Guillermo del Toro on Nightmare Alley, His Original 3 Hour 15 Min Version, and Buying Props on e Bay

Editor s note: The following interview contains mild spoilers. If youre a fan of Guillermo del Toro and enjoy hearing him talk about movies, Im about to make you very happy. Shortly before Nightmare Alley was released, I landed an extended and wideranging interview with the brilliant filmmaker. During the almost fiftyminute conversation, del Toro broke down the making of Nightmare Alley and shared numerous stories I hadnt heard anywhere else. This included what was in his 3hour 19minute version of the film (the final version is an hour shorter), how he personally bought some of the props and set dressing on eBay and what they did to make sure everything was periodspecific, what exactly changed as a result of the long COVID shutdown, why he wants people to see the black and white version, the happy ending in the middle of the film and the way they shot it to emphasize the moment, why they tried to light Bradley Cooper with the other characters in the movie, his personal film noir inspiration