There’s all sort of paranormal activity out there – and we’re not simply talking the ‘film your bedroom at night and see if a demon creeps around your mattress’ kind. There are hauntings, belongings, cryptids and animals, hardly ever clinically shown however experienced by individuals throughout the world. And then there’s that irritating sense of deja vu, of things and circumstances that appear strangely familiar – like Neo seeing the exact same black cat cross his course several times in The Matrix. It’s this kind of inexplicable phenomenon that Danny DeVito – quickly to be seen in Disney’s family spook-fest Haunted Mansion – has actually discovered himself experiencing with time.
Sitting down to talk all things frightening with Empire – in the brand-new Ahsoka problem – DeVito discussed his own brush with the unidentified. Which ends up being, erm, a bird. “I think I attract the animal kingdom,” he says, holding up an image on his phone that appears like a crow. “Yesterday I was just sitting around, working on something, and I saw this bird. Now I’ve seen that bird several times. I don’t know if it’s the same bird, but I got a feeling it may be.” Portent from the beyond, or a completely natural phenomenon? Who understands. “You could say, it’s a coincidence, but if something happens again and again and again, is it a sign?” asks DeVito. “How do you interpret it?” Grim smiling… gulls, anybody?
If DeVito appears agitated by his close encounter of the bird kind, his Haunted Mansion character – Bruce, a college history teacher with an enthusiasm for the occult – is far more at home with the supernatural. And he has a distinct gown sense to match, as seen in our special image above. “It’s a raincoat and hat, basically,” chuckles DeVito. “I’m shrink-wrapped into this. I’m like a piece of meat in this. As soon as I saw it, I said, ‘This is my whole character in a nutshell, right?’ He’s very, very particular.” If you’re going to poke around in the unidentified, it’s useful to have easy-wipe clothes in case of excess ectoplasm.
Read Empire’s complete Haunted Mansion story in the Ahsoka problem – on sale now. Become an Empire member to access the digital edition completely now, or order a print copy online now here. Haunted Mansion is out in movie theaters on 11 August.
