Natalie Dormer Describes What Japan's Infamous Suicide Forest Was Like in Real Life

Updated on 1/6/2016 at 2:30 PM

The Forest — one of 2016's up-and-coming horror films — hits theaters on Jan. 8. It tells the tale of a woman (Natalie Dormer) who goes into Japan's legendary suicide forest, called Aokigahara, in search of her lost sister. The film paints a haunting portrait of the sacred grounds, which are filled with ghosts and hallucinations, but what's the Aokigahara Forest like in real life? To prepare for the film's release, we recently interviewed the film's star, Dormer, and she shared details from her own personal experience. Read on to see what she said, then check out everything she told us about Game of Thrones.

On when she went to visit the forest: "Our first week of principle photography was in Japan. We were in Tokyo for one week. We would've liked to be there for longer, but you can't shoot at the real forest. It's a very sacred place to the Japanese. But I did manage to get up there for one day trip; I went up there with my Japanese driver."

On what the forest was like in real life: "What can I tell you? It's so beautiful up there. The sky was blue, birds were singing, there were families hiking on the trail paths. It's just that you're aware there's one of these signs like you see in the movie, which is urging people not to hurt themselves, and think of their families, their parents, and to ring this helpline. Every now and then you see a piece of rope on a tree that disappears off the path into the forest."

On whether anything strange happened: "I didn't feel anything spooky; I felt a profound sadness. I felt a bit philosophical about the fact that people do go there still, with very much the intention of not coming out again. Even though I stepped off the path like five meters to take some photos, to get a good angle, my Japanese driver would not step off the path even half a meter, which I found really interesting, really curious. It was a way of showing a deep respect and superstition that is attached to the place, to the culture."