Alan Ritchson was amazing. His character’s name is Butchie, and in my mind, that’s a very ambiguous meathead type. Then I saw a video that was sent to me of Alan Ritchson in a sitcom, and he’s on a date describing that he has microphallus and it was so funny, and his timing and deadpan and wryness was coming out. I’m like, oh my God, he just took this meathead to such the next level because the Butchie character is the only one that cracks the jokes, and he is that guy. It’s more than just muscles.
Brenton Thwaites, was tricky as he was bouncing back and forth from Australia. He had just switched agencies to UTA, and I’m at UTA, so I was always chasing him. Then it seemed like the stars just aligned where it’s sort of like, hey guys, you got to let me have him now. What Brenton brought to it is that Steve McQueen quietude where you believe he’s a leader, you believe he can just give you a look to shut you up, and yet he’s always full of compassion even immediately after killing a Nazi. Brenton has that likeability, and star power that I needed for what you would say is the lead as the story really focuses on him. But I agree, it’s an ensemble.
Theo Rossi has done a ton. So much so, that I was intimidated. I know him as Juice on Sons of Anarchy, and he was on Luke Cage, and he’s kind of a frightening character. What I didn’t realize is that he has several foundations to get veterans help and that when he read this script, he couldn’t be more enthusiastic about getting behind something like this. Kirk, his character, is our straight man. He’s not a caricature per se. He’s the audience’s way in, the more rational one that occasionally has to eat s**t if the leader makes a bad decision. But we kind of identify with him.
“…he’s a leader, you believe he can just give you a look to shut you up…”
Lastly, Kyle Gallner plays Tappert, who sort of has a reverse arc. At first, we think he’s insane, then slowly pull back the layers to reveal his heart. I knew Kyle was perfect for the part, but he had shoulder-length hair that he couldn’t cut for a TV show. But I wanted him so bad. Kyle did the research, found pictures of snipers back during World War II that were allowed certain leniency with the dress code who were wearing knit wool caps. I’m like, oh my God, you’re right. You can cover up that hair with that thing, and I was nervous, but I’m like, okay, you’re in, you convinced me. It didn’t take much to twist my arm. For the whole shoot in Bulgaria, I was nervous until the first time he came in costume and makeup and saw the hat and was like, yep, that’ll work.
Yeah. It does work because I wouldn’t have even thought about the hair thing, so it does work.
What was a huge relief. I don’t even think Kyle ever had a wig because he’s either under a helmet or that knit cap the entire movie, and he has a bit of a mustache that he also needed to keep for the TV show. You watch so many war movies set in WWII, and you notice that everybody’s got a mustache.
That was not the way it was. Maybe the captain could, but I mean, it just didn’t happen that way. People had to shave, short of stubble, obviously, you get by lot, but you couldn’t just grow a mustache. But you know, you sort of let it slide for our sniper character.
I am a big fan of his actually. He was in this movie called Dinner in America that played at Sundance. He was part of the reason I wanted to see this movie, as I like him so much and thought his role was really cool and-
And deserving of him. I mean, he was so intense, and I mean, I can’t tell you how much I want to work with him again. There was one scene where people attack the house, and our guys battle with some Nazis. His character is outside, standing by a truck, smoking a cigarette, shaken, rattled, staring into space very intently, and there’s a dolly move taking you to his face and his eyes. They’re crazed, and the AD forgot to yell cut. We were all just staring, assuming, oh my God, something is about to explode. And then finally, oh, sorry, sorry. That’s me. Cut.
