Not every friends group’s reunion can be full of nostalgia and love, as seen inIt’s What’s Inside. The Netflix sci-fi comedy focuses on Shelby, Cyrus, Reuben, Dennis, Nikki, Brooke and Maya, a group of friends who gather to celebrate Reuben’s impending wedding, alongside their estranged college friend Forbes, who brings a mysterious device to the party that allows for body swapping. As they initially enjoy the surreal experience, tensions rise when the changing leads to old secrets being revealed, and puts multiple lives at risk.
It’s What’s Insideis comprised of an ensemble cast, some of whom includeChilling Adventures of Sabrina’s Gavin Leatherwood,The Resort’s Nina Bloomgarden,Fear the Walking Deadalum Alycia Debnam-Carey andBarry’s Devon Terrell. Leatherwood portrays Dennis, the brash personality of the friend group, while Bloomgarden plays Maya, the free-spirited one, Debnam-Carey as Nikki, a popular social media influencer, and Terrell as Reuben, the soon-to-be groom whose upcoming nuptials may be hampered by the wild party.
It’s What’s Inside Body Swaps: Every Round Of The Game Explained
Netflix’s horror-comedy, It’s What’s Inside, includes numerous body swaps, raising the question of who’s in each other’s bodies throughout the film.
Alongside Leatherwood, Bloomgarden, Debnam-Carey and Terrell,It’s What’s Inside’s cast includesThe White Lotus' Brittany O’Grady andI Love My Dad’s James Morosinias couple Shelby and Cyrus,Brockmire’s Reina Hardesty as Brooke,Fear Street’s David Thompson as Forbes andSharp Objects' Madison Davenport as Forbes' sister, Beatrice. Combining its unique body-swap concept with meaningful ensemble character dynamics and hilarious dialogue, the movie serves as a great new take on the genre.
Ahead of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Gavin Leatherwood, Nina Bloomgarden, Alycia Debnam-Carey and Devon Terrell to discussIt’s What’s Inside, which of their multiple personalities they had the most fun playing, the unique means in which they prepared to play the body-swap premise, and why they loved working with writer/director Greg Jardin.
Most Of The Group Preferred Their Characters (Barring 1 Exception)
“I could see why it would be a fun character to play.”
Screen Rant: This movie is so much fun. I love the fact that we do this body swap thing, and it’s part horror, but also funny. First of all, tell me about who you initially start the film as, and who is the most fun for you to play?
Alycia Debnam-Carey: I start the film as Nikki. Nikki, honestly, was very fun to play because she’s so different from me, and is a real social media archetype. I think the nails and the hair, there was something really different for me in playing her, but honestly, the emotional arc really lives in Shelby. So, I think that was a beautiful kind of place to then actually really be.
Nina Bloomgarden: I think Brooke was really fun, just because her internal energy is so [makes vibrating sound], and at 4:00 a.m. shoots, you want that energy up. I would be wired after playing Brooke. [Chuckles]
Devon Terrell: Yeah, I would say Forbes, because of where he was in the emotional journey where I grabbed him at — that’s not weird. [Chuckles] But where I played him in the sequence, at that point, the character has to shift into another kind of person. Reuben’s a wild, wild, wild, wild, wild, wild boy.
And also, because we’re Australian, playing the American, kind of like, “Okay, what’s this kind of American guy like from this kind of wealthier background and different kind of place in his life?” But yeah, I always say he’s the sunshine of the group. He’s the one that’s like, “If anyone’s having a bad day, we’ve got to go hang out with Reuben and go to Reuben’s house for a bit.”
Gavin Leatherwood: Yeah, Dennis is a loud personality. I could see why it would be a fun character to play. He’s brash and a bit obnoxious, and I say that wholeheartedly now being on the other end of playing him, but I had such a fun time playing him.
I’ll take a spin on your question, I wanted to play Cyrus more often, because I found myself accidentally impersonating James while we were on set. Yeah, because he’s such a character, and I don’t know, I just found myself picking up weird mannerisms hanging out with him, so I wanted more of that.
“…it allowed us…to already take some of those characteristics and cadences and mannerisms…”
I want to kind of bounce on that for a second, picking up weird mannerisms, because correct me if I’m wrong, did you guys record each other as your initial roles and then watch them back? And when you did that, which mannerisms did you pick up on from your fellow cast members?
Alycia Debnam-Carey: I mean, we filmed the first switch, which was our first real freak out, which is terrifying. I think Brittany still has that video in her phone, and I was like, “You need to delete that.” [Laughs] That was very confronting, but I feel like what really helped us was actually in our rehearsal period, the first readthrough, we actually did completely as our base first character, and then the second readthrough, we did it then as the multiple characters. We were switching, but it allowed us, because of that first time, to already take some of those characteristics and cadences and mannerisms from the first readthrough, if that makes sense.
I was actually just going to ask about that, but I do want to ask about Greg, because I felt like with this film ,in particular, he took such a unique approach to filmmaking. What did you learn about his approach to filmmaking through making this movie?
Alycia Debnam-Carey: Unique, amazing.
Gavin Leatherwood: So meticulous. He just had everything sort of thought through very carefully. He knew what he wanted in the edit, and he saw this thing through from writing it, directing it, editing it, and doing the VFX for it. The dude is brilliant, and I remember going in — did you guys do ADR with him when he was editing? I saw him six months into the edit, and coming into his apartment, he was kind of crazed, and he looked as if he hadn’t left the apartment in a while. He was dedicated. [Chuckles]
Nina Bloomgarden: He’s also so joyful, and he leads with joy, and that’s really nice when you come to set and someone has that.
Devon Terrell: Enthusiastic, yeah. He taught me a lot as an actor in that moment, and I think I met him in that point in my life that I needed to meet him, because it was like he taught me that what we are doing is playing. It’s still playing, and he’s got a childlike nature that we were saying before.
He’s got the monitor in front of him, and to see a director excited by the choices you’re making makes you go, “Oh, I want to go home and do more work. I need to figure out more layers to this character for him.” So, he makes you want to do the performances for him, and so he’s kind of a special kind of person and director.
AboutIt’s What’s Inside
A group of friends gathers for a pre-wedding party that descends into an existential nightmare when an estranged friend arrives with a mysterious game that awakens long-hidden secrets, desires, and grudges.
It’s What’s Inside
Cast
It’s What’s Inside is a film centered around a high-stakes narrative involving complex character dynamics that explore internal and external conflicts. Throughout the storyline, characters face personal challenges as they navigate their intertwined fates, providing a gripping view of their struggles and transformations.
