Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock Explain Why Making Their New Netflix Movie Was a Physical and Psychological Challenge (2024)

Audiences around the world will recognize Kelsey Asbille from her master work on Taylor Sheridan's modern epic Yellowstone. Finn Wittrock has played a series of terrifying, multi-faceted characters as one of the mainstay faces of the flagship American Horror Story anthology series. Now, the two headline a much-anticipated predator/prey action-thriller, Don't Move, now streaming on Netflix by directors Adam Schindler and Brian Netto.

Don't Move is a tense and thrilling tale of cat-and-mouse following a grieving woman (Asbille) who has been given a paralytic agent by a seasoned killer (Wittrock). Now, she must fight, hide, and run before her body completely shuts down, giving up on her.

Ahead of the Netflix premiere, Asbille and Wittrock sat down with Collider's Steve Weintraub to discuss getting "weirdly intimate" with one another on the set of Don't Move, running barefoot in the snow for Wind River, and how Law & Order has the absolute best craft service table. Watch the full conversation in the video above, or you can read the transcript below.

Kelsey Asbille Met Will Smith on ‘Suite Life of Zack & Cody’

COLLIDER: I'm throwing some curveballs at the beginning. [Kelsey], I'm gonna start with you. Early in your career, what do you remember about doing The Suite Life of Zack & Cody ?

ASBILLE: Oh my God! Are we doing throwbacks today?

Then I'm going with you, [Finn]. You, like all actors in New York, got to do an episode of Law & Order . You got to do SVU . What was it like early in the career getting that call? It's like a coming-of-age thing. You know what I mean?

FINN WITTROCK: Rite of passage.

ASBILLE: [Laughs] Let me search that far back into my brain. That was amazing because Jaden Smith guest-starred on my episode. I remember sitting down for the table read, and Will Smith came and sat next to me. I was 15 or something, so I was just like, "Oh my God, what's happening?"

WITTROCK: "I made it!" [Laughs]

ASBILLE: Exactly. I was like, "This is so cool." He was a great dad in support of Jaden because I think it was one of his first gigs. Being on a sitcom like that, it's kind of a nostalgic American medium. I loved it.

WITTROCK: Were you on one episode, or were you on the whole thing?

ASBILLE: I did an episode.

WITTROCK: Just one.

ASBILLE: Just one of Suite Life. Your turn! And you? Mariska [Hargitay]?

WITTROCK: Mariska was great.

ASBILLE: The Queen.

Finn Wittrock's Fondest Memory From 'Law & Order' Is of Ice-T

“No one sees this, and no one laughs?”

WITTROCK: [Laughs] The memory I have of doing Law & Order was in the interrogation room. I saw Ice-T turn to the AD and say, “Could I have an iced tea?” And I was like, “No one sees this, and no one laughs?” Obviously, he drinks iced tea all the time, but I was like, "This is a moment." No one else appreciated the irony that this was happening. No one cared but me. That's all I remember.

No, I had a great time. I loved doing SVU. I had just started this regimen because I was gonna do Unbroken, Angelina Jolie's movie. I had to start losing weight. You'll see in that movie I look kind of weird, like a smaller version of myself. I had lost the first 15 pounds.

ASBILLE: Oh, dang.

WITTROCK: It was uncomfortable. And the craft service table on Law & Order was so delicious. So many doughnuts and I couldn't touch anything.

ASBILLE: I want to be on Law & Order.

WITTROCK: Yeah, the crafty is good there.

When you think about all your work, all the things you've done, what scene or sequence ended up being the toughest of your career thus far in terms of a oner, a camera move, or dialogue. Is there something you can remember?

ASBILLE: In the opening of Wind River, I had to run barefoot in the snow. In the wides, I was able to wear skin-colored Vibram. Then some of the close-ups, I had to do barefoot.

WITTROCK: Was it cold?

ASBILLE: It was really cold. Before that, I kept Googling, “What does frostbite look like?” Just to make sure I was good. So maybe that sequence.

‘American Horror Story: Freak Show’ Was a Sticky Affair for Finn Wittrock

“You're always in your tighty-whities, covered in blood!”

WITTROCK: I'll say in American Horror Story: Freak Show. In Freak Show, there's a sequence where I'm covered in Matt Bomer's blood — it happens sometimes. I was in my tighty-whities and I’m covered in blood. There's this sequence where I'm walking through the woods, then I'm in a different part of the woods, and then I'm going to my mom's house, so it was a long sequence, but they shot it completely out of order. It would be the end of the day on Tuesday I would shoot one scene of me walking and then, three days later, shoot the next. So every time, I had to match the blood, be in my tighty-whities, and be covered in blood. Also, it was in the swamps of New Orleans. The blood was sticky and made of some kind of sugar thing, so the bugs just started to be really interested in me. The crew was just like, "You're always in your tighty-whities covered in blood." I was like, "It’s been a long time, yes."

No. I say no to that.

ASBILLE: That's a pass for me.

‘Don’t Move’ Was a Physical and Psychological Challenge

Jumping into this film. Talk a little bit about some of the unique challenges for each of you in terms of making this as an actor.

ASBILLE: What's funny is, the paralysis obviously plays a big part in this movie, but really, the thing that scared me the most was in that first scene when I'm on the cliff, because I'm scared of heights. We were right on the edge of the cliff. There was a little platform underneath us, but for the most part, I was just dangling over there. We did have a harness. But especially on your first day...

WITTROCK: It's a long way down.

ASBILLE: You're already nervous.

Just like the previous thing: no.

WITTROCK: Absolutely not.

ASBILLE: Yeah. I should have said no right then and there.

WITTROCK: What I loved about the script was that so much of it was two people in a car or in the woods. It felt like a weird, two-handed play. I love the challenge of mapping out their whole trajectory and their whole arc, and how it is predator/prey, cat and mouse, but then it changes and deepens and gets weirdly intimate. Maybe we answered two different questions, but that's what I was thinking.

ASBILLE: No, I went literal. I was like, “The cliff was cool.” [Laughs]

WITTROCK: No, that shit was terrifying.

The most important thing I took away from the film is that it reminded me why I don't go to the woods alone — for real.

ASBILLE: Exactly. I think that's a great lesson.

WITTROCK: Yeah, that’s what you can take away from this. [Laughs]

There's no chance.

Kelsey Asbille on Shooting That River Rapids Scene

Let's talk about the water sequence. What the hell was that like?

ASBILLE: That was wild. I was strapped into a harness with a bunch of Bulgarian scuba divers surrounding me. It was actually kind of fun with the rapids.

WITTROCK: You move fast, though. There was a real current.

ASBILLE: But you're fighting the natural instinct to move. It is one of those things where you're just like, "What do I do for a living?"

Again, this is why I can't be an actor. I couldn't stay still. I give you guys a lot of credit.

ASBILLE: Good editing. [Laughs]

‘Don’t Move’ Was Pretty Much Shot In Sequence

How much of this did you get to film in order? And how much was it the way it was on American Horror Story?

ASBILLE: Oh, do you all shoot really out of order?

WITTROCK: Often, yeah. It's just sort of the nature of it. They tried to do a lot of this in sequence. I know the first scene was the first day, and the last scene was the last day. In the middle there, the cabin was a little out of place. Only a couple of times are we in the same location more than once, so they could go with the story and track it, as well. That was really helpful in terms of that arc of their relationship, like where they were and where they're going, and how they see each other in a different way.

Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock Talk About The Practical Stunts in ‘Don’t Move’

When you saw the shooting schedule, what day did you have circled in terms of, “I can't wait to film this," and what day was like, “How the F are we gonna film this?”

ASBILLE: I would say it was originally in the scene with the lake. We were gonna shoot in a water tank.

WITTROCK: Oh yeah, that’s right.

ASBILLE: I hadn't done a water tank.

WITTROCK: Didn’t you practice in a water tank?

ASBILLE: I was practicing for this water tank.

WITTROCK: Like hours. I remember that. “Oh my god, she’s still in the tank.”

ASBILLE: And then we ended up doing it practically, so I didn't have to worry all those days about that shoot. But yeah, that was the circle, for sure.

WITTROCK: I remember I was excited to see the car crash. I really liked the way they choreographed the fight inside the car. I thought that was really cool, a sort of contained fight. But then also, the stunt guy careened this car into a tree. For real. Strapped in. Boom. Definitely 40 miles an hour, at least. Then, just walks out, hits a car, and goes home. That guy’s cool.

Welcome to Bulgaria.

WITTROCK Yeah, exactly! They make 'em differently over there. [Laughs]

How Did Kelsey Asbille Approach Acting Drugged For ‘Don’t Move?’

I'm curious, what is it like actually playing someone who's drugged and the challenges of not moving?

ASBILLE: Our directors are childhood best friends, and they have another friend who became an anesthesiologist. We spoke with her, and she walked us through a real-life drug, and what it would look and feel like. So, we started there... I realize I'm terrible at telling stories because you're like, “Where are you going with this?”

I was actually following along.

ASBILLE: Bless you.

But I also paid $5 to just say you're doing great.

ASBILLE: Thank you. [Laughs] I was like, “It all started in Minnesota…”

WITTROCK: “They were born...”

ASBILLE: “...and became best friends.” The research started there. Then, on the day, when we were in the location, we were working with our great cinematographer, Zach Kuperstein, on how the paralysis will translate literally. It's a mix of the two.

Don’t Move is now streaming on Netflix.

Don't Move

R

Horror

Thriller

It follows a seasoned killer as he injects a grieving woman with a paralytic agent. She must run, fight and hide before her body shuts down.

Release Date

October 25, 2024

Director

Brian Netto , Adam Schindler

Runtime

92 Minutes

Writers

T.J. Cimfel , David White

Watch on Netflix