Alicia Witt absolutely disappears in her Longlegs role as Ruth Harker. So much so that it may take lifelong fans of her work a moment to recognize that it’s even her. A veteran of the screen, making her acting debut at the age of 7 in David Lynch’s Dune, she never slowed down. Her massive list of credits includes horror highlights like The Exorcist TV series and, of course, final girl Natalie Simon in Urban Legend.
Witt joined us to talk about working with Oz Perkins, unearthing the character of Ruth, the enduring legacy (and resurgence) of Urban Legend, and the desire to bring back Natalie Simon for an Urban Legend sequel.
Longlegs explores some complicated dynamics between a mother and daughter set against this backdrop of what some people are thinking is Silence of the Lambs. There are a lot of layers to this. Of all of those many layers, what bit appealed to you the most when you were reading the script?
For me, it was all about the character first and foremost. I read this script and I was blown away by that specific character and the complexity of her. I felt in my cells that I knew how to play Ruth, and everything in me was literally praying to God, “Please let this be mine because I know Ruth, I can do this.” Meeting with Oz, we had an hour-long Zoom getting to know each other where we talked about Ruth and our processes and discovered some eerie personal shared experiences that he and I had had.
We quickly developed a shorthand with each other. We discussed this character in deep detail, so it was Ruth’s dichotomies that appealed to me the most, which I won’t go into detail of to spoil anything, but she is a combination of so many different things, and I felt like she was deep inside of me and I had only to do the work.
When I showed up on set to let her out and to have a guide like Oz, to have that trust with him, it allowed me to fully immerse, fully channel her and fully let her go at the end of each scene and the end of each day. I didn’t take any of that heaviness home with me. I left it there on the set. It was really important for me to see.
You knocked it out of the park. It’s still in me. This is a movie that is going to stick in me probably forever.
I hope that’s okay.
It’s a great thing. You started acting as a kid and have just continued it ever since. Didn’t even take a break. Obviously, at FANGORIA, we love Urban Legend, and it feels like this whole new generation is now discovering it. It’s on TikTok and social media being touted as an “underrated classic.” Have you experienced this?
I have experienced this. It’s amazing. You never know as an actor. You make a movie, and then you let it go, and you go on to make other movies if you’re fortunate, which I have been, my goodness. But that was over 20, what, 25 years ago now? Right?
I like to pretend it was like three years ago. But yeah, you’re right.
I mean, I am so thrilled that people are now discovering it. And wow, there are other movies, too, that I never would’ve imagined. You don’t consider that when you’re making a movie. But I very much want to revisit Natalie in particular. She’s occurred to me many times over the years because both Natalie and I have grown so much. Who Natalie is 25 years later, how that might be similar to who I am 25 years later, and how that’s different — that’s something I deeply want to explore very much. And I have ideas. I know there’s been talk of doing a sequel over the years and I would long to play Natalie Simon again.
We would love to see it.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Watch our full video interview with Alicia Witt below.
Longlegs is now in theaters and in the latest issue of FANGORIA (on newsstands right now). Read more in our interview with Oz Perkins and Maika Monroe, and Longlegs co-star Blair Underwood.
