In this action-thriller, written by Luc Besson and Adi Hasak and directed by McG, Kevin Costner plays a dangerous international spy who is determined to give up his high-stakes career to finally build a close relationship with his estranged wife (Connie Nielsen) and daughter (Hailee Steinfeld). But first, Costner must complete one last mission given to him by a mysterious agent (Amber Heard) — even if it means juggling his two toughest assignments yet: hunting down the world’s most ruthless terrorist and looking after his teenaged daughter for the first time while his wife in out of town. I sat down with director McG in Los Angeles to talk about his high-octane 3 Days to Kill that, unlike many such movies, has a real heart.
Danny Miller: I just saw the film and I have to say I had a blast!
McG: I always wonder what I’d do if I were in your shoes and I hated the movie. What do you say to the director: “It sucked?” How do you stay polite when you don’t like something?
Oh, you’d be surprised how many ways you can talk about a movie without ever making any kind of qualitative comment!
I always wonder about that. You’re one of the first people I’m talking to about this film — and it’s a tricky little movie. But I do think it has some originality in its tone.
Here’s what I liked about it: There’s all this crazy stuff going on that obviously most of us will never experience juxtaposed with a much more realistic family story that hits a lot of authentic emotional notes.
Wow, that means a lot to me, because that’s what the movie is. To be honest, I’m not sure that’s out there in the messaging of the film. I mean, going in, did you go, “Oh, this is gonna be in a family discovery movie?” or were you bracing yourself for an action shoot-em-up?
You know, when I saw that Hailee Steinfeld was playing the daughter, I figured there’d be an interesting dynamic between her and Kevin Costner as her dad.
Hailee is unbelievable. The girl is a monster — she is limitless! You look at that bike-riding scene and Hailee makes it seem so easy. When you ask most actors to go to those kinds of emotional places, it’s often like nails on a chalkboard and you think, “Oof, that’s just not what I’m going for.” But with Hailee I could push her and push her and push her and she never red-lined, she can really handle anything! She’s so organic and so authentic that I frankly worry about her future in this business, that she can only be convoluted and polluted. I’m like, “Hailee, hold on to your purity and your fucking greatness because you’re so clean!”
You never see a false moment with her. Do you think she was looking to do something very different with this film?
I think she just likes challenging material. When you know you’re going to be playing these scenes opposite Kevin Costner, most actors’ eyes light up. I mean, he’s a tough, tough guy, he knows what he likes, he knows what he wants, he’s very present in the frame. If you stand up to Kevin Costner in a two-shot, it’s a tall order and a challenge and she just stepped up to the plate and really handled it.
I talked to Kevin Costner last year in London on the set of Jack Ryan and I certainly got the impression he had very strong opinions about how to make a movie. Did he have thoughts about your direction when you were making this film?
We partnered the whole way through. It’s funny because I’m a very strange guy and I’ve got my own history of anxiety issues with flying and other insecurities. A lot of people have asked me if I was scared or freaked out to make that first Charlie’s Angels movie and I always said, “No, not at all, I don’t have that switch,” and the same was true with working with Kevin — I only looked forward to it. I’m very clear with what I want to do, and then I do a lot of listening. So I’d say, “Hey, Kevin, this is what I think we’re out to achieve today and this is what I think services the character best.” And he’d say, “Hey, I agree, let’s do that,” or “What if I stand up at this moment and then I’m in her eyes and then I release my eyeline here in the interest in landing that line more deeply?” and I’d say, “Okay, let’s try it!” I decided early on that I was going to partner with Kevin Costner on this movie, he’s a talented filmmaker and I thought that would be the wisest thing to do. It’s true in all areas. I usually know how I want to photograph a film but I choose to work with great Directors of Photography like Thierry Arbogast who, more often than not, can turn me on to better ways. Same thing with costume designers, production designers, editors, and certainly actors. I certainly learned a great deal from working with Kevin.
I remember he had a lot of good things to say about you that day in London — but when he was talking about this film, he suddenly stopped and said, “What the HELL does that title mean? I need to talk to McG about that!”
(Laughs.) Yeah, we struggled with the title! I like the idea of the mission, that he had three days to get this done, and I liked the idea that mom was away for three days, “Hey, Dad, who I have no relationship with, I guess we have three days to kill!” There’s a kind of double entendre there but I think it’s a little thin and you’re probably right, we should have made that a little more clear!
Speaking of your great DP, Thierry Arbogast, I’m a total Francophile and Paris looked so incredibly gorgeous in this movie. How the heck do you manage to shoot a Kevin Costner film in the middle of that city?
It was definitely a challenge! I’m a Francophile as well and it was thrilling to live in that history, that incredible beauty. There’s just nothing like Paris, it’s spectacular. They’re very open to the filmmaking process over there and they’re very big fans of Kevin. He recently got a César award and they gave him a long standing ovation. I find that the French have a real depth of appreciation for cinema and for actors.
I admire your decision to shoot in such a location — I’m sure it would have been a lot easier to make the film in New Jersey or Culver City!
Yeah, but to me Paris is an important character in this picture. And it all has to do with the fish-out-of-water thing going on. Costner is so American, I’m so decidedly American, and I wanted to feature the idea of an American cowboy who is out of balance with his wife, who is out of balance with his daughter, and doing the best he can to get back in their good graces.
I have to say that I teared up during that bike-riding scene. That was so moving.
Oh, that means so much to me, I think that’s the best scene in the movie. I’m humbled that it brought you to that place and I hope other people feel that way. I think you see this movie is written by Luc Besson, directed by McG, you see the title, you see Costner with a gun to his head and you don’t necessarily say, “Well, there’s a film that’s going to move me!” I hope people have a pleasant surprise in that regard.
I know we have to wrap up but I wanted to ask you about Spring Awakening. I saw that you were on board to direct a film version of the Broadway musical that’s based on the 19th-century play by Frank Wedekind. Is that still happening?
Yes! I just came back from scouting locations in Germany.
Oh, yay! I saw the play when it first opened and it completely blew me away.
I feel the same way. I’m so honored to be dealing with such an important piece of material. It’s very rare that you can have a movie that’s so fun and so rock n’roll that deals with issues like child abuse, suicide, abortion, homosexuality — all these tough, tough issues that we can all relate to. I think it’s one of the greatest coming-of-age stories ever written. I’ve seen the musical many times on Broadway, I’ve seen it in Tokyo, in London, in California, in Florida, I just love that story and if we can bring that elegantly to the big screen so some kid who will never get to Broadway can see it in Sioux City and think, “Hey, that’s me, I’m just going to hang on and get through this moment because there’s a whole world out there for me,” then I’ll be very happy.