Ahead of action horror "Arcadian's" release on April 12, Digg spoke with stars Jaeden Martell and Maxwell Jenkins about their roles in director Ben Brewer's new film. The movie, which also stars Nicolas Cage, made its official debut at Austin's SXSW in 2024, and is now avaliable to watch in theaters before it moves to streaming services Shudder and AMC+ later this year.

In this edited Q&A, Martell and Jenkins speak about filming a horror movie, working with Nicolas Cage and whether they managed to leave the set with any cool props.

^{Maxwell Jenkins and Jaeden Martell}

So, did you ever get any nightmares from filming a horror movie?

Jenkins: Not that I can recall. I don't think I had many crazy nightmares — but we were like, kind of isolated. We were living in this kind of resort about two hours outside of Dublin, in the middle of the Irish forest, Wicklow County, which they call a garden of Ireland. So it's super green and gray because it's the Irish winter. So definitely the environment was spooky.

Martell: I personally had some stress dreams about filming itself. Not about the monsters really, but about, you know, not knowing my lines coming to set. You know, Nic being mad at me in my dream.

What was it like working alongside a Hollywood legend like Nicolas Cage?

Jenkins: Working with Nic is a really collaborative experience. What makes him so amazing is his collaboration and how prepared he is. He comes to set with an array of ideas — bringing in personal elements or coming in with just the most amount of energy you could possibly imagine. He's really open to discussion about what the scene is, and he wants to find what the best possible version of the scene is. And he knows that comes out of collaboration. I'm really grateful that he took the time to really talk with us about every scene we did together.

Martell: Working on the scenes together was really special. And it never felt rigid, Nic coming in and being the veteran on set. And he could have totally changed its tone and made it very rigid and self-serving, but not in any way did he ever do that. It was all about, what's the best thing for the scene? What are we talking about? What are we trying to say? How do we do it?

Martell, how did your previous roles in movies like 'It' prepare you for this one?

Martell: For me, "It" was one of the only times I worked with kids my age, and they became my best friends. There are similarities between that [movie] and this, and how much I got along with Max, and him becoming another brother of mine — and also being able to capture that on screen. Like, how to show love with the camera in front of your face.

Now, in what is not a court of law, can you confess to our readers whether you tried to steal something from the set as a memory?

Jenkins: I would say, like, the car.

Martell: Actually, he's such a good boy. He liked my shirt that I wear so much, but he didn't even steal it from set. He bought a new one.

Jenkins: Yeah, I just went out and bought it at the mall.

Jenkins: I would actually I would take my lighter, or — no, I would take the creature hands. What am I talking about? I'd take the creature hands. I took home a life-size scanned doll of me made out of silicone from "Lost in Space." It's pretty funny. I put it up in front of my camera for online school. But yeah, I'd take the hands. I would want that for, like, a Halloween costume.

Martell: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good answer.

Watch The Digg Exclusive Interview

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Watch the official "Arcadian" trailer:

Via Rotten Tomatoes Trailers.