Nikolaj Coster-Waldau may be best known for his role as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones, but for audiences who didn’t watch HBO’s watercooler hit, Coster-Waldau is perhaps most recognized as Mark King in Nick Cassavetes’ revenge-filled rom-com The Other Woman. Now, a decade later, Coster-Waldau and Cassavetes have reunited on a new film, which trades rom-com hijinks for murder, kidnapping, and plotlines that aren’t for the faint of heart.

God is a Bullet, which arrives in theaters on June 23, is a harrowing action-thriller based on Boston Teran’s novel by the same name. It follows Bob Hightower’s (Coster-Waldau) descent into the criminal underbelly, as he pursues the dangerous cult which murdered his wife and kidnapped his 14-year-old daughter.
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In order to get close to the cult, Hightower is forced to shed his good-natured, even-keeled personality, and become just as ruthless as the monsters who took his daughter. In the process, he forms a close bond with Case Hardin (Maika Monroe), the only surviving escapee of the cult, and their connection becomes the emotional anchor amidst the horrors of their situation.

Ahead of the film’s premiere, Collider had the opportunity to chat with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau about the film, why he chose to take on the project, what it was like to explore such stomach-churning and emotionally-charged plotlines, why there is so much beauty in the connection between Bob and Case, and how he approaches each role he takes on—especially one like Bob Hightower.

COLLIDER: So, this movie is so intense from start to finish, and I really loved it, but I’m curious to know what drew you to this script.

NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU: Well, Nick Cassavetes drew me to the script. We did a movie years ago called The Other Woman, which is a very– I don’t know what you call it [laughs]. It’s obviously a comedy, it’s this female revenge fantasy, in some ways. When we shot that, he gave me the script to God Is a Bullet, and he said, “I’ve been wanting to make this for years. Take a look at it.” Then I read it and was like, “Great, let’s do it!” Then it was another, I don’t know, eight years, and he called and said, “I found the financing, so let’s do it.” So it was always Nick. We had a great, great time on The Other Woman.

I mean, it’s an insanely dark story, and I was convinced with a movie like that, you need someone with the passion that he has, and he has incredible passion. And then he was so focused on his vision, and I wanted to support that. I thought, “This is gonna be a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” and it was. We shot most of it in Mexico. I’m so happy I did that movie, and I’m so happy for Nick that he got to do the movie because he carried that for, I think, now it’s more than 20 years. But again, just to answer your question, Nick Cassavetes, that’s the answer.

Image via Patriot Pictures

You can definitely feel that it’s a passion project because it’s done so well, and you feel the passion of, “This has to be made!” To the point that you made about it being very dark, your character goes on such a compelling, emotional journey throughout this film. For you as an actor, what was it like to explore essentially a crisis of faith, a descent into darkness, and so many really fascinating themes?

COSTER-WALDAU: Well, it was a challenge. You always talk about movies, and how does it affect you? And I think this one, for a number of reasons, took its toll. I think it took a toll on all of us. We were isolated, and as you can imagine, every day the scenes were brutal and extreme, emotionally. You’re kind of facing the darkest aspects of humankind, in a way. And then what Nick was so good at was saying, “Listen, at the core of this, it’s about finding hope when there’s no hope and insisting on connecting with people,” and also, even that whole basic thing about not judging a book by its cover.

You have this man of faith who, when we meet him, he’s kind of in an existential life crisis; he’s lost his wife, he’s kind of lost his purpose. He only has one thing going for him, and that’s his daughter. That is the reason he gets up in the morning, and then suddenly, the worst thing that I think any parent can imagine happens. She is taken by this horrible cult. Then he finds hope through the most unlikely person, the character Maika [Monroe] plays so incredibly well and moving, in this young woman who is also facing a life crisis, if you will.

It was really just an insane shoot, and it brought all of us very close because we really needed each other, all of us, because there weren’t really any scenes that were just full of joy. There really weren’t. It starts really dark, and then it just descends into further darkness. But even then, Nick is a romantic. You can say that he clearly believes in love, and he believes that there’s goodness even in the darkest places, and he found those moments of light, or at least of compassion, that I thought were interesting to explore.

That’s what made me love this so much, the romantic undercurrent between Bob and Case. I saw the 2.5-hour director’s cut, so I don’t know how the final cut will end up looking, but I spent so much of the movie trying to figure out if I was reading too much into the chemistry between them, so I was so happy that there was an actual payoff for that. I’m curious, can you talk a little bit about that dynamic between Bob and Case? It is so fascinating to watch how it evolves throughout the film.

COSTER-WALDAU: Well, it’s interesting because, in many ways, it’s a classic story of two people who couldn’t, at least on the surface… That whole thing about don’t judge a book by its cover, you have two people who, when they see the other, the other one kind of symbolizes everything they don’t like about other human beings [laughs]. He’s this cop who’s, in her mind, he’s stuck in his ways. He’s full of prejudice towards her. And they have that, they share that, they see each other, they already make up their minds about who the other person is, and it’s definitely not someone they would like to spend time with. But they slowly connect, and they realize, “Hang on. Actually, there’s something here. We have to go below the surface.” And below the surface, they’re both two people desperate for help and also to help others, to connect and to be seen, and through this nightmare, which it really is, they find maybe another version of themselves that is true to who they really are. Bob is faced with having to kind of question his whole belief system, and in a way, the same for Case.

Also, I have to say that I didn’t know Maika before. I’ve seen her in a movie called It Follows. Obviously, I knew she was a fantastic actress, but… I mean, if you’ve seen the film, it’s quite extraordinary to play someone with that much passion, anger, and yet be so vulnerable at the same time. I was just in awe of working with her.

Image via XYZ Films

She really is fantastic to watch. You both are in the way that you explore these characters, and it got me thinking. Before I started doing this job I worked in the film industry and I love to hear about how actors build their characters. How do you build your roles? Are you somebody who journals or reads the kind of things that the character would read or listens to the kind of music they listen to? What was your approach to bringing all of that nuance and life into Bob?

COSTER-WALDAU: I don’t have a set way of doing things. It’s very much, you know, a project will kind of guide you along if you allow yourself to open up, and this one just sucked me in. I mean, Bob just sucked me in. And again, credit to Nick for being very clear on what he wanted and what he saw. I mean, to be able to play with him, to discuss with him, to argue. We both share a focus on finding truth, whatever that is, an emotional truth. Because, of course, there’s all the basics, he’s a cop, a lot of time being spent on how he ended up where he is now, like imagining his life, what he was as a young man, how he slowly was broken down into what we meet at the beginning of the film.

But, really, for me, it’s when the work starts—I mean, we had rehearsals before, of course, and that’s when you start opening up—to me, it always happens when I work with the other actors and with the director. That’s when you have all your ideas, all your thoughts. But when the director is Nick, it just becomes clearer. And this one, it became clearer and also became harder because you just constantly— I mean, I spend most of the film imagining the worst. I have two daughters, they’re older than Gabi in the film, but of course, it’s, as I said, every parent’s nightmare that not only is your daughter gone, but you know that she’s going through hell and there’s nothing you can do. So to carry that despair and the horror of that situation for the whole shoot, it just got deeper and deeper, which made the need to connect with Maika’s character, Case… It just became a natural thing.

I always find it difficult to talk about process, but you just have to allow yourself to open up, but for this movie, you open up to a lot of very unpleasant thoughts. But I have to say, also, the good thing with the whole gang, both the crew and the actors, we were able to cast some– Because usually when I work, I very much stay to myself. I mean, for some reason, I like to go to work, and then I go my own way. Here we were together all the time, and it was actually a thrill. We had some great nights on the weekends where we just had to be silly and have fun because the week was so…you know. Everyone, the whole gang, Karl Glusman, who plays Cyrus, he has to deal with being this monster, and you know, everybody just needed to just breathe, and thank God it was such a great group of people.

God is a Bullet is in theaters this Friday. Check out the trailer for the film below: