Ahead of the release of the new psychological thriller A Cure For Wellness, directed by Gore Verbinski, one of the film’s main stars Mia Goth spoke about how she jumped at the chance of being involved with the project.

The film sees a young employee named Lockhart (played by Dane DeHaan) heading to a seemingly innocuous looking treatment centre in the Swiss Alps to track down his boss. While there, he meets another patient, Hannah (played by Goth), and together they begin to come across rather more sinister goings-on…

Speaking about her character and the experience of taking in the script for the first time, 23 year old model and actress Goth said how “gripping” she found it.

Mia GothMia Goth stars in 'A Cure For Wellness'

“I thought the script was the most gripping thing I’d ever read, I didn’t put it down from start to finish. I had to read it three times to fully wrap my head around what it is the story’s telling, and what it is that Hannah goes through with her story. There’s a transformation that’s so intense and painful at times to become the woman that she’s meant to be – I couldn’t not be a part of it.”

“When we first meet her, she comes across as this extremely innocent, naïve and quite sheltered young girl. She’s never been encouraged to question whether there’s any sinister, more ulterior motives behind the sanatorium… …one day she meets Lockhart [DeHaan’s character], and he acts like a pinprick to her… from then on they start to question everything they considered to be real and true.”

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Asked about her working relationship with her co-star Dane DeHaan, Goth was fulsome in her praise. “I’d always wanted to work with Dane, I love everything that he does, and I think he’s a really talented actor. He’s also a very giving actor, you know, he’s always willing to explore moments with you, and that’s a very rare trait in an actor.

“I learned a lot from him – it’s very minimal what he does, but very effective, and you can’t help but be pulled into what he’s doing. I just feel very grateful to have had the chance to work with him.”

About working with Gore Verbinski, she was similarly enthusiastic, remembering how great it was that she and the rest of the cast were given a great degree of trust in their roles, and needed little direction.

“Gore has a really creative mind – the scope of what he’s able to envision is really quite incredible. Coming to the set every day really feels like you’re tapping into your inner five-year-old – it never feels like work, it feels like playtime! He trusts you [as an actor] so you instinctively trust him back, and as a result there’s a lot of space to create, to explore a moment.” 

A Cure For Wellness is released on February 17th.

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