In Hollywood, most often Australian characters are the loveable larrikins of the film.
But in the new action drama G20, the Aussie in the room is the villain of the piece, with New Zealand actor Antony Starr playing the role of mercenary Rutledge.
The Boys actor stars opposite EGOT-winning actress Viola Davis, as she plays the world-saving US President Danielle Sutton.
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For director Patricia Riggen, the fact that Starr could hold his own alongside Davis was why he was cast.
“Antony Starr is just such a phenomenal actor, and he’s still also quite fresh,” Riggen responded to 9honey Celebrity during a recent press conference in London.
“I really equate him to Viola, and that’s hard to say about about anybody – because she’s so incredibly talented and brings so much to the character – but Antony Starr also really brought humanity and a passion, and he loves being evil, so he really brings a lot of things into it.”
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Riggen said Australia drew the short straw as the villain as they “made an effort of casting all these different nationalities” that would usually be present at the global summit of the 20 most powerful countries in the world.
“One of the most difficult characters to craft is your villain,” Riggen said.
“That’s because they tend to become very cliché, very stereotypical, or very, you know, not human and Antony really helped us flesh [out] that guy.
“And I hear from people that as they’re watching the movie, there’s a moment in which you actually side with the villain. That’s really cool, I have to say, you really understand his point of view.”
Davis, who also produced the movie agreed, saying “absolutely” to Riggen’s remarks.
Another casting choice explained during the press conference was that of the first gentleman, Derek Sutton, played by actor Anthony Anderson.
“I actually suggested him for the role, because a lot of his humour reminds me of my husband,” Davis admitted, before comparing Anderson to her husband, actor Julius Tennon.
“I mean, that’s what it is, he reminds me of my husband … [their] raunchy humour.
“You don’t see that element of Julius because he’s such a dignified man but in private, I’m telling you, that’s why we’ve been together for 25 years – he keeps me laughing.”
The movie, which is set in South Africa, where the next real G20 summit will be held in November this year, takes place over the course of an evening as a gala political event is hijacked by terrorists and a hostage situation ensues.
As a result, Davis spends a lot of the film in a fabulous satin gown that gets ripped to shreds over the course of the fight scenes in the film.
The actress revealed she only had one concern with that.
“I love the dress, the dress became an obstacle which is beautiful to play as an actor, [but] as Viola, I was always like, ‘oh my goodness, they’re going to see my Spanx’,” Davis laughed.
“Now, eventually you do see my Spanx but the beautiful part of that is, it’s life. I’m always a proponent of seeing life in anything that we do, no matter how preposterous it is, when you see the elements of life there, it connects with people, and then you cannot turn away.
“So, um, but the dress was something else.”
Riggen saved the day by coming up with an idea to protect Davis’ modesty.
“We had many discussions Viola and I about, ‘how is she gonna do these fights? How’s she gonna be in a helicopter with a wind and the dress?'” she said.
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“So we came up with some clever ideas on how to get her into other costumes – for instance, killing people and stealing their pants.”
Davis interjected: “I was so happy when you came up with that idea Patricia, you have no idea.”
G20 is streaming on Prime Video from today.
Nine Entertainment Co (the publisher of this website) owns and operates the streaming service Stan.
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