'We Could Speak For Hours': Abigail's Directors Talk Filming With The Late Angus Cloud And How Devastating Finishing The Movie Was After His Passing

Angus Cloud in Abigail's trailer
(Image credit: Universal Pictures)

It's a great time to be a horror fan, as the genre has been thriving for a number of years now. While some of the best horror movies returned to theaters with new sequels, there have also been some thrilling original concepts. The team at Radio Silence has done both, directing the last two Scream movies as well as Ready or Not. They've got an upcoming horror movie Abigail hitting theaters this weekend, which features late actor Angus Cloud. And the filmmakers spoke to CinemaBlend about filming his final movie with him, and the devastating process of editing the project. 

What we know about Abigail is limited, but it's stellar cast is part of the reason why fans are eager to see it in theaters. Directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett recently appeared on CinemaBlend's own ReelBlend podcast, where they spoke about what the Euphoria actor brought to the film. In Gillet's words:

We could speak for hours on how wonderful the experience was shooting with Angus, and how sad we are that we didn't have more time with him. There's just a contagiousness to his charisma that I think, you know, you feel it on the day. He makes the set so much fun. And you hope that that's going to translate in some way, through the camera.

How sweet is that? It sounds like the Radio Silence team really loved working with Cloud on their latest horror venture. As Euphoria fans know, the late actor was uniquely charismatic, and it should be fun to see how that translates to his performance in Abigail

The trailer for Abigail shows Angus Cloud, which no doubt helped to get more eyes on it. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett definitely felt some pressure to properly showcase his performance, especially as its his final movie credit. The latter filmmaker continued:

And in post, I think we found ourselves just really struggling to narrow down the takes of his. Because every take was different. And they were all so unique and so wonderful and so wholly him. He was one of those actors that was just present at all times. And I think that he sort of forced everybody in the scene around him to also be present and to really pay attention. It was just a real joy and a real honor to get to work with him and, and to get to know him.

Clearly Angus Cloud's passing affected those who knew him, including the team behind Abigail. And while there's no telling how the movie might have looked if he was still with us, it sounds like the editing process was purposeful in trying to highlight his performance as much as possible. We'll just have to wait and see how much screen time he gets, and if his character Dean survives his encounter with the vampiric title character. 

Cloud became a household name thanks to his work playing Fezco in Euphoria. The Season 2 finale put his character's fate in jeopardy, and I'm curious about how the show will address his absence if/when it returns for Season 3. Unfortunately, Euphoria Season 3 was delayed, so there's not

Abigail hit theaters April 19th. Check out the 2024 movie release dates to plan your next trip to the theater. 

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more.