'The Gray Man' directors say shooting action scenes with Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling 'almost killed' them
- The Russo Brothers told Empire that the action sequences in "The Gray Man" were "relentless."
- The duo have already directed popular action movies, such as "Captain America: The Winter Soldier."
"The Gray Man" directors, the Russo brothers, said that the new Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling movie "almost killed" them due to shooting multiple action scenes.
The upcoming Netflix movie is an action spy thriller adapted from a novel of the same name by Mark Greaney and stars Evans, Gosling, Ana de Armas, and Regé-Jean Page.
While Joe and Anthony Russo are no strangers to action movies, including "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and two "Avengers" movies, Joe Russo told Empire that this time the action sequences were "relentless."
"We wanted to use 'The Winter Soldier' as a springboard into something else action-oriented," he said. "This movie almost killed us. There are, like, nine action sequences, and it's so relentless in that regard. It was relentless to make."
The Russos became famous after directing movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including "Avengers: Endgame." However, they told Empire that they are looking to create their own cinematic universe with this movie.
"We never want to jinx it," Joe Russo said. "But we're already thinking through where it goes from here. We like to build out worlds, and we would rather gamble on the upside and put the energy and time in to build out that universe prior to the release, so that the ideas are more germane and organic. That's how you build out a more complex mosaic narrative."
"Captain America" star Evans noted to Empire how he is moving away from his previous Marvel role by playing a villain in "The Gray Man."
"It does seem that I've aggressively gone 180 [degrees] from Steve Rogers," he said. "But it just kind of unfolded that way."
Evans added: "I love the Russos, and I'll pretty much do anything they ask me to do. And this is a character I've never been able to play. He's so liberated, and free, and honest."
"The Gray Man" premieres on Netflix on July 22.