He’dwantedtofora longtime,fornoreasonotherthana deep
loveofStanleyKubrick’sTheShining, butthiswasa particularly
covertcosplay:whilepromotinghissecondfeatureUs, hearrived
fora filmedinterviewseeminglyincognitoina plaidshirtandred
corduroyjacket.Oneeagle-eyedTheShininggeekspottedthe
reference,though,dulyscreen-grabbingit andtweetingit tothe
moviemasses.“Allworkandnoplay,”respondedPeele,’fessingup.
“Itwasjusta funthing,”hesaysnow.“Ihonestlydidn’texpect
anyonetopickuponit,butit wascoolthattheydid.ButI would
havedonethatyearsbeforeI wasa filmmakeranddoingpress.The
Easteregglifeis a wayoflife.”Helaughs.Buthe’snotjoking.
It’s1pminLosAngeles,andPeeleis lunchingatcasa
Monkeypaw,hisproductioncompanynestledintheHollywood
Hills,takinga breakfrom“shiftingbetweenseveralwriting
projects”totalktoEmpire. Thishouseis fullofEastereggs:the
armchairthatlowerstheheroofGetOutintotheSunkenPlace
liveshere,asdoesRose’sfranklyevillittlebagfromthesamefilm,
whilethewallsfeatureGetOutfanartalongsideofficialposters.
Peele’smoviesarelikewisefullofhiddenhintsandclues.The
twohehasmadesofarpracticallybegtobewatched multiple times,
inmultipleways.Theyboastlayersuponlayers
uponlayers,soyoucandrilldownthroughthe
pureentertainmentofit all,intoincisivesocial
commentary.Healso,ofcourse,paystributeto
allthatcamebefore.TheSilenceOfTheLambs,
HalloweenandHitchcockinspiredGetOut, and
areallhomagedwithin,whilethefilmis littered
withsubtleTheShiningreferences,aswellasnods
toJawsandChristine. Suchshenanigansalso
aboundinUs, whichbeginsin 1986 onthesame
SantaCruzboardwalkonwhich1987’sTheLost
Boyswasfilmed.“Youknow,they’reshooting
a movieovertherebythecarousel,”saysone
character.Peeleis massivelymeta.He’salways
bledgenre.Now,asHollywood’s new horror
master, he’s bathinginit.
•••
PEELECALLSMONKEYPAW“alittlebitof
anescapefromtherestofLA”,a “creativehaven”
inwhichhecanwork.Thatsaid,it’sbiggerthanit
usedbe.Backwhenit producedGetOut, hesays,
“Itwasa companyofjustone.”Thereare 11 on
theteamnow.Hisempireis growingquickly.
Peele’sdirectorialdebutsmashedbarriers
acrosstheboard.ProducerSeanMcKittrick
tookit onatthedraft-scriptstagebecause,he
latersaid,he’d“neverseenthatmoviebefore”.
Nobodyhad.Athrilleraboutwealthywhite
peopleharvestingblackbodies,it washorrificand
hilarious,andhada profoundeffectonaudiences.
Somehadneverbeforefeltsokeenlyrepresented;
othersweresuddenlyfacedwithsomeself-
reckoning, such was Peele’s portrayal of everyday
microaggressions.Hisfollow-up,lastyear’sdoppelgängermonster
movieUs, wasjustasboldandunique.Andbothwereshotsinthe
armforhorror,Peeleprovidingtheshockofthenewtwice,
refreshinga genrethat’sfuelledhimfromthestart.
He’shad“alifelongrelationship”withit,hesays,explaining
his“declarationandcommitmenttohorror”—he’snotaboutto
makea knockaboutcomedy.“Itbeganasa troubledrelationship.
I havea vividimagination,asyoucanprobablytell.Andhorror
movies,whendoneright,usetheaudience’simaginationagainst
them.Youhearthephrase‘lessis more’inhorror,whatyoudon’t
showis thescariestthing,andI believethat’strue.I wasplagued
withnightmares,andwakingnightmares,whenI wasa child,based
sometimesonpiecesorimagesfromhorrormoviesthatI’dsee.”
RaisedinManhattan,Peelewasafraidofthedarkandthe
unknown,andwassoondrawntowardsthingsthatheightenedhis
fears.Afriendwasallowedtorentwhichevermovieshewanted,
andwithhim“morbidcuriosity”compelledPeeletosoakup
horrorssuchasA NightmareOnElmStreetandTheShining, even
thoughtheyterrifiedhimtothepointofsleeplessness.“Mymother
wouldsay,‘Whydothattoyourself ?Don’twatchthesemovies.’
Thatpushandpullbetweenthefascinationwiththedarknessand
thenalsojustbeinghauntedandtorturedbyit wasveryprofound.”
Bythetimehewas12,hesays,“somethinghadtogive”.He
realisedthatif thisstuffwasaffectinghimsodeeply,it mustbe
incredibleartisticwork.Hewasalwayscreative:hedrewpictures
constantly,andwas“bigintostorycreation,charactercreation”.
Thenonenightona schooltripwithhisfriends,the13-year-old
Peeletolda ghoststoryaroundthecampfire,spunfromanurban
legend.Ashedidso,shiversrippledamonghisfrightened
classmates.ThisnewfoundpowerquashedsomeofPeele’sown
fears;outinthewoods,inthedark,hefeltinvincible.“Ifeltlike,
if you can’t beatthemonsters,jointhemonsters.”
Ashehithisteenshebeganseriouslystudying
horror,havinghad“abreakthrough”after
watchingDavidCronenberg’sTheFlyand
KathrynBigelow’sNearDark. “Theappreciation
forthosefilmsoutweighedhowdisturbedI was,”
hesays.“Wewereinvitedtoidentifywiththe
monster.That’swhenI startedbingeing,seeingall
thehorrormoviesI could.”Hedecidedthereand
thentobea horrorfilmdirector,butthatfellaway
afterhegotintoimprovcomedyatuniversity,
eventuallymeetingactorandcomedianKeegan-
MichaelKeyandforminghugelysuccessfuldouble
actKey& Peele.ButPeele’sfirstloveneverleft
him.“I’dalwaysbelookingfora movietoscareme
again,”hesays.“There’sa warmthtoreplaying
one’schildhood,andoneofthemorepowerful
andpotentemotionsfrommychildhoodwasfear.”
Thissearchcamewitha disappointmentin
whatthehorrorlandscapehadbecome.Post-9/11,
hesays,Americaneededtopurge,anda waveof
torture-pornfilmsarrived.Someheliked,“but
thereweretoomany,andtheysucked.It
frustratedmeasa horrorfan.MaybeI’ma bitof
a horrorsnob.Butseeingthesuccessofthegenre
andfindingfewerandfewerhorrorfilmsthatI
foundcompellingwentintothisrecipeof,‘You
know what? I’m supposedtobe making these.’”•••
GETOUTBEGANgerminatingafterBarack
ObamabecamePresidentin2009.Peeledidnot
buyintowhathehascalledthe“post-raciallie”,
a feelingatlargethatObama’svictoryspeltthe
end of racism. Peele wanted to tell a horrorJORDAN
PEELE
DRESSED
AS JACK
TORRANCE
THIS
YEAR.
Facingpage:
Peele:“I was
frustratedas
a horrorfan.”
Below:A trioof
influences:
StanleyKubrick’s
TheShining;
David
Cronenberg’s
TheFly; Kathryn
Bigelow’s
Near Dark.❯