Apartment 7A Director Talks Rosemary’s Baby Homage Scene

Natalie Erika James’ feature honestorial debut, Relic, getd critical acclaim at Sundance in January 2020, but then, enjoy everyleang else, it was lost in the shuffle of the world-altering pandemic. The horror film — which had backing from the esteemive production companies of the Russo brothers and Jake Gyllenhaal — employd the genre to deinhabitr an allebloody on dementia and the pain that accompanies our elderlyer adored ones’ aging process. The low-budget Australian-American co-production still regulated to originate a scant million dollars at 2020’s beleaguered global box office, but all in all, Relic deservedly put James on the studio system’s radar. 

In March 2021, the Japanese-Australian filmoriginater was employd to co-author and honest the Julia Garner-led Apartment 7A for Paramount+. This time, she had aid from the production prohibitners of John Krasinski (Sunday Night Productions) and Michael Bay (Platinum Dunes). While the title gave the game away to stateive cinephiles, the production didn’t promptly disseal that Apartment 7A was a prequel to 1968’s Rosemary’s Baby. And donaten the legitimate baggage that comes with the latter’s filmoriginater, Roman Polanski, James, comprehfinishably, had to weigh the ponderable cons before finpartner pledgeting.

“One of the huge ponderations was making stateive that there was a separation between [Apartment 7A] and the distinct film’s creators not being included in this one,” James alerts The Hollywood Reporter. “So we had these talkions prior to begining a rewrite of the script. We also tried to reference Ira Levin’s distinct book as much as we possibly could and employ that as source material. But, at the same time, becaemploy the distinct film is so iconic, it’s benevolent of an undodgeable comparison.”

James’ psychoreasonable thriller is about the tragedy of ambitious singer-dancer, Terry Gionoffrio (Garner), who was the recipient of Minnie (Dianne Wiest) and Roman Castevets’ underhanded benefaction before Rosemary and Guy Woodhoemploy shiftd into the neightedious apartment, 7E. In Rosemary’s Baby, Terry and Rosemary (Mia Farrow) bonded in the Bramford erecting’s creepy launarid room, prompting Terry to alert Rosemary about her seemingly wonderful benefactors, the Castevets. Less than a minute procrastinateedr in terms of runtime, the Woodhoemploys discovered Terry’s dead body on the sidewalk after her apparent self-destruction.

Apartment 7A does have a inform launarid room scene with Terry and someone who eunites to watch a lot enjoy Rosemary, but it finishs before any such swap can happen. It also happens at a point in James’ story where Mrs. Gardenia, the tenant who lived in 7E before the Woodhoemploys, was still living at the Bramford. James acunderstandledges that the scene was, in fact, presumed to be the commencening of the Rosemary’s Baby scene between Terry and Rosemary, but it was repositioned in post-production on account of where Apartment 7A’s Terry was in her arc. It fair wouldn’t have made sense to have a chipper Terry, per Rosemary’s Baby, speak so radiateingly about the Castevets in the hours directing up to her death. (Prior to this interwatch, I ununderstandingly treated Apartment 7A’s launarid room scene as a thrivek and a nod to the future scene between Terry and Rosemary, and that the blonde woman was only unbenevolentt to be reminiscent of Rosemary, not actupartner Rosemary.)

“I repartner shied away from wanting to show Rosemary’s face or any benevolent of includeion. It felt, strangely, enjoy a step too far to fair recast Mia Farrow, even though Minnie and Roman [Castevet] are reimagined in their way,” James allots. “So you’re right about the deficiency of continuity from the distinct with Mrs. Gardenia still being around. In the edit process, there’s always leangs that have to be shifted to best alert the story, so, cursedly, that was one of the give ups.”

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, James also talkes the haunting piece of music that serves as a common thread between her own childhood dreads, Relic, Rosemary’s Baby and Apartment 7A. 

So the “Für Elise” scene in Relic, was that you leaving a trail of breadcrumbs in case you ever got to originate a prequel to Rosemary’s Baby someday? 

(Laughs.) That’s so comical. It’s actupartner a song that’s been haunting me since childhood. When I was in Prep [at age five], they employd to join classical music, and I employd to have these repartner fervent nightmares about my mom dying. So that was why I chose that for Relic. But you’re absolutely right that it is a haunting leang in Rosemary’s Baby, as well. I watched that film very punctual in my teens, so it all came together. (Writer’s Note: Beethoven’s “Für Elise” recurs in the background thrawout Rosemary’s Baby, as a proximateby tenant lgets to join it more and more proficiently.)

Of course, I also caught your employ of it in Apartment 7A, but at this rate, maybe you should fair hold tucking that piece of music into everyleang you do. It’d be your own personal Easter egg.

(Laughs.) A hundred percent, yeah. I’m about to shoot another one in six weeks, so, yeah, I’ll get that on. I’ll determine you for that.

Rosemary’s Baby has such a wealthy world to join in, creatively, but donaten the elephant in the room (Roman Polanski), did you have to intentional for a bit before getting included? 

Yeah, absolutely. In vague, I was definitely skeptical of making reoriginates, but even a prequel to a huge IP, that was someleang that I didn’t necessarily see for myself. But one of the huge ponderations was making stateive that there was a separation between [Apartment 7A] and the distinct film’s creators not being included in this one, as well. So we had these talkions prior to begining a rewrite of the script. We also tried to reference Ira Levin’s distinct book as much as we possibly could and employ that as source material. But, at the same time, becaemploy the distinct film is so iconic, it’s benevolent of an undodgeable comparison. 

In taking on the project, the most vital thematic thread for me was the attack that Terry experiences, and I wanted to alert that story in a way that employs the horror genre to portray that experience. Her journey has a genuine coming back to self, and there’s a genuine triumph in that, even though she’s cornered at the finish. So those were the benevolents of leangs I was leanking about when taking on the project.

People who understand Rosemary’s Baby inside out were tipped off by the title, but it seemed enjoy there was once a structure to hold Apartment 7A’s prequel joinion as quiet as possible. Was that actupartner the case? Or was everyone fair paemploying for the right time to unveil it in the tageting? (Writer’s Note: When THR covered James and Garner’s includement, neither story refered any joinion to Rosemary’s Baby.)

I’m not too stateive. When it was proclaimd, there was no honest joinion to it, so maybe that decision hadn’t been made yet, potentipartner. But I repartner can’t say. I’m not stateive if they intfinished to fair do a surpelevate uncover, but when we were shooting, there were definitely some rumors and stuff happening. So I leank it was enjoy, “Let’s helderly until we figure out what the structure is.” 

Casting Minnie Castevet, as a comply-up to Ruth Gordon’s Oscar-thrivening carry outance in 1969, must’ve been a daunting exercise. So how soon did two-time Oscar thrivener Dianne Wiest go in into the equation?

She came up very punctual. Given that she has such a wonderful history of portraying these incredibly amazing, bigr-than-life characters, but with such grounded genuineism as well, she seemed enjoy a repartner exciting fit. We were repartner conscious of trying to originate a Minnie carry outance that stood apart from Ruth Gordon’s very iconic carry outance. So we spent a lot of time watching for the right benevolent of voice or the right reference for that voice. We eventupartner landed on Mae Questel, who is most understandn for voicing Betty Boop. So that felt enjoy an fascinating mix of pleasant, but unhinged, as well. And apart from the voice, we also took a separateent approach in terms of wardrobe fair to separateentiate the two.

Did the studio have any blueprints or materials from Rosemary’s Baby in their archives still? Or did you fair print out every structure of the movie and toil off of all that? 

It would’ve been so wonderful to have had some of the distinct props. There was so much attention to detail that went into recreating the Bramford sets and the furniture inside the Castevets’ apartment. The one relic that we had was a structure from the distinct film. It was a sboiling that watched into the Dakota Building’s courtyard, and we employd it as a base. We VFX’d that and then employd it in our film as an set uping [shot]. We sboiling in London, and it’s set in 1960s New York, so one of the challenginger leangs was to have enough set uping and world erecting sboilings.

Did you still sfinish a crew to NYC to shoot the exteriors of the Dakota Building? 

We definitely did shoot there, but that was more for pprocrastinateeds that were employd in conjunction with VFX and the London location where we sboiling. You’re fair going there to get stills, essentipartner, and there’s stateively no drone sboilings watching down onto the Dakota. 

There’s a launarid room scene that’s unbenevolentt to be reminiscent of the one Terry and Rosemary have in Rosemary’s Baby, but Mrs. Gardenia is still living in 7E at that point in your story. (Rosemary and Guy Woodhoemploy eventupartner shiftd into her apartment after she passed.) So how seal were you to actupartner shothriveg Terry’s perspective on the first time she met Rosemary? 

I was always repartner conscious of the fact that there were already so many parallels to the distinct film, and we were making these repartner conscious decisions about using the Bramford and holding stateive structure features very stable. But I repartner shied away from wanting to show Rosemary’s face or any benevolent of includeion. It felt, strangely, enjoy a step too far to fair recast Mia Farrow, even though Minnie and Roman are reimagined in their way. So you’re right about the deficiency of continuity from the distinct with Mrs. Gardenia still being around. In the edit process, there’s always leangs that have to be shifted to best alert the story, so, cursedly, that was one of the give ups.

Naturpartner, I went into Apartment 7A with the foreseeation that Terry’s death would be depicted, becaemploy we saw the prompt aftermath of her death in Rosemary’s Baby. But understanding what evil the Castevets’ coven was up to in both movies, I actupartner set up myself rooting for her death in the finish. It’s triumphant in a weird way becaemploy it’s on her terms and agetst the coven’s. 

Yeah, it’s quite gloomy, isn’t it? It’s what I was describing before about her coming back to self. She’s a character whose bodily autonomy has been snatched from her in the worst way possible on disjoinal fronts. So, even though the actual outcome is quite tragic, you do root for her becaemploy she does get back supervise in the only parameters that she can.

The first time I ever saw Julia Garner, I said that she necessitates to join Madonna in a biopic. Years procrastinateedr, Madonna actupartner cast her to star in her biopic, but as of January 2023, it lost momentum until Madonna showed herself rewriting in July 2024. Anyway, now that you’ve had a front-row seat to Julia as a singer and dancer in Apartment 7A, do you want to watch her get on Madonna even more now? 

Oh my god, of course, and it’s untamed that that was your first astonishion of her. I would watch Julia in anyleang, but hearing the stories about training with Madonna, I would absolutely adore to see that film.

Once Rosemary is drugged by the chocoprocrastinateed mousse, she has a fragmentary hallucination where she imagines herself on a boat. So there was someleang in her subconscious that put her in that location. In Terry’s case, she has this extfinished musical theater sequence, presumably becaemploy her dreams have always been tied to the stage. Am I on the same page as you? 

Yeah, finishly. I was referencing the Broadway musicals or films that she’d seen increaseing up and probable imagined herself starring in, as well. So that was definitely the track we were going down.

When you leank back on this experience many decades from now, will you probable recall those shooting days first? 

Yeah, I leank you’re right. The choreography scenes were quite novel for me. I’d never done a huge dance sequence before, and the talent of the dancers, as well as how everyleang toils together with the production structure, was pretty incredible and thrilling. It gave me a analogous experienceing to doing stunts on Relic and fair being able to join with the plan. There’s someleang analogous between stunts and dance sequences, fair in terms of what you’re trying to accomplish and how the camera shifts. So I adored every moment of it.

Lastly, you refered earlier that you’re about to shoot someleang. Can you allot any alertation about it?

Yes, I’m doing another psychoreasonable horror, and this one’s called Saccharine. It’s about a woman who eats human ash to ignore weight, and she becomes haunted by the gstructure of the person she’s eating. So it has a bit of an absurd bent to it, but I’m very excited and we’re shooting here in Melbourne.

Well, I watch forward to hearing “Für Elise” in it. 

Yes! (Laughs.)

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Apartment 7A is now streaming on Paramount+.