Imaginary’s DeWanda Wise on How to Play With Childhood Terrors

It’s time to face your fears with Blumhouse and Lionsgate’s Imaginary. The film directed and co-written by Jeff Wadlow (Truth or Dare) stars DeWanda Wise (Jurassic World Dominion) as Jessica, who moves her family into her childhood home. While tension-filled domestic dynamics are at play, Chauncey Bear, her tattered old teddy and imaginary friend, seeks out her new stepdaughter Alice—which is where things get real creepy really fast.

io9 recently spoke to Wise about Imaginary, which she also helped shape behind the scenes as one of the film’s executive producers. “I love the twist of this film. But at its emotional core, I don’t even know if I could or would be here if I wasn’t at the center of this movie and having a proverbial seat at the table and making sure that the lives of these characters feel as full, as rich, as true as possible—even in the design of the film. It was just a dream,” she explained. “Everything you saw, like the designs on the wall, the kind of resurrecting [of] Jessica’s childhood drawings, all that stuff—so many choices to make … picking and choosing what would speak to her based on my nerdy backstory. We had such a good time.”

Wise was especially excited by the chance to tell a horror story with family at its core that delves into childhood trauma. “Often when people are nostalgic about their childhoods, they’re like, ‘Oh, it was so great. Someone took care of me. I didn’t have bills.’ You know, not every child has the luxury of a cushy childhood,” she said. “In our movie, you have my character who has experienced something very difficult, very young, and you’re literally watching her in real time come through on the other side. And the same thing with [her stepdaughter] Alice: you’re seeing this young child who has experienced something horrific and unfathomable, and you’re watching them make it through. And the function of horror movies, especially for young viewers, for younger moviegoers, is to practice fear—to experience, ‘Oh, I was really scared, but I’m okay.’ And that’s what I hope—that is ultimately what I hope.”

Imaginary opens in theaters this Friday.

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