The effect of some movies, especially in the horror genre, can last long after the credits role. Anyone who’s watched Hereditary can vouch for just how creepy the film is and how its unsettling vibe lingers. But sometimes the cast and crew are just as vulnerable to this phenomenon as the viewer.
Alex Wolff, who played Peter Graham, the brother in the nuclear family, is really put through the emotional wringer throughout the pic – and being a part of those intense scenes understandably left its mark on the actor in real life. While Wolff’s character does not endure the most gruesome physical fate, he is part of one scene that’s exceptionally disturbing. Anyone who’s watched the movie might be getting flashbacks of it right about now, and it’s definitely not for the squeamish or feint of heart.
Without spoiling anything, the sequence involves a car accident that plays out to a disastrous outcome. It easily makes the top 10 list for most scarring movie moments of all time and in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wolff spoke about how that particular scene stayed with him for a while after shooting wrapped.
“I think it did mess with my head in the moment,” Wolff said. “I think the whole movie was kind of difficult. It kind of stuck with me. I think that scene in particular definitely stuck with me at least for a few days. But I think that movie was like a constant attention-taker. I think it haunted me for a while.”
The actor even said that the cast and crew didn’t try to compensate for the dark tone of the shoot with jokes or lighthearted banter. It was strictly business on set, which helped him stay in the zone.
“For me, sometimes if they’re trying to make it too light, it’s kind of distracting. So, I sometimes have to just stay in the zone. I kind of just was wearing my headphones and trying to stay in the spirit of it. I think it’s sometimes too hard to completely jump in and out.”
It’s no wonder the pic was being hailed as one of the scariest horror movies in years after its screening at the Sundance Film Festival. And Ari Aster, the director of Hereditary, then went on to release another horror flick in 2019 called Midsommar, which was just as unnerving and critically acclaimed. In fact, we’re sure some of the scenes in it messed with its actors, too.