Warning: this interview contains SPOILERS for the Grey Man
Together with “Grey Man” Joe and Anthony Russo (directors of such Marvel Studios hits as “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”, “Civil War”, “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Finale”) hope to launch a new action franchise on Netflix. The premiere of “The Grey Man” will take place in cinemas on July 15, 2022, and from July 22 it will be broadcast on Netflix.
In “Grey Man,” Ryan Gosling plays Sierra Six, a top CIA operative who uncovers a dark conspiracy inside the agency. Subsequently, another operative, psychotic Lloyd Hansen, played by Chris Evans, hunts for the Sixth. Billy Bob Thornton, Ana de Armas, less often Jean Page, Jessica Henwick and Julia Butters also participate in the exciting adventure adventure “Grey Man”.
Screen Rant joined Joe and Anthony Russo at their AGBO office for an in-depth and in-depth discussion of The Grey Man, Ryan Gosling’s talents, Chris Evans’ role as the villain, their many film influences, and plans for a comeback. to Marvel Studios.
Screen Rant: My favorite MCU movie of all time is Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I received the same amount of vibrations from the Gray Man.
Joe Russo: In many ways they complement each other. These are action thrillers devoted to very topical topics, [such as] espionage, and tell about characters who have fallen into very difficult emotionally difficult situations. And they both travel the world.
The actions in the “Grey Man” are excellent. I reasonably thought that you blew up Prague.
Anthony Russo: (laughs) Oh, no!
Joe Russo: Yes, we did! I mean, poor Prague. After a month of relentless shooting and explosions, I think they were ready to see us leave.
Anthony Russo: I also have to say this: it’s hard to thank the pandemic for anything, but we were shooting at the height of the pandemic, so it was definitely quieter than usual in Prague.
Joe Russo: It was as empty as ever, right.
Anthony Russo: So it was actually a great boon for us. To be able to move around the city and control parts of it without being a typical busy, crowded Prague.
So you’ve been to all the locations? You went to Vienna, you went to Croatia…
Joe Russo: Yes. It was exhausting. We were in France at the Chantilly Castle, which serves as the end of the film. For Croatia, it was a license plate that we sent to Croatia. So we took the castle out of France and put it in a moat in Croatia.
Anthony: Parts of our film crew were in all these places.
Ryan was great. He has a gift for keeping cool, even when everything explodes around him, and holes are put in him.
Joe Russo: It’s a stoic quality and elegant minimalism for him as an actor. But he can convey a lot with just a glance. This is a real gift. There are very few actors in history who can act in such a way that, in just a few seconds of looking at their face, the whole inner life is felt.
So he’s perfect for the role in that regard. The Grey Man is a character that should be minimalistic. It is designed to move in and out of the shadow. Come in and out. Complete the task and leave before he is caught or captured. Ryan was perfect for this role.
It reminded me a lot of his performance in Blade Runner 2049, where so much was going on inside him, but he was trying to contain it.
Joe Russo: Yes, he’s fighting fate. He is a character who identifies with Sisyphus. But he is also a prisoner and has spent most of his life in it. The CIA got him out of prison only for the CIA to call him to work for them for most of his adult life. So he’s just a character looking for freedom.
But what is interesting about this film as a parable about good and evil is that all the characters in this film are gray, but some lean towards humanity, and some move away from it. This is really, ultimately, the theme of the film.
There’s also a really great moment when Lloyd calls Ryan’s character “Ken doll.” How timely. Have you seen the photo of Ryan as Ken in Barbie?
Anthony Russo: Oh, yes.
Joe Russo: I think we reposted this photo.
Anthony Russo: It’s amazing, but this phrase was written before he starred in this movie. We tried several options when we shot [this scene]. We usually shoot violas. We like to have options in the editing room. So we had other versions of this bit in the editing room, but we bet on the “Ken Doll” line. We thought he was the funniest. But by the time we did it in the montage, he was already playing Ken.
Joe Russo: We like to think we inspired him. (laughs)
Did you guys bite the bit to make Chris Evans the villain in all those Captain America movies?
Anthony Russo: As you can imagine, the opportunity to work with Chris on four films with this character was amazing. Speaking of Ryan Gosling, the master of minimalism, Captain America is also a very disciplined, focused character.
