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In the upcoming movie “Gringo, ” starring Charlize Theron, David Oyelowo and Joel Edgerton, a mild-mannered American businessman (Oyelowo) finds himself in over his head after traveling to Mexico. He soon crosses the line from citizen to criminal, while tangling with shady colleagues, international mercenaries, drug lords and the DEA.
The film opens Friday, March 9. The Amazon Studios action comedy has a mashup of genres that makes for an entertaining film.
Oyelowo and Theron sat down with Yahoo Entertainment to discuss the film noting how it is different in tone from any film they’ve done so far.
“What I like about it is that [the tone] is difficult to pin down,” said Oyelowo. “It’s a mashup of comedy, of drama, there’s a bit of social commentary in there. There’s a bit of action in there and I think there’s kind of a freshness that comes with me getting to play this kind of role – not only that but he’s a Nigerian immigrant as well. We’re not politically correct in the film. Nash Eggerton, our director, did a brilliant job of putting these elements altogether to make it feel like it’s own thing.”
The film has a talented cast, including Amanda Seyfried, Thandie Newton and Paris Jackson in one of her first film roles. The cast got to play characters they haven’t necessarily played in the past.
For Theron who is also a producer on the film, says her role of Elaine is one that she’s become familiar with.
“I’ve played a couple of bitches in the past,” she the Oscar-winning actress joked to Yahoo. “Picasso had a ‘blue period’ and I definitely had a ‘bitch’ period. She’s incredibly ignorant on top of her bitchiness so I think that’s what makes her somewhat outrageous. [The tone of the film], what ensues so much comedy out of this action-driven film, is the fact that a lot of the characters that we play are based on reality. It was important for us to really look at them that way instead of making them caricatures. So that was fun for me for sure. Some of the stuff that I had to say to people make me uncomfortable…I found myself apologizing profusely to the cast and crew after every scene I shot.”
One of the film’s newcomers is Paris Jackson, the daughter of the late Michael Jackson. On working with her Theron says, “She came in and auditioned. She was super prepared and really wanted to do it. She had a real passion for it. We had originally written it for a young male and she just blew us out of the water and we were like ‘no, she’s the person for it.’”
Check out a sneak peek of “Gringo” below:
“Gringo” — Directed By Nash Edgerton
Screenplay By Anthony Tambakis and Matthew Stone
Produced By Rebecca Yeldham, Nash Edgerton, Beth Kono, A.J. Dix, Charlize Theron and Anthony Tambakis
Starring Joel Edgerton, David Oyelowo, Amanda Seyfried, Charlize Theron, Yul Vazquez, Thandie Newton, Sharlto Copley and Harry Treadaway.
An exhilarating mix of dark comedy, white-knuckle action and dramatic intrigue, Gringo joyrides into Mexico, where mild-mannered businessman Harold Soyinka (David Oyelowo) finds himself at the mercy of his back-stabbing business colleagues back home, local drug lords and a morally conflicted black-ops mercenary. Crossing the line from law-abiding citizen to wanted criminal, Harold battles to survive his increasingly dangerous situation in ways that raise the question: Is he out of his depth – or two steps ahead?
Rated R | 110 minute
