she’s literally overcoming that fear. It was almost like therapy for her.”
Though the stunt work presented a challenge, Fresnadillo says that some of the most difficult scenes to nail were the more minute interactions earlier in the movie. One of the more delicate moments involves Elodie’s stepmother, Lady Bayford (Angela Bassett), and Queen Isabella (Robin Wright), on the eve of Elodie’s wedding to the prince. Lady Bayford is eager for their families to join together, so she seeks out the queen hoping to forge a relationship. She’s met by clipped words, a cold attitude, and a reminder that this is simply a business transaction.
Photo: John Wilson/Netflix
“It was very difficult in terms of the drama, because we had to be subtle,” says Fresnadillo. “We cannot say to the audience that this kingdom is a trap, but in some ways the audience is detecting through that scene that there are some shadows there, because this queen is very mean with Lady Bayford. But it had to be in a normal way. We have to hide things.”
It’s not elaborate stunt work or coaching an actress through her fears, but Fresnadillo says that there was a lot that went into the nuance of the scene.
“You have to be very precise with the [actors],” he describes. “The way that Angela and Robin, the way that they fleshed the conflict there, it was so amazingly, really well done. It was a challenge, but at the same time, it was really exciting because you had these two titans, these two amazing actresses giving you the best that they can. It was a dream at the end.”