‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’ Interview: Corey Hawkins

What is the plot of ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’?

Strange and horrifying events befall the doomed crew as they attempt to survive the ocean voyage from Transylvania to London, stalked each night by a merciless presence onboard the ship: a legendary vampire known as Dracula (Javier Botet). When the Demeter finally arrives off the shores of England, it is a charred, derelict wreck. There is no trace of the crew.

Who is in the cast of ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter’?

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Corey Hawkins about his work on ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter,’ retelling the Dracula story, how his character reacts to the monster, and working with filmmaker André Øvredal.

Corey Hawkins stars in ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter.’

Moviefone: To begin with, what was your first reaction to reading this screenplay and the new approach to the Dracula story the film takes?

Corey Hawkins: My first reaction was, this is scary as hell, and let’s see where Andre’s brilliant mind can take us. For me, signing onto a film, it’s all about the creatives and obviously the script first and foremost. With this, honestly, it’s like this incredible character-driven drama first and then it leads you more into the unknown. We just put ourselves, our hope and our trust into Andre, and it was just a thrill. It was honestly a thrill to be able to bring this version of Dracula because so many people know the version of Dracula before he goes to London and the version of Dracula after he goes to London. It’s the in-between, it’s the actual monster that you get to finally see in this film. This story lives in it and relishes in that. Which, again, it’s like this throwback to old school filmmaking from Universal and Amblin. That’s what they do and I thought it was cool to just go on that journey.

(L to R) Corey Hawkins and director André Øvredal on the set of ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter.’ Photo Credit: Rainer Bajo/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. © 2023 Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

MF: Can you talk about working with director André Øvredal, his vision for this project and what surprised you about working with him?

CH: How incredibly collaborative he is. He’s so easygoing. He’s very much like, if you have an idea you get the opportunity to try it. If I had a thought about the bunk that I’m sleeping in and why it needed to have this in it or that in it, or the antiques, the historical elements of the ship, every little bit, the entire creative team would just walk through with me and talk about it all. And even building Clemens’ arc, and who he is as this Cambridge educated doctor and the research that we had to do about these men who existed during that time, it was just important for us to get it right. So Andre, I just trusted his vision also because I’ve been a fan of his movies including ‘The Autopsy of Jane Doe,’ ‘Troll Hunter’ and all the pieces he is executed. I leaned into his filmmaking and I simply assume it is as a result of he trusts us to do our jobs and so now we have to belief him to do his job on his finish, and I believe he is simply unbelievable. I keep in mind him simply saying ‘Alien’ on a ship, and we had been like, “We’re in.” Also, we screened ‘Jaws’ for the complete crew after we had been in Malta, and it was simply cool to see everyone relishing in old fashioned filmmaking.

(L to R) Captain Eliot (Liam Cunningham), Abrams (Chris Walley) and Clemens (Corey Hawkins) in ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter,’ directed by André Øvredal. Photo Credit: Rainer Bajo/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. © 2023 Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

MF: Finally, are you able to speak concerning the mutiny that occurs on the ship as soon as the creature is uncover, and the way your character and the opposite crew members react?

CH: Clemens is an outsider and it is not simply due to the colour of his pores and skin, though that is part of it throughout this time, however he is an outsider as a result of he hasn’t sailed with these males earlier than. There’s additionally a stowaway, Aisling who’s unbelievable on this movie, she is on board as nicely. There’s all kinds of myths about ladies on ships throughout this time and all these form of issues that Clemens would not essentially consider in. He believes in science, he is a person of science. So watching these interactions it is all about belief, it is about worry, it is about strolling by life with this worry and this evil in your again, after which actually confronting that worry and evil with Dracula. It’s chilling as a result of it is like, what do you do? Who do you belief? People are dying and also you is likely to be subsequent. There’s nowhere to run, there’s nowhere to cover and so you need to adapt. You should match the monster.

(L to R) Clemens (Corey Hawkins) and Anna (Aisling Franciosi) in ‘The Last Voyage of the Demeter,’ directed by André Øvredal. Photo Credit: Rainer Bajo/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment. © 2023 Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment. All Rights Reserved.

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