Stephen Lang Stayed Blind Off Camera While Filming Don’t Breathe

In hit US horror ‘Don’t Breathe’, Stephen Lang plays a blind ex-soldier who must defend his Detroit home from three teenage thieves (Dylan Minnette, Jane Levy and Daniel Zovatto).

The 64 year-old actor, famous for playing Colonel Quaritch in ‘Avatar’, prepared meticulously for the role according – even remaining sightless when the cameras weren’t rolling.

Watch our interviews with the cast below.

His director Fede Alvarez told Yahoo: “He’s from the New York actor’s studio so he’s pretty method – he will say no but I’ve seen him on set!

“When you shoot with him someone will bring him by the hand to set. He has these lenses in that don’t allow him to see anything – he’s not faking any of that blindness.”

Lang told us that he would remain sightless between takes, even doing yoga in his trailer blind.

“If there would be a long time between [scenes] I would go back to my dressing room and I might do yoga or lift weights, but I would do it sightless. It’s not easy to do sightless yoga, but I got good at it.

“In terms of being method on set. It’s a lot easier, simpler, to maintain character but the way I put it is you turn the flame way down, you don’t turn it off, you turn it down and let it simmer. I wasn’t off being strange or weird, I basically would sit pretty quietly and marshal my energy and wait for the next take.”

He said he even learned the dimensions of film set by heart so he could navigate them sightless.

“I’d prepared as extensively as I could by understanding the limitations and possibilities are for a blind man in that situation,” he said. “The great part of the preparation was learning that house. Understanding the geography so I could move with economy and efficiency with a ruthlessness. This was my environment.”

Director Alvarez said he also made sure that the young leads wouldn’t meet or get to know Lang before the shoot started, so that when they encountered him on set they were scared for real.

“Socially I tried to isolate [Minnette, Levy and Zovatto]. I made sure they stayed in different hotels and didn’t mingle and don’t go for drinks. They actually met in the scene where they find each other. That really goes a long way.”

Jane Levy admitted: “On set I can speak for myself, I was scared of him!”

‘Don’t Breathe’ is released in the UK on September 9 2016. Watch the trailer below.