Bullet Train Director David Leitch and Producer Kelly McCormick Were 'Thoroughly Into Jackie Chan's Playbook' [Interview]

The movie started off a little darker, didn't it? How did the tone get crazier and more comedic along the way?

Leitch: Well, the insanity line was pretty high, that's for sure. I think it was contagious. We were doing this at the height of the pandemic. We were having so much fun on set and we could feel the energy rising with all these crazy moments unfolding before our eyes. And so we started leaning more and more into them, and it was really knowing that we could mod it if we had to, but we were having so much fun and we knew that could translate.

McCormick: I have this theory that because of Covid and the train...there was the train as a backdrop, and then there were the LED walls, which were like floor on the ceiling all around the train. Getting in and out of the train was so difficult that basically the whole crew, who normally stand and watch and wait for their moment and everything, were really far away from the gondola where the filming was taking place. It was almost like, because they were behind closed doors, [the actors] got so gonzo. Nobody was watching, really. It was more ridiculous, bolder and wilder every day, kind of a crazy train - pun intended - but in a very good way.

Ladybug is a weird action hero. Did Brad Pitt always want to set this tone with his performance?

Leitch: It was early. We had conversations about what we wanted to do, tonally – Brad, Kelly and me. I don't know if the rest of the team had as detailed conversations as I did with Brad. He was like, "Let's swing for the fences, let's lean into comedy, let's lean into physical comedy, let's have a laugh." This is what the world needs right now. It is the tonic of our time. We want to make people laugh and he brought it from the beginning, even in terms of his outfit.

McCormick: I think he wanted to portray himself as an underdog and it was his idea to wear the hat and the glasses. Thank goodness, because we probably couldn't have gotten it through. Seriously, are you gonna do that to Brad Pitt? The studio even said, "What are you thinking?"

Leitch: The studio was like, "What?"

McCormick: But Brad wanted it. In our opinion, perfect. It wasn't at all what we originally thought of when we were like, 'Oh my God, we're going to do a Brad Pitt movie. As he made this smart choice, because he can disappear there and feel closer. This character, to me, is so exciting as the protagonist of a commercial movie because he's basically a complete pacifist in the middle of an action movie – and an unreliable narrator, let's be honest – but also someone. one that isn't really arc. He goes through his own shit to the point where, let's be honest, you can get all the therapy you want, but in the end, you're kind of the same. You never get to explore that because you always want those sweeping arcs of those characters going from A to B, and this guy comes back to fart jokes at the end. What luck. Nobody can do that.

David, leaning more into comedy, especially action, did you feel like that was the closest thing to the action approach of Jackie Chan?

Leitch: Yeah, leaning into the comedic aspect of what we were trying to do, make it as fun and irreverent as possible. When you look at Jackie and a lot of these characters that he's had where he's kind of the underdog and he's trying to survive and he uses props in this fun Buster Keaton-style way it was a no-brainer to lean on that and the tribute to Jackie's choreography. And so, we were fully exploiting Jackie's playbook, for sure.

McCormick: The simple idea that he's a pacifist in the middle of the action doing the most damage on the train is like a playground for you to play in all the fun ways . I mean, I think Brad is so obsessed with Jackie that he's like, "There aren't enough documentaries about this guy." He's become a huge fan, that's for sure. Maybe he already was.

Leitch: Yes, I think he was, but he leaned into it and we became more and more interested in him throughout this process.