‘The Killer’ Interview: Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy

Premiering on Peacock August 23rd is ‘The Killer’, which is a remake of the classic 1989 action movie of the same name helmed by the original’s director, legendary filmmaker John Woo (‘Face/Off’ and ‘Silent Night’).

The remake stars Nathalie Emmanuel (‘Fast X’), Omar Sy (‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’), Diana Silvers (‘Book Smart‘), Saïd Taghmaoui (‘Wonder Woman‘) and Sam Worthington (‘Avatar’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with actors Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy about their work on ‘The Killer’, appearing in a remake directed by the original’s director, working with John Woo, the amazing action sequences, Zee’s motivations, and their characters’ complicated relationship with each other.

Related Article: Joel Kinnaman Talks ‘Silent Night’ and Working with Director John Woo

(L to R) Nathalie Emmanuel, Omar Sy and director John Woo on the set of ‘The Killer’. Photo: Peacock.

Moviefone: To begin with, Nathalie, what is it like starring in a remake of a classic John Woo movie, that is directed by John Woo himself?

Nathalie Emmanuel: It’s great, it was what dreams are made of. That’s how I feel. I think when you have a remake of something that’s so iconic as ‘The Killer’, to have it be remade or reimagined, if you will, with the man himself, it’s the most exciting prospect for a re-imagining or a remake of something. I just felt incredibly excited. I just trusted John and his vision and what he wanted, and it gave me a lot of confidence to just step into it and it was just wonderful.

Director John Woo on the set of ‘The Killer’. Photo: Peacock.

MF: Omar, what was your first reaction to the screenplay and the opportunity to work with John Woo?

Omar Sy: The reaction is difficult to describe. It was like beyond a dream of something that you cannot dare to imagine, and it was happening. Just being in a John Woo movie but being in the classic ‘The Killer’ that I used to watch as a teenager so many times was amazing. The third thing was that it happens in Paris, my hometown. So that was just beyond everything. I had all my friend coming to set and saying, “You’re in a John Woo movie,” and then you can just witness that. It was amazing to do that, and then Paris was an amazing set, and the way John loves Paris was something interesting too. We had a lot of fun, but the reaction to today is just unbelievable what happened.

Nathalie Emmanuel in ‘The Killer’, directed by John Woo. Photo: Peacock.

MF: The action sequences are beautifully shot, and the choreography looks almost like a dance. Nathalie, can you talk about learning the stunt choreography and being directed by John Woo in the action sequences?

NE: I think you characterize it perfectly. It’s like doing a dance, not just within the choreography, but with the camera itself and the way that John shoots it. It’s almost like you’re waltzing with the camera at times, and it can be very specific and technical, but there’s also space for some spontaneity and playfulness as well. I feel like the process of learning choreography was so fulfilling and so wonderful, and the stunt team just really poured into me and really wanted to know how I felt about the way that Zee fights or how she kills or how she does her job. There were things that I brought to them, and they were really embracing of it, and John is also very involved in that too. Just having that pool of unbelievable talent and then the nurture involved, it was just wonderful. I honestly just felt proud of it and very proud of the things that I achieved, and it would just never have happened without that huge team of people.

Omar Sy as Sey in ‘The Killer’, directed by John Woo. Photo: Peacock.

MF: Omar, can you talk about the training and preparation you did for the action sequences?

OS: Same, that we had to be physically prepared to handle the whole shoot and the fight choreography, also the gun handling and all of that. So, we had few weeks before shooting and while we were shooting, we also had to do more training and to go into the precise choreography and all of that was very interesting. It was a lot of work, but very interesting because the process was different. This time, we had a lot of space to add something for our characters, that each move was a line, it’s a response to something with our characters. It was the first time for me to approach choreography and fight scenes like that. So, it was very interesting for me. It changed my way of seeing all those action moves.

(L to R) Nathalie Emmanuel and Diana Silvers in ‘The Killer’, directed by John Woo. Photo: Peacock.

MF: Natalie, can you talk about your character’s motivations, her unlikely alliance with Sey and why she decides to protect Jenn?

NE: Well, I think she’s got a very clear way of doing things, and she’s lived this life of solitude. She does her thing, she lives her life in a very particular, almost regimented way, but she’s somebody who is faced with this situation and her code and how she has a clear code of conduct. She will do the best thing to get the job done, and it becomes very clear that Sey is someone who she can collaborate with because he gets it. It’s that like recognizes like. At first, she’s like, “You are the enemy.” It becomes very clear that she’s like, “Oh, okay, I see something in you that I understand,” and I think the reason why she goes against Finn, played by Sam Worthington, and saves Jennifer or Jenn is because she believes in justice. She believes in the right thing. She’s like, “No civilians, innocent lives are not what I’m here to do,” but it throws up a lot of conflict for her. Therefore, it throws up a lot of questions about her whole life and the way she lives it, and that’s what happens for Zee throughout the movie.

(L to R) Omar Sy and Nathalie Emmanuel in ‘The Killer’, directed by John Woo. Photo: Peacock.

MF: Finally, Omar, can you talk about why Sey is fascinated by Zee and the cat and mouse game that they play throughout the movie?

OS: It was very interesting for me to play that because he’s a very instinctive guy and there is something that he recognizes that he feels about this assassin, Zee. She’s supposed to be the enemy, but because he recognized something, that same code and the same sense of fairness and justice, that’s how they will be on the same side very soon. He can recognize and feel that, and I like that it’s very sudden, it’s immediate, but it’s like a feeling, and the way to process takes the whole movie for him to understand why. But the feeling is magic, and then the fact that he can process and intellectualize that, it takes the whole movie almost. I like those that sometimes the heart goes before your brain, and I like that in the movie because it shows how romantic John is. It’s like the heart is always stronger than the brain, and I like that aspect of the movie.

“Some alliances form. Others will crumble.”

From the Oscar® winning producer of Oppenheimer, the kinetic action thriller stars Emmy nominee Nathalie Emmanuel (The Fast Saga, Game of Thrones) as Zee, a mysterious… Read the Plot

What is the plot of ‘The Killers’?

From the Oscar winning producer of ‘Oppenheimer‘, the kinetic action thriller stars Emmy-nominee Nathalie Emmanuel as Zee, a mysterious and infamous assassin known, and feared, in the Parisian underworld as the “Queen of the Dead”.

Who is in the cast of ‘The Killers’?

• Nathalie Emmanuel as Zee
• Omar Sy as Say
• Sam Worthington as Finn
• Diana Silvers as Jenn
• Saïd Taghmaoui as Prince Majeb Bin Faheem
• Aurélia Agel as Juliet
• Grégory Montel as Jax

(L to R) Omar Sy and Nathalie Emmanuel in ‘The Killer’, directed by John Woo. Photo: Peacock.

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