What sets The Gray Man apart from Bond, Bourne
A new action hero is born in Netflix’s spy-action thriller The Gray Man, which starts streaming today, July 22.
In the title role is Ryan Gosling, a highly-skilled covert CIA operative who goes by the name Six, but who now finds himself on the run after uncovering dark secrets at the agency. Hot on his trail is a psychopathic ex-colleague named Lloyd Hansen (played by Chris Evans) who puts a price on Six’s head, launching a manhunt by international contract killers that crisscrosses the globe.
Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and based on the novel The Gray Man by Mark Greaney, the movie also stars Ana de Armas, with Regé-Jean Page, Billy Bob Thornton, Jessica Henwick, Dhanush, Wagner Moura and Alfre Woodard.
During a recent global virtual presscon, the Russo Brothers were asked what made The Gray Man different from other spy thrillers. Inevitably, their film draws comparisons to the iconic ones, especially, the James Bond and Jason Bourne movies.
Joe Russo said, “Well, this is a modern story. I think that, you know, Bond is about 60 years old at this point and Bourne’s about 20 years old and this film is connected in a lot of ways to some issues that are going on in the world right now. The character is exceedingly existential, quite funny, and we just find that it fits our sense of humor.”
He added, “You know, it’s the kind of film that, you know, we feel would work well with today’s audiences.”
Some interesting trivia: The globe-trotting production was filmed on an international scale working at over seven locations including Los Angeles, France, the Czech Republic, Thailand, Croatia, Austria and Azerbaijan. In a heavily-trafficked section of Prague’s Old Town, shooting shut down a major square for 10 days, according to the press notes.
Meanwhile, to deliver the hardcore, brutal action that they wanted, the Russo Brothers crafted nine action sequences for The Gray Man — and one can just imagine the amount of training Ryan Gosling had to do in preparation for the movie.
The actor, nevertheless, pointed out that he also had an “incredible amount of help” to pull things off.
For one, the production tapped an “amazing stunt team” who took inspiration from different styles of martial arts and “curated” them for Ryan’s character.
“And then we had this amazing advisor named Chili Palmer, who’s an ex-Delta Force member. I tried to just sort of join myself at the hip with him. He had all these, you know, amazing tactical advice, but also these really amazing ideas,” Ryan revealed.
“Like, you know, you should always have skittles on you. That worked its way to the script. (Laughs). Or if you’re gonna go to sleep, tie your shoelace to the door ‘cause if someone comes in, you’ll know.
“All these little details which are things that were not in the script were things you could only learn from experience, that I thought really made the film special and added this sort of special sauce to it. So, we had a lot of help,” Ryan said.
The 41-year-old star also joked about having to do a lot of running in the film. “I would go back to pre-movie me and tell him to work on his cardio. I didn’t expect all the Prague running.”
But what’s an action film without the formidable foes? Previously, we wrote about our roundtable Zoom interview with Chris Evans who discussed jumping at this rare chance of playing the bad guy in an onscreen project.
In the separate presscon, he was asked yet again about his eccentric, over-the-top villain role under the direction of the Russo Brothers, who previously directed the actor as the heroic Captain America in four Marvel movies.
Chris confirmed that playing such a complex role as Lloyd was a liberating experience as an actor.
“I mean, playing a villain is always a little more fun, you have a little bit more freedom, you get a lot more jokes, but working with the Russos is what gives that sense of trust and freedom,” he noted.
“When you trust the filmmakers, you’re more willing to take risks, and certainly a character like this demands risks. So, without the Russos and the relationship and rapport we have, I don’t know if I would have had such a rewarding experience.”
Another villain in the film is essayed by Regé-Jean Page of Bridgerton fame who plays the corrupt agency boss Denny Carmichael. The British actor was particularly queried about his preparation for portraying an American character.
“It was very similar to the prep that you put into any role. I kinda try to come at each script like a duckling that’s never seen a script before in my life, and you kinda start fresh,” he began.
“I always make sure that this guy had a background, he had a reason to be the way he is, because the immediate reaction to Lloyd is you look at him and go, ‘Who does this?’ Sorry, Lloyd, Denny (laughs).
“It is very much the reaction to Lloyd — Lloyd’s on my mind. But so, I wanted to give him a bit of depth, I wanted there to be something kind of interesting and blue-collar in his background. Something east coast, something aspirational into why he’s pushing himself so hard, why this enfant terrible has risen quite so high so quickly and pushed so hard,” Regé-Jean further said.
A scene-stealer, even with hardly any dialogues, in the film is Bollywood star Dhanush. The Gray Man is his first Hollywood blockbuster where he plays a hired mercenary named Avik San.
Dhanush said of his on-set experience: “It was amazing. I had a great time understanding how Hollywood works. I’ve done about 50 films, 22 years of work, in the Indian film industry. You often don’t get a chance to feel like a newcomer because the first time, it all happens in a blur. You don’t realize what’s happening but this time, you know, I had an opportunity to, like, look at myself like a newcomer.”
“Growing up watching Hollywood films and to be in one is like really… yeah, it’s nice (laughs). It’s really nice and I’m very thankful to the Russos for finding me and casting me.”
Meanwhile, the youngest cast member is 13-year-old Julia Butters. She plays Claire, the “daughter” of Donald Fitzroy (played by Billy Bob Thorton), the man who recruited and was responsible for turning Six into a highly-skilled CIA agent. Julia’s character will also be a driving force for Six to fend off enemies.
Julia gushed how it was a great experience having to work with people she looks up to in the acting industry. She said she was taking down notes and getting lessons from her more senior co-stars through observation.
“I respect them so much and I think they’re so incredibly talented. And I’m more of an observer than someone to ask for advice, and, I mean, whether that was watching Chris twitch into Lloyd, literally physically like… or (laughs) watching Billy just take seconds to calm down and think. I honor them so much in their process,” Julia shared.
“And, for me, taking notes by watching what they do is my form of learning, and just really seeing how professional they are and growing up seeing that through everyone I work with, I really try to get as much as I can with observance. So, I thank you guys so much for being so amazing. And the Russo Brothers too, I mean, you guys are just incredible. So, thank you so much for letting me be a part of this.”
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