The Reel Rejects - Meeting David Denman (Peacemaker's Brother): The Truth Behind Keith's Twist?

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Starting point is 00:01:12 Peacemaker. We didn't get to meet season one for very specific reasons. And now in season two had one of the most chilling lines, I think, of TV in the last five years. I got a kick off there. What was it like to read those? twist elements on the script and then have to kind of hold on to that for so many months. Like that was such a major, you know, they were dead the whole time kind of twist. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:01:34 I mean, the first moment I read, I was like, oh, my God, no, I have to be a meme of this. But it's funny and it's an amazing twist in this show. And so that part is really exciting. But holding onto it was tough because, you know, we do a lot of these interviews promoting the show. And inevitably, everybody started asking, you know, wait a minute, what about this, you know, Earth X and there's only white people in the background and you have to lie. You literally, you know, I have to lie to everybody and be like, oh, I don't know. I hadn't, I don't know what that is. I hadn't paid attention to that.

Starting point is 00:02:12 No, I'm not really, you know. So to be able to be on the other side of that is great where I don't have to keep the lie up. But yeah, there was a lot of, a lot of secrecy behind Keith. I mean, you know, I didn't go to Comic-Con. They almost didn't have me to the press line in New York at the premiere because they were very nervous that something would come out. And luckily, I did all this press during the day beforehand, and my handler was like, he's got this. And they were like, are you sure? Because James really doesn't want anyone to know.

Starting point is 00:02:43 And I'm like, I'm not saying anything about anything. And I didn't. And now, I'm so glad we're sitting down now because it's the big moment and the little moments. We've gotten to the point where it's actually freeing to talk about this show because it is a very intense pivot. And it's so late in the show, I really love that it's not a binge model. I really liked that this was weekly. So it got to build to that crescendo of like what is happening in episode six? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:03:08 What was the experience like for you having filmed that like a year ago to get to watch the internet and to experience people have this ride? Yeah, it's fun. I'm a big fan of the weekly. I don't, I, I, you know, I was on another show on HBO called Mary of East Town and we did the same thing. And it was a every week, a new episode and a new episode. And it grew and built and it had the opportunity to be that like water cooler kind of show. And I feel the same thing is happening with, with Peacemaker, where people are coming up like, oh my God, you know. Yeah, I mean, I was just at the gym and someone comes up with the, oh Lord, on their, you know, on their iPad.

Starting point is 00:03:47 and giving me a fist bump and stuff like that is really fun and it's fun to see the show growing and the big reveal I mean I you know the very few things you can get excited about right like that like you're like anticipating something and so I think it worked out really well

Starting point is 00:04:04 and they say we're wired to be anticipatory more than the actual reward and I think we lose that with binge model TV because it's it's planning the trip as much as the trip like when you're with a family you're going on vacation but you're looking at it on the calendar I think something like this episode six reveal really shows we need those payoffs and it needs to be like a long form experience. Yeah, I agree.

Starting point is 00:04:25 Yeah. I mean, you don't want to miss out. You don't want to be the guy who missed. Wait, what? What's happening? So that's kind of the fun part. Now, working with something that has this aggressive subject matter, but it's on the right side of a moral idea. I really like that the show has reprehensible characters showing you the morality of how you should feel by being like, whoa, whoa, whoa.

Starting point is 00:04:47 on their side, oh, this is my blind spot. Like, I didn't clock until episode three, you know, whatever that feeling that is, playing a character like that, how important is it for you to convey art that you think is going to have like a lasting impression? Do you seek that in your scripts? Do you always try to find something that's going to have like some sort of, you know, this is bettering the world when you can. Yeah, I mean, look, if you can get that, yeah, that's the idea, right?

Starting point is 00:05:15 Like, that's the, for me, doing any arts like this is trying to, you know, illuminate something, holding a mirror up to nature, as Shakespeare said long ago. And that, if you can do it in a, I'm not saying as being subversive, but like, this character, what's so much fun is that he is loving to his brother. He cares about his brother. He's the supportive guy. They tell each other how much they love each other. They show it.

Starting point is 00:05:46 They're affectionate. And like, that's something that's important that we should be doing in society. So you have this model where people are like, oh, wow, like, wow, that's progressive, like, in how they're treating each other. And if you, if we're doing our job right, people are caring about this guy and they're caring about, you know, Chris Smith's journey. Because a lot of this show is Chris trying to heal the traumas of his past, of his childhood. and getting that love and that support that he never got as a kid.

Starting point is 00:06:18 And what would he have become if he had had that? And then, you know, you pull the rug out from everyone and go, oh, they're Nazis. You know, they're racist Nazis. And so it's also saying, like, racist Nazis can be loving and supporting people to the people they care about. And they can treat everyone else like garbage. So those two things can still exist, you know? It's like, yeah. So, um, that's fun to play, you know, it's, it's, I think it's more interesting to play than the, the twisting the mustache kind of villain. You know what I mean? Like, um, but those are fun parts to play too, you know, when you're diabolical, but it was a good time. I do think that the power of the family element of the show is that contextualizing people as people that can have a major flaw or a minor flaw, but you need to see the human element to have them feel human. And Robert Patrick, Keith, the, the portrayal of Keith, flowers.

Starting point is 00:07:13 to you, man, the portrayal of Keith to give him so much depth when we only heard of him in the first season. When we only could imagine, you know, we saw him as a child, we could only have our mind's eye of what John could have been down the line, but it feels so lived in. And I really want to know what you, Robert Patrick and John all did to find the chemistry to find that. This feels like decades of history. And it has to both feel authentic to a Chris Smith, but not that Christmas. So how did you guys find that bond? You know, a lot of that is, building it, you know, off screen. You know, Robert and I became really, really good friends in this process and spend as much

Starting point is 00:07:54 time as we can together, having dinners and hanging out and getting to know each other. And you just have a familiarity there that you can pull from on screen. You know, John, I didn't have as much access to, you know, but we hung out between takes and would talk and I got to know them a little bit. and we talked a lot about at the time that Vince McMahon documentary had come out and so I learned all this because my knowledge of wrestling

Starting point is 00:08:21 had basically stopped when I was I don't know in high school when I was a huge fan when I was a kid and then I wouldn't really watch it and then eventually I would kind of it would be on somewhere and be like what the hell is going on this is how is this wrestling like it was very

Starting point is 00:08:36 sexualized and it was really raunchy and violent and I'm like God that's something. This is a lot crazier than what I remember as a kid. And he kind of explained to me that process of how they went to that extreme and then came back around and how John was one of the first people that realized like our future is those kids. And if we don't make a product that's going to, you know, appeal to them, we're going to, we're going to lose this. And now it's the biggest thing it's ever been. And it's that foresight that he had.

Starting point is 00:09:10 and at a certain point he said yeah I'm done doing this thing and I'm gonna I'm gonna do that and I focused on the kids he goes man we would go to these arenas where you know those shows they would do like every night like they would go around the country and he goes we'd go to these giant arenas

Starting point is 00:09:28 it would be like 20,000 people and there'd be a thousand, two thousand people in there and they're angry on us he goes it was gnarly for a while and then it started to pick up and he started to see those kids wearing the shirts and cheering you on. And then it built and built and built and to what it is today.

Starting point is 00:09:45 So I got to talk to him about that. And I, you know, really, I don't know him that well, obviously. But like, you know, that being able to have that, those connections help, I think, when you're playing those scenes where you're supposed to have history and you're supposed to have all that stuff. But also, you know, the Chris Smith in Earth X is a very different character. And he's, he's a trouble. dude. That guy has a drug problem. He's got an alcohol problem. He's horrible to

Starting point is 00:10:15 hardcore. Hard court. The hardcore hardcore really hits sometimes. But like, you know, so when you look at it from that perspective, I'm seeing this guy whose, his behavior is different. And I'm chalking this up to, wait, is he using again? Like, what is happening? Because Keith's journey is to try to keep him on the straight and narrow. He's always getting off the rails and he's sort of pulling him back. And he's like, you know, if you look back in retrospect now, you can see all those. There's, there's all those Easter eggs throughout the thing where he's talking about, you know, this grill. You kind of let a good thing go. And, um, but yeah, I mean, to build that history, that's just us. I don't know. I love that you got time to like hang out, you know,

Starting point is 00:11:03 offset with Robert Patrick a lot. I feel like that really shows. And I really feel like, you know, it feels like you and John have known each other a really long time so you can feel the absence of that universe is John and that is a very hard line to walk that doesn't feel not mustache twirley but cartoonish in the like by golly he's a different guy like that's a hard thing

Starting point is 00:11:23 to convey in a drama that's so emotional yeah well there's a lot of comedy in this which is what makes that that conceit work you know when he's going you're wearing pants I never saw her wear pants before like there's a lot of funny things that happen in their reality.

Starting point is 00:11:40 But in comedy, you got to play it all real. It's, you know, it's the same. It's a fine line between drama and comedy. And I love when I get to do both of them in the same role and the same type of show. What was in that vein, what was the script like the actual read-through? Because James Gunn's scripts are so energizing.

Starting point is 00:11:57 Like, did you laugh on your first read-through? Did you feel those notes of drama? Like, how did it feel on the page as compared to, like, on the day, actually getting to sit down with everybody? I mean, I don't remember doing any table reads. Yeah, I got the scripts ahead of time. You know, I read my scenes. And, you know, I read two scenes for the audition.

Starting point is 00:12:18 And one was one of those early scenes where he's talking to his brother. They were changed. They were a little bit changed. We were talking about our mother. And, you know, they do these so that fans don't get a copy of sides and go, oh, my God, this is what's happening. But so I didn't really know exactly. but there was a context of being a supportive brother. And then there was a more comedic scene with hardcore.

Starting point is 00:12:44 That play on word actually is haunting in the other way, where it's in your worm the wrong direction. And that was a comedic scene. And that was what James was looking for, someone who can do both of those things. So I knew there was going to be both of those elements. And yeah, I mean, the first time we did those scenes, like me and John in the kitchen and stuff.

Starting point is 00:13:07 That was just our first time on our feet, you know, and it was funny and, you know, had a good thing. Did you, was it Brightburn? Like, how did you fall into the James Gun acting troupe? Well, James and I have known each other like 20 years because his ex-wife and I were on the office together. And so we would, I would see him, you know, casually from, from Jenna Fisher.

Starting point is 00:13:28 And so then I think I auditioned for a couple of things over the years. I think maybe Guardians or something. And James was very, very kind. It would send me messages, say, oh, my God, you're awesome. But, you know, I'm going with this other guy, but loved your read. And then Brightburn came along, and we worked together on that. And, you know, I mean, he was a producer on that, but he was on set every day. He was, you know, he was a huge part of that whole process.

Starting point is 00:13:57 So that's how I got into his world, like, I guess, professionally. Sure. And then, yeah, I mean, yeah, I auditioned for something in Superman and trying to think of what else. But, yeah, I remember when Peter called, he was like, hey, you know, we've always been trying to find something for you in this universe and we think this might be it. And, you know, there's a physical element to this that is going to be kind of required. Are you up for that? You know, I just need to check your barometer, you know. And I said, well, okay.

Starting point is 00:14:33 What exactly do you mean? He's like, well, we kind of need you to get cut. And I was like, cut? Cut? I've ever been cut in my life. You know, if you want me to try to look like John Cena, I'm just going to be honest with you. I don't know that we have enough time. And he goes, no, we don't need that.

Starting point is 00:14:49 We just need you to be in the best shape of your life. And I was like, that I can do. I mean, you know, just like if you're willing to put in the work, great. And the costume will be what the costume is. So, you know, anyone can, if you're, you know, as long as you're not fat, you're going to be able to get away with that costume. You didn't say that. But it was implied. We got to get in shape.

Starting point is 00:15:13 We're going to do some stunts. There's things that you're physically going to need to do, wirework, things like that. And so, you know, I just wanted to check that. And so I did think about it for a long time because at the moment, I was in the worst shape of my life. I just got done having the surgery. I was just was not in a healthy place. And I was scared of what I was going to have to go through. And then when I finally agreed to it, I dove full in, you know, and I was, I was doing something for it, like six hours a day, whether it was stretch lab or it was physical therapy or it was actually being in the gym with Paolo, who's the, was my personal trainer who did Superman and, you know, a bunch of the characters from Superman.

Starting point is 00:15:55 man. And, or, you know, going on hikes or riding my bike or swimming or whatever. I was doing something all, it felt like a full-time job all day. And it was tough. It was really tough. And cutting calories, huge deficit. I had to be like, you know, 2,000 calories a day. And that was it. And that was hard. Like, I was not a gym guy. I was not a workout guy. And I became one in the process of that. And then, you know, when it was over, I learned. oh, I need to have somebody I got to show up for, so I found a buddy to work out with, you know, who used to be a trainer and convinced him to get back in the gym. And so now I still go to the gym four or five times a week if I can. And I'm just trying to stay on it and be healthier,

Starting point is 00:16:42 which, you know, at the end of the day, it's just adding more years to my life for my kids. So I'm super grateful for the opportunity and what it did for, you know, me and my family. That was the first quote I heard when you were allowed to talk about it was you crediting this with like saving your life and extending your life and all those elements and I think that's beautiful and so important and I I've always loved like I'm a comic guy like the actual comic books and that's why I started training because in my head I was like well if I can look like Batman I'm a look like Batman like it always made sense to me but like you've got a map right here and I really like that Palo is such an advocate for health on top of fitness what were some of the elements of that training

Starting point is 00:17:21 that were like the most like the biggest macro of an idea for you like what really helped you go from oh this is not fun it's an effort to I want to maintain this this is worthwhile beyond the longevity uh that's a good question I mean it's look part of it was you know they wanted me to be available for the next three years if he wants to use me in something else at some point I don't know what that is he he probably he doesn't probably he knows he hasn't shared that with me or anyone else. But, so there was an element that was like, oh, you've got to, you can't let yourself go back to where you were before, so you got to sort of maintain it.

Starting point is 00:18:00 And then what I did is I took a, you talk about a vision board, right? Like you're seeing Batman. I took a picture of Kratos because they're doing a series about it. And I'm scrolling through while I'm filming the show. And my kid is standing behind me and he sees this picture of Kratos with this kid and he's got a big long beard and bald head. And he goes, what's that? I go, they're making a TV show.

Starting point is 00:18:25 And he goes, well, you could play that part, Dad. And I go, I guess I could. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I could do that. And then it became like, okay, can you see if you can work towards getting your body to look like that?

Starting point is 00:18:40 Because that's insane. You have a protein that you have to eat to have that muscle mass. But it became just something. Like, whether I play the part of it. or not is, you know, it doesn't matter. It's the having a goal. And for me, I need a goal. Whether it's, oh, I'm going to do a triathlon on this date. So I got to work towards that. Or I've got to get into shape for this, you know, possibility of this job. Like, so for me, building that, creating a goal and working towards that thing, even though like, look, if I got, if I got a

Starting point is 00:19:15 shot at playing that part, I'd have to be a whole other level of fitness that, you know, know, that I'm not, you know, not currently in, you know what I mean? Like, I'm, I'm in striking distance. You know what I mean? Exactly. Exactly. From going backwards is not a good idea. So staying here and then like, and I'm currently in this weird like, bulking phase,

Starting point is 00:19:40 which I'd never done before or because when I did this job, I was just trying to cut. I was trying to cut as much fat as I could. And so I was doing a ton of cardio and I was doing weights because you need to build that muscle mass to burn calories. But for this thing, I was like, can I get bigger shoulders and bigger arms and bigger back? And so now I'm like, I'm bulking up in ways. And I hate the number on the scale because that kills me. I'm like, no.

Starting point is 00:20:05 So it's so programmed for the other direction. Exactly. I'm like, I lost 50 pounds. How am I putting on the sweet? And I look in the mirror. I'm like, oh, well. That's those pounds. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:20:12 Yeah. You're turning the fat into muscle, which is weighs more. So, you know, it's like, it's that. psychology in my head that messes with me. But learning, learning and going back to Palo, it's also the macros and like what you're eating. He'd be like, you know, take a picture of your food. And I'm like, okay. And, you know, and he'd go, oh, that's good. Oh, no, you can't eat those pineapple. I'm like, what? I can't have pineapple. What do you mean I can't have pineapple? And he's like, no, it's too much sugar. Like, you don't, you don't get to do that. When you're, when you hit

Starting point is 00:20:45 your goal, then you can add a little pineapple bag in or whatever, you know. But so things like that where I didn't realize certain things that I thought were healthy, quote unquote, were counter, you know, productive. And so I've learned a whole, you know, I'm not, look, I'm not like a fitness guy and I'm not going to get on Instagram going, eat this and you're going to be jacked like this. Like that's not who I am. But I have learned a lot more than what I, you know, like I can't like, you know, the joke was, because they. eat pizza all the time. I didn't get to eat pizza until my birthday, which is July 25th. So from April 1st to July 25th, 25th, I did not touch a slice of pizza. And I got a four and a seven-year-old. That's all they eat. Man, that's willpower. And I'd be like, no, dad's having

Starting point is 00:21:36 broccoli and chicken. And they're like, okay. And then we went on a vacation and I was like, okay, we're going to have pizza today. And Mercedes's like, what? And I'm like, you know, we're having pizza. It's my birthday. And I'm having, and I literally ate like, a giant extra large pizza that day. And I was very happy about doing that. But I couldn't go back to that. It's like a language fitness. Like I think it's important for people that are learning it.

Starting point is 00:22:00 Like, you know, you can get fluent and like Paolo's fluent. But it's really cool to start to learn like phrases, so to speak, and like to start to build that into your repertoire. And it's cool to see people like find that. I just went to see a taping of American Ninja Warrior. Yeah. And so my kids are really into it. And I met a producer.

Starting point is 00:22:18 this guy Greg cruiser on it and he said hey if you want to come up to Vegas bring your kids and you can watch a taping so we just did this a couple days ago and there's a guy who won last year Kai Beckstrom or I'm going to mess it up someone's going to scream no it's that guy in the I know his name's Kai because my son's name is Caius and so anyway I'm looking at this guy flying through the course and I say to my wife Jesus look at his lats And she goes, what? What has happened to you? Never in my life would I have ever heard those words come out of your mouth.

Starting point is 00:22:52 But he's like this, like a V. It's crazy the conditioning these guys are in. And it's inspiring. You know, they work hard to do. That Dorito back is every bro's goal, man. That crazy. Yeah. I mean, like Eddie got in such crazy shape for Superman.

Starting point is 00:23:07 And he's like in that one piece, but he's in such good shape for the movement. And Eddie always likes to train anyway. But it was crazy what Palo got, like, corn sweat adding like 40 pounds. Eddie looked like an action figure, like what they got those guys into. And learning that language for you, like, I love that you see it as an application for your kids. Like, that's a really beautiful way to fight to not have the pizza. Yeah. It's, it is a struggle every day.

Starting point is 00:23:29 Like, don't make, make no mistake about it. I have to, like, consciously stay on it or it's a very slippery slope. I can't let cheat meals turn into cheat days or, like, if it becomes a second meal, curtains. Like then all of a sudden it's a week of pizza and I'm like, ah, I have to start over. Yeah. Well, I can talk fitness all day, but I do want to talk. No, not at all. I'm stoked that like that was the first thing I heard about the peacemaker press.

Starting point is 00:23:51 It made me happy because that's how I see comics. And it drives me crazy. There's like a nerd stereotype of the opposite. I struggle because I want to be like a broie nerd. And the average nerd is like, why would I do that? And I'm like, but the diagrams, Batman's right here. Yeah. Rejagnation.

Starting point is 00:24:06 At the start of this year, I was over 218 pounds over 22% bono. body fat. By the time it reached September, I got under 10% body fat. Drop nearly about 50 pounds. Now lately, I've been working on building muscle now that I got them photos out of the way. And a big part of that has been Huell. I drink so much, I ended up buying the actual protein powder bag so I can make it at home and mix it with some stuff. It's been a reliable source of protein and energy for me. Because Huel, short for human fuel, I just learned, is a complete meal and a bottle. I use it a couple times a week when I'm running from shoot to shoot or meeting the meeting edit to edit you know and i need something quick and not just quick but satisfying because

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Starting point is 00:25:18 And at under $5 a meal, Huell helps me not to stay on track physically, but also financially. So go ahead and join the over 3 million people fueling with Huell. Visit Huel.com slash Real Rejects to try it for yourself today. You can claim your offer and get free shipping on your first order. Once again, Huel.com slash Real Rejects to claim your offer and get free shipping on your first order. Thank you, Hewell, for being a partner of my life. But you're in one of my favorite, I like to show people this movie, Deep Cuts. I am obsessed with the Nines.

Starting point is 00:25:52 Oh, wow. I'm a huge fan of the Nines. That's cool. And I love that you get to play multiple versions and kind of like Peacemaker. There are iterations of a character, but in a very different format. And the concept of the Nines, I'm not going to give away because you should watch it, allows for you to play in like plays in a movie. Yeah. What was the format of the?

Starting point is 00:26:11 that script like and did you shoot it chronologically or did you have to be different use different days? That's a good question. John August, who wrote and directed that, he wrote Big Fish and he called me one day and said, hey, I wrote this movie and I had you in mind for it. And I was like, oh, that's awesome. So I read it. And then I'm like, oh, it's only in like three or four scenes.

Starting point is 00:26:36 But it was a great movie. And Ryan Reynolds is in it. And, and, and, uh, Octavia Spencer is in it. She, she's in the same, she and I are in similar, um, I don't know how do you describe it. We're in about the same amount of, of the movie. Similar elements of the story. Yeah. Uh, and so, um, anyway, yeah, I read the script and loved it.

Starting point is 00:27:01 And, uh, I, I'm, I remember there was an element because Ryan had to be in like crazy shape for one of those, one of those. There's a movie star portion. Yeah. And I remember just hearing, you know, them talking about it, you know, in between setups for whatever we were filming. And he was like, well, when do we need to shoot that stuff? Because for him, it was a science. And he knew like, okay, if I got a cut wait to take my shirt off, I need to know four

Starting point is 00:27:28 days ahead of time or whatever it was. So I think we did him in chunks. I think they did. I know that, I know like the inside the house part, we shot in John's house. they shot all of that in you know with um melissa mccarthy um and then yeah i i think i don't know if it was i don't know if it was chronologically all i can say is they did work it around ryan being in the shape he needed to be in for what he needed to shoot ab-based scheduling which as we kind of ties into our fitness that really is the basis of what you have to do for some kind of shape it's it's true

Starting point is 00:28:07 I mean, like, I loved hearing Hugh Jackman talk about, you know, going back and playing Wolverine. And, you know, he's like, look, you have to understand, this is a huge plan. You know, like they said, we'll do it whenever you want to do it. But you just let us know at the beginning of filming, the end of filming, wherever, and he wanted to do it at the end. But they had to have a specific, you know, he was working out. And then the other part of that is they shut down for COVID. The strike happened. That's right.

Starting point is 00:28:37 That's right. The strike. The strike shut it down. So we had to keep doing that for that time. Get to maintain it for like four months. Yeah. Which is, I mean, if you've cut any weight ever, but much less, like his abs had abs. Like, that was a crazy build.

Starting point is 00:28:49 Like, that was so inspiring to see that because that came out probably while I was in the middle of shooting Peacemaker, I think, or maybe right before it. I knew I was working out at the time. Yeah. So it was somewhere in there. And I remember just going, Jesus, this guy who's, you know, I think older than I am. And he looks like that. And it's the macros that are of his diet,

Starting point is 00:29:11 that he's got a nutritionist, multiple nutritionists, multiple trainers that he was working with in London and in the States and wherever. So you realize from the, from, you know, being in it, for me at least, was like, it's not one thing. It is a full team of like building towards a thing. So, so yeah. And Ryan's got that with Don Saladino's his guy for Deadpool. and his physicality is so interesting

Starting point is 00:29:37 is he's got to be able to like mime in the Deadpool suit effectively. So you've got to be able to move quickly but also be of a certain build and also have that like a Dorito back because you look good in a suit. So I'm always fascinated by actors that are doing stuff like the Nines

Starting point is 00:29:48 and at that point I think Ryan had just on Blade Trinidadier was about to and this was pre-Briadsmaids Melissa McCarthy. So this is everyone on this like crazy come up and that movie is such a esoteric, heady, weird. It's very weird. It's very, yeah.

Starting point is 00:30:02 And that set must have been something special with how odd the script is, plus John August, plus Ryan and Melissa. I mean, yeah. I mean, it wasn't necessarily that odd because John wrote that and had friends in mind. Oh, okay. And so he'd worked with Octavia. He worked with Melissa.

Starting point is 00:30:19 I think on whatever TV show, they did The Gilmore Girls, maybe. Oh, okay. Is that right? So it was everyone kind of doing a favor for a friend. You know, they made that for no money. Yeah. And so, yeah, I dug that movie. I have to watch it again.

Starting point is 00:30:34 It's been a long time. I mean, I think we saw, I saw at Sundance, I think last when it premiered. Yeah, it's a cool little film. I'm a physical media completionist, and I, like, Ryan, I think Ryan doesn't get his credit for his drama body of work. Like, he's an incredible, he's one of the great comedy voices, but like some of his dramas, including that one, really special. Yeah. Last question for you, because I'm also a huge Equalizer fan. The Equalizer trilogy, I consider one of the great trilogies of all time.

Starting point is 00:30:57 And it's the tone shift that I think is so interesting. The first equalizer to the third is such a trajectory of tones. when you get the script for one and it is more of your traditional not quite John Wick but in that revenge thriller and then it becomes this commentary on guilt and justice and what it is to be like

Starting point is 00:31:16 almost a Babadook bad guy and instead of glorifying that they're kind of going like do you still like this equalizer and he's being a Robin Hood but what are those conversations like with the director or the writer to show the morality being a shade of gray but over a long form because you don't get that one

Starting point is 00:31:32 movie to decide it you've got to have a journey So what was your experience reading script one to two? Well, I only, you know, I was only in three. Oh, I assumed you had a whole conversation about the other portions. No, no. I mean, yeah, I'd worked with Antoine on emancipation. And I had read for the villain in that. And he really liked what I did and was, wanted me in the movie.

Starting point is 00:32:04 movie somewhere. And there was talk, you know, for a while that I might play that part and then eventually a really terrific actor. And I can't remember his name. Played the part. But I came in and did like one scene as this general and we had a great time. And he said, oh, God, we got to do something else together. We got to do something else together. And I said, oh, okay. I'd love to, man. And you know, and he goes, we got to figure something out. And then a couple months later, equalizer three said, hey, do you want to go to Italy? And I was like, what? Yeah, okay. So I was only privy to that script, and I read that one. And for me, that one was like a classic Western, like a, like a Clint Eastwood Western of the, you know, but set in modern times.

Starting point is 00:32:51 So, you know, the guy coming in and saving the town and being the outsider and then questioning it. And I loved that script. It did change a little bit like the ending changed. I think for the better. And, yeah. I mean, I love those movies. I think they're going to, they're talking about making another one. Oh, that'd be incredible.

Starting point is 00:33:14 That was, that was the, because that last one, I think, was the highest grossing Denzel movie of all time. I knew it did well. I didn't realize it was that one. That's incredible. Yeah. And so when, you know, something is that successful, part of that was like, this is the last one. Yeah. But when, you know, in anything in this business,

Starting point is 00:33:33 If it's super successful, then they want to figure out how to make more money off of it. And so I think they hired the writer to write another one. And yeah, the producer, I did a reading of another movie for the producer. And he said, yeah, I think we're going to do four. And I was like, oh, I don't know if I'll be in it, but. You can. No, opportunities right there. I'm there. If John Wick can fall down those stairs and we can get back up and make another one,

Starting point is 00:33:54 Equalizer Four can totally happen. Yeah. Well, I love your work in Peacemaker, man. And I've loved seeing all of the evolutions of you with your work. and these like, you know, the indies like the nines to equalizer being the biggest Denzel movie. It's really cool to see you get to have your time as Keith and really get to flex those acting chops

Starting point is 00:34:09 and flexing in general. So congratulations, man. I appreciate it, man. Thanks for having me.

The Reel Rejects - Meeting David Denman (Peacemaker's Brother): The Truth Behind Keith's Twist?

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