ComingSoon Senior Movie News Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy about The Killer. Emmanuel and Sy discussed working with John Woo on the new action movie, which is a remake of Woo’s 1989 film.
“From the Oscar-winning producer of Oppenheimer, the kinetic action thriller stars Emmy nominee Nathalie Emmanuel (The Fast Saga, Game of Thrones) as Zee, a mysterious and infamous assassin known, and feared, in the Parisian underworld as the Queen of the Dead,” the synopsis for the movie reads. “But when, during an assignment from her shadowy mentor and handler (Avatar’s Sam Worthington), Zee refuses to kill a blinded young woman (Diana Silvers; Ma, Booksmart) in a Paris nightclub, the decision will disintegrate Zee’s alliances, attract the attention of a savvy police investigator (Golden Globe nominee Omar Sy; Jurassic World franchise, Lupin), and plunge her into a sinister criminal conspiracy that will set her on a collision course with her own past.”
The Killer is now streaming exclusively on Peacock.
Brandon Schreur: First of all, I just want to say congratulations on the movie. I got a chance to watch it this past weekend and I had so much fun with it. You guys do some crazy stuff in it, it was a hoot and a half to watch.
Nathalie Emmanuel: Aw, thank you. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
I did, I definitely did. So my question for both of you, both of you are no stranger to action. Nathalie, you’re in the Fast and Furious movies and Game of Thrones. Omar, you’re in the Jurassic World movies and a bunch of other stuff. Then you get a call from someone like John Woo saying he wants to make an action movie with you. John Woo being one of the most influential, biggest action guys in the world. What is that like? How intimidating is that and how intense is the production?
Emmanuel: I mean, yeah, it’s intense. When John Woo is like not only, ‘Do you want to make a movie with me?’ full stop, but it’s actually one of my most iconic movies and reimagine it. You immediately feel the kind of stakes of that and how epic it is. A remake or a reimagining to happen with the originator, himself — yeah, there are no words. You know that you have to work hard and you want to be the best you can be. The training and just throwing yourself in is just so important. Yeah, it was pretty hardcore. I still can’t quite believe it happened, to be honest.
Omar Sy: Same, same. Still today, even though the movie is here and it’s real, it’s still really difficult to realize what happened. Like Nathalie said, we did a movie by John Woo, but it wasn’t just a movie, it was The Killer remade by John Woo. It takes place in Paris, imagine that for me. It’s just unbelievable and I’m so grateful and proud to be part of that. To see the movie today, it’s just still difficult to realize.
Sure. I was going to ask you about the original movie, too. It was huge and iconic. I’m curious how much did that movie serve as a blueprint for you guys. Were you watching it constantly or did you want to make the characters your own and do your own thing?
Emmanuel: I definitely rewatched it sort of before, when I first was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to take on this role.’ I think it was really just to take in this world, the energy, and to be inspired by the beautiful film that John made. I just love that performance by Chow Yun-fat. I just got to enjoy it and then really sort of went away and made Zee her own thing. I wouldn’t want to take from something that’s so perfect in its own right. It sort of didn’t make sense for me to keep taking in that movie, but I definitely watched it just to feel inspired and remember all the things I loved about it. And then see the things that I could bring while really creating something new for Zee and myself.
