Summary
Collider talks with Adam Scott at CinemaCon.
Scott discusses what makes Hokum so terrifying and why he loves the horror genre.
He also shares his favorite films from Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, and more, and discusses filming for Severance Season 2.
From comedy to a hit Apple TV series, Adam Scott moves effortlessly through genre, and is returning to horror this week (of which he’s a self-proclaimed massive fan) with Neon’s folky fright Hokum. At CinemaCon 2026, Collider’s Steven Weintraub had the opportunity to chat with Scott, where the Severance star was awarded for Excellence in Acting, alongside fellow industry standouts being honored, including James Cameron, LaKeith Stanfield, Noah Centineo, and more.
Written and directed by Damian McCarthy (Oddity), Hokum follows author Ohm Bauman (Scott) out to a secluded inn in the Irish countryside to scatter his parents’ ashes. Once checked in, however, this personal retreat is upended by mysterious folktales of a witch that haunts the closed-off honeymoon suite. In one night, what seems like a harmless fairy tale soon takes a sinister turn when a shocking disappearance puts Bauman face-to-face with his past.
In this interview, Scott discusses his favorite films by directors like Steven Spielberg and Stanley Kubrick, and even admits a “controversial” favorite from Martin Scorsese. He also teases the upcoming season of Severance, talks about the pros and cons of enjoying movies as an insider versus a fan, and discusses his passion for horror and why Hokum is going to be so “uniquely terrifying.”
Adam Scott Defends His Most “Controversial” Movie Take
“I think it’s a masterpiece.”
Image via Netflix
COLLIDER: Have you ever asked for someone’s autograph?
ADAM SCOTT: That’s a really good question. I don’t think I have. I don’t think I have just because I never encountered famous people as a kid, and that’s when I would have asked for an autograph, probably, as a little kid.
I’ve spoken to some actors and on set, they’ll have everyone sign a prop and take it home.
SCOTT: Oh, I’ve done that. I’ve had people sign scripts for charity and stuff.
Now I’m going to ask the hard-hitting questions. Do you have a favorite Christopher Nolan movie?
SCOTT: Inception. 100%.
Favorite Guillermo del Toro?
SCOTT: Oh, Pan’s Labyrinth.
Favorite Scorsese?
SCOTT: That’s tough. The King of Comedy, maybe. My favorite Scorsese is controversial. I’m not sure if it’s my favorite, but it’s definitely up there. It’s The Irishman.
Wow. Yeah, that is a little controversial.
SCOTT: Yeah, I think it’s a masterpiece. I think it’s unbelievable. It’s incredible.
So the first time you saw it, was your mind blown?
SCOTT: Yeah. The first time I saw it was in a movie theater, at the Egyptian in LA, and then I went back the next day and saw it again.
We should point out it’s like three and a half hours.
SCOTT: Yeah. I think that everyone should see it in a movie theater. I think seeing it in, like, 20-minute chunks, because everyone probably watched it at home, could kind of devalue it a little bit. I think you need to either see it in one sitting or see it in a movie theater.
Favorite Spielberg?
SCOTT: Temple of Doom.
Image via Paramount Pictures
Good choice. And the last one, favorite Stanley Kubrick?
SCOTT: The Shining, but I really love Barry Lyndon. I love Barry Lyndon, and I love 2001, but I know The Shining the best. I’ve seen it the most. But I really love Barry Lyndon.
Last year at Cannes, I was lucky enough to attend, and they had a special, remastered 35-millimeter version, and it was the highlight of my Friday. I was like, “This is the only ticket I need.”
SCOTT: And how did it look?
It was fucking amazing.
SCOTT: Did it look like it could have been shot last week? Like, that good?
It was amazing. The stuff like the candlelit scene and the massive lenses, it’s so insane.
SCOTT: That’s the thing, is that you’re really seeing things as they were, with all of the lighting things with candles and stuff. It’s incredible. And the performances. It’s such a great movie.
I could keep going on and on.
Severance Season 3 Will Be Worth the Wait
“Everyone’s raring to go.”
Adam Scott in a hallway in SeveranceImage via Apple TV+
You know I love Severance. Have you read any of the upcoming scripts? When do you start filming? What do you want to tell fans?
SCOTT: We start shooting soon, and it’s going to be great.
[Laughs] You’ve been trained very well by Apple.
SCOTT: Well, we don’t want to give anything.
Have you read scripts?
SCOTT: Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah.
Have you read a lot of them? Are you happy?
SCOTT: Oh, yeah. It’s going to be great.
That’s all I wanted to hear. It means a lot to a lot of people. I love the show.
SCOTT: It’s going to be great. We’re all so excited. It’s already been a couple of years since we finished shooting Season 2, so everyone’s just like raring to get back. Can’t wait.
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‘Severance’s Best Couple Provide Clarity on Season 3 of Apple TV’s 10/10 Sci-Fi Series [Exclusive]
Filming will commence this summer.
Adam Scott on What Makes ‘Hokum’ “Truly Terrifying”
He also shares why he’s such a huge fan of the horror genre.
Let’s touch base on Hokum, which looks fantastic. It’s so not what I’m expecting from you. What I learned about you here at CinemaCon is that you love horror movies. Talk a little bit about what it was about the script that said, “I want to do this,” and what is it about horror movies that you love?
SCOTT: Well, I grew up in the ‘80s, which was a great time for horror movies, like Friday the 13th movies, The Thing, Poltergeist, and The Shining. I mean, these were really kind of defining the four corners of horror, or redefining it in the ‘80s, so it was always a favorite of mine. Particularly seeing horror movies in movie theaters. Like getting to see Hereditary in a movie theater was a really incredible experience.
Damian McCarthy, the writer-director of Hokum, is a really special filmmaker who’s really character and story-first, and with horror, sometimes that’s not the case. It’s truly terrifying, I think, because he’s making character-driven horror films, so you’re emotionally involved. By the time the scares come, you’re, as an audience member, already involved. And this movie is uniquely terrifying.
I saw footage here at CinemaCon, and pardon my language, but there are some fucked up images.
SCOTT: There are some scary things. We screened it at South by Southwest in Austin, and there were full screams coming from the audience. I was wondering if people were going to be okay. Everyone was having a blast, but it is very, very scary.
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And it has the scariest statue you’ll ever see!
Something I’m so curious about with actors and directors, you are so knowledgeable about the craft, you know lenses and cameras, and you’re an actor, obviously. What is it like for you when you’re watching a movie? Are you sometimes analyzing a performance? How hard is it for you sometimes to submerge into a movie?
SCOTT: I remember when I was a teenager, I hit a wall with that because I was thinking about the technical so much, I couldn’t enjoy that movie Awakenings, the Robin Williams, DeNiro movie. I remember because I had read so much about the movie, because I was just waiting for that to come out, and by the time I sat down and watched it, I was like, “I can’t enjoy this. I know too much about the process of making it.”
So, if there’s something I really want to see, like One Battle After Another, I didn’t want to hear a word about that movie before I saw it. I don’t want to know any behind-the-scenes stories. I don’t want to know what it’s about. Nothing. I want my powder to be as dry as possible when I sit down and watch it. Because you’re right, once you’re too aware of the process, it can take away from the enjoyment.
Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
When you’re watching Leo [DiCaprio] in the movie, are you sometimes looking at the scene and imagining the acting, or are you able to just forget about all that, about the technical and the craft, and just submerge into what Paul [Thomas Anderson] is selling?
SCOTT: I think both things are happening at the same time. I’m able to look and admire what great work those guys are doing while getting emotionally involved in this with the story and the characters. So I guess it’s just that suspension of disbelief that we all crave, which is why we go to the movies. We want to get involved in something that logically we know is not real, but it feels so good to get hurt in a place like this. Is that the Nicole Kidman quote? I found myself almost saying it.
“We go to the movies to disappear,” or something.
SCOTT: I think it’s “feels so good to get hurt in a place like this.” But Nicole’s right. It really does feel good to get hurt in a place like that.
Hokum opens in theaters on May 1.
Release Date
May 1, 2026
Runtime
101 Minutes
Director
Damian McCarthy
Writers
Damian McCarthy
Producers
Derek Dauchy, Mairtín de Barra, Roy Lee, Julianne Forde, Steven Schneider, Ruth Treacy