M. Night Shyamalan Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions

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M. Night Shyamalan takes the WIRED Autocomplete Interview and answers the internet's most searched questions about himself.

Video Transcript

M. NIGHT SHYMALAN: Hi. I'm M. Night Shyamalan. And this is the Wired Autocomplete Interview.

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There is no moratorium on when do you tell the end of the movie. You don't ever, ever tell them.

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What M. Night-- all right, let's see what it says. What does the M stand for in M. Night? It stands for Manoj, which is a very common name in India. It's not quite as common as Michael or something here, but it's pretty common. Everyone would mangle it in school. They'd call me mango or a million things. And so it kind of abbreviated to M eventually.

What was M. Night Shyamalan's first movie? It's a feature called "Praying with Anger." And we shot it in India. I was 21 years old. And we kind of did it the kind of classic, friends and family and borrowed and did everything we could.

And there was one moment that I remember where I was really down. And I didn't know what I was doing. And the sound guy came over, the Indian sound guy and said, you remind me of it of Steven Spielberg when he came and he shot "Close Encounters." And that like pumped me up. And it's just words of encouragement. But it felt like he had ordained me to be something special or something because he used the word Steven Spielberg, who was like a god to me.

So it really made a difference. And I got all excited. And we finished the movie.

What is the M. Night Shyamalan trilogy? Ahh, well, I don't really do sequels. So this was really kind of a one-off thing in my life. When I thought of the story of "Unbreakable," it was really complicated and very long. And then I realized, hey, I won't be able to make this in one movie. Maybe I can put it into multiple pieces.

So I made "Unbreakable" as the first movie of that and hoped that I would make the other two. And then to be honest, I was kind of down about the reaction to "Unbreakable" when it came out. So I said, I'll go make other movies. And I went and made "Signs" and "The Village" and all that stuff.

And then many, many years later, I went, hey, you know what? I think I should come back and make the second movie of the trilogy, which was "Split." And then I finally made "Glass." So I was super lucky-to to get to finish the trilogy in this kind of weird and interesting way.

What is M. Night Shyamalan working on? I'm releasing "Old." And I'm doing all the press for "Old." But at the same time, I'm writing this new movie. It's actually a book that I optioned. And I'm adapting it. I'm about halfway through. To be exact, I'm on page 54 of the first draft. It's sitting there right now.

Actually, I can feel the moment that I'm on. And I'm a little, you know, what's going to happen next. I know what the character just said. And something really bad is about to happen right after page 54. So I'm preparing how to execute it. But that's what I'm working on right now.

What does Jim say, M. Night Shyamalan? I don't even understand that. What does that mean? What does Jim say? This is from "The Office?" I don't currently reside in Scranton or an apartment building in Scranton, if that's really what this question is.

Is M. Night Shyamalan in "Unbreakable?" Yes! I play a drug dealer in "Unbreakable" if you look carefully. And my family are all doctors. And I still stayed in the medical field. So you see, that works out great.

Is M. Night Shyamalan in "The Sixth Sense?" Yes! I play a doctor. See? You see the themes?

Here, is M. Night Shyamalan in "Signs?" Yes. I had no medical connection in "Signs," my character. But this is one of the bigger parts that I played in "Signs." I play kind of the person that's involved in the death of the family member in "Signs." And one of the fun memories I have is trying to do this really emotional scene in "Signs."

And Mel Gibson is acting across from me. And he's the least serious human being. And he started doing, off-camera, his lines as if he was Sean Connery, so in a Scottish accent. And the tears started to just dry right back up. And I was like, Mel, I don't know how to do this. I was feeling emotional. And now I don't feel-- and he's laughing. And I'm like, I'm not you. I don't know how to do this. So now I'm angry at you. So now that's what you got. You got angry at you. But it turned out fine. And we used take five, which he knew was the best take.

Is M. Night Shyamalan in "Split?" I am not in "Split." I don't think I am.

Is M. Night Shyamalan in "The Village?" Yes, very small cameo towards the end. You kind of see me with a hat and in a reflection at the end of it, if you haven't seen it.

Is M. Night Shyamalan in "Always Sunny?" I don't think I am in it, but I think they've referenced me in the show. If they want a cameo, we can do it for real. But I know there was a whole episode where they were trying to get into one of my movies. They're so sweet. And what a great show that is, by the way.

How M. Night Shyamalan, OK. How old is M. Night Shyamalan? What a great question at this time. I'm actually 50 years old, big birthday for me. So very excited, and we're going to have some friends over and all of that stuff.

How tall is M. Night Shyamalan? I'm that height where guys always lie about their height. You're close enough to 6 feet. Yeah, I am 6-foot-ish. Everybody that's just right below 6 feet always goes, I don't know. And they pretend like they don't even know exactly, like we haven't obsessively measured ourselves constantly to get to 6 foot. Probably more like 5' 10" to 5' 10 and 1/2", something that. But who's measuring, really?

How did M. Night Shyamalan get his start? The moment, I think, that the industry started paying attention to me is when I wrote a script that no one paid me to write called "Labor of Love." And everyone bid on it. All the studio's bid on it. I was in my living in my parents' guest room. There was no cell phones at that time. So you're getting all these phone calls saying, they offered $200,000. I was like, $200,000! What?

I'm in my parents' guestroom, which was my sister's old room, which was pink, just to add to the drama of it all. And so I'm in the pink room. And they're like, 250, 300. Fox offered 400. New Line Cinema offered 500. And I was like, what? And finally, I sold it to Fox.

Ironically, after I sold it and I was pretty young, and I hadn't done anything, they actually fired me as director. So it was very sad, a sad conclusion of that thing. But I did have enough money to go get a little home after that. Me and my wife who were just married, we moved out. So that was really the beginning. I was hired off of that to write "Stuart Little." And I became known as a writer, I think, first in the industry.

How to contact M. Night Shyamalan? Well, I'll tell you how not to. You don't throw things over my gate, packages. You don't leave things on my car. Don't do any of that. Don't do any of that. I'm on social media. And you can try to reach out, which I don't get to read everything. But sometimes messages really touch me, and I respond so.

And don't reach out to my parents because they're always like, this person stopped by the house. And I'm like, mom, don't. They gave me this. I'm like, mom, just don't answer it.

Bryce Dallas Howard M. Night Shyamalan. Wow, so this is just kind of a word association. Is that what this is? So Bryce, I saw in a play off-Broadway. She was in a Shakespeare play, I think was "As You Like It." And so taken with her.

And I was writing "The Village" at the time, so it was kind of a period piece. And I remember going to see her in New York and just knew the second that the show was over that I'd found who I wanted to be the lead. So I went to lunch with her. And I said, hey, I'm going to do this movie. And I handed her the script. And it was really sweet.

Where M. Night Shyamalan. Let's see. Where did M. Night Shyamalan grow up? I grew up outside Philadelphia, in the suburbs, a place called Penn Valley. It was almost like being in, like, a Spielberg suburban movie. We're all on our bikes, riding around the neighborhood every night after school and then try to get everybody ring the doorbell. Can Joey play? Can this person play? And then we'd ride around and have adventures and then have to go home and go eat and do our homework.

Where did M. Night Shyamalan go to high school? I went to Episcopal Academy, which is outside Philly. That school had just become coed a few years before. So there were girls. And this was the first time that I actually went to school with girls. So it was a very distracting time for me.

Those of you that have Indian immigrant parents, you know what I'm saying, very restricted. And then go to school with girls, and they're just sitting right next to you. And the pretty girl's over there. And very hard to learn algebra under those conditions.

Where does M. Night Shyamalan live? I live outside Philly. We consider ourselves Philadelphians even though we're right outside Philadelphia. I'm going to Philly every week. And that city is very, very dear to me. And protect it with everything.

Where is M. Night Shyamalan now? Is that an existential question or a literal question? I'm going to answer it existentially. I'm at the place where I want to make the most distinct pieces of art for the largest audience. I want the pieces to have teeth. I want them to be challenging. And I want them to represent me. And I have the belief that the more distinct and different they are, the more they're going to resonate with you guys over time.

This is obviously about the movie "Signs." Is "Signs" a religious movie? Wow, that's a good question. Most of my characters in my movies, I think, it's about some belief system that I personally am struggling with. And because I went to-- I'm not Catholic, but I went to Catholic school for 10 years. The form of a priest felt very natural to me as somebody to kind of carry the load.

Whenever I talk about what the movie is about, if it's about ghosts or comic books or aliens or you name it, those are really just kind of the clothing for a discussion about the crisis of faith. So I kind of the theories on "Signs" that the aliens represent inner demons. It's accurate in the sense that all of them are-- the comic book story is about you believing in yourself, that David Dunn doesn't believe in himself. And "Signs" is that same way about this world event.

And does this have meaning for you? Are we just food? Is there meaning in everything? And then he finds meaning in this moment.

What was wrong with the dog in "Signs" movie? My mind was thinking that as the aliens got closer and were nearby, the animals would be becoming violent and irrational and acting erratically. And that was one of the first indicators that there was something around that was very threatening, sending them into a certain type of place.

Something, something, something, something "Signs." Who played the alien in the movie "Signs?" Gosh, I'm forgetting the actor's name. He's so wonderful. He was so giving. I remember his energy and his kindness on set, just the opposite of the alien. He was very, very gracious and made us all feel like we were doing a higher art form, like ballet or something, a really wonderful man.

What does water symbolize in "Signs" movie? Water always has a kind of a special place for me in my movies. There's a kind of a sense of purity from it or rebirth. It's often used that way in religious ceremonies. My parents and my mom especially who do a lot of Indian ceremonies, they use water in this fashion. And you see it a lot in different rituals.

You see it a bunch of my movies, in "Lady in the Water" and now, I guess, in "Old" as well, kind of the proximity to water. It feels like there's some magical property to it. So it always made sense to me that that would be the thing that burns off the demons, let's say.

All right, "Sixth Sense." What does the Titanic and "The Sixth Sense" have-- should I do this other line-- in common? They both have Leonardo DiCaprio. No, they were both number one for a very long time in the movie theaters. I think "Sixth Sense" was either five or six weeks. And "Titanic" was 10 weeks. And since "Titanic," I think these are the two movies that have been number one in the movie theaters for the longest.

- It's a joke. And it's "icy dead people."

M. NIGHT SHYMALAN: Oh, I see. That's funny. That's funny too.

Is "The Sixth Sense--" let's see. What's this say? Is "The Sixth Sense" a three-act narrative? Look at this film school. I'm not sure. It's funny. I don't really think like that. But I'm sure it's true because what feels natural is kind of the set up, the conflict, and then the escalation in that third act to the resolution.

I think my movies, kind of by the nature of them, because there's a revelation, there's probably a fourth movement in them in those last moments in these movies, as you realize something or there's kind of a revelation of some kind. I don't know if that falls into that three-act structure like that.

What are the clues in "The Sixth Sense?" Gosh, I'm sure there's many more than I will think of off the top of my head. But we used the color red to indicate the other world nagging at him and him staring at the doorknob, the things that were not right that his consciousness is not acknowledging because he has to stay blind, essentially, as he's walking through life a bit.

What's the twist in "The Sixth Sense?" I can't tell you that. At this point, if you haven't seen it, you just go watch it. This is how you do it. You go and watch this movie. And then you find another person. And you ask them before you say anything, have you seen it. And then if they say yes, then you can openly talk about it away from others kind of situation. That's it. That's it. There's no other way to talk about it. That's it.

OK, plot twist.

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It's been Bing all along.