The First Omen star recalls spooky moment filming prequel
Nell Tiger Free reveals the cast joked they had a curse on them while shooting the new horror film.
The original The Omen – released almost 50 years ago, in 1976 – is frequently listed among the spookiest movies of all time, so it's perhaps no surprise that the experience of shooting the upcoming prequel had its share of scary moments.
The First Omen stars Nell Tiger Free (Servant) as Margaret Daino, a young woman who is embarking on life as a nun in Rome before she gets caught up in a conspiracy that directly relates to the birth of the anti-Christ, Damian.
And speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, the star confessed to having been a little terrified on one or two occasions while on set for the film.
"Oh, we had some scary moments," she explained. "We were all kind of, like, hyped up on the idea that we were haunted and that we had a curse.
"And so every little thing that happened, we were like, '[It's] the curse!'"
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She added: "There was a particular time where I was in my dressing room and – I say my dressing room, it was like a stone room with a mattress on the floor, because we were shooting in the orphanage at the time.
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"So, it was just... we were actually in this old building. And they were shooting this other scene, and I heard them knock on my door to come and get me.
"And I got up and opened the door and there was nobody there!"
Free added that "things like that would happen all the time" behind the scenes, but said that the process of actually filming the scenes themselves was a little less scary.
"It's actually daylight and you're with all your mates and you know the blood is normally, like, syrup," she laughed.
Still, those more comforting memories did not necessarily reassure her when it came to viewing the finished product.
"I honestly, hand on my heart, was actually scared sitting and watching it," she revealed.
"I watched with my dad, just the two of us, and he does not scare easy, and we were both genuinely really scared in this movie. Like, I'm watching my friend in the corner of the room and I'm terrified of her!"
She added: "I was like, 'You are terrifying, I am scared to go for dinner with you!'"
The First Omen is released in UK cinemas on Friday 5th April 2024. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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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.
