The Knockturnal had the chance to interview Director David Ayer and pick his brain a bit about Suicide Squad
One of the most anticipated films of the year,Β Suicide Squad is a different take on the comic book genre, focusing on a group of super villains who are forced to work together. Including beloved characters such as The Joker, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, and so many more, fans have been clamoring for the movie ever since it was first announced several years ago. Director David Ayer, known for his work onΒ End of Watch andΒ Fury, has taken on the daunting chance to bring this film to life. Getting the chance to sit down with Ayer, The Knockturnal had the chance to talk to him about his casting choices, the scrutiny behind making comic book films, how to empathize with these villains, and much more.
Q: Tell me about how you picked your members, your squad, your team, what was the initial call like?
DA: I got the opportunity from Warner Brothers and I started researching it and itβs like, I looked at the New 52 which has one of the later versions of the squad and a lot of the lineup was there and it made a lot of sense. Okay, I got a Harley and I was trying to figure out Amanda Waller, and really the only person who could play Amanda was Viola Davis. She absolutely killed it. You need somebody who is just as bad and capable as any super villain because sheβs running a whole bunch of them, you know? So she has to be tougher than all of them put together.
Q: You are the Amanda Waller of this project. How did you come together to pick everyone involved and, casting wise you could have gone so many ways and how was everyone the right fit?
DA: Like Margot, I talked to before I even had a script. I saw her in Wolf of Wall Street and she was on an Australian TV show, Neighbors, for a while. I realized that sheβs a chameleon, she totally transforms herself and thatβs what I needed for Harley Quinn. You take Will for instance and heβs a veteran, heβs been around and done some amazing movies, weβve all kind of grown up on his movies. So I needed somebody that the cast would look up to since Iβve got this young cast and who they could respect on set and on screen and he really became that guy. He became the heart of the squad and pulled everybody together. Then Joel Kinnaman, heβs the perfect Colonial Flag cause heβs playing this military guy who couldnβt be more different than these insane villains that heβs trying to manage and he had the toughest job of all I think, in a lot of ways. So everybody brought something different, but together they had this amazing chemistry.
Q: Definitely. You mention the word βvillains,β yet the film reiterates these are bad guys and you keep telling us these are the bad guys. How do you make these villains, these murderers, likeable people?
DA: Theyβre bad guys, but theyβre not bad people. Theyβve made some really bad decisions with their lives so you gotta ask, βDoes that mean they donβt deserve love? Does that mean they donβt deserve to have family? Does that mean they canβt do good because theyβve done some bad? Just because youβve done dirt, does that mean you donβt deserve a future? And who gets to decide?β So a lot of this for me was exploring just that. I think that good things…some of the worst people are capable of the greatest good and vice versa. Who are we to decide? In this movie they do come together and they do form a family and they do positive things.
Q: You mentioned you have some big stars like Margot and Will, Joel and Viola, was there any pressure to feature certain people versus other actors who are lesser known?
DA: No I mean, itβs an ensemble movie so itβs hard but Will really carries the heart of the story on his shoulders, heβs the guy who has the big emotional arc of the story and personifies the journey that everybody takes. Itβs really Willβs movie in a lot of ways but there was…thereβs seven principal characters, a lot of people to balance. Some of that just comes from experiences as a director and how to manage the time. But when theyβre on camera together, they really do feel like a unit, they really do feel like this family and this group.
Q: You mention family, how did you help make everyone a unit and a family on set? There are all these crazy stories about the daunting process and David leading the ship. Talk about how you brought these people together.
DA: I mean, I guess it would sound crazy but itβs not…I was in the military and I went through bootcamp and itβs that sort of a process that brings you together and makes you part of that world. Iβm just bringing a little bit of that into the acting and into the actors lives. And so it was important for me to get inside their lives and get inside their hearts and have them open up to me. That worked well because in that prep phase when they did become a family, they became friends. And theyβre still friends to this day and I think theyβll be life long friends.
Q: Youβve had a great career up to this point, how have your other films prepared you for this role?
DA: Itβs been baby steps and itβs funny because, expect going into this, itβs been like jumping off a cliff. I donβt think anything can prepare you for a movie this big and also the attention and the scrutiny, even just when we were beginning to prepare the movie before we even started shooting there was a lot of attention on it. But more than anything, itβs just basic filmmaking. Itβs writing, directing, itβs acting, and I just focused on the things I knew how to do well which is working on actors and performance. It was definitely a labor of love and Iβm really proud of where the movie got to.
Q: You mention scrutiny, with comic book movies there could be a lot of pressure from the fanboys because itβs such a big comic world. Youβve been to Comic Con, you know how crazy this community can be. Did you feel a little bit of that pressure to give the fans what they wanted or was it more important for you to tell the story?
DA: I think you can do both. Did I do that? Honestly, I donβt know. Iβll be told soon by the world. Theyβre gonna come at me and tell me what I did and tell me what they think, thatβs gonna happen. But thatβs what I made the movie for, Iβm a fan and it drives me crazy when people get simple things wrong in movies that they could get right. Also, I wanted the movie to really feel like a comic book and look like a comic book, I wanted those characters that you see on the page to come to life. That was a lot of fun and I hope the fans are happy. Even you can go right to the canon, but still even the canon conflicts. I can point to stuff thatβs in the movie but maybe someone else hasnβt read that issue, they read a different issue.
Q: Right, thatβs not a part of the New 52, itβs a part of the old canon.
DA: Exactly. So it is a combination, Iβve got stuff going way back in time. I pulled stuff from way back in the day. Thereβs probably dozens of comic books that Iβve pulled story pieces and character stuff and elements from and put together into this. Itβs a lot of work.
Q: If you can pick another comic series to bring to the big screen, what would it be?
DA: Wow, thatβs a hard one. I donβt know, right now itβs all about Suicide Squad. I love these characters.
Q: Iβll bring you back to the Squad then. If you could pick a Squad member to do a solo film with, who would you pick?
DA: Oh man, thatβs like asking me which is my favorite kid. That oneβs gonna get you in trouble. I love them all, thatβs the beauty in this. I feel like a lot of…anything can be anything and we’ll see if the love manifests. Letβs see if people fall in love with these characters like I have and if it does, the skies the limit.
Q: If the love manifests, do you have ideas for part two already?
DA: I donβt know man, when youβre in the shower you think of stuff.
Suicide Squad is written and directed by David Ayer and stars Will Smith, Jared Leto, Margot Robbie, Joel Kinnaman, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Jay Hernandez, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Ike Barinholtz, Scott Eastwood, and Cara Delevingne. Suicide Squad will be in theaters August 5th, 2016.
