I consider myself to be a morning person, but 6am is no time to be speaking to anyone, leave alone two gentlemen who have given Hollywood some of its recent biggest blockbusters. In fact, owing to their string of successes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, they are now the second most commercially successful directors of all time, behind Steven Spielberg. Joe and Anthony Russo, smiling widely from my computer screen a little after the crack of dawn last week, had me even before I could blurt out ‘I love you 3000’.I was speaking to the film-makers — known as the Russo brothers — for their latest action thriller The Gray Man. Set to stream on Netflix from July 22 after a limited theatrical release in select markets last Friday, The Gray Man is based on Mark Greaney’s eponymous debut novel. Headlined by Ryan Gosling as a CIA black ops agent who is up against a former colleague gone rogue, played with wacko wickedness by a stache-sporting Chris Evans, The Gray Man, in true Russo brothers style, boasts a strong ensemble comprising Ana de Armas, Billy Bob Thornton, Jessica Henwick, Rege-Jean Page, Julia Butters and Wagner Moura. Set to catapult himself to the global stage with this film is our very own Dhanush, who also joined the Russo brothers in this interview with t2.
TRUE TO ITS CORE
‘Big’ has been a word consistently associated with the Russos, who have MCU blockbusters like Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), and Avengers: Endgame (2019) to their credit. That has seamlessly extended itself to The Gray Man, which with a $200 million budget, is the most expensive Netflix Original movie so far. It’s easy to rely heavily on all the razzmatazz that one gets to see in their films, but the storytelling in a Russo brothers directorial has never suffered. How do they retain the essence and the core emotions of the stories they tell, even in the middle of all that spectacle?“We always try and explore the human process, even with all the pyrotechnics,” laughed Anthony Russo in response to t2’s question. “Cinema is essentially an exploration of character for us, and we build our narrative in a way that allows us to explore that character... push that character into challenging places.... And the action becomes an extension of that,” he continued, even as Joe seconded his brother.The Gray Man is a globe-trotting thriller filmed in locations like Prague, Czech Republic and the Chateau de Chantilly in France. ‘Huge’ doesn’t even begin to describe it. “Like The Gray Man, all our films are large ensemble movies. And every scene is an opportunity to discover something about a character. The question that we ask ourselves as we tell a story is that what are we looking to do with the character in this moment. These are fascinating people... fascinating but flawed, and they are presented with overwhelming challenges. How does a character respond to that, how do they push through it is what interests us,” said Anthony.
Ryan Gosling headlines The Gray Man as Sierra Six
PAGE TO SCREEN
The Gray Man, first published in 2009, was to be helmed in 2011 by James Gray with Brad Pitt attached to the project. After that, Mission: Impossible man Christopher McQuarrie was set to direct Charlize Theron, but even that didn’t work out.Finally, the Russo brothers teamed up with Netflix toco-produce the project, besides doing directing and writing duties. The brothers have always expressed a desire to work with Ryan Gosling and they found their perfect Court Gentry/ Sierra Six in the 41-year-old actor.“The character (Court Gentry/ Sierra Six) in the book is so amazing! The character is facing an existential crisis... he has never experienced freedom in his life, he is a product of toxic patriarchy... abusive father, abusive CIA... and all he wants is to taste freedom for a few moments before he dies. We found that, in a very resonant, in a very modern way, to be very tragic,” Joe Russo told t2. He added, “The book in itself is very propulsive, very ambitious in scale.... There are more action set pieces in the book than there are in the movie, if you can believe it. All of that combined to make what we thought would be a book that would convert really well on to the screen.”
Dhanush as Avik San in The Gray Man, premiering on Netflix on July 22.
GOING GLOBAL
Dhanush, whose big Hollywood break in The Gray Man is a follow-up to his 2018 international debut The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir, is understandably gung-ho. The film has his character performing some high-octane stunts, which as expected, pushed the actor to his limits physically. “I had to train a lot. In fact, this is the most I have trained for stunt sequences so far in my career. We trained for about a month or a month-and-a-half,” smiled Dhanush. “Avik San (his character) is a man of few words and he is just like me... I am also a man of few words in real life,” he laughed, tongue firmly in cheek.For the actor, who has also successfully forayed into Bollywood with a bunch of films, acting in The Gray Man has been an opportunity to work in an environment different from his experiences so far. “I was really interested in understanding how the stunt crew in Hollywood approach, how they train the actors, their technique.... It was amazing to learn different kinds of action techniques. It was definitely high risk, but they also made sure that it was all very safe for us.” My favourite Russo brothers film is... Tell t2@abp.in
I had to train a lot. In fact, this is the most I have trained for stunt sequences so far in my career. Avik San (his character in The Gray Man) is a man of few words and he is just like me... I am also a man of few words in real life. I was really interested in understanding how the stunt crew in Hollywood approach, how they train the actors, their technique.... — DHANUSH
The book in itself is very propulsive, very ambitious in scale.... There are more action set pieces in the book than they are in the movie, if you can believe it. All of that combined to make what we thought would be a book that would convert really well on to the screen— JOE RUSSO
We always try and explore the human process, even with all the pyrotechnics. Cinema is essentially an exploration of character for us, and we build our narrative in a way that allows us to explore that character... push that character into challenging places.... And the action becomes an extension of that— ANTHONY RUSSO