In Sony Pictures Entertainment’s upcoming horror-thriller Until Dawn, director David F. Sandberg and writer-producer Gary Dauberman weren’t just casting for roles—they were selecting survivors for a cinematic ordeal. The film, a bloody and mind-bending descent into survival horror, demanded more than just strong performances. It required raw, relentless commitment.
“We wanted actors who were willing to go all the way,” says Sandberg. “This wasn’t going to be a comfortable shoot. It meant crawling through dirt, being drenched in blood, and screaming like your life depended on it—over and over again.”
Leading the charge is Ella Rubin, who stars as the film’s central character, Clover. Her performance involved everything from enduring bear traps to being dragged across the ground, soaked in fake blood.
“Ella, like the rest of the cast, always had to go full on,” says producer Lotta Losten. “When you’re dying repeatedly on screen, there’s no glamor to it—just raw horror. And Ella captured that perfectly.”
Rubin embraced the challenge. “It was exhausting, exciting, and kind of delicious,” she says. “When your character is constantly fighting for survival and being chased by a monster with an axe, you can’t fake it. You have to live it.”
Other cast members brought the same level of intensity. Michael Cimino, known for his previous dramatic roles, had to be asked to tone down his knife-swinging during fight scenes. Ji-young Yoo stunned the team with her audition tape—what Losten described as “the most brutal self-tape I’ve ever seen.” Playing a psychic possessed by multiple souls, Yoo had to channel rapid shifts in emotion and identity, often in the same breath.
“Her screams felt real, like she was being torn apart inside,” Sandberg recalls. “That’s what we were looking for—actors who didn’t just perform horror, they felt it.”
That visceral authenticity defines Until Dawn. For Sandberg and Dauberman, creating a terrifying, immersive experience meant surrounding themselves with a cast that would lean into the madness, no matter how intense.
Until Dawn hits Indian theatres in Hindi and English on April 25, 2025.