I lovedBrawl In Cell Block 99, the second feature film from novelist and filmmaker S. Craig Zahler.
His first?Bone Tomahawk.
I love that too, for the record.
I came out of the movie being glad that a grown-up was allowed to make grown-up films.
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But Im not chasing the biggest audience.
Im chasing self-satisfaction, and then the opportunity from it to make another one.
Thats kind of it!
Grown-up movies are those things, and there arent tons of them these days.
Im not going to the movies for a lecture.
I know much has been made of Vaughns performance there, but Jennifer Carpenter is extraordinary I think.
Can you talk about her work there a little?
Thank you for saying this.
But maybe my biggest area of disappointment is that people arent talking about Jennifer Carpenter in every single review.
She was originally cast as the lead actress inBone Tomahawkas well, and the schedule didnt work out.
She, like Vince Vaughn, is in the third movie I wrapped three weeks ago.
Its just that I see she brings more.
I could take some shots and go through frame by frame the different layers that she brings to life.
I think shes phenomenal.
She has a role in my fourth film too, that Im discussing.
The film has stuck in my head a lot, and it was her performance that really came through.
Maybe not initially, but its what soaked through when I was still thinking about it the week after.
The film doesnt work if her character doesnt work.
That youre thinking about it, and the character a week later is very nice to hear!
I love the filmDrive, and theres a moment in the lift there where Ryan Gosling is simmering.
I wouldnt be surprised in the case ofBrawlif theres only about 10 minutes of violence in it?
Its in that ballpark.
There was a lot of discussion on this withBone Tomahawkof course, and that has some very extreme scenes.
These are a little more protracted, so maybe the number is closer to 15.
The number depends on what you define on violence or action.
It surprised me when I wrote it how much anger is coming out of this guy.
Vince Vaughn, much has been made of his extraordinary work here.
But Im curious with the before of the process though.
And I say that as a fan of his.
Was there something early you saw and went okay, thats the character?
A couple of things.
I never thought thats the character, and thats what I didnt want.
For instance, a character closer to this guy is someone like Woody Harrelson.
His head is there, his accent is naturally there.
Im a big Woody Harrelson fan, but he would be the normal choice here.
The conflation of all of this stuff yields a character weve never seen before.
That was the thing with picking Vince, that transformation would be there.
Look at the dialogue.
Look at the acting.
Look at the slow mood of this whole thing.
WithBrawl, I knew the violence was there.
There are actors who are good in some movies, and bad in others.
There are actors who are usually bad.
There are actors who are usually good.
To an extent I wasnt exactly sure how deep it went.
I knew he could be real in the moment, was incredibly charismatic.
I knew he was a big guy.
I knew if I saw him on the street I wouldnt think that guys a comedian.
I would think thats a menacing looking dude.
Then I met him and we got along, he was terrifically nice.
And I offered it to him as we were wrapping this one.
Drawing from this access to emotion that he had.
Seeing him getting accolades the way he has, its the most satisfying compliment.
Seeing him getting the praise hes getting is fantastic.
Theres just so much hes doing in that movie thats worthy of notice.
You mentioned rehearsal, and I wanted to talk about that, as it seems a lost art!
But when I was watching those early exchanges, you clearly had actors who knew their characters inside out.
How much rehearsal was involved there, and how important is it to you?
It was different for each film for me.
Absolute insistence for me.
Rehearsal is different for different actors.
Were essentially doing a table read where were going through it.
But itll start to come off the page a little more.
What I want to have in the relatively low pressure of rehearsal is lets discuss everything.
confirm it makes sense for everybody.
The answer to whats my motivation for every character in every scene is something I can supply.
That they understood where their characters were coming from.
I do understand why someone would write that rehearsal is a place where actors could potentially undermine a script.
I know why I made all the decisions I made in it.
Theres not arbitrary stuff.
Its always driven by the character stuff.
Theyre going to have a tougher time slotting it into place.
Sitting down with Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Carpenter and going through the scene you mentioned.
They had all of that from me.
We went through the scene in the living room after Bradleys little dance with the car.
We discussed all these moments.
Even if Jennifers doing a table read, she brings it at a pretty high level.
Discussing why shes staying a distance for the duration of the conversation, working out where his attention is.
In the case of that scene, maybe six or seven times just reading through it.
And then after reading through it, talking about it after.
Youre not figuring it out for the first time.
Its something I like to do with everybody.
You dont always have the option.
If an actor is flying in the day before his or her first day, it can be tricky.
In which case you might go through a couple more takes before finding the right stuff.
So youre not opening up the hood of the car right before youre doing the grand prix!
The Badham book makes a specific point about Sidney Lumet, as it happens.
Brawl In Cell Block 99took five weeks to shoot,Bone Tomahawkwas four.
I want to see it large and be right there.
And we cut, and I go and have a conversation if Im going to give them some direction.
Im right there, not in another room watching a monitor.
I was like yep, that would make sense.
I used to be a DP, so I know what shots are going to look like.
I trust my DP so much, weve already done three movies together and hes my guy.
I look at the shot, the lighting, and go this is right, Im comfortable with it.
Now let me focus on the acting.
Ive never seen that movie!
Ah, its great!
Ill answer the second bit first!
Ive sold or had optioned 26, 27 different pieces in the Hollywood system.
I dont believe itll ever happen.
Ive watched so many come and go.
Ive had three drive-bys with DiCaprio along, with Tom Cruise.
Its a long list of people who also made pieces of mine.
Well see what happens.
I actually havent read Drew Goddards version of the story, I hear its pretty faithful.
He was hugely complimentary to me.
So I can see why it got set up that way.
And how many pieces is Ridley Scott currently committed to making?!
In terms of directing other peoples stuff, not as a feature film.
The time commitment is way too long.
Its hard for me to get as excited about telling someone elses story.
Id probably take it.
I was a bigParks & Recfan,The Office.
To direct an episode of a comedy, something dramatically different, Id enjoy that.
But for a 2000 hour commitment?
Itd need to be something Ive written.
Well, youre in the UK right now, so itsDoctor WhooverStar Trek.
But thank you so much for your time.
Brawl In Cell Block 99is in selected cinemas, and on premium on demand services, from today.
