Stefan Ruzowitzky discusses dysfuntional families and Eric Bana for the May 10 release of Deadfall
Siblings Addison and Liza are on the run from a casino heist gone wrong. When a car accident leaves their wheel man and a state trooper dead, they split up and make a run for the Canadian border in the worst of circumstances – a near whiteout blizzard. While Addison heads cross-country, creating mayhem in his wake, Liza is picked up by ex-boxer Jay, en-route for a Thanksgiving homecoming with his parents, June and retired sheriff Chet. It’s there the siblings are reunited in a terse and thrilling showdown that pushes the bonds of family to the limit.
Tense action thriller Deadfall, starring Eric Bana, Olivia Wilde and Charlie Hunnam, is released in cinemas on 10th May so we sat down with Oscar-winning director Stefan Ruzowitzky to discuss Eric Bana’s glorious return as a villain, filming in snow storms and the appeal of dysfunctional families.
What attracted you to the story of Deadfall?
That there’s more to it than you initially think. There’s very interesting characters, there’s these concepts of family – dysfunctional families – and also when I go to the movies myself, what I’m looking for is not a brainless blockbuster action movie, but an intelligent film that keeps you guessing.
Did you have anyone in mind to play the roles?
Sort of. I think pretty early on we tried to get Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson, because they felt like the iconic American parents, and I just loved this idea to have these people and this beautiful house in the wilderness and it all sort of came together. I met a lot of young actresses for the part of Liza, who is very complex and pretty interesting, and many actresses wanted to have it. I was very happy with Olivia because I think for that part, I wanted to have sort of a troubled spectacular beauty and not just a nice, girl-next-door type.
The main characters are very well defined, was it difficult to portray their depths?
Well that’s what it was all about, to show that these characters are complex, that they are multi-layered, and I had great people to work with and work on these characters. Eric Bana, Charlie Hunnam and Olivia Wilde are very intelligent actors, which always is great as they come up with a lot of additional ideas that we can discuss, and I always enjoy when there’s a lot of input from the actors.
Addison is a truly unnerving character, how did you go about bringing him to life on screen?
Well of course Addison is based in the script but no, it’s Eric’s genius as an actor to find the balance between the character being funny at times, being very violent, very evil, but still likable. It is fascinating in a way and my experience is that audiences love him, even though he does these terrible things, as just this charming, elegant villain.
DEADFALL IS IN CINEMAS ON 10TH MAY