Bill Skarsgard and Maika Monroe's on-screen chemistry

'Villains' stars Bill Skarsgard and Maika Monroe believe chemistry is the key to their new movie.

The pair play Mickey and Jules, lovers on the run, in the new independent movie from co-writers/directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen and Bill and Maika believe spending time together before filming started was a key part of the process.

Maika told The Hollywood Reporter: "One of the most important things in a film is the relationships between people... Yeah, I think it's super important. It was really nice with this film as we had a week-and-a-half before we started shooting; we were both in New York and staying at the same hotel. We had rehearsals and we were hanging out a bunch. So, I think [chemistry building] does make a difference."

Bill added: "Yeah, I agree. We did have a week-and-a-half or 10 days before we started shooting of just rehearsing, doing read-throughs, trying things out -- as well as just hanging out. It was definitely important for me going into this as the chemistry between Mickey and Jules is what the movie is revolving around. If that doesn't work, there's really not a film."

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And Bill revealed that the pair enjoyed getting the chance to work out their characters' backstory together.

He explained: "The fact that Maika and I were able to hang out, goof around and also just go out and have a few drinks, get to know each other and also talk about who do we think these characters are, what's the backstory here and figure the dynamic out -- it was incredibly helpful. That being said, Maika is great, and we get along so well, but I don't think there's necessarily a rule... There's a lot of stories -- maybe not in my own experience -- but there's a lot of stories of people that have the best on-screen chemistry, but the actors actually hate each other. And then there's stories where actors just absolutely love each other and they get along so well off-screen, but on-screen, for some inexplicable reason, there's just no chemistry. It's hard to define rules to it, but in my experience, the more relaxed you are with your scene partner makes for a more relaxed shooting experience. When you're relaxed with a scene partner you're working with, you can be spontaneous, and you can encourage each other. A lot of good in-the-moment things come out of that and because of that."