Zazie Beetz Had "No Days Off" Filming Action-Horror Epic

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Zazie Beetz is meeting someone at a building in They Will Kill You

Published Mar 26, 2026, 6:52 PM EDT

Zazie Beetz doesn't just lead They Will Kill You — she endures it.

In an interview with ScreenRant's Ash Crossan at SXSW in Austin, Texas, last week, Sokolov opened up about Beetz's physically demanding performance and the film's commitment to old-school practical effects.

Krill Sokolov: At some point, I just started to call her Cyborg because she is literally in every frame of this movie. She didn't have a single day off while we were shooting it. So for two months, she was every single day, barefoot, full in blood and dirt and sweat, running around and kicking butt.

That level of commitment is evident in the film's pacing, which keeps Beetz's character in near-constant motion, whether she's fleeing, fighting, or navigating some of its bloodiest scenes. But the Atlanta alum did it with ease, with Sokolov telling ScreenRant, despite the physical and emotional demands of the film, Beetz "never broke down or had a hard time."

Krill Sokolov: She just did it so elegantly, and never broke down or had a hard time. I just looked at her and couldn't believe how lucky I am, because it could have gone a very different way if it were anybody else, but she just really brought it up there.

Beyond its central performance, They Will Kill You also leans hard into its horror roots, particularly when it comes to its bloody kills, embracing practical effects reminiscent of the sometimes messy style used in the past. As for the decision to use practical effects over CGI and SFX, Sokolov said staying simple gives the film a "charm" that transports viewers back to the horrors of their heyday.

Krill Sokolov: But the kills — I think the genre fans who love horrors and who grew up on horrors from the '90s and '80s, as I did, appreciate the practicality and handcraft behind it. Sometimes it can look clumsy or just weird, but it also has a certain charm that sends us back to the movies we love. So I just try to keep up with that, and just to give them that awesome old school feeling when it could be a little bit goofy, but so touching.

What Beetz — And The Rest Of The Cast — Had To Say About Her Epic Performance

A bloodied Asia holding a flaming ax in They Will Kill You

ScreenRant: The movie premiered last night at South By Southwest, the first time with an audience. What was that experience like for you?

Zazie Beetz: It's phenomenal to see something like this with an audience. I'd only seen it once alone, with my husband, in a theater alone. And to feel that energy is just ... it's amazing. But Kirill was saying he was shaking the whole time. I definitely was gripping my husband's arm, and it's a lot of nerves and adrenaline, but it's good. It makes you feel alive.

Patricia Arquette: It's a real tour de force for Zazie. That's all there is to it. Nonstop. It is action-packed from beginning to end. And you have to think, as much energy as you could see on screen, she had to do 16, 18 takes of these things, back-to-back, back-to-back. So it was just, "Wow." The way that she drove this movie is incredible. And the audience was laughing in the right spots, screaming in the right spots, freaked out, excited, engaged.

Zazie Beetz: [The] audience did a great job. Yeah, you guys did a great job.

ScreenRant: I'm obviously watching the movie, thinking of questions that I'm going to talk to you about. And halfway through the movie, I'm like, "How did Zazie do this?" You are nonstop from the first frame to the end. It is wild.

Zazie Beetz: I mean, a great stunt team. We rehearsed the fights a lot. So that felt like second nature in the end, and so, on the day, we could really focus on the technicalities of everything, because those things become really technical with the camera and equipment. And so, really having the team as a whole be like, "We know the movement," was integral to this experience. But also just hyping up, and always remembering: this is going to be on the internet forever. You're like, "I'm tired, but I want to do this, and I want to give my all. And I wanted to show up with a positive force." And also to remember, this is my dream, to be doing this work, and showing up, and to be working with ... I mean, when Patricia signed on, I was just like — to be working with someone as talented [gestures to Arquette]. No, truly. And to watch her act on the first day — I don't remember, you were nervous, but I was like, "S--t. This is Patricia Arquette."

Patricia Arquette: Oh, I was so nervous

Zazie Beetz: You were nervous?

ScreenRant: You ate in this movie.

Zazie Beetz: You did. You were so effortless.

Patricia Arquette: It was so fun. I mean, I don't love being the bad guy. I'm not the bad guy, I don't think, in real life. But to serve this project, such an interesting filmmaker who has so much facility with the camera, with humor, with action, and who's so excited to be directing, and excited to make his vision come true. And to have Zazie, who's all in, a thousand percent, and such a cool hero to create. I just felt like if this all comes together, this is going to be a classic of this kind, and what a great thing to be able to be a part of, and what a great thing to be able to support.

They Will Kill You premiered on March 17 at SXSW and is set to hit theaters on March 27.