'Those About to Die' director Roland Emmerich and stars Moe Hashim, Jojo Macari, Sara Martins, Iwan Rheon, Dimitri Leonidas and Gabriella Pession chat with THR at San Diego Comic-Con. The cast dish on new experiences while filming this show, what it was like working with director Roland Emmerich and more.
00:01Just general, you know, incredibly smelling man.
00:06Smells good all the time.
00:10Hey, how's it going?
00:11We are the cast plus director and executive producer of Those About to Die
00:17here at Comic-Con 2024 with The Hollywood Reporter.
00:21You did a lot of crazy stuff on this.
00:23What's something that you haven't done in your career before
00:26that you got to do while making this show?
00:28Well, I kind of learned that you can do a lot, a lot of things in front of a volume stage.
00:38Now, a volume stage is this huge lead stage.
00:42And I shot at the end 108 days in front of this stage.
00:47And they got, like, really in trouble because you need, like, kind of the backgrounds, more or less.
00:55So we were always fighting, you know, I constantly had to go and watch what they were, like, kind of producing.
01:04So, you know.
01:05And it was the good news was we created 1,800 shots, which were all, like, kind of a complete background and stuff and wide shots, closer shots.
01:21So that was, like, really nice.
01:24Yeah.
01:24What about you, Al?
01:26I mean, for me, I got to play a gladiator, you know, something that I've been wanting to do since I was a kid, running around with fake knives.
01:35And, yeah, fight a guy that's 6'10".
01:37I don't think I'll ever do that again.
01:39So that was pretty cool for me to kind of experience, you know.
01:44What about you?
01:45Me?
01:45I mean, you know, first time in a toga publicly.
01:49Publicly?
01:53There's everything on this job was a first, to be honest with you.
01:56First time in Rome, pretty amazing city.
01:59First time working on a job, really, that is this scale and length and also, you know, first time, hopefully not the last time, working with Sir Anthony Hopkins.
02:14Well, same here.
02:15First time in such a big program show.
02:19And, no, first time I'm a mother of such big kids and enjoyed it.
02:27Like, yeah, beautiful.
02:29I did a great job.
02:30I'm proud of raising you.
02:33Chariot racing is, I guess, the main one.
02:36Yeah, learning to be around and work with horses was something I'd never done.
02:43And, obviously, at its extreme, riding a four-horse chariot, which is an insane thing to do.
02:50Like, the stunt guys that actually do it are mad.
02:54It's insane.
02:55I only did little bits for the show.
02:57The safe stuff.
02:59But that was certainly a new experience for me.
03:08So, I think the volume stage for me, it's, yeah, something I've never done.
03:14And I think it's sort of so much better than green screen.
03:18Because you get that feeling that you're sort of there, even though you know you're not.
03:21But, yeah, it's cool to work with something like that, especially when you're doing something ancient.
03:28So, it means you get a sense of the sort of scope of the whole thing.
03:31So, yeah, I'd say that.
03:32Oh, mama mia.
03:34Hi.
03:35So, for me, no, I've been doing a lot of period kind of shows in my career.
03:41My big desire was to do, like, a Roman and Middle Age.
03:46So, Roman, for me, was, like, amazing to be able to wear those costumes and live like a patrician,
03:52having this amazing house with the triklivio, which is this chair where I eat my grapes
03:56and just immerse myself in one of the most epic, you know, moment in history of all time.
04:02So, that was really a dream that came true.
04:05You know, Roland Emmerich, his reputation precedes himself.
04:09You know, he's the disaster guy.
04:10We've been watching him for years.
04:12Did he stack up to how you imagined him when you first met him?
04:15What were your, you know, first memories of him when you finally got to meet him?
04:20Roland is, like, he's quite a unique character in a way.
04:24And there's sort of two sides to him.
04:26And one is quite demanding on set.
04:28He knows exactly what he wants.
04:31And, you know, he will change the sort of natural elements of the wind and sun if he could.
04:37It's like, why can't we get the sun to do this?
04:39And it's like, well, no amount of production budget can change that, I'm afraid, Roland.
04:44But he's also really sweet and almost childlike on set.
04:47When he's shooting stuff that he's happy about, it's like he's sort of giggling and excited.
04:54And then if things aren't going right, he doesn't stop until he gets what he wants.
05:00So I think there's these sort of two sides to him that I saw.
05:02And a very lovely man outside of work.
05:05I think we all got to sort of hang out.
05:06Yeah, I also think that, like, he's known for this super epic world.
05:11But he's so into details.
05:12I remember one day we were shooting this massive scene with Dimitri.
05:18And he saw, he did a stop, stop, stop, stop, stop.
05:21And then he wanted to adjust a curtain.
05:24He didn't like the way the curtain was.
05:25So I noticed by observing him in his job, it's true that he's epic and like a visionary.
05:31But he's also into details very much that makes a difference.
05:34And I think that's, you know, that's very unique to observe and to get it out of.
05:38Nobody would probably expect that.
05:40Yeah, I mean, he thinks fast and he talks fast.
05:44So you've got to, my technique was just, as soon as I get on set, go straight to Roland and just sort of, like, right.
05:50So then I'd understand what he wanted for the scene and then I could go and prepare while everyone else is doing their thing.
05:56So, yeah, but he trusts us.
05:59I think he kind of leaves you alone because he's cast you and he wants you to do what you're going to do.
06:07And then he'll come in and give you an absolute diamond note, which you hadn't thought of.
06:11And it completely transforms the scene.
06:13And, yeah, it's great.
06:14I think you, I think the big, it was, obviously, it's a ridiculous, like, it's bigger than, like, a bucket list thing to work with Anthony Hopkins.
06:24It's a dream.
06:25It's a dream situation for an actor.
06:27I mean, he's one of the greatest of all times.
06:30I think the big, the big thing I learned about working with Tony is, like, you know, he's such, such a gentleman.
06:37He holds himself incredibly well on set.
06:39He's a really nice guy.
06:40And mainly, he's having a laugh all day long.
06:43All day long, he's there cracking jokes to me, which is not, you know, always the easiest thing.
06:49We're doing some pretty heavy scenes together.
06:51And he was cracking me up all day long, having so much fun, which is just so inspiring to be around.
06:56And now, Roland, you obviously, you know, made, helped make Will Smith one of the biggest stars in the world.
07:02You're good at casting.
07:04So what do you see, what did you see in these folks, you know, when you were getting them on board?
07:10Well, you know, I have the feeling, you know, I'm really proud of them because they really, really kind of work very well in their characters.
07:21But we also became friends.
07:24That's the interesting thing because whatever we did, right, we became friends.
07:30And that's also, like, kind of really nice because you're so long together on a TV show that, you know, we were, like, shot, like, 230 days.
07:39And it's pretty much like it started in March and we ended in November on my birthday, right?
07:48So it's like that.
07:50Did you guys get him a present, a cake or anything?
07:53It was your birthday?
07:54Yes.
07:55Well, I got a cake and it had, like, kind of my hats on it.
08:02And, yeah, it was, like, kind of actually really nice.
08:08It makes you so much nicer.
08:10Like, it makes the experience so much better when, like, when you're doing, like you say, when you're doing a long one, you need to be able to go home at the end of the day and be, like, what a lovely group of people.
08:18Also, you have to have, like, kind of, you know, lunch breaks, you know, like, and then most of the time, you know, on the weekend dinners, you know, because I'm always inviting all, everybody who is in town.
08:31I invite and that's always kind of great because you have, like, kind of private time together.
08:38We basically did a tour of, like, all the restaurants in Rome.
08:42You know, we was trying different ones and then once.
08:45All the better ones.
08:47All the better ones, yeah, yeah.
08:48And then we had the favorites and we stuck with the favorites for a lot of times.
08:51But, yeah, we were.
08:53It's not often on time where you're on a job where you have everything.
08:57Someone told me that when I started this job that you won't have anything, you will not have everything in this job, like being on a project that you respect, that you would love to see with an amazing character, with some people you love.
09:13And eventually, you know, it will be a great success.
09:17But, no, but seriously, and we all loved our characters and each character was, and we happened to love each other a lot.
09:25So, that was that moment for me, I guess, for us, to have it all.
09:31Well, if you want to mind, Tiffany has a bucket.
09:34You can reach in and grab a question, each of you.
09:37Okay, so here, what's the best costume you've seen at this Comic-Con so far?
09:54We were, like, not even in the main hall, you know?
09:59I mean, we're, like, kind of run from one thing to the other.
10:03And it's all in hotels, and everybody's very serious, you know?
10:08And so I have not seen anything.
10:10I have seen a lot of security guards.
10:13That's, I have to say.
10:16Which character from any film or TV show would you choose to cosplay as?
10:21Is that me?
10:25Do you know, I was saying, because we got asked this the other day, and I thought, do you remember the town mayor in Nightmare Before Christmas?
10:33He's sort of mad.
10:34No one ever cosplays as him.
10:36Probably because you can't get an outfit.
10:38He said, do you remember the guy's head switches around?
10:39He's got, like, a cone head and a little hat and a suit.
10:42What's wrong with you people?
10:44It's just Comic-Con, and you don't know the mayor from...
10:46No, I remember.
10:47Yeah, it's that when I said that I would love to be invisible, and you came up with this.
10:50Yeah, we could be an amazing couple.
10:52Like, I'm invisible.
10:53I'm just talking to myself around Comic-Con.
10:55Exactly, you can see me.
10:57Like Scorpus, who talks to himself.
10:58Perfect.
10:59Yeah, yeah.
10:59So I'm the town mayor.
11:01I know no one seems to know who that is.
11:02This is a massive disappointment.
11:04I know no one seems to know who that is.
11:05I don't know.
11:06I don't know.
11:07I don't know.
11:08I don't know.
11:09I don't know.
11:10I don't know.
11:11I don't know.
11:12I don't know.
11:13I don't know.
11:14Sorry.
11:15I would play boredom inside out, not the French boredom that is so bored with the phone
11:21doesn't give a fuck.
11:22I love that.
11:23I would play her.
11:24I love that.
11:25I would play her.
11:26Who is the most iconic voice in an animated series that comes to your mind?
11:46The thing is, in France, they are iconic too, the one who does the comics.
11:53But I would say, because I love him, Steve Carell in Groove.
11:58That's mine.
12:00That was my question.
12:02I have that one.
12:06What's the best costume you've seen at Comic-Con so far?
12:10Well, I saw this one.
12:12I don't know if you've heard of it.
12:13It's the mayor from The Nightmare Before Christmas.
12:15I don't know where they got this costume from, but I think it's a fantastic idea, and congratulations
12:20to them if I don't get to bump into them.
12:23Give me the bucket.
12:25Give him the bucket.
12:26I was going to say, I very rarely get starstriped, but I just walked past H. John Benjamin, and
12:31I was like, right on.
12:34Okay.
12:35What would your superhero name be?
12:38Oh, damn.
12:41It was probably just...
12:43Flying Cho-Cho?
12:45The J-Man?
12:46It's probably just the J-Man.
12:48What's my name, anyway?
12:52J-Man, Joe Bones.
12:53What's my power?
12:54Just general, you know, incredibly smelling man.
12:59Smells good all the time.
13:01If you could have one...
13:02Oh.
13:03Sorry, love.
13:04No, no, I thought we were about to answer, but you go.
13:05You go.
13:06No, no.
13:07Switch it up.
13:08New question.
13:09Go.
13:10So, if you could have one superpower, what would it be?
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