AUSTIN, Texas — Midway through filming "Us," Jordan Peele's much-anticipated second feature film, the comic-turned-director discovered he had a deep fear: His main star, Lupita Nyong'o. In between shoots, Nyong'o, seeped in character and dressed in her murderous red gown, would use her creepy movie voice to ask Peele for on-set requests, such as better snacks for the actors. "Lupita scared the s*** out of me!" Peele told an audience Friday following the world premiere of "Us" at the Paramount Theater in downtown Austin. That was one of a series of insights and behind-the-curtain confessions Peele and the cast of "Us" shared with an appreciative audience. The movie was featured as the opening film of the nine-day SXSW Conference and Festivals, which began Friday. "Us" tells the story of an upper-middle-class black family who, while on vacation, suddenly finds itself warring with evil doppelgängers of mysterious origins. It's Peele's second film, following the critical and box office success of "Get Out," which won Peele an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. "Get Out" was made for $4.5 million and earned $176 million in domestic ticket sales alone, according to boxofficemojo.com. "Us" is expected to surpass those numbers when it opens nationwide later this month, with an projected gross of $40 million its first weekend. If its buzzy premiere in Austin is any sign, "Us" is on its way to similar blockbuster status. Hopeful theatergoers began arriving at the Paramount three hours before the screening, standing in a line that snaked around three city blocks. Samuel Williams, visiting SXSW from San Francisco, arrived at the Paramount with friends about two hours before showtime. He said he was a big fan of Peele and Nyong'o but it was the movie's promise of insight into society he was most excited about. 'My god':Jordan's Peele's horror flick 'Us' earns raves at SXSW: Here are first reactions Related:'Us' star Winston Duke adores 'Avengers' run: 'I feel like a kid when I'm in Marvel Land' "I like the message of 'Get Out' and how multilayered it was about various experiences in the U.S.," he said. "I know 'Us' is going to, similarly, give us a look into the world of -- and the horrors associated with -- different points of views of the U.S. It should be really fun." Unlike "Get Out," which slowly seeps into its scary premise, "Us" takes less than an hour to shift into full horror mode, when the evil, red-robed family breaks into their victims' home, wielding menacing gold scissors and communicating in grunts. The film's actors played both characters -- the evil murderers and their unsuspecting victims -- and Peele said he shot those scenes separately. Shooting the normal family was fun; but when it came time to shoot the evil characters, the mood turned noticeably darker, he said. "It was a crazy experience," said Peele, answering audience questions along with the main cast. "Every one of these people on stage developed two characters, and not just in a two dimensional way, but three, four dimensional way. I really got everybody's individual crazy out of them. For that, I'm forever proud." The audience shrieked and laughed collectively throughout the film, as it veered between grisly horror scenes and funny interactions between members of the leading family. In trademark Peele fashion, "Us" is layered in symbolism and even biblical references, as when a man early in the film holds a cardboard sign reading, "Jeremiah 11:11." ("Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them.") That number -- 11:11 -- reappears later in the film as the time on a digital clock, just before the carnage begins. Later, a carnival worker is seen wearing a Black Flag T-shirt, a punk rock band of the 1970s and '80s whose logo was four vertical black bars. Ten-year-old Evan Alex, who plays the family's young son, as well as his evil twin, Pluto, said it took time to get used to the movie's horror premise. "I'm very scared of this film: blood, scissors -- nope," he said. But as he got to know his fellow cast members better, things changed. "Acting is like playing around with your friends," he said. Peele said he began writing "Us" at a time when deep divisions and fears plagued the U.S. "Whether it is the mysterious invader we think is going to come and kill us, take our jobs, or the faction, that we don't live near, that voted in a different way than us, we're all out pointing the finger," he said. He added: "I wanted to suggest that maybe the monster we really need to look at has our face. Maybe the evil is us." Follow Jervis on Twitter: @MrRJervis.<doc-sep>Cancel the rest of 2019 — Lupita Nyong'o just served up the most creative red-carpet beauty look of the year, and it's hard to imagine it will be surpassed. The Oscar-winning actor arrived at the world premiere of her latest film, Jordan Peele's Us, and the SXSW festival in Austin more or less stopped in its tracks to gawk at her gorgeous edginess. To learn how she arrived at the look, Allure spoke to with Nyong'o's makeup artist, Nick Barose, who relied entirely on Lancôme products. “The look is inspired by the fierce '80s music videos from artists like Annie Lennox, Grace Jones, and Daryl Hannah when she was total badass and wore a similar look for her character, Pris, in the original Blade Runner,” Barose tells Allure. “It’s a fun, powerful makeup look that’s perfect for the '80s-attitude revival we are seeing in fashion. And when you’re running strokes of bold colors across the eyes like that, it evokes that fierce warrior attitude as well."<doc-sep>Lupita Nyong'o only needs two words to explain why she signed on to star in the new horror movie Us, which premiered Friday. "Jordan Peele," she said in an interview with BuzzFeed News’ Profile at SXSW on Saturday, alongside Peele and her co-star, Winston Duke. The actor said she became an instantly huge fan of Peele thanks to Get Out, which came out while she was filming Black Panther. In fact, she saw it five times. "Black Panther was intense and time-consuming and all-encompassing," Nyong'o said. "But I found time to go to the cinema five times in one month while I was working on that film to watch Get Out." Nyong'o said she would talk about the movie in phone calls with her brother and best friend, parsing over all the details and callbacks and new things they noticed by rewatching it. "He created a cinematic experience that we could grab and take with us," she said. "It became such a joy to just live in his mind." "I was just like, I need to work with that guy right there," she said.<doc-sep>The mystery surrounding Jordan Peele's Us has now crept its way into Lupita Nyong'o's red carpet style. As a star of the film, the 36-year-old actress made an appearance at the movie's SXSW premiere on March 8, and her look was hauntingly brilliant. Nyong'o, known for her bold beauty decisions, wore sectioning clips throughout her hair. Yep, the ones typically used when you sit in the salon chair. According to Variety, there was a very specific message behind this beauty choice. "This film is about bringing the darkness to the fore, the things that are hidden out," Nyong'o told Variety. "My hair is inspired by that: the processes that we often hide, making it part of the outside vision." In addition to the inspiration from the movie, Nyong'o was also modeled after a certain rapper. "It was also inspired by Snoop Doggy Dogg," she added. "An image I love of his." True to Nyong'o's fashion, the meaning behind her look continued beyond the hair. She also cited '80s disco as an influence for her statement eye shadow, since the decade played an important part in Us. Ahead, see close-up photos of Nyong'o's makeup and hair.<doc-sep>
In Austin, everyone can hear you scream. And there seemed to be plenty of shrieks, squeals and even a few sobs at the premiere of Jordan Peele’s latest opus, “Us,” at South By Southwest on Friday night. This film festival in Texas has a strong track record of launching studio blockbusters. Last year, “A Quiet Place” screened here before raking in an astonishing $340 million worldwide. Judging by the ecstatic reaction after the screening of “Us,” Peele doesn’t need to worry about a sophomore slump, following the success of his Oscar-nominated “Get Out.” Is “Us” as scary as the trailer? More so. Is the story of a cookie-cutter family (led by Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke), who fight off blood-thirsty clones on their summer vacation, less political than “Get Out?” Not really. At a Q&A following the screening, Peele revealed — without mentioning the president’s name — that “Us” was inspired by Trump’s America. “This movie is about this country,” Peele said. “And when I decided to write this movie, I was stricken with the fact that we are in a time where we fear the other: whether it is the mysterious invader that we think is going to come and kill us and take our jobs, or the faction that we don’t live near that voted a different way than us. We’re all about pointing the finger, and I wanted to suggest that maybe the monster we really need to look at has our face. Maybe the evil is us.” “Us” nods at some of the great directors — from Ridley Scott to Stanley Kubrick. And a character is spotted wearing a “Jaws” T-shirt, which seems to imply that Peele is intent on becoming the Spielberg of his generation. “My creative process is this conversation between my gut and my mind,” Peele said. “So in the beginning, usually, what needs to happen is I need to start with something that I’m feeling, whether it’s a dream or usually some condensed feeling or a fear that’s just there. I think about it, I try to analyze it. When I get sick of that, I take a break; I sit down and I try to find inspiration. It’s a dialogue within myself. I couldn’t really tell you what comes first. Is it the place? Is it the themes? Is it references to the Bible or movies or anything? It all it’s all very fluid and analytical at the same time.” There was an electric energy inside the Paramount Theatre as the movie was about to debut. “What if I just showed four episodes of ‘This is Us? '” Peele joked as he introduced “Us.” The room was packed with locals and industry faces, including Jeffrey Katzenberg, Shia LaBeouf, Nick Kroll and Elijah Wood. Elisabeth Moss, who has a supporting role in the film, nibbled on a bucket of popcorn as she laughed and screamed with the rest of the crowd. When someone at the Q&A asked what scared the actors, Nyong’o turned to her director. “Working with Jordan Peele terrified me,” she said. “With ‘Get Out,’ I was like, ‘Oh my god!’ He does such incredible things with story, to think I was going to be working with him next, I couldn’t compute it in my head. It’s not about getting rid of fear. It’s about using your fear as fuel.”