"It Comes At Night" stars reveal if they could survive an apocalypse
"It Comes At Night" follows two families who find themselves reluctantly joining forces amidst an apocalyptic world where a deadly disease is on the loose. The claustrophobia-inducing film takes place mostly in one house for a very tense 97 minutes, in which viewers see the measures the characters take to protect their families.
The stars of "It Comes At Night" talked to CBS News and shared their thoughts on how ready they would be during an apocalypse -- and it turned out one of the actors did see his world disintegrate at one point in his life.
Kelvin Harrison Jr. -- who plays teenage son Travis in the film -- joked that he would perish, but revealed that he did live through an analogous situation when he was displaced by Hurricane Katrina.
The New Orleans native, who was 12 during Katrina, said, "You're away and you expect your parents to take care of it and you see things happening and it's confusing and you're like, 'OK, I don't really know what this means or if my family is there or my house is there.'"
He said that he brought some of that experience to the film: "'I'm trapped in this house [during Katrina] and get to use my imagination and have fun,' and that's kind of what Travis does. You cope in other ways."
Harrison said it was only after he finished shooting that he realized he had brought those childhood memories to develop his character.
"I was like, 'Why do I feel so strongly about this? Why is this bothering me this much?'" he said. "It felt too real most of the time and then I was like, 'OK, that's because I lived it.'"
He also credited his cast-mate, Carmen Ejogo, with helping him grow as an actor by teaching him how to listen: "Don't listen to speak, but to understand," he explained.
Ejogo, who plays wife and mom Sarah in the film, was eager to talk about her survival skills.
"I think I'd be great -- super-resourceful," she said. "I think I've been raised with sort of how to make ends meet, figure it out, see things from a left-field perspective … I'm pretty tough."
Joel Edgerton, who stars as stern and vigilant patriarch Paul, revealed that he would probably rely on Ejogo.
He took an optimistic approach and said, "I'd really enjoy the dismantling of all technology … no emails, no phone and really lean into the experience, but in all truth I'd probably just crumble and cry and say, 'Carmen, what do we do?'"
He cracked, "Yeah, the apocalypse -- look, it's all the way you view it … You think it's an apocalypse; I'm going to be in the pool."
Both Christopher Abbot and Riley Keough, who play young couple Will and Kim, had very little faith in their abilities to weather an apocalypse -- though Keough is looking to improve.
"I'd do horribly," said Keough. "I've actually been wanting to do survivalist courses."
Abbott said his cushy life in a city has taken its toll on his resourcefulness: "I feel like I've been in New York City too long," he said. "I'd just camp out at the Whole Foods and hope I survive."
Find out which characters actually survive in "It Comes At Night," which hits theaters on June 9.
