The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub speaks with
The Killer
‘s Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy.
John Woo returns as co-writer and director for the 2024 remake of his classic action film.
Emmanuel and Sy discuss challenging action sequences, the intense training, their favorite John Woo movies, and future projects, including Francis Ford Coppola’s
Megalopolis
.

Chun Yow-fat iconically leaped across the room, unloading two full clips at the same time– and director John Woo instantly became a filmmaking legend. The same legend who pit Nicolas Cage against John Travolta and somehow made Tom Cruise an even bigger star. Master of the genre, John Woo, is back in action, directing a remake of his own beloved, brutal film The Killer, brought to the ever-expanding world of streaming.

This new vision of the classic movie brings forth an infamous Parisian assassin known as Zee, played by Emmy-nominee Nathalie Emmanuel of The Fast Saga and Game of Thrones. After consciously breaking the rules on assignment, Zee finds herself on the run from dangerous former alliances, as well as a savvy police investigator named Sey, played by Golden Globe-nominee Omar Sy from the Jurassic World franchise and Lupin.

Collider’s Steve Weintraub had the opportunity to sit down with Emmanuel and Sy to discuss their wall-to-wall action set pieces, surprisingly short shooting time, and if they ever discussed slow-motion birds with their illustrious director. They also tease upcoming projects like Francis Ford Coppola’s Megalopolis and Joe Carnahan’s Shadow Force. You can watch the full interview in the video above or read the transcript below.

The Killer (2024) An assassin tries to make amends in an effort to restore the sight of a beautiful young singer.Release Date August 23, 2024 Writers Josh Campbell , Brian Helgeland , Matt Stuecken

Omar Sy and Nathalie Emmanuel Are in Awe of Director John Woo’s

COLLIDER: I have to start with the most important question first. If someone has never seen a John Woo film besides this, what’s the one that you want them to start with?

OMAR SY: The Killer, the original.

NATHALIE EMMANUEL: Yeah. The Killer, the original, is pretty spectacular and just iconic. But I think my other favorite is Face Off. I just think that movie is so excellent.

Oh, I’m in full agreement. Face Off is phenomenal. No missteps, no notes, A+. You know what I mean?

Emmanuel: 10 out of 10!

When you were working with [Woo], did he ever tell you why he’s obsessed with pigeons?

EMMANUEL: No!

SY:: No, I never asked!

EMMANUEL: I didn’t even ask. We’re terrible! We should have!

Image via Peacock

I’ve always been wondering this because in a lot of his movies–

SY: All the time! But, actually, it’s part of him that I don’t question. Because it’s just him, you know? It’s like asking about the color of hair, It’s just you. So maybe that’s why we never asked, because this genre is, like, just pigeons all the time.

EMMANUEL: Yeah, I think birds generally are just very elegant creatures. There’s a sort of mystique to them and a kind of romance to them, which I think John pours into his films. There’s an elegance and a sort of– it’s almost like balletic. I think that is something John has in his style of directing and the way he shoots, so it almost kind of symbolizes that to me. And they look great in slo-mo.

‘The Killer’ Stars on What It Takes for Massive Action Scenes
“The training was the key, and we were well-trained.”
Image via Peacock

This is not some huge budget movie where you have all this time in the world, yet this thing has a ton of action- brutal action. I want to specifically talk about the hospital and the church scene. Actually, there are a lot of set pieces. What was it like for the two of you knowing how much physicality was going to be required and that you weren’t going to have 10 days to shoot this?

EMMANUEL: Preparation is key. And the process of learning that choreography, perfecting that choreography, really helped us shoot it much more efficiently and quickly. And when you really know what you’re doing, where your body has to be, and where your arm has to land — you have a lot of freedom. You can repeat it many, many times, and it’s so in your body that you don’t have to think about it as much. It means that you get more successful takes, you can move on quicker, and you get there sooner. So that preparation was essential and I feel much more confident when I really know what I’m doing. Because it’s also about safety at the end of the day.

I know that stunt performers are paid to kind of put their bodies on the line, and they get hit and hurt all the time. I’m sure not in a serious way, but they’re used to kind of getting knocked about a bit. But I don’t want to be the person that does that to you. I want us to really know what we’re doing, so we can get it, and everyone goes home safe.

SY: We were also prepared mentally. When you say yes to a John Woo movie, you know what it’s going to take. You’ll have to physically be ready to do it and ready to have the stamina for the whole shoot. Yeah, the training was the key, and we were well-trained. We’re also surrounded by an amazing team of stunt. Then, during the process of shooting, we were also training and training and training, and it has transformed all of that into a lot of fun, actually. It was a fun ride to do all of that.

Related Nathalie Emmanuel Is a Feared Assassin in New Images from John Woo’s ‘The Killer’ The reimagining of the action classic drops on Peacock this August.

In the film, which shot or sequence was the one you’re like: how the F are we going to do this? What was the one that was the back-breaker for each of you?

EMMANUEL: I think the final church sequence. There’s just so many parts to it. There were so many pieces. There was just a lot! There’s outside parts, the inside parts, there’s wire work, there’s bikes, and explosions, and squibs, and bullets. There was so much to do and it was a lot of shooting. I feel like that was a good two weeks, maybe. Like you were saying before, if we got four weeks to shoot all that, that probably still would have been a challenge. So they had to be really organized and clear about what they wanted to do and how they wanted to shoot it. We just had to show up and be ready and to get it. I just remember on that last day when we were shooting in the church, just being like, “I can’t believe we did that. We did it. It’s crazy. It’s amazing.” And I was just very proud of it when I saw the movie.

SY: Same. The church was a big piece. The big piece because, like she said, it was outside, inside, before, after and the pieces were so chopped like this. It was like simultaneous action. I was here fighting and Zee was there fighting. To combine everything, even in your mind, was something very special. And it’s one of the rare times in the movie that you have stunts and action- and acting scenes at the same time. Sometimes acting scenes and action scenes were separate, and in church we have both. Switching the mode in the same day was also kind of challenging too.

Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Megalopolis’ Is “Breaking Barriers and Pushing Boundaries”
Sy also discusses working with Joe Carnahan on Shadow Forces.
Image via American Zoetrope

I’m a big fan of Joe Carnahan and I wanted to know what [Omar] can tease about Shadow Force and working with him. And for [Nathalie], I’ve seen Coppola’s Megalopolis. One of the things about it is that it’s unique and original, and it pushes narrative filmmaking forward. Talk a little bit about what you’re excited for audiences to see and the privilege of getting to work with them.

EMMANUEL: I think that film is very, very hard to categorize in terms of genre. Francis very much said, “Okay, I see what everybody’s been doing, what’s kind of trendy right now, or what filmmaking or cinema has become. I’m just gonna do my own thing.” I felt very proud to be a part of something like that that felt like it was breaking barriers and pushing boundaries. It was just a very unique experience. Obviously, to work with such a celebrated filmmaker and see how they work is just– there was so much to learn, and I soaked as much of it up as I could.

SY: I’m also a big fan of Joe Carnahan. He’s an amazing, amazing director. It was a lot of fun to shoot Shadow Force with Kerry Washington. It’s coming! It’s another action movie and a lot of fun to shoot.

The Killer is available to stream on Peacock in the U.S.

Watch on Peacock