JUST HARRIED

Miranda Otto and Anthony LaPaglia talk dolls and married strife...

You play a couple with a mysterious past. Tell us about Samuel and Esther.

ANTHONY LAPAGLIA Samuel’s an optimistic person but, after the experiences he and his wife have had, they’re crushed individuals. After what happened to them, esther really wanted to have children around, which is why they allow these kids to stay. MIRANDA OTTO In my mind, it was something they’d heard about or read about; they were so moved by the story of these orphaned children that they thought it’d be great for them to come and stay.

Had you seen the first film before this?

AL No, I hadn’t and I didn’t watch it because this is a prequel and I didn’t want to be influenced by anything in the film. I had seen The Conjuring but I wasn’t really aware of how big that or the whole franchise was. MO I’d seen it. I really enjoyed it; I admired the fact that the story was really strong and the performances were good. I believed in them as a couple and what was going on. I enjoyed that aspect of it, rather than the smash-and-grab horror kind of thing.

Is it fun going back to the start of the Conjuring timeline?

MO Yeah, it’s the earliest part of the whole story, the creation of this doll. I love all the period stuff. It’s the backstory of how everything came about, and the way that the films are interwoven. It’s very clever. AL I’m hoping for a sequel called The Dollmaker [laughs]. I kept joking about it, I’m not sure anybody took the hint. I loved the idea that Samuel was a craftsman and he spent a lot of time putting detail into [the dolls], to the point where he may have attributed a life-like quality to them before all [the horror] happens.

What was it like working with the girls?

MO They’re really good. They came in to see the make-up being done on me one day, but I didn’t get to hang out with them a lot. I was really impressed when I saw them in the film. Talitha has a great quality. AL They were a very lively bunch of girls, they were a lot of fun, but I kind of thought, “You know what, I want to maintain distance from them. I want to remain that guy who’s creeping around in the background [laughs].”