Warning: SPOILERS for The Conjuring: Last Rites The Conjuring: Last Rites may be the end of the road for Ed and Lorraine Warren, but in other ways, it’s just the beginning. While the movie follows the Warrens (played, as always, by Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson) on their final case, it opens with the couple on their very first.

For the Warrens’ origin case, Ed and Lorraine are played by Orion Smith and Madison Lawler, respectively. The pair depicted less experienced paranormal investigators who are a far cry from the Warrens audiences have come to know and love, opening up a whole new world of interpretation and story potential.

ScreenRant’s Ash Crossan interviewed Madison Lawlor and Orion Smith about their work bringing young Ed and Lorraine Warren to life in The Conjuring: Last Rites. Lawlor and Smith revealed their secrets for getting into the mindset of young Warrens, and the interactions they had with Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson to help shape their portrayals.

How The Conjuring Franchise Could Continue Beyond Last Rites

Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson have suggested that The Conjuring: Last Rites will be their final outings as Lorraine and Ed Warren. If true, there are still ways the tale of the Warrens can still be told–especially through exploration of the couple’s exploits during their early years.

“There are so many cases [where] I would love to see how they’re interpreted still,” Madison Lawlor shared. “They have just done so much, and their work is so prolific.”

Orion Smith agreed. “I think the most interesting thing for me,” he said, “would be to explore their characters from the perspective of being less experienced and figuring things out as they go. That would be such a cool thing to explore.”

“I’d love to explore when Lorraine first starts getting in touch with these feelings and what the journey’s like for her,” Lawlor added. “I imagine it would be very hard to find your footing, and very confusing too.”

There is plenty of ground for Smith and Lawlor to cover, both in terms of the Warrens’ story and their emotional growth. “Something that really worked in our favor for our performance … was more at the beginning of their journeys,” Lawlor shared. “There was less confidence, I suppose, but also sort of a naivete to it all.”

“I think that translates in our youthful energy,” Lawlor said. “It was not knowing what to expect and having unmet expectations and kind of stepping into something that you thought was one thing, but it turns out to be another and it’s kind of a big growth period.”

Madison Lawlor & Orion Smith Reveal How The Conjuring Stars Helped Them Become Ed & Lorraine

Given how established Vera Farmiga and Patrick Wilson’s portrayals of Lorraine and Ed Warren are, Madison Lawlor and Orion Smith had big shoes to fill. In addition to studying actual footage of Ed and Lorraine, Lawlor honed her performance by “studying a lot of Vera’s mannerisms,” she revealed, “the way she carries herself, holds herself, and speaks.”

“[I was] even studying my own face,” Lawlor added, “seeing how things translate on my own face, [and] what facial expressions look the most similar. I think it was a lot of technical research to make sure that what I thought was happening was actually translating.”

Smith had a slightly easier job. “I’ve been fortunate enough that people have already ᴀssociated me with Patrick Wilson,” he said. “They’re like, ‘Hey, you look like that actor.’ When I was bartending, not even a week would go by before someone said, ‘Wait a second, I know who you look like.’”

But Smith still took an approach similar to Lawlor’s: “But, definitely, after getting the role, I really had to sit down and think about the voice, think about the mannerisms, and get into the character.”

“Ed is very different than me,” Smith said, “He’s such a practical guy, even though he’s a paranormal researcher. That’s something I’ve never done, personally, so looking into that was a big part of the process to me.”

And they had help from Farmiga and Wilson themselves. “They were kind enough to sit down with us,” Lawlor shared. “Vera was incredible,” she continued, “she has such a wealth of knowledge about Lorraine, about this world, and about [the] paranormal.”

Smith reflected on his time with Patrick Wilson as well, saying “He was so sweet and kind and generous. We talked about the voice and the character; who he is now, and who he was when he was younger, because everybody grows and changes with time.”

“Then, at the very end,” Smith said, “he was like, ‘You know what? Just trust your instincts. You’ll be fine.’ That was the best thing I could ever hear. To get his blessing just meant everything to me, and it was amazing to meet him in the first place.”

Young Ed & Lorraine Warren’s Dynamic In Last Rites Explained

As the younger Ed and Lorraine Warren tackled their first case in The Conjuring: Last Rites, Smith and Lawlor also worked to portray a couple less deep into their relationship.

For his part, Smith had the opportunity to explore Ed’s “investment in Lorraine,” saying “something that I had specifically thought about is that he isn’t clairvoyant, and he is believing his wife. I think there is something so beautiful to that; [that,] without a shadow of a doubt in Ed’s mind, this is happening.”

“It was a little bit like [getting] to be there for Madison going through these intense scenes,” Smith continued. “Just really being there with her meant the world to me, and was all that I could do, [like being with Lorraine was] all that Ed could do. I think that was just so fundamental to who they are and who he is.”