Michelle Rodriguez and Charlize Theron are such action-movie pros that they don’t even need a director to film a fight sequence.
That’s the revelation made by Rodriguez in a recent interview with Vanity Fair, discussing a fight scene she and Theron shot sans-director for the upcoming “Fast X”.
“Can I just tell you — no pun intended, but Charlize is a monster,” Rodriguez said. “We shot our [‘Fast X’] fight sequence with no director. Bro, like, hands down, drop mic, we nailed it. We were there, we don’t need [a director], let’s do this.”
According to Rodriguez, the scene was filmed after Justin Lin — who’s directed five movies in the “Fast & Furious” franchise, and had signed on for “Fast X” — made a surprise departure days into production due to creative differences.
Director Louis Leterrier (whose credits include “The Transporter” and “Now You See Me”) was quickly brought in to replace Lin. Despite the speed at which he was hired, that left about a week in the production schedule with no director, which led Rodriguez to enlist a second-unit director to oversee while she and Theron filmed their action sequence.
“We kept that train running until Louie came in and took over,” Rodriguez declared. “And [Charlize] is a consummate professional, sharp elbows, her work ethic is beyond.”
During the interview, Rodriguez also teased what “Fast” fans can expect from the 10th film in the series.
“It is not really an ending, but it’s also like, ‘You can’t do this to us. We’re your diehard fans, you can’t do this to us!’” she said.
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“You’re going to feel so cheated in a way, but then so gratified and excited about what’s to come,” she hinted. “I can’t divulge more than that, but get ready for a shocker.”
Added Rodriguez: “After 23 years of shooting these things, it’s really tough at this stage to shock me, and they got me good.”