‘Knock at the Cabin’: 9-Year-Old Kristen Cui Prepared for Her Extensive Audition With M. Night Shyamalan All By Herself

M. Night Shyamalan’s movies might be divisive. But if there’s one thing everyone can agree on, his films — which usually fall in the world of horror — certainly leave audiences talking. That’s definitely the case with 2023’s Knock at the Cabin. The film even features the introduction of a new child actor with young Kristen Cui. Fans of The Sixth Sense know Shyamalan’s history with discovering new and emerging talent.

Kristen Cui makes her film debut in ‘Knock at the Cabin’

Based on Paul Tremblay’s novel The Cabin at the End of the World, Knock at the Cabin focuses on a family (Jonathan Groff, Ben Aldridge, and Cui) confronted by four strangers (Dave Bautista, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Abby Quinn, and Rupert Grint) during their vacation. These mysterious individuals present this young family with a treacherous choice which kicks off the film and Shyamalan’s signature blend of thrills and chills.

As the story progresses, Cui’s character — seven-year-old Wen — becomes increasingly more pivotal to the story. And with this film, the young actor makes her film debut. That’s a pretty good start to a promising career. And by the sounds of it, Shyamalan definitely took Cui under his wing, guiding her natural talent into the performance now playing in theaters everywhere.

The advice M. Night Shyamalan gave her on the set

In an interview with JoBlo.com, Shyamalan shared some insight into his first meeting with Cui and how impressed he was with her audition process.

“When Kristen walked in — and we had these auditions of all these little beautiful Asian girls all over that wanted to audition for me and their parents were prepping them and all that stuff – then this one girl did this really interesting audition. … And I said, ‘how did you prep for this audition?’ and she said, ‘I just did it.’ And I said, ‘you did it yourself?’ And she’s like ‘Yeah.’ It’s hard for any actor to take something out of context and try to hit. And her instincts about what was the emotion, what was scaring her, and what was funny were dead-on.”

Shyamalan then had to teach Cui to be in the moment, not relying on her own analysis and her personality but attempting to become the character she was playing. For Cui, Shyamalan’s advice boiled down to a simple mantra, which she clung to in order to stay true to her character. 

“There was something that he always said: ‘Think the thoughts,'” Cui told United Press International. “He could help you literally sink into your character.”

Audiences might see a lot more of Kristen Cui in the near future

Judging by the response to her work in Knock at the Cabin, audiences might be seeing a lot more of Cui. Cui recently shared with Just Jared that she has a passion for drawing, ice skating, and Bluey.

Cui also received a set of the Harry Potter books for Christmas, she said, which makes her co-starring opposite Grint all the more exciting. No word on whether she’s seen any of Shyamalan’s previous work, but considering the intensity of his films, we’re leaning toward probably not.