00:00Amigos de Diario de las Américas, me encuentro con dos leyendas, John Cena e Idris Elba,
00:09los protagonistas de Heads of State, la nueva película de Amazon MGM Studios.
00:22John and Idris, we usually see you in action movies feeling in control of everything,
00:28but here your action sequences are a mix of clumsiness, luck, and completely leaving your comfort zone.
00:35What was the experience like filming then?
00:39For me, it's daily life. All my actions are clumsy and filled with luck.
00:44That is a great way to describe my life arc. I appreciate that.
00:49Yeah. No, I think that's what makes it, attaches the word comedy to action.
00:54We got a great action comedy in Heads of State, and I hope everybody enjoys it,
00:58and I think that's a lot of what keeps people laughing.
01:01Physical comedy is a language that is digestible throughout the world.
01:05Yeah.
01:05Real nut punch in a Ziploc bag out there.
01:08Now they're on the run and need to keep their heads down.
01:11Yankees?
01:12No, no, no. Canadians.
01:13How did you say Canadians?
01:14Me encuentro con el actor Jack Quaid y el director Ilia Neyshuler.
01:18I did it right.
01:21Your name.
01:22Perfect.
01:22Perfect.
01:23The Heads of States.
01:26Ilia, Heads of States is like a blend of a body cop movie with a political thriller, action, comedy.
01:34What was your biggest challenge to find a specific tone moving between these genres?
01:41Great question.
01:42I think it's just, it's a feeling.
01:45You understand.
01:46You have a bunch of references that really ultimately have nothing to do with what you're trying to do,
01:50but you get the feeling.
01:51There's a feeling.
01:52It's a bit of planes, trains, and automobiles for their relationship.
01:56You have the action of sort of the quirkier, mission impossible kind of thing.
02:00So it ultimately is, the writing is super crucial to get the tone.
02:05And then the way, I think when I started storyboarding, I understood how,
02:08what the camera is going to be a bit of a character.
02:10I'm going to add the comedy.
02:11It got funnier the more I thought about it.
02:13So I think it started a little bit more straightforward.
02:16And the more kind of you get the feeling, you're like, yes, let's lean in.
02:19Let's have fun.
02:20And that was the goal.
02:22So difficult, yes.
02:23But if you think about it, no.
02:24What's the difference between me and you?
02:27You are the commander-in-chief.
02:28You're not some DJ in Vegas.
02:30What's the difference between us?
02:32All right, I get it.
02:32You don't like my movies.
02:33I've never seen your movies.
02:34The president and the prime minister both come from very different backgrounds.
02:39But eventually, they get along.
02:42On a personal level, what did John and Idris learn after working with each other?
02:49So, you know, this is the second time we've worked together.
02:53And the first time we worked together, I think there was a real mutual respect and admiration for each other's work ethic.
03:01John is incredibly funny.
03:03He's incredibly good energy on a set.
03:05And, you know, what we do for a living is such a privilege.
03:08But to get to do it with people that you want to be around, that was a no-brainer.
03:13So, you know, immediately I wanted to work again with John.
03:16I learned from him, believe it or not.
03:17He learns from me.
03:18And it's an ever-giving circle.
03:21Yeah, I think for me, it's just how lucky I am.
03:23And restating what Idris says, when you get to do what we do for a living and with people you enjoy and people you can learn from, that's a great day at the office.
03:33And movies aren't made when they say that's a wrap on Idris.
03:37There's a lot of business after that.
03:38And Idris is an incredible professional in that realm as well.
03:42And it's just what I've learned is how very lucky I am to be doing this.
03:47What's the playbook on this?
03:49There is no damn playbook.
03:52Let's make one.
03:57Jack, you steal the show in your action sequence.
04:00The music, how you handle the bad guys.
04:03With a lot of action going on as an actor, how difficult was the blocking for that scene?
04:10Oh, I mean, you know, it was really, honestly, it's pretty easy for me because Ilya here is a genius.
04:16He's an action genius.
04:17And he would do this thing that I wish more directors did, which is he literally had the storyboards for the action scene.
04:26He had it in the middle of the set.
04:28It was this big, you know, piece of piece of paper.
04:32And everybody could see the shots that we were about to get or the shots that we had already completed.
04:38If we got the shot, he X it out.
04:40And it's so nice to almost to I think you also gave me those pages as well.
04:46And it was almost like reading a comic book of what I was about to shoot.
04:50So it was it was really it was really great because it was all kind of laid out in front of me beforehand.
04:56So that was really helpful in terms of like, OK, I knew how it was going to look.
05:00I knew the tone that Ilya was going for.
05:03And I really just came in to work with all these incredible people.
05:08And I had an absolute blast doing it.
05:10Like I just doing that whole sequence in the safe house, working with Ilya, working with Idris and Jon was just such a treat.
05:18So I'm along for the ride and I'm just so happy I got to be a part of this thing.
05:27How are you alive?
05:29Did you get that decent fish and chips at the end of the shoot?
05:31So you got to grade me on a curve because I don't lean into fish and chips a lot.
05:37So for me to get fried foods, of course, was excellent.
05:41How were the fish and chips?
05:43They were good.
05:43They were really good.
05:44I mean, we talked about them so much.
05:45They had to get some decent fish and chips.
05:48And on the day, they were decent.
05:50They were great.
05:51They were good.
05:51Yeah.
05:52Mr. Prime Minister.
05:53Mr. President.
05:54It's our debut duet.
05:56Duet?
05:57Yeah, it's like I'm Dr. Dre and your Eminem.
05:59And we're taking that stage for the first time together.
06:02I'm Eminem.
06:02Without giving any spoiler, we will see more adventures of some characters in this movie
06:10in the future?
06:12Maybe.
06:13I would love it.
06:14I would love it.
06:16Like, I truly loved playing this character.
06:19He's such a, I don't know, he's very, he's been alone.
06:23When you meet him, he's been alone in a safe house for a very long time.
06:27And then all of a sudden he sees, you know, the president and the prime minister.
06:31So I just love his weird kind of, he's kind of a loon.
06:36And I love that about him.
06:37Really often get to play characters like that.
06:39So it was just kind of a joy.
06:40So I'd love to play him again in some capacity.
06:43It'd be great.
06:44How did she?
06:49All right, I'll tell you.
06:51Okay, the bulletproof vest.
06:52I mean, not original, but it worked.
06:54Hey guys, this is Idris and this is John.
06:56That's me.
06:56You need to go watch our new movie, Heads of State, out, Prime, Amazon.