Any indie horror devotee knows good and well who Maika Monroe is. She burst onto the scene with David Robert Mitchell’s 2014 sleeper hit It Follows and has since garnered a cult fanbase by starring in similarly offbeat but high-quality scary movies, like 2019’s madcap Villains, the sci-fi thriller Significant Other (opposite The White Lotus’s Jake Lacy), and Chloe Okuno’s suspenseful 2022 stalker flick The Watcher. Monroe has carved out her niche by choosing projects that trade in the shock value of gratuitous gore and jump scares for more slow burn, considered storytelling—and with her Hitchcockian looks and effortlessly California cool vibe (she grew up in Santa Barbara), it makes sense that nearly every bit of coverage on the 31-year-old will assure you she’s been flirting with superstardom for about a decade (she appeared on this magazine’s cover in 2015, in fact).
But 2024 is Monroe’s biggest year yet, thanks to Longlegs, the serial killer chiller from writer and director Osgood “Oz” Perkins—himself of horror royal lineage, with his father portraying Norman Bates in Psycho. In Longlegs, Monroe plays Lee Harker, an FBI agent assigned to track down the titular Satanic serial killer, played by a completely off-leash, unrecognizable Nicolas Cage. Buzz for the film has reached a frenzy among horror fans, thanks in part to brilliant marketing by distributor Neon, including cryptic billboards advertising a phone number that leads to bloodcurdling audio of Cage crooning and a teaser playing Monroe’s actual heart rate spike upon meeting him in character for the first time.
But the hype actually holds up. With clear parallels to 1991’s Silence of the Lambs (which makes Monroe’s Harker Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling), the truly terrifying film doesn’t so much go from 0 to 100 as it starts at 100 and stays there. Cage’s Longlegs gives a new meaning to the word villain; donning freaky prosthetics and eerily pitching up his voice, the character is so scary that audiences will have to wait to meet him, as he’s not even in the trailer. As Harker, Monroe anchors the thriller’s grisly twists with terse, calculated restraint, making her the beating heart, literally, of the story.
And while Monroe isn’t particularly angling for the kind of fame that makes going to the grocery store impossible, she’s become one of the most artful scream queens in a generation with some formidable contenders. After recently going public with her new boyfriend, Dalton Gomez (Ariana Grande’s ex-husband), and a highly-anticipated It Follows sequel on the docket, she might need to get used to being recognized. The best time to get her on your radar might’ve been ten years ago, but the second best time is now.
What was it that called you to Longlegs?
I had seen Oz [Perkins]’s Hansel and Gretel, but it was really the script on this one. I was obsessed with it. I grew up loving crime thrillers and I was like, I need to do this.
What was it like working with Nicolas Cage?
It was insane. I didn’t meet him prior; the director didn’t want us to. I didn’t see any photos of what he’d look like. They called “action” and I walked in and saw everything for the first time while the cameras were rolling. I was blown away. There are no remnants of Nic Cage, that’s just a monster. Obviously I grew up obsessed with him, he’s an absolute icon. To be sitting across from him and in all his prosthetics, I mean, he transformed, and it was a dream to work with him.
Does working on such disturbing films ever put you in a weird place mentally?
Yes! I’ve figured out ways to protect my mental state. It’s a very bizarre industry and a very bizarre job. Especially in a movie like Longlegs, 12 hours a day, you’re in this very dark mental state. I always bring a friend with me to set now as an “assistant,” so they get paid to come and hang out. It’s the best. I wrap the day and then we go home and drink wine and watch Survivor.
What do you think about the state of horror these days, going from the teen slashers of the early aughts to more elevated fare?
Some of my favorite movies in the past ten years have been in the genre. It Follows, The Witch, and Babadook all came out around the same time—we’d overlap at film festivals. That was the beginning of this shift, and it was very cool to watch. Incredible filmmakers are stepping into this space, and it’s an incredible time for [horror].
Within horror, you’re in the indie world a lot of the time. What keeps you coming back?
There’s a very important intimacy on these sets. There’s a lot more collaboration. There are fewer cooks in the kitchen, which makes it easier to be on the same page and have a linear vision. I love it. It’s my home.
How would you characterize your relationship to fame?
There are times when people will come up and be like, ‘Ah, fuck, I love that movie!’ That’s what you hope for, that your projects connect with and move people. I feel like I’m in a very lucky space. I’m just quite content right here.
You were once a professional kiteboarder. Are there any transferable skills going from athletics to acting?
Drive and determination are key. The training element and the dedication that I gave to that are absolutely necessary to go professional. It’s similar with acting. You’re told “no” so many times, you’re put down so many times. You have to keep getting back up and pushing through. It’s fucking hard. But if it’s what you love to do and you have the drive, it’s all worth it.
What would you like to do next?
A rom-com would be great. I feel like there’s a lack. The ’90s and early 2000s were crushing it with the rom-coms. If anyone’s got one of those, I would love to do that. Might be easier on my mental state.