Rosario Dawson reflected on her time filming Disney’s live-action Haunted Mansion on location with Jamie Lee Curtis and the rest of its A-list cast.
“Jamie, you know, me and Tiffany [Haddish] were definitely besides ourselves being around [her],” Dawson told People magazine, adding that starring alongside the Oscar winner was part of “the beauty of” making the project.
Filming on location in New Orleans allowed the cast, which also includes LaKeith Stanfield, Owen Wilson, Danny DeVito, Dan Levy, Jared Leto, Winona Ryder and Hasan Minhaj, to bond throughout production even when they weren’t on set.
“It was really beautiful how [director Justin Simien] kind of brought us together and gave us all crystals, and we were reading the script together and just creating these nice moments,” Dawson continued. “Tiffany would have these house parties where she would be getting her nails and her henna done, and [DeVito] would come over with Jeff [Kurland], our costumer.”
Chase W. Dillon, who plays Dawson’s son in the movie, would throw parties regularly during production, she shared. He even threw the cast and crew’s wrap party once they had finished filming: “He’s so incredible. We just had fun.”
The live-action adaptation of Haunted Mansion, based on the Disney ride of the same name, has a similar story to the 2003 film, which starred Eddie Murphy. However, instead of a realtor, his wife and their children who are summoned to the haunted mansion, the 2023 version follows a single mother named Gabbie (Dawson), who hires a tour guide, a psychic, a priest and a historian to help exorcise her newly bought mansion.
“Jamie texted me after she had seen it, you know, and just — we’re really stoked about it,” the Dopesick actress said. “I think it’s a really special film, and it is really different from the [2003 Haunted Mansion]. It has a totally different vibe, and [Simien] will say it’s very Black, it’s very New Orleans.”