Never Let Gois a new horror film that also happens to lean heavily into the realm of a family drama. It was brought to the screen by writing duo KC Coughlin and Ryan Grassby (The King Tide, Mean Dreams) and directed by Alexandre Aja, known for his past horror work includingCrawlandThe Hills Have Eyes. The movie stars Halle Berry as a mother—unnamed, as far as the audience knows—who ensures that her twin sons never leave the house without a tether, ostensibly to keep them safe from deadly evil lurking in the woods.
The sons in question, Nolan and Samuel, are played by Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins, respectively. Despite their age, both actors have appeared in exciting projects before joining what would become the movie withHalle Berry’s bestRotten Tomatoesscoresince 2019. Daggs previously appeared inThe Last Days of Ptolemy GreyandUndone, and Jenkins was inThe Deliveranceand multiple episodes ofFlorida Man.
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Screen Rantinterviewed Daggs and Jenkins about their work inNever Let Go.Screen Rant’sNever Let Goreview praised the performances of both young actors, and they each discussed the ins and outs of their characters’ relationships with their fear-stricken mother. Both Daggs and Jenkins also shared their personal experiences working with Halle Berry as an actor.
Percy Daggs IV & Anthony B. Jenkins Discuss Working With Halle Berry On Never Let Go
Nolan & Samuel Have Very Different Relationships With Their Mom
Screen Rant:Never Let Gois absolutely phenomenal. It’s an incredible horror film, but at its heart, it’s an incredible family drama with universal themes. It’ll keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing to the final minute. Tell me about Nolan and Sam’s different dynamics that they have with their mother, played by Halle Berry. We’ll start with you, Percy.
Percy Daggs IV: Nolan’s dynamic with his mom is that he loves his mom. He cares for his mom very, very much, but he’s starting to think maybe she doesn’t understand what they need anymore. So, he’s trying to find a way to make things better, which starts to cause some other things to happen, but he’s always trying to make sure that she’s all right. He’s trying to be very, very helpful. He’s trying to adapt to the things that they need while also trying to show what he needs and what he thinks that everybody else needs as well.
Absolutely. Anthony, how about Sam’s dynamic with Momma?
Anthony B. Jenkins: Sam’s dynamic with Momma is [that] he will believe anything she says. He’ll eat what she says, he’ll do what she says, he just trusts her. I’d say he’s hardworking. Also, Nolan doesn’t really trust Momma, [so] he’s also trying to get Nolan to trust Momma. He’s trying to stay on mom’s best side so that—maybe if he’s arguing with Nolan or something—Momma could be on his side, because she trusts him and she knows that Sammy won’t do anything bad.
Halle said that you two are both some of the best actors she’s worked with, and that means at any age. She said that you guys are two of the best and, in your performances, I absolutely see it. Can you talk about working with Halle on this film? Is there any bit of advice she gave you that stuck with you?
Percy Daggs IV: Lots and lots of advice. As you know, she’s a producer on this film, and I was there with her. She was always so welcoming when she had her producer hat on, and I got to learn a lot on the opposite side of the camera. Also, I learned a lot on the camera side—to always stay focused, to always be ready, to always understand the work, and always understand what you need in that scene. So, basically to come prepared. To work with Ms. Halle is so wonderful. She’s such a kind person. She’s easy to work with because she’s got your back and she’s one of the greatest actresses of all time, and I was so honored to work with her.
How about for yourself, Anthony? Any advice that stuck with you?
Anthony B. Jenkins: Just like Percy said, she told me [to] always stay focused, and she said that I won’t book every single job that I audition for, but I will most definitely book some, so know to keep going. And my eyes [are] my superpower.
Now in this film, the two of you and Halle have this family bond, and that chemistry comes right off the screen. Can you talk about cultivating that chemistry between the two of you and Halle on set?
Percy Daggs IV: We had a lot of time to help each other and to get used to each other, and a lot of that time was in the casting process. It was a full month of casting trying to find me and AJ, and when they found me, I was a part of finding my brother who would end up being AJ. When I was doing screen tests with all the kids, AJ and I had the biggest connection and we automatically clicked in the things that we liked and things that we enjoyed. Also, he’s just a great actor.
Working with Ms. Halle, me and Ms. Halle had an immediate chemistry. We automatically clicked. She was always there for me, and I will always be there for her. Whenever she asks for my help, I’ll always be there. We just built an immediate chemistry. We worked together. She helped me with the audition when I was auditioning, and after all that time of searching, I’m so glad that she took that little bit of extra time to find me.
Daggs & Jenkins Worked To Bring Aspects Of Their Own Personalities To Their Roles
They Also Overcame Differences Between Themselves & Their Characters
Absolutely: Both of you are absolutely incredible. Sometimes, when it comes to horror movies, I feel like you see the scares coming, but what really convinces me something is scary is your two reactions. You guys have such great reactions [that] it actually got me frightened at times. Can you talk about what you guys wanted to bring to your role that wasn’t on the page? We’ll start with you, Anthony.
Anthony B. Jenkins: I’d say what I wanted to bring… Samuel’s not like me. I do trust my mom. I do love her a lot, but what I’m saying is he’s more clean. He’s very innocent. I’m not very innocent. He’s the clean side, the innocent person, [and] the nice person. What I had to bring was be more clean, try my best, and do what I can to try being just like Samuel.
Percy, what did you want to bring to the role that went beyond the page?
Percy Daggs IV: The thing that I needed to bring, probably, to Nolan was, I needed to bring out more of my adventurous side. One thing that me and Nolan have in common for sure that you see in me a lot is, I always want a better understanding of things. Say I don’t know a word—I want to understand the definition of that word. Say I don’t know why you’re doing that—I will figure it out, or I’ll ask you, ‘Why are you doing that?” That’s one thing Nolan [and I] have in common, so I didn’t need to work on that too, too much, but I still did need to work on it.
The thing that I needed to bring was that adventurous side. He’s ready to take action immediately. He’s ready to go. He’s ready to go into the forest to find food for his mom. He’s ready to go take that immediate action, and I needed to be ready for that.
Director Alexandre Aja Worked Closely With Driggs & Jenkins For Never Let Go
The Boys Agreed That “He Was Like An Acting Coach”
Alex is such a visionary director. I love his work. I love his attention to detail. I love his approach to filmmaking. Can you talk about how his directing style helps shape your performances? We’ll start with you on this one, Percy.
Percy Daggs IV: What his directing style helps me with is the horror aspect. It’s just knowing the horror aspect. I’m not the biggest fan of horror myself. I don’t watch a lot of horror, I don’t play a lot of horror, but I do know a little bit of things… getting to hang out with him and see behind the camera [and think], “What is he doing to make this scene more scary?” was really cool to see and really cool to work with. He was also so helpful, always ready to give me direction, always ready to take a soft approach, and I was very thankful to be working for him.
How about you, Anthony? Can you talk about working with Alex on this film?
Anthony B. Jenkins: Working with Mr. Alex was amazing. He was really helping me with my acting. He was like an acting coach to me. Shout out to my acting coach who helped me out with this role, but he helped me out. He set a lot of stuff up, but he would help before scenes with the acting coach. He would come to me in Percy. He would be like, “All right, let’s do it. Let’s do it.” He makes sure that we’re comfortable before every scene, and he’s such a nice person.
Daggs Reveals Some Of The Makeup Department’s Tricks On Never Let Go
The Makeup Department Would “Paint Our Arms To Make It Look Like We Were Thinner”
One of the things that’s super noticeable in this film is when we see you guys for the first time. We see that your wardrobe is tattered, and you guys have makeup, so it’s like you guys have lived in this type of situation for the first 10 years of your life. Then, as time goes on, we see you guys get thinner because food is becoming more scarce. Can you talk about the makeup process inNever Let Go?
Percy Daggs IV: Makeup was amazing. They were so wonderful. They were always so kind on set and, as you can see, the makeup is just beautiful. Sometimes we wouldn’t comb our hair or anything like that. Sometimes we would just come to set and they would add… they even did our teeth. They would paint our teeth a little bit and they would put black around our eyes [to] make us look tired. It was a lot. They would sometimes, I think, even paint our arms to make it look like we were thinner. It was a lot.
Never Let Go’s Cabin Was A Real House In The Woods
It Helped The Actors Turn In Realistic, Grounded Performances
The last question I have for you guys is, in most horror movies, the creepy old haunted house is where a lot of the scares happen. But, in this film, this is the family safe space. How did that real location help add to your performance? And we’ll start with you on this one, Anthony.
Anthony B. Jenkins: Being in the real location, helps me be a lot more scared, and it shows that Samuel is scared of the outside. So, when I do go outside, I am a bit nervous and stuff. That’s why I’m always making sure that I have my rope on, always checking about it. Staying in the house makes me more comfortable and stuff, because since this is a real set, you’ll hear the real frogs. It helps you feel more comfortable being like, “Oh, this isn’t fake trees. This isn’t a green screen.” It was a lot more helpful being out in the woods too.
How about for you, Percy? How did that help you, being in that real physical house like that?
Percy Daggs IV: It helped me a lot. Especially being out in nature, it helped. The set design was great. They added a few more things to that house, but it was so wonderful just being there knowing this is a real place out here. Getting that feeling of, “This is the perfect place for this,” is a great feeling, because [the] set is very important. It helps make it look more real, which is a very, very important aspect of movies. It was great to be there. It helped a lot with the emotion, with the feeling, and it was another physical detail that was very important.
More About Never Let Go (2024)
A family that has been haunted by an evil spirit for years. Their safety and their surroundings come into question when one of the children questions if the evil is real.
Never Let Go
Cast
A mother and her twin sons are trapped in their house by a malevolent force, relying on their familial bond and physical connection for safety. When one son questions the reality of the evil, their unity unravels, leading to a terrifying battle for survival in this psychological thriller/horror.
