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Shyamalan: Thriller Storytelling and Twists Stem from Personal Playfulness and Mischief

M. Night Shyamalan · How I Built Resilience: M. Night Shyamalan · Feb 4, 2021 · at 13:58

Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan explains to Guy Raz why his seemingly dark film themes are rooted in a personal desire to playfully surprise audiences.

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“If we hung out, we were having beers or whatever, you, I'm a little bit mischievous. So that, that mischievous side of like making you laugh and you know, playing tricks on you, that would be how our relationship would be. And that just kind of transfers into playing with the audience and making them laugh, or playing tricks on them, or, ooh, I love when they ooh and ah, or when they can't believe what they just saw, or that was unexpected. It makes me happy, and so it's a playfulness about it.”

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