I liked the idea that this is a cat and mouse movie, but the cat and the mice are changing places constantly.
It’s partly to do with variety and structure as well. I think if you have a single path through any movie, it can become somewhat boring. Just in terms of the narrative, it’s nice when the roles are switched around.
There’s a scene in Retaliation, where the bad guys ambush the hero team with an explosion, and then it very much puts the shoe on the other foot, where Vinnie’s crew comes to rescue him. This puts our heroes now into a lesser position, and then now they’re playing catch up. So I always feel that when you see movies, it’s good to have those kinds of turnarounds.
It also makes it more interesting. It shows you that is not only is Vinnie’s character wily but also the fact that Pearl, his girlfriend, had arranged this rescue attempt and shows that she’s not just some gangster’s moll. She’s actually a boss lady. And also, it shows that his team is loyal to him one way or another.
Let’s talk about Stu for a moment. I know him from WWE and NWA, but how did you get him into the first film, I Am Vengeance?
That’s a great question. In a very straightforward fashion, Stu was filming a film called Eliminators with Scott Adkins, for WWE, at 3 Mills Studios in East London. And our production company, Evolutionary Films, is at 3 Mills Studios. So I was going to meet up with Scott and my friend, Jason, for something else. We had a little chat. We caught up. It was lovely.
At that moment, Stu arrived back at the studio, because they’d been shooting on location. Jason jumped in and introduced us. I cast Jason in the first I Am Vengeance as the bad guy John Gold shoots. And that was how the introduction was formed. The timing was actually quite extraordinary.
“…there’s a straightforward way of communicating with everybody and trust is built.”
So do you advocate hanging out on sets as a way to recruit talent?
[Laughs] As long as you’re not going to get thrown out by the security guards. The timing, it was so funny, it was so strange. I gave Stu the script, and we subsequently talked with the producers, John Adams and Diane Shorthouse. They then spoke to him as well, and it went from there. And it’s been amazing working with him both times.
Most of your cast appears to be stunt actors as well. Is that how you cast the team roles?
Well, not exactly. When you’re in pre-production, you never have a lot of time, so these processes happen quite quickly. We were fortunate enough that Mark Griffin returns in the role of Frost from the first film. He looks very different, but he gets much more involved in the action this time.
I suppose, just because of the nature of who we work with and who we know, there are connections made all the time. I’ve known Jean-Paul Ly for quite a while. I’ve met Katrina Durden a few times. Phoebe Robinson-Galvin, less so, but we were aware of each other. Phobe worked with Jean-Paul and Laurent Plancel, who’s fantastic, on a short film. So this little network was formed.
What’s great is this community is fairly tight in the UK. I’m one of those guys fortunate to direct films like that, and there’s a straightforward way of communicating with everybody and trust is built. This trust and communication give you a very relaxed attitude and atmosphere on the set. Now it’s all a matter of scheduling.
