Exclusive: Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner Talk Lionsgate Thriller Fall (2024)

Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) is traumatized when her husband Dan (Mason Gooding) falls to his death on their mountain climbing expedition with Hunter (Virginia Gardner). Jump forward some time, and she hasn’t been herself since and resorts to drowning herself in booze. Hunter has been distant since Dan’s death, and her father (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) tries to help her move forward in life but fails time and time again.

Eventually, Hunter returns to try to help Becky by inviting her on another climbing expedition, this time avoiding the mountains and opting for an old rusty 2,000-foot radio tower instead. Becky agrees, and they climb to the top by using its decrepit ladder. As they attempt to make their way back down, the ladder gives, nearly killing Becky. Together, they’re faced with returning to the ground without any practical means to do so.

Fall is directed by Scott Mann, who also wrote the script with Jonathan Frank. Ahead of its release on August 12, 2022, Currey and Gardner joined us to talk about the making of the film.

Making the Climb

“It was 100 feet,” explained Gardner, “there was a 2,000-foot mountain top in the desert, and then they built a 100-foot tower on top of that mountain top. So, that’s what we were climbing but everything you see, when you see that landscape, we were actually 2,000 feet up when we were filming a lot of those things.”

“When Ginny and I first climbed up the tower and saw the view, and how high up we were, I got teary-eyed because I was so shocked by how beautiful it was. I think there’s an element of getting so high up and getting that bird’s eye view where you’re like, ‘Wow, I am so small,” and it’s kind of humbling,” added Currey.

Almost the entirety of the film takes place on the tower, which is an impressive climb to be making day in and day out. According to Currey and Gardner, they worked with trainers before the film, specifically noting that they had been prepped for the hot temperatures of working in the desert.

“I had a trainer that actually had me workout in sweatpants and sweatshirts outside in the heat to just get used to being under physically extreme conditions. But I don’t think any amount of training could have prepared us for the physical challenge that film brought to both of us,” commented Gardner.

“We definitely looked at each other on set — and a lot of this is a challenge, there’s a lot that we could complain about — and we said that we’re going to push… and we’re like, ‘I’m going to match you. You go for it, I’m going to go for it, too.’ But it was like working out outside every day,” said Currey.

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Working with Director Scott Mann and Surprises During Filming

“Scott was amazing,” said Gardner, “before we shot the movie and got to go to the desert, he actually built like a pizza-sized platform in his own backyard. And so we went to rehearse there, and he could really give us direction, and we could talk through the scenes and block them. Once we got up there, we were so high, we’d get up there, and then we would just stay there, and they’d pull up water and sunscreen and bring it back down, and if he was directing us, it was with a bullhorn. He would have to shout directions at us, which was fun.”

Gardner continued, reminiscing with Currey about how at some points, Mann would blast movie score at them through the bullhorn to get them in the mood for the scene. As for the most challenging part of filming, it was clear that climbing the tower and working around that was everyone’s pick, however, Currey did note that there were some surprising elements to that which weren’t initially considered.

“The tower does move a little bit. The way it was constructed, there’s a little bit of a sway. So, I do remember Ginny and I being up there and the winds getting really strong, and her and I looking at each other as being a little surprised,” said Currrey.

“And there were days when we couldn’t film because the wind was over 60 miles an hour. So, it wasn’t safe for us to be up that high when the winds were that crazy, and then we had a flying ant infestation that was swarming the tower to the point where we couldn’t climb because we would just get covered. There’s actually a few scenes in the movie where if you look closely, you can see the flying ants in my hair, which was certainly a surprise,” added Gardner.

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Friendship and Forgiveness in Fall

Throughout the film are elements of what it means to be a good friend, how to forgive, and more. Hunter rekindles her friendship with Becky after their traumatic experience in order to help her, among other scenarios that viewers will have to watch to find out more on.

“I think it’s a commentary on friendship and forgiveness, and also on top of that it’s kind of a commentary on living your life and not being afraid of getting out of your comfort zone and not feeling that when you’re in a rough patch, that hiding away is the best thing to do. It’s about overcoming fear,” said Gardner.

“And there’s definitely the element of loss and how loss can just keep you out of the running of life… I think there’s a big theme of being there for your friends and being able to see them through a hard time, and the support that Hunter ultimately wants to give Becky is to see her old friend live and be alive,” added Currey.

Fall comes to us from Lionsgate.