IR Interview: Lana Condor & Chase Stokes For “Valiant One” [Briarcliff]

The Inside Reel

Actors Lana Condor and Chase Stokes talk to The Inside Reel about approach,. mindset, understanding and motivation in regards to their new film from Briarcliff: “Valiant One”.

Transcript

00:00-♪♪

00:10-♪♪

00:12We're almost there.

00:14Go, go, go!

00:16Don't!

00:17I'll buy you some time!

00:18-♪♪

00:23Let's go home.

00:24♪♪

00:27Like this character in a very different way,

00:29it's about perspective and perception

00:31for all the characters,

00:32for Selby, for Brockman.

00:34Could you each talk about approach

00:36in terms of using that?

00:37Because it depends on your own perspective

00:39and experience, but the perception

00:41of the character you're playing.

00:43Yeah, I mean, I think, you know,

00:45perspective is everything going into a new project

00:49and how you dissect a character

00:50and the world that you're allowing it to exist in.

00:54You know, it's a fascinating story.

00:56You know, it's a kid who really just joined

00:59because it was really his only option,

01:01and going from that ideology of saying,

01:04I'm gonna put in my time,

01:05just like a lot of people do with school

01:07or any other circumstance,

01:09get out and then go do the things that I love,

01:11and to unfortunately get put in a situation like this,

01:14it shifts your perspective entirely.

01:17So, again, you know, like, just I'm very grateful

01:20that I get to tell stories and embody characters

01:23that have these challenges that they're faced with,

01:25and figuring out how to adjust and adapt

01:27and become the best versions of themselves.

01:30-♪♪♪♪

01:32Rockman!

01:34Gear up.

01:35Great.

01:36-♪♪♪♪

01:39Let's focus on the mission.

01:40Can we even call this a mission?

01:42We're gonna be on the ground for, like, 20 minutes.

01:44Do you take anything seriously?

01:47No.

01:48-♪♪♪♪

01:52-♪♪♪♪

02:00We have multiple dead, multiple wounded.

02:02We need a medevac right now!

02:03They can't get us.

02:05We're in North Korea.

02:06-♪♪♪♪

02:09So you're gonna have to get these people out of here?

02:11Sir, respectfully, I'm trained to analyze data, not this.

02:15Right now, you're the leader,

02:17so you gotta be that for them and for yourself.

02:21Don't let it end here.

02:23I was very, very excited to be given the opportunity

02:27to show how deeply strong the women in the military are.

02:35I just felt really honored that I got to do that,

02:38and I think, like, I've never...

02:41I don't think in my career I've ever been able to, like...

02:45I've never been given that, a role like that.

02:48So for me, like, as I was trying to figure out

02:52who Selby was, like, I did a lot of research on, like,

02:57you know, females in the military,

03:00females in all aspects of the military,

03:03to really kind of be like, okay, so I went in very, like,

03:08I don't really know anything, learned a lot,

03:11and that, it didn't change my...

03:14I always felt like, oh, these women are badass,

03:18but through the education, I was like,

03:20my perspective was like, okay, so I was right,

03:23and I just learned so many other things that they get to do

03:27and that they endure and that they go through,

03:29and I don't want to mess this up.

03:31I want to show them and do this for them.

03:36Hey, let me ask you two something.

03:40You both seem pretty smart.

03:42Why'd you choose this?

03:46Following Daddy?

03:48Dad was an alcoholic.

03:53Did us all a favor and died when I was little.

03:56Oh, hey, I'm sorry.

03:58It's fine.

04:05Where I come from, there just isn't a lot of options.

04:10You either get stuck at some shitty restaurant

04:15or you throw on the uniform.

04:23So I chose this.

04:28Because in anything, it's about discussion.

04:30It's about how the unit functions,

04:32but it's also the strategy of command,

04:34which is interesting, considering this character,

04:36he's learning as he goes,

04:37but he learns from the other people,

04:39from Selby and from the rest of the team.

04:41Could you guys talk about strategy,

04:43but also discussion,

04:44because that happens with you as actors,

04:46and that happens with the platoon as well.

04:48Sure.

04:50Well, I think I was just really quickly going to say,

04:53we hit it off very quickly,

04:55and we took this movie very seriously.

04:58There were countless nights of you calling me,

05:01me calling, honestly, it was you calling me,

05:04you calling me and being like,

05:05okay, let's talk strategy for the next day.

05:07Right.

05:08Strategy for the scene,

05:10strategy for our stamina,

05:12strategy for how we want to make sure

05:14we're still protecting our bodies.

05:16So in that sense,

05:17team building was constant throughout.

05:22We are going deeper into North Korea.

05:25Following a guy who has no idea what he's doing.

05:32Don't.

05:34No matter how hard it gets,

05:36you stick your chest out.

05:37No, no, no, no, no.

05:39You keep your head up,

05:40and you handle it.

05:41It's not supposed to be a pep talk.

05:43It's Tupac.

05:47She'll be safe with us.

05:50Rockman, behind us.

05:57Yeah, there was a really natural chemistry,

06:00obviously Lana and I immediately,

06:02and then the rest of the cast as well.

06:03Yes.

06:04And so grateful,

06:06because I know there are times and circumstances

06:09where that doesn't happen.

06:11We were a real team.

06:12Yeah, and it was at work and in the thick of it,

06:16but also like Lana hosting Thanksgiving dinner.

06:19And so it was like a beautiful combination of that.

06:21And I think with Rockman kind of going to that point,

06:23like he is a tech soldier.

06:25He's analyzing.

06:26His job is to analyze data,

06:27download it and figure out what to do with it.

06:29And so although it's not really seemingly applicable

06:33to the field,

06:34he uses it in the ways that he can.

06:36Like you see in the scene in the farmhouse,

06:38he's downloading all of the data.

06:39He's listening to Weaver,

06:41who finally tells him he's not going to shoot.

06:43And he's taking and consuming all of it in.

06:45So it's very fun to have a world

06:48where you have to really rely on the people around you.

06:51It's life or death, really.

06:52And I think it really is a testament

06:55to you're only as good as the people on your left

06:57and your right and front and back.

06:58So true.

06:59Where I come from,

07:00there just isn't a lot of options.

07:05Our country has given me so much

07:07and I wanted to give back.

07:29Microsoft Mechanics

07:30www.microsoft.com

07:31www.microsoft.com

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