The ‘Haunted Mansion’ Team Tried To Film Jamie Lee Curtis’ Head Inside a Real Crystal Ball
Disney’s Haunted Mansion brought 999 ghosts from the Disney Parks to the big screen, but it turns out that for director Justin Simien the biggest scare didn’t come from a ghost at all.
According to the Dear White People director, the scariest part of shooting Haunted Mansion wasn’t Hatbox Ghosts or killer brides, it was the time they tried to film Jame Lee Curtis’ scenes with her head inside a real crystal ball.
Photo: Disney
“It absolutely was,” Simien explains of first attempting to shoot the Oscar-winning actress in a way that most accurately replicated the way her Madame Leota. “It was certainly encased in a lot of motion detector cameras. There was a ball on set. I think we had it so that if Jamie wanted to get in this thing and suffocate in order to act off of the other actors, it was technically possible, but I don’t think that lasted.”
According to Simien, although most of the legendary actress’ scenes were her head inside a CGI crystal ball, Curis was always present on set.
Photo: Disney
“It was attempted and possible,” he says, laughing as he recalls trying to use the practical ball. “And then we were kind of like, ‘Yeah, no. We’re just going to do it like this.'”
An Original Take On The Character
Although Madame Leota is easily one of the most recognizable characters in Disney’s Haunted Mansion attractions, Curtis and costume designer Jeffrey Kurland teamed up for a “new interpretation of the character.”
Photo: Disney
“[With] the history, the lore of the house, we decided and found out that Madame Leota is Russian. Look at her costumes! Her costumes have this beautiful Russian influence. So, no, she was a total creation, primarily of Jeffrey Kurland,” Curtis told EW. “I feel like his interpretation partnered with Justin’s allowed me then to come in and do my thing. But, I really took my cues from him rather than the attraction himself.”
“Be Funnier”
As Curtis recalls, the only direction Simien ever gave her was to “be funnier.”
“‘Be funnier,’ is the only direction I ever got from Justin,” Curtis says. “It was just, ‘Jamie, can you do it again, but be funnier.’
Haunted Mansion is in theaters now.
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