Warning: This interview contains spoilers for Apple TV+'s The Gorge.
Apple TV+'s The Gorge was helmed by Doctor Strange and The Black Phone director Scott Derrickson, working from a screenplay penned by The Tomorrow War's Zach Dean. The movie follows a pair of operatives guarding a mysterious canyon that is revealed to be the home of the Hollow Men, a group of former humans who have been exposed to an agent that causes their DNA to mutate.
Although the movie also stars Alien franchise stalwart Sigourney Weaver, Mr. Malcolm's List star Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, and Wednesday alumnus William Houston, it is essentially a two-hander between Taylor-Joy and Teller. Both stars bring considerable resumes to the project, with Taylor-Joy having starred in a wide range of projects between The Witch and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and Teller having parlayed his success in the Oscar-winning music drama Whiplash into roles in projects including the smash hit legacy sequel Top Gun: Maverick, which was nominated for Best Picture in 2023.
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The end of The Gorge highlights just how much the bond between Teller and Taylor-Joy's characters has grown over the course of the movie. The twists and turns of the Scott Derrickson movie have seen the pair fall into the gorge, fight off many groups of mutants, and scale the cliff face in a Jeep while fighting off more enemies, including with them taking on a huge corporation in a Hail Mary effort to destroy the gorge once and for all, avoiding being infected with the mutation agent, and reuniting in a safe, faraway place.
ScreenRant interviewed Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller as they prepared to appear in Apple TV+'s at CCXP24 in São Paulo, Brazil in December 2023. During the conversation, the pair excitedly broke down many elements of the movie's third act, seeming to take pleasure in getting to share details after spending so long having to keep the plot under wraps. In addition to discussing possible alternate endings, they broke down that high-octane Jeep sequence in addition sharing their iration for the realism of the gorge sets and the Hollow Men.
Most Of What Audiences See In The Gorge Was Actually Real
"I'm Just In A River"
ScreenRant: What is actually in the room with you when you're shooting in the gorge? What did that look like on set?
Anya Taylor-Joy: It was so real. It was crazy.
Miles Teller: When we're in the gorge, we kind of go through different lands or different areas with completely different topography and mood. And so when we were filming it, if it's the bone tree forest, that's a real forest and it is probably over half [an] acre large. So, you're really able to move throughout the space. And as an actor, there's always more freedom there. You have more real estate to work with, so you don't have to shoot this little bit, and then redress it, and shoot that same little bit of land. But it was incredibly practical. And even when we went to [the scene where] Anya’s in the river and her character's getting drowned, that was real.
Anya Taylor-Joy: I’m just in a river. [Laughs]
Miles Teller: [Laughs] When I was kind of skydiving in, we were filming that in Norway and had these stunning locations to match what we were doing on a sound stage.
Miles Teller: What was [also] cool for [was…] the different areas of the gorge. [They’re] lit with mood lighting, so the light is dictating and kind of orienting the audience. I when we'd come on set, if it was like a light purple or a red, we're like, "Ooh, this is fun.”
Anya: “This is cool.”
Some Of The Gorge's Hollow Men Were Also Practical
"Those Are Real Prosthetics"
And how much of what we see of the Hollow Men was real?
Miles Teller: There was a couple of the main ones, the featured ones.
Anya Taylor-Joy: That's real.
Miles Teller: Those are real prosthetics, and I always feel so bad when actors have to go through so long [with] prosthetics. So, they would show up on set, and I was like, "I know this took 10 hours, and I know you only have this one little bit. Thank you so much for taking that time."
Anya Taylor-Joy: Or you're about to start an action sequence and you're like, "You've been here since 2:00 a.m.”
Both Stars Struggled Somewhat With One Of The Gorge's Biggest Action Sequences
"Oh Yeah, Gravity"
What was the most difficult part about shooting the vertical action scene with the jeep climbing the gorge wall?
Miles Teller: Everything is reversed. It was so… Because, even though you're attached to a wire, if you fall, you are still falling. And also it's small, it's contained, and so you're having to go through these… and just naturally you're banging your leg on all the metal. It's just awkward.
Anya Taylor-Joy: I the first stunt rehearsal we did for it. I was like, oh yeah, gravity. That is fully a thing because you just sort of throw yourself out and you're like, wait, no, my momentum might be going this way, but I'm going down. You have to figure that out. But again, I think we both get a kick out of it. It's so much fun to be able to wake up in the morning and you're like, “Yeah, you see that Jeep? I'm going to go have many feet in the air and then I'm going to fight some people on it.” It's just fun.
It seems like a great job.
Anya Taylor-Joy: It's a great job!
Miles Teller: Also, my stunt guy would do it. I'm like, yeah, he's like a freaking Olympic gymnast and he does ballet. I'm like, my body doesn't move like that.
Anya Taylor-Joy: You looked great. Your body moved like that.
Miles Teller: It’s editing.
Teller and Taylor-Joy Reflect On Their Intentions With The Gorge's Happy Ending
"We Tried To Make It The Most Interesting Version"
The Gorge has a very happy ending. Were there any alternate endings to the movie, or is this always how it was meant to be?
Anya Taylor-Joy: I'm trying to [the] first draft…
Miles Teller: The ending was always that they were going to be together. We tried to make it the most interesting version.
Anya Taylor-Joy: There were different locations, I think.
Miles Teller: It was really just a location thing.
About The Gorge
Two highly-trained operatives (Miles Teller and Anya Taylor-Joy) are appointed to posts in guard towers on opposite sides of a vast and highly classified gorge, protecting the world from an undisclosed, mysterious evil that lurks within. They bond from a distance while trying to stay vigilant in defending against an unseen enemy. When the cataclysmic threat to humanity is revealed to them, they must work together in a test of both their physical and mental strength to keep the secret in the gorge before it’s too late.
Check out our previous The Gorge interview with:
The Gorge is now streaming on Apple TV+.
The Gorge
- Release Date
- February 28, 2025
- Runtime
- 127 Minutes
- Director
- Scott Derrickson
Cast
Levi
Drasa
WHERE TO WATCH
The Gorge follows two elite snipers assigned to guard opposite sides of a deep, impenetrable gorge. As they undertake their mysterious mission, they remain unaware of what lies beneath them, testing their skills and resolve in this suspense-filled narrative.
- Writers
- Zach Dean
- Main Genre
- Action
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