Ariana DeBose didn't need to research occult for House of Spoils: "I'm kind of witchy"
The Oscar winner stars as a chef who has to deal with a haunting presence in the new movie.
In her new horror film House of Spoils – available to stream now on Prime Video – Oscar winner Ariana DeBose stars as an ambitious chef whose dream job very quickly turns into a nightmare.
As she prepares to open a restaurant at a remote estate, a series of bizarre things begin to happen that make her already stressful work in high end dining all the more difficult – especially when she appears to uncover a connection to the occult. Think of it as a bit like The Bear with added hauntings.
But speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of the film's release, DeBose revealed that she didn't have to do too much research into the occult while preparing for the role... for a slightly unusual reason.
"I don't know if it's good to share this or not, but I'm kind of witchy in my own right," she explained. "I'm very intuitive. For example, it's like we got on location in Budapest, and I walked into that home and I was like, 'Oh, it already has spirits. There are spirits here.'"
She added: "So I think sometimes leaning into your own authenticity is enough. Like, you know, I think the spirit world will let you know if it wants to be felt, to be honest."
She might not have done much research into the spooky aspect of the film then, but DeBose was lucky enough to receive some expert tuition when it came to the culinary side of things. And she said this taught her some valuable lessons about the world of fine dining.
"Your kitchen is really like your church," she said. "You know, cleanliness is next to godliness, which is interesting, because we embraced the dirt in this film!
"So it was funny, training with Zoe Hegedus, she was our food stylist... and then I had a crash course here in New York with chef Ayesha of Shukette and she had... the restaurant is in Chelsea, Manhattan.
"And all of those lessons, it sharpened my knife skills, but again, taught me a lot about the reverence and the technique and the routine of what it is to to function efficiently in a kitchen and how the process is revered, and there's a real respect that goes into that. So I hope that I was able to capture the essence of that in the character."
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House of Spoils is now streaming on Prime Video – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Plus, read our guides to the best Amazon Prime series and the best movies on Amazon Prime.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
