Dhanush may be playing a cold-blooded killer, but Hollywood stars are impressed to play Ryan Gosling in “The Gray Man”, which starts streaming on Netflix on July 22. Gosling says of Dhanush, “He just has an incredible screen presence and he’s such a lovely person to be around.” And further adds that Dhanush is charming and he would love to work with him again.
In a roundtable with global media, the Golden Globe winner said: “It was hard to pretend I don’t like her because she’s so attractive. I have a lot of respect for her work ethic and she’s so accurate.”
Gosling continued: “He never made a mistake. He’s just a very special actor and I hope one day I get to work with him where we’re not trying to kill each other, and Hopefully in India, so if anyone can hook it up I’m in.”
Talking about India’s film industry, Gosling said: “Yes, India has such a rich film history… an incredible industry. I would love to experience it, you know.
“If there is any filmmaker who wants to make a film with me, please get in touch. I would love to work with Dhanush again. Maybe the Russo brothers can make a film there, but it’s definitely my to-do. There’s something on the to-do list and I hope I can do that.”
Gosling steps up his game in the upcoming high-octane action, which is packed with nine death-defying fight sequences.
The actor admitted that everything about the film was tough, but added that it is something that he wanted to do even when it was challenging.
IANS asked Gosling how much it takes for an actor to invest in an intense film and character like “The Gray Man”.
The actor replied: “I’m not sure how much is too much. It depends. It was a dream of mine to make an action film, although it’s very extreme. I think most action films have four or five.” There are action sets . . . there are nine in it.” No wonder the 41-year-old Hollywood star calls ‘The Gray Man’ “not a regular action movie”.
He added: “So, it’s not a regular action film, you know. It felt worth it. It was like I wanted to do it even when it was tough. I felt lucky to do it.”
What was the hardest thing to do in the film, which is an adaptation of the Mark Grainy CIA-themed thriller novel of the same name? Pat got a reply from Gosling: “It’s hard to say because everything was hard.”
He explained: “Every sequence was different and needed something else. Sometimes we were shooting multiple sequences at once, and we went and shot another sequence, so it was like keeping all the stunt choreography in our mind and It would be easy to forget it and do a fight. I had never done anything like shooting multiple fight scenes at once, so it was all very challenging.”
Gosling plays Sierra Six, also known as “The Gray Man”, a trained assassin who is inducted from a US federal prison into the CIA’s top-secret Sierra Black Ops program.
He’s highly skilled and one of the best in his obscure business, but there’s a hitch: Sierra Six uncovers lurking secrets about the agency, making him the target of the CIA and a global search.
Talking about what he liked about Sierra, he said: “I liked her sense of humour. I thought it set her apart and there are so many different characters I’ve played in action movies . … I like the fact that the character doesn’t want to be a spy. He doesn’t want to be James Bond and watch Netflix like the rest of us, but he has to because it’s either this or death. Thought it would make him an interesting character to play.”
The film also stars Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jessica Henwick, Reggae-Jean Page, Wagner Moura, Julia Butters, Alfre Woodard and Billy Bob Thornton.
Gosling loved working with Evans, who plays the psychopathic CIA operative leading the hunt against the Sierra Six. “Chris was having a lot of fun so it was fun playing opposite him.”
Considering the diversity in Hollywood movies, does Gosling agree that this is a good time to be an actor?
Responding to this question from IANS, he said: “It’s a good time to be an actor in Hollywood? Yeah, I don’t know… I can’t speak on that because I don’t know what everyone’s experience is. My dad is an actor. Used to work in a paper mill and my family used to work in a paper mill.”
He continued: “I feel lucky to be an actor. It’s a great, good job and I feel lucky at this point in my career. It’s kind of a great film that I watched as a child.” And I had loved. Movies. It’s exciting to be in one.”