IF star Cailey Fleming reveals the scene that she was most worried about filming. Directed by John Krasinski, IF tells the story of a young girl who discovers that imaginary friends are real, and seeks to help the mystical beings that have been left behind as their humans stop believing in them. IF features a leading cast including Krasinski, Fleming, Ryan Reynolds, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Fiona Shaw, and Steve Carrell.

In an interview with Collider, Fleming explains which scene she was most nervous about filming. According to the young actor, this came in the scene that asks her to cry as she tells the story to her father in the hospital following his surgery. She kept “telling [Krasinski] how [she] was so nervous for that day.” It was referred to as “The Story Day” on set. It was a grueling process for Fleming to try to remember the lines for the scene, as she struggled to “read it without crying.” Check out the full quote from Fleming below:

I was so nervous. That’s what I was most nervous for. I mean, it’s a very big part of the movie. It was a really special part, and I just really wanted to make sure it hit how I wanted it to. I remember as soon as we started shooting and I read the script, I kept telling him I was so nervous for that day. We called it, like, “The Story Day.” I was like, “The day I have to tell the story. I’m so nervous.” But we waited until the end like I said, and it took me a long time to memorize those lines because I could not read it without crying because it was just so special.

But that day, John made it as easy as possible. The mood was very calm. Usually, it’s very happy, “Oh my gosh!” But it was very calm so that we could get it done and over with. I think we only did, like, five takes. We got all the angles we needed. But it was very real. I don’t think it was very much acting for me. Seeing somebody that you’ve been working with for so long and that you love and adore in a hospital bed is not very fun, but we got the take.

Why This Scene Is So Important In IF

Krasinski Has Past Experience Working With Child Actors

From the sounds of Fleming’s story, Krasinski was a huge help to her. He “made it as easy as possible” and kept a calm environment on set. Krasinski has worked with directing child actors before, which likely made his navigation of the experience better. He worked with Noah Jupe and Millicent Simmonds, who were 13 and 15 years old at the time, on the set of A Quiet Place. This film was even more emotionally intense than IF, well-equipping Krasinski to work with child actors in highly emotional scenes.

The scene in question is a significant beat for Fleming’s character Bea. In IF, Bea’s father has to get heart surgery, which is a scary thing for any child to witness for their parents, but even more frightening given Bea’s background. In the same hospital where her father is given the surgery, her mother died of cancer years before the events of the film. It is Bea telling her dad the story of the IFs, and how she still needs her dad, which eventually wakes him up after surgery complications.

It is this hospital scene in IF that ultimately gives the film an extra layer of emotional heart. The strength of IF lies in the film’s counterbalance of joy and more wistful or emotionally heavy scenes. Fleming’s tears help bring this to the scene, so it is great that Krasinski fostered a set environment that could encourage this level of comfort in vulnerability on set.

IF is currently available to watch in theaters.