Stream The Gray Man now on Netflix
“This is Gosling versus Evans.”
That’s all you need to know about The Gray Man, said Joe Russo about the new action thriller co-directed with brother Anthony that premieres on Netflix July 22.
Speaking to TikToker Juju Green (@straw-hat-goofy), the Russos revealed brand-new details about the film during a panel at Netflix’s Geeked Week, including an exclusive clip that shows the first encounter between the titular Gray Man, an off-the-books CIA asset played by Ryan Gosling, and Lloyd Hansen (Chris Evans), the vicious mercenary hunting him around the globe.
“It’s the unstoppable force and the immovable object crashing into each other,” Joe Russo said of the scene, which features some cold-blooded action sequences, as well as the directors’ signature quirky dialogue.
“Joe and I like to play with tone,” Anthony explained. “Part of that scene is really brutal and kind of shocking. And then all of a sudden it twists and becomes very witty and sort of strange on a character level. The ability to be able to pivot between those kinds of ideas as filmmakers and as performers is difficult and something we like to play with because it’s just exciting to watch.”
To pull it off, the Russos needed to call on some extraordinary talent. The Gray Man marks their fifth movie collaboration with Evans, whom they directed in two Captain America movies and the Avengers franchise. But if you’re expecting yet another version of the red, white and blue shield-wielding hero, think again. Lloyd Hansen is a true villain, and about as far from Steve Rogers as one can get. In fact, casting Evans against type was part of the appeal for the directors, who were eager for audiences to see a new side of him.
“Being able to offer a role like this to Chris was such a thrill for us, because it’s so far away from what he did as Captain America,” Anthony Russo said. “Chris is an amazing actor. He became very well known and iconic for his performance as Captain America, but he can do remarkable things as an actor in very different styles, very different tones. You’ll see that in this movie for sure.”
Still, the Russos acknowledge that fun though it is to watch Hollywood’s Mr. Nice Guy go bad, it also comes at a price. Many actors wouldn’t want to sully their reputations by playing a villain on-screen. “It reminds us of [Henry] Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West, where he took this all-American reputation and put it at risk by playing, basically, a child-killer,” Joe said. “Evans is doing the same thing here: He’s playing a ferocious psychopath. Highly entertaining, very sarcastic, but does a lot of terrible things in the movie. That’s risky.”
For Evans though, the decision was an easy one. “They could ask me to do anything,” he said of the Russos during an interview filmed on-set.
Casting the Gray Man himself was an altogether different challenge. Code-named Sierra Six, protagonist Court Gentry (Gosling) has spent years in prison before being recruited as a shadow assassin for a secret CIA program. Technically, he doesn’t exist. “This character is a very hidden, cloaked careful, character,” Anthony said. “He doesn’t waste any energy, doesn’t move if he doesn’t have to, because everything is being conserved in case he needs it.”
In Gosling, the Russos found an actor who could give the character depth, all while delivering the kind of understated performance required. “Ryan’s approach to performance is quite similar to the Gray Man’s approach to living in a wild way,” Anthony said. “[He’s] a master of minimalism and subtlety. He knows how to convey a very complex inner life by doing very little as an actor. But he’s also charismatic at the same time.”
But if Gosling seems born to inhabit the Gray Man’s psyche, his body proved to be a whole different challenge. The Russos say they asked both actors to train “very hard” for their roles, which required them to be in peak physical shape in order to perform the kinds of stunts needed to deliver the kinds of thrills they had in mind. For Evans, coming off a decade as an Avenger, this was old hat, but don’t go dismissing Gosling just yet.
“Ryan took to it like a fish to water,” Joe said. “He’s in incredible shape for this movie. And he understood that what it is that you do with your body in an action film informs who you are as a character. It’s like a cave painting in a lot of ways. He’s scar-covered and chiseled.”
Just let that thought carry you over to July 22.
Geeked Week is a celebration of Netflix's immersive slate of storytelling across sci-fi, fantasy, gaming, anime and more. Check out the full schedule here. For more, follow Netflix Geeked on Twitter.
