Den of Geek: This character seems like he was almost built for you.
Tell me about your take on Vern and how you approached him.
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Sharlto Copley:Well, he changed a lot from the original version.
That was a fantastic, thing.
Im like, Okay.
What would that be?
I was like, Wow, I am so up for doing that.
Thats what we did.
I could play him really as a dark, very competent and very dangerous man.
The script at that time seemed pretty dark and not necessarily comedic.
How competent is he versus how non?
That, I think, just made more potential comedy, obviously.
How did that work out on set?
It was a very special experience.
Ben would shoot a take on the script.
Then he would do a take we could totally improvise.
Ive done that before, but he would do that consistently which was pretty rare.
She started changing stuff and saying, Hey, I think Verne might say this or that.
Hes amazing at that because so much of this movie is so well planned.
They built the set and he knew where everything was going to move.
As long as Im embodying that, its in line with his vision.
Youve definitely done that within Bens very clear, coordinated control.
Was he on your directorial hit list?
I wasnt familiar with his stuff.
I did and from the first meeting it was very clear that it would be a great experience.
You get very, very few chances to improve and invent a character like this.
I was like, Okay, here we go.
It was seriously not messing around.
Stunts are always taken very seriously and especially when its an actor, then everyone babies you even more.
With the burn it really was serious.
It was a very serious environment.
There is such a small margin for error.
I said to him, This would take a while though, right?
To get to this?
Id have time if something went wrong?
Theyd put me out.
He was like, No, man.
Youd be down in about five seconds max.
Three seconds, if you had gasoline on you.
He explained something to me that I never considered.
As soon as the fat sets alight, fat burns.
Fat will actually ignite, so now youre trying to put out your own fat as you burn.
Its a very small margin for error to prevent permanent damage in a burn as it turns out.
There is a creative satisfaction for sure.
I was at the premiere ofAtomic Blondewith Charlize Theron and she does her own fight stuff in that.
Shes throwing dudes around and when you see that movie, its just astounding.
She put in months of training to be able to do the stuff.
Ive got so used to seeing amazing, impressive stunts, but its a stunt person.
I enjoyed that so much as a viewer, so I think it is enjoyable for viewers.
Free Firehas a great ensemble.
Anyone you were especially looking forward to meeting or working with?
Thats not a big part of my priority.
I had actually worked with Sam Riley and Noah Taylor before.
I knew Armie and I thought he was amazing inSocial data pipe.
When I met him, I told him I thought it was two different actors playing the twins.
I was excited to work with him.
We share the same agent.
I was super excited to work with Cillian Murphy too.
This movie feels like almost like a play in a way because its all set in the one location.
We spoke about that all the time.
It was the closest film experience that any of us had had to a play.
Because the place was pre-lit, the time between setups was extremely short.
Youre also going to be in a movie calledAmerican Express, directed by Nash Edgerton.
I think thats the name.
I dont know if theyve finally settled on that name, but yeah.
Its the untitled Nash Edgerton Project, and that one is just fantastic, man.
Im really pleased with how that came out and excited for that to hit the screens too.
Thats another amazing ensemble cast with great chemistry.
Im enjoying the more comedic stuff to be honest.
I really want to do more and more of it.
Neill Blomkamp ever call up and say, Hey, were going to doDistrict 10one of these days?
We have assorted, varyingly complex calls about that topic.
I would love to and I still think we will, yeah.
I think we both feel that way.
Free Fireis in theaters now.
