How Injustice Inspired an Action Film | Rebel Ridge Q&A w Jeremey Saulnier

and I found that it really was a a unifying thing in that it pissed everybody off and what a great sort of inciting incident for a movie and I tried my hand at writing that movie and it became reubel Ridge in record time it just flowed [Music] out uh Jeremy you want to talk about where this movie came from yeah trying to sort of Define like the origin of a movie but it's a lot of energy life experience the crossroads in my career um I was at a precipice I was like trying to decide between two different projects and I tried the other it was pretty cool it was a treasure hunt movie uh but it wasn't quite gushing out and I had heard about silver asset forfeiture and get I got newsletters from the splc or just news articles and was infuriating and maybe that was a better sort of conduit there is like my whatever I had in me I had to find something to get that energy out and as I further researched civil asset forfeiture uh which is this you know corrupt practice it's actually legal but it's just so unjust where law enforcement can seiz citizens property or money without tying it to a criminal charge um and I found that it really was a a un un ifying thing in that it pissed everybody off I used research kind of dug into it and was I'm fascinated by it um and again it didn't quite write itself but it really helped me through and channel whatever was in me at that time okay and then you have these two lovely actors oh yes I do how did you what spoke to you about them and and I wanted to know from from their perspective what spoke to you about this script that fled out of Jeremy I mean there's some discourse about self tapes and auditions and I'll let you guys speak to that like like a proon discourse well there's a lot of sort of you know experienced actors who have had enough of it it's like a pandemic thing they want to be in a room and rightfully so okay they want Direction they want to talk however I saw Anna Sophia re for the role of Summer and that was the end of my journey it was it number one pick for sure uh took a while to get there um but the way she would read the words that I had written was just transformative was way better than I imagined it and that's what she want because a lot of times it just it makes you think about going back to the writer's room like okay let me uh tweak some stuff and this I was like we're ready to go um Aon and I we met over zoom and we were at a Crossroads in our careers and I'll let you guys speak to it but um I don't know how long our Zoom was but it was for me pretty intense um very deep uh it went on 45 to an hour I think but I knew about 90 seconds in that he was the guy and the only guy so you were just wasting his day for the rest of that hour yeah you want to tell me what uh what your experience was like on the other end of the zoom yeah go ahead uh I I remember reading the script for the first time and it was the cool um and it was the best script I I had read in such a long time and it just awakened so many things that that I had been feeling and and frustrations in our culture or wanting to have a character that is really unexpected and um gets to make a lot of active decisions and transforms and I think uh thematically this film made my heart pump you know my blood boil and I just really cared about it in a way that I was like I really just deeply want to play this character and I want to be a part of this movie and I'm also excited to see this movie like I read the script and I thought even if I'm not in it I just want it I just want to watch it and I want it to be out there in the world and the story and um yeah and so when I also self tapes are so weird and it is such an impersonal thing I was shook that I got it through a self tape I was like send the tape in and go I nailed it no I was actually filming something else and I had another actor friend read with me and we had so much fun and that's also it's Jeremy wrot just this beautiful complex script that talks about I mean not not just the themes in the film and civil asset forfeiture but each character is there's layer upon layer and I remember reading it was with Rory culen actually um and we had a blast like we had and usually self tapes are not a blast but I think it's a testament to your spectacular writing and that I wasn't in the room to fuck it up no not Aaron tell us tell us about this Zoom did you know he was going to be this handsome first of all Jeremy on the zoom like IRL was that clear I mean don't start him off please um no so we we um the way this presented itself to me was uh I remember my team called me and they were just exhilarated they were so excited and energized by this screenplay that they had just read um and They begged me to read it as soon as possible so it pops up in my email and the moment I saw that it was Jeremy sonier had written it I read it within maybe 90 minutes immediately called them straight back and I was like how can we make this happen they got Jeremy and I on a zoom and um immediately I was just enamored and taken by the way that he operates with such intentionality and specificity and love and care for the the art the craft itself like me he really doesn't have any interest in any of the extracurricular things that uh present themselves in our industry um and I empathized and connected with that um for me there are like three things with every project that I do um they like checkboxes it's the filmmaker the script and the character uh the filmmaker undeniable in my subjective View and I think the view of many Jeremy is one of the greatest living filmmakers we have today you hear that Jer I'll take that I love doing that I love doing that to him as well yeah um so that was an undeniable big green tick uh the script was it's just it's just a phenomenal script I I wish I could get into his brain and just check out those spiders and cobwebs and like roller coasters that are in his mind I think he's just genius and then the character for me immediately I was so excited because I think I still consider myself very early in my journey I've only been professional for about a decade I still consider myself a student and a sponge I'm trying to absorb as much as I can but very early in my journey I was often it was often highlighted to me my height my size um the the like the Deep tone of my voice and I was told that it was unlikely that I would ever get to portray emotionally intelligent characters so and that stuck with me for a long time uh numerous people wow um and when I read this I was like well Jeremy don't think so so for me I was I was just so thrilled at the opportunity [Music] to to to not only portray Terry Richmond who has Jeremy's written with such physical prowess none of which in real life I have and then but at the same time some a character who is so emotionally intelligent and witty and charming and all of these things um it was a real opportunity he had gifted me with so I say all that to say uh that's my guy well that back at you so you weren't like looking for a kind of because this is a real kind of star making role you weren't looking for that project it just kind of happened Jeremy just sent you the script and that it's kind of Beautiful Something Beautiful about that right yeah I mean I think um I'm I'm one of those people who rightly or wrongly I would pref preer to not work and just go about my pretty mundane life than do something that I am not passionate about um and be away from my family and my friends and my loved ones I'd prefer to just not do it yeah um so yeah I'm very specific and this this was something that was you know like I say undeniable that's amazing well obviously you chose two actors and then put them up against like two of the most legendary actors of all time and Don Johnson and James Cromwell so I wanted to know you know did you know that they could they could go toe-to-toe and then I wanted to know from you two what it was like filming those scenes oh yeah I mean Don Johnson was was very kind to come and play with us uh and he we we needed a heavy um and I you know I was a huge fan of Don my entire life from the Miami Vice days my dad was a big fan of Nash Bridges but I was in the casting process and given the first or second episode of The Watchman and Don is around a dinner table and he is Serena and it is just it is very moved me and that was what I was tapping into because you he's a fun guy he's a total Pro and I think we were like-minded and that we sat down together and just made sure we were on the same Mission and uh you know after one conversation he was in and we put everybody through the ringer but we had a lot of fun you know Aaron is is from the stage and you know Aunt Sophia she's had Decades of experience and and and Don also brings that level of just you know he's like a mentor to us um but he played I think one of the things that we did we tried say that scene scene 28 when you guys remember when Aaron and and Don have a five minute conversation with a single lens on each side like just there's no FRS there's no coverage other than you know one lands on one guy and then another lands on the other guy um and we just created a live theater we just kind of ran it until it felt electric and did another take and moved on and um you know I I knew from the beginning that once they were on screen together I think the first scene we shot was when was when Terry is just seated in the police station and and scene 14 um and you know Don Johnson walks in and part of my reverence for these actors like I have to waste his intro I have to because I can't just like there's Don Johnson so he had to come in like a shark he had to kind of go by the camera and just wipe frame and and Terry's looking at him and we're all looking at him but we don't see him and the first time you see Don in the movie it's a wide shot from afar because I was like I just can't do this so he had to sort of like slowly work its way into a closeup which we did but u a lot of fun yeah and what about for you guys working with these Legends uh it was a thrill I remember once I had been cast and finding out that James Cromwell that I'd be working alongside him was made my heartbeat uh and he's just the utmost professional I think he he's just what a life he's lived and so I think it also so that relationship between Summer and the judge the the respect and the admiration that I already had for him I think it was already there and so it makes it that much more heartbreaking I think for me imagining when your hero has fallen um and James we I remember the the scene at night when we we worked you know when we face him for the first time we ran that we we covered we did a lot of coverage but I remember with each take finding something different and and him telling us stories in between takes and just feeling such camaraderie um I remember just wanting to savor the moments that we had and the scenes that we had together because um they they felt fleeting and his accent was my one of my favorite Parts he has a very particular accent of course he does because he's James Cromwell and it's an Arcadian sound that he thought would be perfect for this character and he described how um in Louisiana how they moved from the north to the South and how it still you just sounds sort of like the Northeast and just that specificity and that care of thinking about who this man is um what he represents to I think to to be around those types of actors is uh inspiring and and he's just a lovely I mean he's the most gentle giant ever yeah Aon tell me about Johnson yeah that that's my guy he's your dude yeah I mean Jeremy creates an environment on set um which is so beautiful and he protects with his life the moment between action and cut he keeps that really sacred um and that affords you know myself and Don and Anna sopia all of us to you know even in the context of Terry and chief Sandy burn being Rivals and enemies on either side of action and cut we're laughing we're joking we're Don's imparting you know just not only advice for my career as an artist but also life advice um but then the moment you step onto the set all of a sudden I'm Terry Richmond you're chief Sandy burn and we have a problem you know and that's that's thanks to Jeremy you know so and then in regard to uh James Cromwell Sir James Cromwell um I I was just in awe of him uh and I remember the first scene we did I was just we'd gone out for dinner before and and I'd got to meet him outside of the context of set but I was still just in awe of him and kind of like after every take I'm kind of going up to him like do you need tea coffee snacks like and Jeremy pulled me aside and he was like he was like Aaron I know you're excited that James chomo is here but we need to get down to business and you know he's he's done you wrong he's done the town wrong it took it took me it's and I'm like okay okay but does he need tea or coffee never offered me coffee yeah but I will say this about Cromwell I the confession is like maybe he would have done the movie on his own but someone he works with is is a my wife and I it's our high school classmate and we got a I've never had an inn like that before slip the script and just get a yes it's amazing and Cromwell I think amongst all the cast and crew except for some of the stunt guys but who actually fought MMA cromwell's a big MMA Hound really we were watching MMA sort of like on a day off and he just he knew everybody on the undercard and was talking about stats and records and I was like oh dear isn't he like chaining himself to trees and things like you would not expect him to he's a lover and of fighter yeah okay all right you brought up MMA let's talk about the big scene so wonderfully done um what was that like what was it I mean did you always know that was going to be kind of the centerpiece and then Aaron what was it like training I mean if you if you really are not as coordinated as you look on screen I'm gonna kind of hand it over to him the funny thing about all that is it was the most heavily prepped of all the sequencing um it was previs we had shot it on video I had taken it home over the weekend and edited it so I knew what I needed and there was definitely some technical challenges um like if a camera was off 2 in on an eyeline it just didn't line up we'd go again um because about you know fusing the emotional journey of Terry this is a big payoff this is the big release if you didn't feel that fire it just I mean it was funny how if the smoke blew the wrong way it wouldn't work um but other than that you know I just sat back and just like let's go again let's just go again this gentleman has a little different side of that okay lay it on us it was great I mean um we you know we did this film in the middle of summer in Louisiana that Louisiana sun is no joke like on a cool day you're looking at a 100° and um as I said you know one of the many reasons I love Jeremy is for his intentionality and his specificity uh how that may have manifested itself is you know take nine we got to get it you know but we did it because we cared and we wanted to make this the best version of itself um I think one of the Privileges uh and pleasures of working on such a physical picture as this is that everyone is so invested from the crew to the car production to the studio because you're actually expending sweat blood tears grazes bruises you know it wasn't just me out there running throwing punches and kicks and throws you know like I've said to Jeremy a number of times we had the boom guy he he's holding the boom sweats in his eyes his arms are shaking Jeremy's like again he's like I got you you know we got Big Bruce uh uh anyone who is a crew here you know I'm sure you know Big Bruce Lawson you know is he's he's got this massive crane he's he's capturing all these brilliant shots and angles it was just an honor it was just an honor to do a scene like that a film like this with such Elite creatives I felt so supported and held was it fun to kind of have one of the fun things about this movie is that so much of the characterization comes out through physicality and was that fun for you as well I mean Jeremy said that you guys shot some some more Sho leather that didn't make it into the movie kind of explaining things and who people are and all that but it is really kind of efficient and and lethal the kind of characterization that you get to do here and I was wondering if that was fun so much fun you you could speak you still you still you have some some physical stuff you're running around there's buildings on fire I mean come on I mean I got very excited when I when I had our basement uh sequence I actually remember Aaron couldn't fit through the window we said we weren't going to disclose that I remember jumping right through and then Aaron is just like the B we had to take stuffing out of the backpack the the stunt team were like Anna Sophia is just flying through she's Landing like a pro I'm getting stuck the stunt team are like all right Aaron how can we help you sir yeah I like that painting of the picture my one action sequence yeah um no I I think what's so the the way that Jeremy's crafted this story is you're kind of unsure of how these characters are going to become allies and what what's the twist of their like how do they intertwine and I think what's fun in in in watching the film because we film it out of sequence is watching their story get more and more intertwined in how the physicality and how the the Wardrobe changes and how um they I think that scene of jumping into the basement and going through this exploration together I mean we were having fun because there was fire and explosions and it felt very thrilling but I think that moment of um that acknowledgement of like we are going to blow this building up together we're going to get this information together and we're teammates it felt like all of the action has a payoff just like Jeremy was saying the physicality it's it there is emotion in it it's not just like a explosion because it's fun and spectacular there's a there's a consequence to every punch that Aaron throws um every disarming of a of a weapon there's there's meaning and intentionality behind that and I think for you know when I push land I love like the eyes just squeezing him outside the window I think that there's a payoff and so as an actor doing action there's meaning there's something like deep inside you that gets to roll out and it's was thrilling to watch Aaron also I like I would come to set and just watch because it was thrilling to watch Jeremy with that specificity and knowing and having that zooming out vision of like no we do need to go again because this shop matters and Aaron being completely in sync and knowing yeah I'm going to I'm going to work my hardest and like use all my body to tell this story and that's that's inspiring I think that's part of the reason why all the crew was holding you know was holding the Boom for so long and being like yeah let's let's go again because there was meaning behind that action all right we have to wrap up but I've already pitched this to Jeremy I'm going to pitch it to you guys Terry shows up in another small town There's Something a foot he has to solve the mystery are we Aaron you're into it you there hey I see you got my email before okay okay all right I'll have it in by Monday yes yes sir no let's thank uh this amazing cast crew thank you all for coming out really appreciate it [Music]