Actors Brad Pitt, Bryan Tyree Henry, Joey King, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hiroyuki Sanada, Logan Lerman, Emelina Adams, and Amanda Muñoz speak with CinemaBlend at the red carpet world premiere of the year’s biggest blockbuster, “Bullet Train!” They’re also joined by director David Leitch, producer Kelly McCormick, martial artist Michael Chaturantabut, composer Dominic Lewis, and screenwriter Zak Olkewicz in dishing on the behind-the-scenes happenings of the highly-anticipated action-comedy.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 - Huge, huge faith in David Leitch, you know.
00:17 This is some, yeah, it's a heightened reality.
00:20 You know, these characters are bombastic.
00:22 They pop off the page.
00:24 You know, it just gave you room creatively
00:27 to kind of just go be bold and make some big choices,
00:31 you know.
00:32 There were days where I felt like,
00:34 did I push it a bit too far?
00:37 Like my characters just like says
00:39 whatever the heck comes to his mind.
00:40 And we shot this in a pandemic,
00:43 had a lot of relentless, unapologetic things to say.
00:47 So, but that was the joy and the fun in it, you know.
00:49 There was comedy in it.
00:51 - I think I said every day, I was like, we need more blood.
00:54 Like there was even times in between takes
00:56 that we would all put blood in each other's mouths
00:57 just to make sure that we had enough blood.
00:59 So no, at this point it was like a bloody summer camp.
01:03 So there was no limit.
01:05 - With some slap happy delirium.
01:06 - Literally, slap happy.
01:08 Yeah, that's a good way to describe it
01:09 'cause the slapping made us happy.
01:11 So it was hard.
01:12 Like, you know, that time we were filming it
01:13 was the pandemic and we were all isolated.
01:16 We didn't know, we weren't meeting any new people.
01:18 And luckily we got to meet these new people
01:20 and create a family unit.
01:21 It was really, really fun.
01:23 And I think it translates in the film for sure.
01:24 - Was it as funny on the page
01:25 or did that come out during filming?
01:27 - It was funny on the page.
01:28 It got funnier on the day.
01:29 And now then it got funnier when it was all put together.
01:31 - And you're gonna see it.
01:32 It's up there.
01:33 - Yeah, it's pretty, pretty fun.
01:35 - Sure you wanna talk this out?
01:36 - No, take it in on.
01:38 - Okay.
01:39 - But what makes it different
01:42 with David Leitch being his stunt background?
01:45 - You know, he knows about the action very well.
01:48 And then I worked with him before.
01:50 Maybe this is his third movie together.
01:53 So it was easy to collaborate.
01:55 And then, yeah, he knows drama and action, everything.
01:59 So that's why this movie has a great balance
02:03 between drama, action, comedy.
02:05 He has a great sense for all of them.
02:07 - I'm just a fan of David Leitch's
02:09 and just to be a part of his movie and his choreography.
02:13 It's the coolest action choreography
02:16 I've ever seen in my life.
02:17 And to be a part of that, it's just so much fun.
02:19 - In the marketing material,
02:20 we see violence, bright colors, goofiness, and disco.
02:23 I'm very excited for what you're doing tonally here.
02:26 Was there ever a moment where you were like,
02:28 "All right, we might be getting a little too bonkers
02:30 "with this and have to take a step back."
02:32 - Never me.
02:33 I think it was a reaction
02:36 to what we were feeling outside during COVID.
02:38 We had all been trapped in our homes for so long.
02:41 And I think we got to come out and play.
02:43 And we just opened up the big crayon box
02:45 and it was like, we picked all the bright colors.
02:47 And we knew we wanted to make something fun and original.
02:53 And so everything led us to this spectacle
02:57 of madness that you see today.
02:59 - And David Foster's out on set.
03:00 It's like, best idea wins and bring them all and let's play.
03:04 And I think, honestly, the sort of bubble of COVID
03:07 allowed for that a little bit too,
03:08 because they were in a train car
03:11 and then they had LED screens around them.
03:12 And then the rest of the crew was actually around that.
03:14 So they had this tiny little safe space
03:17 and they just went wilder and wilder.
03:19 (all laughing)
03:20 Trying to make each other laugh.
03:21 They were trying to cut each other up.
03:23 - Totally, people were working out some stuff.
03:25 They were working out some stuff.
03:26 - I am really, really excited about the action
03:29 that I got to do this year.
03:30 I mean, what an amazing experience.
03:33 'Cause I filmed "The Princess" after I filmed "Bullet Train."
03:36 And so I actually got to work out in 87 North
03:39 at David's gym to train for "The Princess"
03:42 and ask him for some tips in this crazy world of fighting.
03:45 It was great.
03:46 - Well, for me, it's very special
03:47 because I started training David
03:49 before he started doubling Brad Pitt.
03:51 So this was over 20 years ago.
03:53 And then he went on to double him in "Fight Club"
03:55 and then "Mr. and Mrs. Smith."
03:56 So, you know, a 25 year history.
03:59 Now I'm co-producing with him.
04:00 We've got a film and TV series in development.
04:03 So to watch him do his thing
04:06 and his magic behind the camera now is incredible
04:10 because he's got the eye with action,
04:12 but he's always been the guy with comedy.
04:15 Like he cannot talk, he cannot be with other people
04:19 without bringing in the funny, right?
04:21 And so it reflects in everything that he does.
04:24 It's no surprise that "Deadpool 2"
04:28 was the most viewed rated R film in history.
04:31 So that's David.
04:33 In his mind, there was a question about, you know,
04:36 who was going to star in the film
04:38 because of the lack of comedy.
04:41 And it was much more serious.
04:43 But then he told me about the first conversation with Brad
04:46 and how Brad pitched him this whole idea
04:48 of making it funny and bringing in the comedy
04:51 and drawing from so many different things.
04:53 And he's like, "Oh."
04:54 He goes, "After that, there was like zero doubt in my mind
04:57 that, you know, one, Brad was the right guy.
04:59 And yes, like, let's go.
05:00 Let's move forward with this."
05:01 - So this is my first real big red carpet.
05:05 Like I come from a beauty pageant background.
05:07 I was Miss Nevada USA in 2016.
05:09 So I did do that kind of stuff.
05:11 But like, this is like my first real big project
05:15 that I've worked on.
05:16 So this is my first real red carpet
05:17 and I'm so honored to be here.
05:19 The biggest night I feel like I've had in my life.
05:22 I mean, it's so action-packed,
05:24 but it has like this really kind of like funky, fun vibe.
05:28 But I'm not that surprised
05:29 just because of working with the director and everything.
05:32 Like, this movie has everything.
05:35 So it's going to be awesome.
05:37 I can't wait to see it.
05:38 - For you, is that just like a beautiful playground
05:41 to mess in musically
05:42 because there's so much going on genre and tone-wise?
05:44 - I mean, I couldn't have said it better.
05:45 It's the best playground you could ever be in.
05:48 No genre was off the table for me.
05:49 I could do anything.
05:51 He encouraged me to swing for the fences and be bold.
05:54 And I did.
05:56 I mean, I was trying to just blend any genre together.
06:00 You know, I was taking, to use a very bad analogy,
06:03 I was taking like truffle ravioli with a Sprite.
06:06 You know what I mean?
06:07 And see if they worked.
06:08 You know, taking like trip hop with classical.
06:10 Does it work?
06:11 Yes. Oh, wow, that's great.
06:12 And I'd run with that.
06:13 So it's so great having David and Kelly's trust
06:17 from the very, from the word go, we just clicked.
06:20 - I'm going to give almost full credit to David Leitch,
06:22 who obviously came in and really pushed it
06:24 as far as he could.
06:25 And I think it takes a really talented director
06:27 to make that actually make sense and not be insane.
06:29 So, I mean, I think that David is such a good collaborator
06:33 and he's so, you know, well communicative
06:34 in what he wants to do that it's easy,
06:37 even if you don't necessarily see what he's going for,
06:39 to believe that whatever it is is going to turn out
06:41 as awesome as the movie turned out.
06:42 So, and honestly, so much of the comedic bits
06:44 kind of came out of like Brad
06:46 and just him kind of pushing it as far as he could.
06:48 And he had such a good time with it
06:49 and kind of made it his own that I think the movie
06:52 got a little funnier once he kind of
06:53 just started rolling with it.
06:55 - Maybe there was a little head trauma.
06:57 - I just don't think anything ever really equates
06:59 to working on a Brad Pitt, giant David Leitch,
07:02 summer blockbuster movie.
07:03 It's going to be pretty hard to top this
07:04 anytime in the future.
07:05 - I was like a new actor in LA and I auditioned for this
07:09 and I was like, there's no way I'm going to get it.
07:11 I was non-union when I got this.
07:13 And when I booked it, I was like, oh my God,
07:16 like it can happen, dreams do come true.
07:18 I mean, it's a small role, but it's a big opportunity.
07:21 To be part of this project, it's just an honor.
07:24 You know what I mean?
07:24 And yeah, it's a crazy red carpet, pink carpet.
07:28 - So you're Mrs. Wolf.
07:29 - Yes, I am Mrs. Wolf.
07:30 - Are you a fan of Bad Bunny?
07:32 - I'm a big fan of Bad Bunny.
07:33 Like he was shyer than I thought he was going to be.
07:36 Have you seen him perform it?
07:37 - Yeah, yeah.
07:38 - I was like--
07:39 - He's a big personality.
07:40 - Yeah, when we were like working together,
07:41 he was like, you know, but he was very sweet.
07:46 That was the thing, he was very sweet.
07:49 To be a reggaeton singer, he was a sweetheart.
07:51 When I did the audition, I was like,
07:52 there's no way I'm going to get this.
07:53 There's no way, this is a big project.
07:55 Like they're going to have like, I don't know,
07:57 like a big Latin actress doing this role, you know?
08:00 So when I booked it, I was like,
08:02 I prepared myself for two months.
08:03 We were going on set, you know,
08:05 to be working with this amazing director
08:07 who was very sweet to me, very, he was great.
08:11 I love David, he was a great human to me.
08:14 He had more confidence in me than I have in myself,
08:16 and that was very sweet, like I really appreciate that.
08:19 - Hold on!
08:19 [dramatic music]
08:22 - I gotta get off this train.
08:24 [train whistle]
08:26 [BLANK_AUDIO]