Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz stop by THR's suite at San Diego Comic-Con and dish on how 'Twisted Metal' "levels up" in season two. Plus, Anthony Mackie describes the ideal car and music he'd play in an apocalyptic world and the two stars weigh in on which of their past character would win in a 'Twisted Metal'-like tournament.
00:00Crazy. You are really ageless, I tell you what. You haven't aged a day, baby doll.
00:0520 years and 10 year anniversaries, that's the way you learned. Crazy.
00:10Papa Doc is like we shot that last week, right? That's certainly a thing.
00:13Tupac yesterday, don't worry about it.
00:21Now, I love that each of these games has its own flavor.
00:25And my personal favorites are Black and Twisted Metal 3.
00:27I think the energy of those games is amazing.
00:28Is season two like the games where it evolves and has a different flavor to it?
00:32It does evolve hugely.
00:34We kept calling season two level two because it really opens up a ton of new stuff.
00:40New places, new faces, new worlds, more cars, more everything.
00:46And did you have a favorite experience leveling up to two?
00:48Did anything feel different?
00:50You know, I really enjoyed the idea of how the characters have changed
00:54and what they end up at by the end of the show.
00:57I feel like it's a good progression.
00:59I think if you look at season one, where John Doe started, where Quiet started,
01:03and seeing where they are at the end of season two, they're very different people.
01:09Not characters, but people.
01:10But you can see the progression of their personality through the course of the season
01:16and everything that happened, as opposed to it being a new season.
01:19And it's like, who is this dude?
01:21Like, why is he goth now?
01:23You actually get to see the arc of the journey.
01:25I got you.
01:26There's a reason.
01:26You actually get to see him break into a store and be like, whoa, black actually looks good on me.
01:30Then he walks out in all black.
01:31Next thing you know, he's wearing goth.
01:33I'm buddies with Aaron and Justin.
01:34They talked a lot about how much you love psychology and like diving into the character.
01:37And I love that these games focus on psychology, even when the car gets affected
01:41and the music drops and things are really psychological in the games.
01:44What car do you think you would personally have?
01:47And any needle drop for you, for each of you, for your journey, if you were playing in real life?
01:51Oh, F350 King Cab Long Bed Dually.
01:54No question.
01:55Beautiful.
01:56I want the seven-foot bed.
01:57I want a five-inch lift kit.
01:59I want air suspension.
02:01I want two turbo thrusters on my engine.
02:04I'm going to need five gallons of death fluid in my tail bed because I'm getting active.
02:10The man has thought about this.
02:11He was prepared.
02:12I respect that.
02:12He went home.
02:13He wrote it down.
02:13A needle drop for you.
02:15What's going on?
02:15What's playing in that 350?
02:16Oh, man.
02:17So for me, in the apocalypse, I feel like with this show, every scene you watch, everything
02:22John Doe does, Busta Rhymes is playing in his head.
02:26Yes.
02:26Like every Busta Rhymes song, no matter what it is, that's John Doe.
02:32It's crazy.
02:33Stephanie, this feels like it's got a backstory.
02:35It feels like it's written.
02:35Are you as prepared?
02:36Do you have a car?
02:37Yeah, 808.
02:39Bippity bop boo.
02:41Skidoo.
02:41With one of those Jim Jams on the top and then a bunch of hoo-hahs.
02:46Season three Jim Jam confirms.
02:47I respect that.
02:48I respect that.
02:49There's nothing that brings me pleasure like seeing Stephanie's face when I talk about cars.
02:53Every time cars come off, she's like, you've got that actor notebook and she's like, I am
02:59very happy to be here and it's 9 a.m.
03:01At Comic-Con, I'm not sure what you watch.
03:02Some people's hobbies are reflected in their work in some of their projects.
03:10Exhibit A.
03:11I see the passion.
03:13100%.
03:14100%.
03:16So it's like, if you were to do a voiceover movie, is there a specific microphone or a
03:23specific studio you use?
03:25No, but I like it to be in the dark.
03:27Well, that's specific.
03:28It's dark and I can close my eyes and I can just see all the images come to life.
03:33So you have a script in front of you.
03:36I've memorized it.
03:36Ignore it.
03:37You've learned your lines.
03:38Honey, I've memorized it.
03:39You've learned your lines.
03:40That's how good I am.
03:42That's crazy.
03:43All my lines for voiceover, I know.
03:45That's why we don't talk about Bruno, because she's got them.
03:47We don't need to.
03:48That's my thing.
03:48The guy who plays Sweet Tooth, right?
03:50So Will Arnett does the voice of Sweet Tooth, but he does all of the physicality and emotion.
03:56Right?
03:56Some more joke.
03:57But he learns the lines.
03:59So when he comes to set, he gives us all the lines.
04:01The full performance.
04:02The full performance.
04:02The full performance.
04:03The full performance.
04:04Fully realized, gorgeous.
04:05That's amazing.
04:06And that is why.
04:07Like Sean Gunn is Rocket and then Bradley comes in.
04:09So you've got like both energies.
04:10That's incredible.
04:11I think it's why it feels so seamless, because Joe is giving a fully realized performance
04:17and then Will is taking that and layering his own creativity on top of it.
04:21And then you get to see two takes on the day.
04:23It's really awesome.
04:24That's beautiful.
04:24The whole first season, my face was like, every scene we had.
04:27Every time we were like, whoa.
04:28It was like, cut.
04:29Anthony, close your eyes.
04:31Remember when he jumped off of the stage onto that table?
04:34They were like, oh, we only have props.
04:35I was very nervous.
04:36Yeah.
04:37Like, we only have one or two of these tables.
04:39And Joe was like, well, it's fine.
04:40I've got it.
04:42Did it in one take.
04:43One take.
04:43And does he have the same intimidating physicality as Sweet Tooth as a person?
04:47Or does he like a total sweetheart after?
04:49He's a teddy bear.
04:49Yeah.
04:50The nicest dude, man.
04:52That's good, dude.
04:52The nicest.
04:53Literally just like.
04:54The funniest.
04:54Just the kindest person.
04:55Happy to be a dad.
04:56And, you know, his concern in life is, you know, being able to buy enough groceries to feed his kids.
05:04Like, every time we talk.
05:05How not Sweet Tooth?
05:06Okay.
05:07Now, in a death match situation, in a tournament, I've been wondering, who would win the match for each of your biggest characters in my experience?
05:14And I wanted these to actually pit each other.
05:15So, for you, Mirabelle from Encanto, Carla from In the Heights, Rosa from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, or Quiet, and how would they win?
05:22Absolutely quiet.
05:24Carla!
05:25Okay, no, no, no, I love.
05:26Carla couldn't tell her watch.
05:27I don't know.
05:28She doesn't know whether to scratch or watch or whine her butt.
05:31I feel like there's some intuitiveness there that she would just click in.
05:35Trapped inside of all the hair.
05:36Oh, there's something in there where she would be like, give me a bobby pin and some gasoline.
05:42I think it would be quiet.
05:43Okay, I love that.
05:44Quiet is pretty ruthless in terms of, like, she will do whatever it takes to get what she wants, which is ultimately, like, equality and freedom for everyone.
05:53World peace.
05:53What an altruistic vengeance you have.
05:55I think it really is, though.
05:56Like, in season two, when this tournament is introduced to everyone, the prize of the tournament is your greatest wish.
06:03And, like, that's what quiet wants.
06:05She wants all the walls to come down.
06:06That's why you're so likable.
06:07It's beautiful, but it's a hell of an altruistic violence.
06:10It's truly, truly something.
06:12It's like a means to an end for her.
06:14Yeah.
06:14And I had to go military for you because I feel like I want them violent.
06:17I'm still thinking about Carlin.
06:19I bet you are.
06:20Yeah.
06:21That's my little boo.
06:22So, I'm going JT Sanborn from Hurt Locker versus, obviously, John Doe.
06:27But then I'm throwing in Adrian from Pain and Gain.
06:29Ooh.
06:29And then a personal favorite, because I feel like he's crafty after the loss, Papa Doc.
06:33Oh.
06:34Papa Doc.
06:35Well, no, no, no.
06:37No, no.
06:39Dear God, no.
06:40Not.
06:40I would say Sanborn, man.
06:42All right.
06:42Yeah, Sanborn had a beautiful nature and wisdom about him that he could live with the world in front of him.
06:50And I think in an apocalypse setting, you need to see the world in front of you.
06:54You can't let anything get behind you.
06:56And his ability to assess the situation and make a decision would be the most important aspect of his personality.
07:06That's beautiful.
07:07Yeah.
07:08Yeah, I like that.
07:08I almost went like half Nelson because I love that performance.
07:10I don't think you do well.
07:11That guy would make it five minutes in and be like, that's not it.
07:14That's not going to work out.
07:15I realized Paul Jenkins wrote on Twisted Metal Black, and Paul Jenkins invented the century.
07:19So the guy that invented the century that just got all of his time in Thunderbolts was a writer on Twisted Metal Black,
07:24but most people don't realize he crossed over into video games for a while.
07:27Like, very specifically crazy.
07:28He's having a summer.
07:29He's having a hell of a time.
07:30That is a good rabbit hole you went down.
07:31Yeah, so Paul Jenkins, like, flowers to him.
07:34Is there any performance of yours or movie or project you want to highlight that you feel like needs some love after some time,
07:39like half Nelson, 20 years next year, 10 years since the night before, which is crazy, crazy.
07:43You are really ageless, I tell you what.
07:46You have an age today, baby doll.
07:49I will say this.
07:50My very first movie was very important to me for many different reasons.
07:55It made me a better human being.
07:58It was a beautiful story, and I feel like I wasn't tainted in a way where I would affect the performance today,
08:03and I was able to be naturally that character as opposed to putting my beliefs and my social awareness on that character.
08:12It was called Brother to Brother.
08:15Like, that movie was very important to me for many different reasons,
08:19and not because it was my first job and it paid my rent, but because, you know, that $500 a month was breaking the bank.
08:30But, you know, thinking about it now, 25 years later, looking at the kid I was at that time,
08:37I'm very proud of what I was able to do with that performance and with that character and present in that movie.
08:43That's beautiful.
08:44Do you feel like you'd play him differently now, or would you try to fall back into that beautiful innocence?
08:48Hopefully we'll get back to that.
08:49He would look exactly the same.
08:51Yeah.
08:52Apparently, that's what we've learned.
08:5320 years and 10-year anniversaries, that's what we've learned.
08:56Go back and look at the pictures.
08:57Crazy.
08:58Papa Doc is like we shot that last week, right?
08:59That's certainly a thing.
09:00Tupac yesterday.
09:01Don't worry about it.
09:02And for you, any highlights?
09:03Anything you want to highlight?
09:04It's so weird to, like, talk about your own work.
09:06Well, it's so specific that it's like, well, I'm proud of that, but I want to be that person.
09:10Show off a little.
09:12Come on.
09:12But I think people should.
09:13I mean, like, there's so much.
09:14The work that is so hard to get.
09:16I was good in this.
09:17You know, I'm really proud of Short Term 12.
09:21I had a very small role in it, but I'm really proud of it.
09:24It's such an important film.
09:25I think the performances in that film, Lakeith Stanfield, Brie Larson, Rami Malek, you know,
09:31Caitlin, like, all of them are just, like, phenomenal in that movie, and I was really
09:34lucky to just even be a part of it.
09:36And I learned a lot by watching everybody.
09:37I haven't done very much yet.
09:39Yeah.
09:39I had done so little that I couldn't.
09:41My continuity was so bad that they had to cut my big scene.
09:43It was terrible.
09:46I could, I could, you, one thing.
09:48My continuity's good now, though.
09:49No, I'm about to say, one thing you are is a person who learns, watches, and adapts.
09:56Because if you watch something and you're like, nope, don't like the way my face looked
10:00with that, you will never make that face again.
10:02Watch out.
10:03You're right.
10:04You're right.
10:05I did learn, I learned a big lesson then.
10:07I was like, well, you're doing an independent film.
10:09You only have, like, a couple minutes to get the scene, and then you've got to move on.
10:14You are both part of so many generational projects, and I really appreciate it.
10:17And bringing something like Twisted Metal that I've loved my whole life to the screen,
