Billie Eilish Could Have Made Her Feature-Length Debut In ‘Azrael’

At just 22 years old, Billie Eilish has dominated the music biz, nabbing honors like Grammys, Golden Globes, and even an Academy Award for her contributions to the industry. Being that she’s so young, the rising star has plenty of time to crossover into other areas of entertainment, like the singers-turned-actors who came before her, such as Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake, Beyoncé, and more. During an interview at SXSW to celebrate a screening of the horror flick Azrael, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff spoke to its director, E.L. Katz, head writer Simon Barrett, and leading star, Samara Weaving, and dug into a rumor that the film was meant to serve as an acting debut of sorts for Eilish.

Giving some background to how Eilish’s name got caught up in the project’s early conversations, Katz explains the first big moves behind getting Azrael up and running, recalling:

“So,
Azrael
, [Barrett] wrote that in what felt like two weeks or three weeks or something. It was something I’d never read, even from him, and
it was almost like all of his sensibilities distilled in this austere experiential thing with no fat at all
. I loved it and I just wanted to see it get made. At first, Simon was going to direct it. I wanted that to happen.
We wanted Billie Eilish to be in it,
or something.”

Chiming in, Barrett added, “There were a lot of different incarnations,” before Nemiroff was able to sneak in the most important question, “What role would Billie Eilish have played.” Without missing a beat, Weaving, who stars as the leading lady in the gore-filled horror feature said, “Mine, I’m assuming.” But, Nemiroff had a different name bobbing around her thoughts. “I was thinking someone else,” she said, “The character’s name is slipping my mind. Now I’m afraid to say something if it’s a spoiler, but the character who’s pregnant.” “Miriam,” Barrett answered, pointing to a supporting character played by Holiday and In the Bood’s Victoria Carmen Sonne. Fleshing out her thoughts behind why Eilish would’ve been a good choice for this specific role, Nemiroff said, “Yeah, I could kind of see an alt version. She’s fantastic in the film by the way, but I could see that fight playing out between you and Billie Eilish, and I’d be here for it.” Giving her full support for what could have been, Weaving agreed, saying, “I’m down.”

Billie Eilish’s Acting Background

As of today, Eilish has appeared in plenty of documentaries and shorts but has never fully taken on the life of a character in a feature-length production. The closest she came was through a one-episode appearance on Janine Nabers and Donald Glover’s Prime Video series, Swarm. Anyone who’s seen the episode will happily tell you that Eilish more than understood the assignment and with her name out there as a performer with true crossover power, it’s only a matter of time until a director taps her to be in a lengthier project.

As of right now, the team behind Azrael is still riding the high of the film’s big SXSW premiere and has yet to announce a release date, but stay tuned for more information and more updates from our SXSW studio.

Azrael (2024)

In a world no one speaks a devout female hunts down a young woman who has escaped her imprisonment. Recaptured by its ruthless leaders, Azrael is due to be sacrificed to pacify an ancient evil deep within the surrounding wilderness

Director

E.L. Katz

Runtime

85 Minutes

Writers

Simon Barrett