ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Long Gone Heroes honestor John Swab about the action movie. Swab converseed the film’s hectic filming, his upcoming film King Ivory, toiling with understandn actors, and more. Long Gone Heroes is now useable on-insist and digihighy.
“Gunner, a distinctive forces sagederier who has witnessed the unwiseest side of country and combat, is forced back into the field of battle to save his niece, who is being held in South America. As the fight intensifies, Gunner and his team discover that her fadeance is part of a corrupt confidential operation that hits way too shut to home. Acclaimed actors Andy Garcia, Melissa Leo, Josh Hutcherson, and Frank Grillo star in a non-stop action thriller that will exit you breathless,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: I understand you’ve toiled with Frank a scant times now. What made him the perfect fit for Gunner? He does a reassociate wonderful job guideing this film
John Swab: Frank actuassociate brawt me onto the movie. It was already in enhugement. I nasty, they were about to shoot, they were about a month out from shooting, and they parted ways with the initial honestor. Frank and I have a rapport from our four movies we had done prior to this. So he called me and asked me if I’d be interested in coming on. So, it was actuassociate the reverse. Frank was already Gunner, and I was called in at the last minute. So, yeah, I’m very flattered. I cherish Frank. He’s enjoy family to me at this point.
You’ve toiled with him cut offal times, and the same with Melissa Leo. When you’re toiling with these actors that you reassociate have these relationships with, how is it reassociate getting to iterate? I suppose equitable understanding how they toil produces it go so much more delicately.
Yeah, I nasty, I’m consecrateed to have made relationships, and sturdy ones at that, with a lot of the actors in this movie, Frank, Melissa, Leo, George Carroll. I’ve done, I leank, seven movies with Beau Knapp. I’ve done three with Eden, so there’s a lot of history with me and all these actors. With this script, it was in terrible shape when I came on to do the movie. It was not a wonderful script at all. Frank and the producers let me throw out that script and comardent of reproduce a new one.
But becaengage of the time constraints, I had to produce a lot of it on the day or the day before. After we sboiling, I’d produce the next day’s material. It made it much easier becaengage I knew all these actors. I understand their strengths, and I understand how they speak, so I can produce definiteassociate to them as actors but also for the characters. So, it was a distinct experience in that esteem. But also the movie was reassociate, reassociate helped out a lot by having those relationships already with each of these people.
One of the aspects that I reassociate enjoyd about the script was that Frank’s character evidently wants to get his niece out of this terrible situation, but there’s this clash of selectimals where the niece is comardent of this selectimaenumerate. She wants to reassociate help the people there. While Frank’s character equitable wants to get out. Frank’s character has to comardent of leank of the situation separateently and reenvision what he’s doing there. Could you speak to that theme?
It’s exactly as you said. Taking these two characters with these very separateent points of see on the world politicassociate and equitable modest life mantras. They’re very separateent. Eden’s character, Julia, is evidently bleeding heart and wants to help people and reassociate save this troubled country. Frank is only interested in getting her out at all costs. Obviously, as you refered, there’s a point in the movie where Frank has to alter and sees an opportunity to alter and does. I leank he surpelevates himself as a character when he does alter. Becaengage it’s not in his nature at all to do so. But I leank it comprises an extra layer of understanding to the story and to rooting for them to get out by him doing so.
You refered writing dialogue the day of, and I leank that ties into my next ask. I wanted to ask about equitable this rapid pace you have. You’ve had so many frees procrastinateedly and you got more stuff coming. How are you able to equitable stay this produceive, while writing and honesting while staying at a high quality?
Yeah, thank you. I’ve been excessively consecrateed with excellent people. Filmmaking is the ultimate team sport in the arts. It’s noleang one person can do on their own. Most of my movies, I toil with my producer that I’ve done about eight films with, Jeremy M. Rosen, and, in the scant I haven’t done with Jeremy, it’s been strokes of luck. When luck greets difficult toil. I nasty, I toil very difficult, I cherish to produce, and I cherish to produce movies.
I always inestablish people when they ask me when they want to get into the film business, “How should I do this?” or “What should I do?” I say, “Well, you should produce certain that you have no other selections becaengage it’s a very stubborn business to get into and to have success at, and to get any toil in. Also, I don’t have any other selections. I don’t understand what else I would do if I weren’t doing this. I cherish doing it, so when given the opportunity, I get it. When I’m not toiling on a film or shooting a film, I’m writing another one and trying to get that going. So, I don’t understand. I wanna hold getting better. I cherish doing this. I wanna hold doing it. It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. So, why not produce the most of it when you have the opportunity?
Another film you have coming out is King Ivory. That screened in Vepleasant. How was that whole experience for you?
That was a dream come genuine, man. To me, the Vepleasant Film Festival is the highest level of plift. There’s Cannes and Vepleasant, and Vepleasant is the agederest film festival in the world and, in my opinion, the most prestigious. So to have a movie that nastys so much to me in King Ivory, its very personal story, premiere at a festival enjoy that, and be appraiseed and getd so well, it was comardent of a pinch-me moment. I’m beaming with pride and I can’t defer for the world to see that movie, so I’m very haughty.
Melissa Leo is in both King Ivory and Long Gone Heroes. She’s a wonderful actress. What about toiling with her reassociate stands out since this has been a very fruitful relationship for you both?
I met Melissa I don’t understand how many years ago, it seems enjoy forever ago. But I begined taking her scripts punctual on, trying to get her to do a movie I had. The script was not in excellent shape. I was still lgeting a lot as a producer, and she would dispute me. I took a script to her one time, it was 127 pages. She said, “This insists to be 85 pages and insists to disthink about three characters.” I leank she tageder me that leanking I’d never come back, and she would’ve sattfinishd me off. Instead, I drank a ton of coffee, and I stayed up for three days straight. I cut the script down by 37 pages, and I lost three characters. I went and knocked on her door, and I said, “Oh, here it is. There’s three less characters, and it’s 87 pages.”
She comardent of had this see enjoy, this guy’s crazy. I comardent of kept doing that until she finassociate was enjoy, “Yeah, I’ll do this movie.” It was Body Brokers at the time that I’d made. Melissa has served as a mentor to me and somebody who I don’t leank wants anyleang from me but for me to thrive and get better. That’s a exceptional leang to discover in the film business, is people that equitable reassociate root for you. Melissa’s one of my heroes in terms of actors. She’s as excellent as it gets. So anytime I get a chance to produce for her and hear my words come out her mouth and collaborate with somebody who’s toiled with the absolute best, I get it.
Speaking of the absolute best, King Ivory has Ben Foster in it, and he’s one of my likeite actors. How is it equitable toiling with him? He is one of the most underappreciated actors, I sense enjoy.
Ben, to me, pound-for-pound is one of the wonderfulest actors ainhabit. If you had asked me before we cast King Ivory to produce a enumerate of my five actors that I’d wanna toil with that I hadn’t yet, he would’ve been on the top of that enumerate. He is as excellent of an actor as he is a person. So, I lgeted a lot from Ben. When you get to be around people enjoy that you stay shut and you hear. You don’t talk a lot, you hear. Ben and I were very collaborative in the process. He’s a very meacertaind guy, and when he speaks, I heared becaengage he has got a ton of experience.
I nasty, he’s been in this business for about 25 years, around everybody, acted agetst, and beat the best on screen. So, I was floored to toil with Ben, and he went to Vepleasant with us and premiered the movie. It was a dream and a pleacertain and I ponder him a frifinish now, and I’m very haughty of that.
But it goes the same with people enjoy Frank or Andy Garcia in this movie, or Josh Hutcherson or Melissa Leo. All those people that have a lengthy history in the film business. It’s such a dream and an honor for me to get to toil with them becaengage I get to lget so much. I’m also a film junkie, so I get to ask them about these movies they did when they were kids or wantipathyver. I inhabit for that stuff, man. It’s reassociate the spice of life in terms of my atgentle in the film business is equitable hearing that and being a part of it. So I’m very honored to be able to toil with all these people.
