00:00 We worked in a way that I didn't get a chance to see any of you.
00:04 Yeah. Really.
00:04 Well, you wouldn't let me make eye contact with you and neither would Henry.
00:08 So that was right. Well, that's the contract.
00:10 Yeah. I'm trying not to right now. Yeah.
00:13 Hi, I'm Bryce Dallas Howard, and welcome to Entertainment Weekly's
00:23 Around the Table with Argyle.
00:26 You and I, we're not so different, Agent Argyle.
00:30 Little help. Hold on.
00:35 The book is phenomenal, sweetie, but
00:46 what happens next?
00:48 It's called a cliffhanger, mother.
00:50 Ellie, it's called a cop out.
00:53 I watched Romancing the Stone with my daughters during lockdown,
00:57 and they said, why don't you make a movie like this that we can watch and we can
01:00 enjoy? And there was the serendipity of me getting this book there,
01:05 book one, and a very good script from Jason Fuchs.
01:09 And we came together and thought we would take book four, believe it or not.
01:14 George Lucas, my hero, it worked for him, starting with episode four.
01:17 So we started with book four, and it gave birth to all these
01:22 lovely, amazing characters/actors or actors/characters,
01:27 probably the better way of describing you guys.
01:28 The movie is really a story for me about old school,
01:33 cliche superhero style super spies, which this gentleman here embodies.
01:39 Thank you very much.
01:41 And I'm a big cliche of that, but I love super spies.
01:46 Honestly, with this, I just followed Matthew's input because he's clearly insane.
01:52 And there's no way I could have kept up with him or got ahead of him.
01:55 There's a quote from Roger Moore saying James Bond is possibly the world's
01:58 worst spy because who as a spy walks into a room and they say,
02:03 hello, Mr. Bond, would you like your nose?
02:04 Exactly what drink they have, what cologne they wear.
02:08 You know, spies are meant to walk in, not be noticed.
02:10 And I say this with all respect to this genius actor, Mr. Rockwell,
02:14 who knows how to be a chameleon and to slide in and just fit
02:19 into the background with camouflage and be the best spy in the real world.
02:23 So real world spy, fantasy spy.
02:26 In the middle of them is the poor author who thought this was the way it was,
02:31 but then finds out this is the way it is.
02:34 And together, create a whole new illusion for her to navigate.
02:37 How disappointing.
02:39 What a rude awakening.
02:41 Whoa, hey, there's a cat in there.
02:47 Oh, my God, you're Ellie freaking Conway.
02:49 Author of the R-Gal series, Ellie Conway.
02:53 I am such a fan.
02:55 Oh, yeah. What is it you do?
02:57 Espionage.
02:58 Would you sign my book?
03:00 Here we go.
03:03 It's so exciting to be in a room here with everyone because it's like a reunion.
03:08 And that's one of the things that's best about doing press
03:11 is that you get to reunite with your friends you went on an adventure with.
03:15 Yeah. So, yeah.
03:16 But I want to answer for all you guys.
03:18 I was just excited.
03:18 I think it certainly just makes it easier when you're surrounded
03:21 by a group of capable professionals.
03:23 You feel comfortable.
03:24 You allow yourself to be vulnerable.
03:25 You can take risks. You can swing big.
03:27 And that's what's great about Matthew assembling such an all star cast.
03:31 It takes the edge off and takes the nerves off and lets you make a good project.
03:35 Yeah. I mean, I was really nervous.
03:37 I mean, I made West Side and like a couple of other things, but I hadn't
03:42 like the world hadn't seen anything.
03:43 And I was like, how do I get everyone to like me?
03:47 I just want to be good at my job.
03:48 So I was very nervous.
03:50 I saw these two. Yeah. Yeah.
03:52 Right. That's it.
03:53 But I knew everybody else was in it.
03:54 I saw Henry one day.
03:55 Yeah. I came by set to visit the set designer.
03:59 Not even, you know, the actors and talk.
04:02 But yeah, no one.
04:03 Everyone was in it, which was a great thing for me.
04:06 Cool. So I had a good time.
04:07 The same for me.
04:08 I you know, I have a restraining order for with most of you.
04:12 We're breaking that now, but I was only allowed to work with Sam and Bryce.
04:16 That was that was my quota.
04:18 And that cat. Oh, damn.
04:20 Thank God the cat's not here for once.
04:23 It was a pain in the ass.
04:24 That cat from start to finish always wouldn't come out of its trailer.
04:28 Getting in my light all the time.
04:30 Whose cat is it?
04:31 Chip is Matthew and Claude.
04:33 Yeah. I don't like cats.
04:34 I love cats.
04:35 But it lives in your house.
04:37 It lives in your house.
04:38 I don't like cats.
04:39 I know. I love cats.
04:40 I love them.
04:40 It's not a cat. I'm not a cat demographic.
04:42 It's restricted to one room in the house.
04:44 There you go. That's that's about a million people.
04:46 Oh, OK.
04:47 And I'm a dog person and I love my dogs.
04:49 I actually wasn't a cat person before the movie, but Chip won me over.
04:53 I think Chip thinks he's a dog.
04:54 So he's he's he's actually a cool cat.
04:57 He's yeah. Yeah.
04:57 Yeah. Very cool cat.
04:58 No pun intended.
05:00 Yeah. Here's the thing.
05:01 Here's the thing about Chip.
05:02 Just to just to like answer this question in a kind of like boring way,
05:06 because working with animals, working with children, it's really important
05:10 that the priority at all times is protecting those individuals and
05:14 and making sure that there's, you know, comfort and safety, et cetera, et cetera.
05:18 Oh, and actors have got to be clear.
05:20 I don't see any difference between that definition.
05:22 Yes. Yes. But but but, you know, we
05:25 we have more agency than, you know, than an animal or a child.
05:30 And so and yeah, sort of.
05:32 So we like to think we do. Yeah.
05:36 And so what was so wonderful about having Chip was that, you know,
05:40 he's like your your precious, beloved family cat.
05:43 And I I had so much respect for you in this process
05:47 because, you know, yes, like Chip is totally in the movie.
05:52 Lots and lots.
05:54 And then there are also moments where, you know, there's a CG
05:58 takeover of Chip because, of course, an animal would never be endangered on a set.
06:03 Yeah. And and then we also had a little like stuffed animal version of chip.
06:09 And so it was it was really sweet because there would be times when,
06:13 you know, everything was comfortable and good and quiet.
06:16 And Matthew would come on to set with Chip and he'd be like,
06:19 oh, it's a little chilly.
06:21 I'm going to let Chip stay in the trailer and we'll just use the stuff.
06:24 So it's just there was so much compassion, you know, for for working with Chip.
06:29 And it was like he was he was part of the ensemble.
06:31 That was fear of my daughters.
06:34 To be clear, I did something wrong with the cat.
06:36 I wouldn't be coming to work the next day. Yeah. Good.
06:39 That's how it should be. Yeah.
06:40 Who are these people? Real life spies.
06:43 Why would they care about me?
06:44 Because you're a goddamn fortune teller, Ellie.
06:47 When you wrote your new book actually happened
06:50 and you kicked a hornet's nest, you didn't even know existed.
06:52 I'm in some really big trouble, mom.
06:54 Oh, so now you're experimenting with drugs.
06:59 I want all assets on them now.
07:02 I need her to write the next chapter.
07:04 I think Ritter is a little misunderstood.
07:06 He likes control.
07:08 He likes to bring everybody under the same roof.
07:11 We have the same agenda.
07:13 And sometimes there are rogue people that get out of control
07:17 and they have to be brought under, you know, so make that case.
07:22 Brian, if I had a mustache in this movie, I'd be twisting it.
07:27 We worked in a way that I didn't get a chance to see any of you.
07:32 Really? Yeah. Yeah.
07:33 Well, you wouldn't let me make eye contact with you and neither would Henry.
07:37 So that was right. Well, that's tough for us.
07:40 But I'm trying not to right now.
07:42 But yeah, all of these characters are extraordinarily layered.
07:46 And and there are 11 twists in the movie, right?
07:50 You'll get nothing from me.
07:51 I think it's 11.
07:53 I think it's 11 twists in the movie.
07:55 And so it is definitely, you know, a bit of a puzzle and a Rubik's Cube
08:00 trying to kind of like figure out where where we are,
08:03 because you also we don't film these these movies in order. Right.
08:07 And so it's like, oh, wait, what what's happened that we haven't shot yet?
08:10 That's going to impact this moment here.
08:13 So it's definitely definitely a juggle, but totally fun.
08:17 Like really fun, because mostly movies are way more basic than this.
08:22 Yeah. Constantly confused.
08:24 Yeah. Like playing a really complicated board game.
08:28 Yeah, that's part of that sort of works for a spy movie, right? Yeah. Yeah.
08:32 It's dangerous to sort of plan for sequels.
08:34 We there's stories that we would like to tell, but this has to do well enough
08:39 so that we can make a sequel.
08:40 Look, if everybody loves the film and it does well, we'll make another one.
08:43 Yeah. Go see the movie.
08:44 Yeah. See Argyle. Go see Argyle.
08:47 I mean, I genuinely saw the film and was like, yeah.
08:50 Yeah, I was screaming the whole time.
08:51 It's five movies in one.
08:53 And it flies in the best way.
08:55 And the score is amazing.
08:57 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
08:59 It's really good music.
09:01 You know, the movie is like you.
09:04 The movie is a triple threat.
09:06 It's like a triple threat.
09:07 Yeah. Yeah. Time for you to meet the real agent Argyle.
09:13 Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
09:16 Oh, my God.
09:18 This has been everything we need to know about the table with Argyle.
09:23 Check out our film.
09:25 It's here February 2nd.
09:27 And.
09:28 And.
09:29 And.
09:30 Well.
09:31 And.
09:32 And.
09:33 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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