“Our film is a love letter to the audience” | MovieZine

Sparks fly (literally) when Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt meet on the big screen in an entertaining action comedy.

He plays a stuntman and she a film director who tries to save a blockbuster shooting threatened with closure. Gangsters, corpses, explosions and egocentric movie stars stand in their way. And then all the sexual tension… Colt and Jody had a flirtation once upon a time. Will they manage to overcome their obstacles and land Hollywood’s next big sci-fi hit?

When I meet Gosling and Blunt during a press conference in Berlin, they are clearly proud of having made a beautiful and crowd-pleasing blockbuster – with “fantastic stunts” according to our reviewer. The last time we saw them was in “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” respectively, 2023’s biggest talking points in cinemas. Now they hope to shine the spotlight on people other than themselves, namely all those who stand behind the scenes and make movie magic happen.

David Leitch’s biopic “The Fall Guy” is an action-packed film about stunt men and women, but also a heartfelt homage to the film crew and colleagues who never get to see.

“The Fall Guy” is a film about filmmaking. How does it feel to you to make films today compared to 15-20 years ago? You are no longer the same person, you have different experiences… Has it changed?

Ryan Gosling: I appreciate it so much more now. I also think it is reflected in this film, which is a big love letter to filmmaking, to what we work with, and to the film experience. I just feel so grateful to do what I do. I wanted to do something that reflects that. There are so many cynical films about Hollywood and about filmmaking. This is the exact opposite of “The Player”, although of course it was a great movie.

– This is a tribute to film workers and to everyone who works hard behind the scenes and never gets any recognition. And it was so much fun to record.

Emily Blunt: I agree. It’s hard for me to remember how I approached film roles 15-20 years ago compared to today. But I’ve always felt a sense of gratitude, and I love to plunge into the unknown every time. Oddly enough, because privately I like to avoid risks. But when it comes to film, it’s a different side of me that gets to throw myself into the unknown every time… and it’s like a drug to me. I love it.

– If you’ve been around as long as I have, you learn to relax when it comes to certain challenges in the film industry, and embrace all the good things more.

Ryan, this isn’t your first time playing a stuntman, but it’s a very different movie to Drive. What is it about their world that you find interesting?

Ryan Gosling: I think it’s a cool job and it fascinates me enormously. Whether it’s “Drive” or “The Place Beyond the Pines” that was a different kind of stuntman. Maybe it’s something I would have wanted to try if I hadn’t become an actor? But now that I’ve tried it, I don’t know if I could have done it.

– It has always appealed to me. And it’s such a strange dynamic: the stuntmen come in and take all the hits, they take all the risks for you. They have their incredible skills and they always have to hide their faces. They need to remain anonymous. Everyone else gets attention except them. Surely that is strange? That’s how it’s been all these years, and I’ve tried to explore that with different films – why is it so interesting to me?

– David (Leitch) told me once: “Everything hurts. Being hit hurts, being thrown out of a window hurts, and fire really hurts”. Getting to show a bit of everything that stunt people put themselves through in a purely physical way to create memorable movie moments makes it even more incredible. They want to entertain the audience, they remain unknown to us, and yet they are drawn to this. It never ceases to fascinate me. So I am happy for this film and would like to do many more on the same theme.

Emily Blunt loves the chaos of a film shoot

Despite what the movie would have you believe, Ryan Gosling does far from all of his own stunts. He speaks highly of Justin Eaton, Ben Jenkin and the other stuntmen who make him look good in all the action scenes.

Even Emily Blunt gets to be part of the action. But she did the big fight scene (against a costumed alien!) herself, without a stunt double:

– We recorded that scene right after the Christmas break and it always felt quite spontaneous. I loved it. It was fun learning to fight. I don’t know if I remember any particular training, other than we rehearsed it all week before recording. Things could change later if we found a fun item that would be fun to use in the fight. Think that an ordinary blender can be so useful, says Blunt.

Ryan Gosling adds:

– It’s incredible because she didn’t need a stunt person for her fights. And it was a fantastic fight scene. This is difficult to do in a limited space. Considering all the things she does, we should make the movie “The Fall Girl”.

Did it feel a bit like déjà vu after your last alien movie?

Emily Blunt: With Tom Cruise? So, I loved this role. It felt familiar to me. After working on so many films, one notes what is typical for a filmmaker who makes something as expensive and extravagant as our film “Metalstorm”. Those kinds of movies mean chaos and you have to have all the answers for everyone, all the time. I wanted to make sure we got to see a character under enormous pressure, and that’s more fun to play than someone who has everything under control.

Both of your characters have to deal with a lot of pressure, while being professionals trying to do their best in the worst possible conditions…

Ryan Gosling: I dig that poster where the two are trying to have a normal conversation while the world explodes around them. I think we can all relate to that in some way.

Emily Blunt: That’s how it can be when you shoot a big movie. Chaos breaks out, and that adds magic to it all. It was important both to us and to David to not just make a delicious action movie, but to make one that was nuanced and had many layers of recognisability.

– Yes, it’s a spectacle. A film shoot is a special place. You meet new friends, you become part of a group rushing towards an impossible goal, and sometimes you make a good film, but it is next to impossible to make a great film. We’ve all been there. All these nuances, all our experiences are in “The Fall Guy”. And that’s probably why I love this movie so much. It’s one of the most personal films I’ve made.

Ryan, you are known to be afraid of heights. Still, you did some stunts yourself, like the case at the beginning of the movie. Why put yourself through something like that?

Ryan Gosling: The movie is called “The Fall Guy”… I thought I must fall. The opening scene – I love it. It’s filmmaking at a high level. It’s a fantastic example of what a small part of a stuntman’s everyday life can look like. They are part of the team. They interact with everyone. They do what everyone else does, but their jobs are a little different. They go up 12 stories and fall along a building wall, and then back to the conversation they just had. It was important to show at the beginning of the film what their job looks like. But it was also important to me: if I’m going to play a stuntman, I have to experience it and let the audience experience it.

A curious question about the film industry. Hollywood has been going through a lot lately, with the pandemic and the strikes. We have seen many blockbusters flop in theaters. At the same time, we got “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer”, two films that surprised everyone with how big they became. What do you think this means for the future? Where is Hollywood headed, and how do you get audiences back to theaters?

Emily Blunt: I think people are waiting to be transported to another world. You want to sit back and experience something, and watch a film that embraces you and pulls you into the cinema screen. People have longed for something different, something new. It would be wonderful if “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” were not seen as exceptions, but as truly ambitious, wonderfully entertaining and exciting experiences for audiences.

– My feeling is that this is what people have been looking for. I hope that creative people continue to challenge themselves and do something different every time, and I feel hopeful and optimistic about the cinema experience ahead.

“How do we make the most entertaining movie we can make?”

Ryan Gosling: I also think there’s a theme there: both of these movies were made by brilliant filmmakers who made hugely personal movies, and were wholeheartedly supported by their studios. They were made for a big screen, for a cinema audience. I mean, Chris (Nolan) shoots his movies in IMAX for a reason, right? Because he wants to see to be seen in IMAX.

– And Greta (Gerwig) made her film as a kind of party where everyone was invited. After COVID, when we couldn’t go to the movies, she wanted to create something inviting for everyone. A kind of cultural event. People showed up, it was awesome to see, and we hope for the same with this film.

– We recorded “The Fall Guy” in the same way. We talked daily about our audience. How do we make the most entertaining movie we can make? How do we give people an escape from reality, where they can take a break from it all? It should be worth going to the cinema, booking a babysitter, paying for parking and popcorn. We have to give them everything we can, says Ryan Gosling.

– We got a review recently that I really loved: “This movie exists to make you happy”. I couldn’t have said it better myself. We really made this movie for the theater audience. It’s a love letter to the audience as much as it is to the film crew and stunt people. And again, it’s a deeply personal film. It’s a movie about a stuntman made by a stuntman. Hopefully people feel the same way, and we can continue to make films that attract audiences.

There is a lot of action between your two characters, but never any sex scenes. Was that a conscious choice for this love story?

Ryan Gosling: It’s a movie from 11 years old! (Laugh)

“The Fall Guy” gets its Swedish cinema premiere on April 26.