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Along the way, Naishuller found a willing partner in Odenkirk, who pushed himself to the limit and only used a stuntman within moments. Remembers the filmmaker: “He gave me a chance on this movie, so I was like, ‘I don’t just have to make a good movie, I have to make sure it looks as tough as possible. . ‘”
Now Person, a potential franchise starter for Universal, basks in the lingering $ 6.7 million in domestic revenue over the weekend as theaters in Los Angeles reopened. In a conversation with Hollywood journalist, Naishuller dives into his Person travels and plans his next project, Leaving Berlin.
What were your first impressions of the script?
I liked it the first time. During the first phone call with Bob, I explained how I had seen the film. And I kind of felt that wasn’t what they were thinking. I said, “under the popcorn, the fights, the cool stuff you’re going to do, I think the movie is almost a tragedy about a guy with an addiction. His addiction is violence.” It was a horrible phone connection. I hoped he heard me correctly. After that call, they said, “Can you fly to Los Angeles and talk to the studio and everyone?”
The analogy of addiction is subtle, but it is there. There are so many times that Bob’s character Hutch could have walked away.
We said, “It’s still a summer movie.” It was due out on August 14 [2020]. It’s a studio film. So let’s not talk about it outright, except for once, when RZA’s character Harry says “relapse.” You’ll pick it up if you’re careful. Otherwise, it will be more at surface level. The wonderful thing about understanding the theme of the movie is that it becomes very easy to change and write and rewrite and talk to the actors. It’s a cheat code for successful storytelling. When he got off the bus, he can walk away. But he does it for himself. As much as I love the genre, “I’m a hitman and been out of the game for 20 years and now I have to go back because they took something for me”, it’s a story about a guy who does not. not required [seek revenge]. He really wants it! That’s what made it interesting.
After meeting with the studio, you were hired in just a few hours. It’s generally quick, isn’t it?
It was my first American film. I didn’t know what to expect. I went there, I had a 30 page presentation. I think on page 15 or 16, I was arrested. “That’s enough.” I thought, “Maybe I was boring. Maybe I wasn’t exciting enough.” I went to sit in my hotel room, and I got a call saying, “It’s yours if you want it.” Of course I want it!
As an actor, Bob only gets better with age. And in this movie, he looks better than ever. Aside from his insane training, how did you accomplish this?
He gave me a shot on this movie, so I thought, “I don’t just have to make a good movie, I have to make sure it looks as badass as possible.” He had done a lot of work. A year and a half of training. When you start training at over 50, it’s tough. He always talks about himself not as an actor, but as a writer. As soon as he sits down he wants to bend down, pick up a pen and start writing. He had to go against many years of existence to force himself into this new form. When you have a star who is willing to go so hard, you have no excuse not to do the best thing you can. All I can control, I pushed for a cooler bob in every shot, scene etc. It’s actually a lot of fun as a movie mission to make your star as cool and sexy as possible.
Was it scary that Bob was doing stunts? If he gets hurt, your movie stops.
We had great stunt coordinators. I learned from Hardcore that my job as a director is to push as hard as I can and then when the stuntmen say, “It’s too dangerous, we can’t do that” you say, “Cool, let’s go as far as possible, but risk no injury ”, and that’s it. If Greg [Rementer, supervising stunt coordinator] sounds like we shouldn’t be doing this, so we aren’t. We only used a double once or twice in the whole movie. I know Bob could have done those stunts, but you don’t want the production to hold up because something with a 1 percent chance of going wrong just did.
How did you make Bob “as cool as possible”?
I remember in the home invasion scene, there is the moment when Bob beats the shit of the other guys with a baseball bat, and I think we had a busted bat that was supposed to smash in the face of the guys. It’s a cool move, but I’m like, “Let’s get Bob to break the bat against his leg,” because not many people can break a fully solid baseball bat on one leg. Let’s make him look 7% cooler at this particular moment. Let’s go for that.
You made sure that the Russian elements were genuine. What changes have you made?
When I got the script, it was the South Koreans as the bad guys. I said, “Guys, here’s the thing. I love South Korean cinema. I’ve seen a lot of it. And that’s all I know about South Korean culture. So what’s okay? happen is that I will do the same with the South Koreans that you did with John wick“It works and people love it all over the world, and Russians don’t mind having Baba Yaga, which doesn’t make any sense, but we don’t mind! It’s a wink and nodding and it’s a fun moment I said, “As a Russian I can’t work with South Koreans. It’s not my style. So how about making them Russian and make them authentic enough. We make them the bad guys, but we stay respectful to them and make him a little more true to what a Russian gangster would be like these days. “Everyone agreed. . Derek said, “I like Russians like bad guys. You’re scary.” I said, “We are? OK! I’ll take that as a compliment.”
What other changes did you make after the bad guys got Russian?
We have worked a lot. I think the idea of obschak [the Russian mob’s retirement fund] of me. We sat down and said, “Derek, here’s a list of things I think we should try to brew.” Bob loved it. Derek loved it. Derek put his magic on it. Then it was about making sure we had a Russian cast. Let’s play the Russians against the Russians. There are many who speak English well enough to be in a studio film. We started going to the Americans just to have an option for Yulian to have an American star. I didn’t ask anyone, I just called Aleksey Serebryakov, whom I had met once because I wanted him to be in what I was supposed to do and which never came to fruition. I said, “Aleksey, it’s a little weird, but I’m doing an American movie. He’s a Russian villain. But it’s gonna be a good movie. Here’s the script. Can you do scenes 53 and 74? and do each one in Russian and English and then do the wackiest dance you can? ”He was wearing a Hawaiian shirt. I grabbed these videos and sent them to Bob and said, “Bob, this is the guy.” Bob liked it right away. Then we had a good friend of mine, Aleksandr Pal, to play Teddy. The names are still South Korean. We wanted to keep this as a nod to the original intention.
Was it a challenge to get buy-in for them to speak Russian in this area?
I remember writing the percentage of the dialogue in Russian compared to English. “It all makes sense. It won’t be a book, it will always be a movie. Let’s go.” Fortunately, everyone was in agreement and it worked like that.
I didn’t expect the Russian Mafia’s retirement plan to be a key plot point. How much research have you done?
Obschak is real. Through a friend of a friend of a friend, I spoke to a guy who has to do with real obschak. I said, “Does it make sense to have $ 1 billion in a warehouse?” He said, “the bills should be tens and twenty”. We have followed this. That was Derek’s big call to make it the Russian retirement plan, because that’s not quite it. It’s more their fund for everything. But it sounds more exciting to call it the pension plan.
This is considered a potential franchise. Would you like to stay involved as a director or producer on a sequel? Have you ever thought of any ideas to find out more?
I’m excited for a Hardcore Henry continued at the time. And I learned my lesson: let’s not get excited about these things. I have a lot of projects to do. Different projects. The first movie [Hardcore Henry] was crazy action; this one was more character oriented. The third, hopefully, will be more of an ensemble piece. If there is a demand for a [Nobody] continuation, that means that I did my job well. Bob’s formative years worked. All the producers have put a lot of time and effort into this. It’s more of a testament that we did the right things and that we made the right choices. So this will be the most exciting part rather than “May I lead the second?”
You were a fan of Bob’s work before that. Were you choosing her brain breaking Bad or You better call Saul on the tray?
On the weekends Bob and I would have breakfast and go over next week’s scenes, rehearse and talk. It’s impossible to spend time with Bob and not ask. Just before I flew to Winnipeg I watched everything You better call Saul again, because I wanted to make sure we got as far away from Saul Goodman as possible. The only thing I had to watch out for was Saul Goodman talking like that. (Naishuller moves his hands animatedly.) There was a moment [on set] where Bob did this. [I said,] “Bob, hands.” We talked about [Better Call Saul] and I said, “Bob, don’t spoil this for me, I want to watch it!” As unbelievable as it may be, “I have inside information”, I don’t want it! I want to watch him as a member of the audience. I know a little, but he obviously knows how to keep secrets, secrets.
What attracted you to your next project, Leaving Berlin?
I fell in love with the book because in the midst of all the grounded and intelligent elements of espionage, there is a strong and honest romantic relationship, and most importantly the main character is a man with a backbone, ready to go. until the end for the ideals. what he believes in. I think our world today can benefit from cinematic examples of such moral force.
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Person is in theaters now.
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