James Wan taking a chance

With Insidious, James Wan was taking a chance. Although he had made “torture-porn” films, he wanted to make a haunted-house thriller that relied on suspense and atmosphere instead of gore and blood. He said, “Making something that’s scary and creepy is extremely hard, and I relish that challenge.”
 

Patrick Wilson on Insidious

 What set the tone for the whole shoot was when the star Patrick Wilson bounded onto the makeup trailer, shook my hand, and said, "Hi. I'm Patrick Wilson. Thanks for being in our movie. We're going to have fun."

Are we dead? Insidious.

Director Wan had me sit on the couch with the girl playing one of my daughters beside me.

In this scene Patrick Wilson comes in with a high-tech lantern, trying to see if we were alive or dead. As we would do the scene, repeatedly the crew continued to pump smoke close to the floor.

Working on the set

 Next day report to the living room of House #1. Inside, it was dark and smoky, smoke machines, not cigarettes. To the right, was a dining room table that looked like someone got up and left during a three-course dinner. It reminded me of The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland.

Something is wrong

 So, since Patrick's character is looking for his son, Dalton, we must play dead as he passes with the light.

Unfortunately, my wife blinks when Patrick looks at her, thus giving us away. (This was meant to be and was in the script. It was Patrick’s clue that something was wrong.)

Waiting for cables and lights

 The strange woman assigned to be my wife was there and spoke not at all. The two girls playing my twin girls looked similar but, close-up, they looked nothing like each other except for the make-up. We extras sat there to wait as cables and lights were set.

Insidious we get killed

My newspaper is quivering. Patrick hears a gun being cocked and hears three gunshots. When he returns to the living room, one daughter, and my wife, and I are all dead. He realizes that the other daughter shot us. Patrick thinks we are smiling at him, and then he heads up the stairs.

Insidious did well

James Wan was pleased that Insidious crossed the $50 million mark in the US and ended up with a worldwide gross of $97,009,150, almost a hundred million. That gives the indie horror pic, made for under $1.5 million, the best cost-to-gross ratio of 2011, a good measurement of profitability.
 

Extras on Insidious.

About a half-dozen actors in dead makeup gathered, each reading, eating, or chatting. A few people would be taken to the set to film scenes. Late in the day, Moose came back and said, "I'm sorry they can't get to your scene. We'll do it tomorrow."

No problem. I got paid $350 for eating breakfast.

Working for James Wan

 I worked under the guidance of James Wan, a director who, at the time, was best known for writing and directing Saw, a “torture porn” film. I got a call from Prime Casting telling me I was up for a featured character part in a film which was then called The Astral. (It was changed to Insidious.)

Costume for Insidious

 

Heather from Prime Casting said, "There'll be a paid costume fitting and you'll start on the 12th of April." My role was a 1940s father, so costuming was important. I only had one costume fitting because I told the truth about my sizes. "You won't believe how many actors lie about their sizes."

Last film: Insidious

 

The last film I made in April 2010 before leaving LA was the feature horror film Insidious. I have a featured role as a “whistling 1940’s ghost dad.” For years, YouTube viewers have told me about how scary my scene is. On YouTube, they call the 2-minute scene “The Smiling Family.”