Following its world premiere at the 82nd Venice International Film Festival, Potsy Ponciroli’s sharp new actioner, Motor City, has finally landed in theaters. Ahead of the film’s release, we sat down with star Ben Foster to break down his role as the movie’s main antagonist and explore its unique storytelling.
As previously reported, Motor City features only about five lines of dialogue, relying instead on its dynamic soundtrack and visceral action sequences to drive the plot. It makes for a thrilling cinematic experience, and Foster spoke with us about the distinct challenge of playing a villain with almost no lines of dialogue. He also opens up about his epic showdown with leading man Alan Ritchson and the intense scenes he shared with Shailene Woodley.
The cast features Alan Ritchson, Shailene Woodley, Pablo Schreiber, Ben Foster, Ben McKenzie, Lionel Boyce, Amar Chadha-Patel, and Rafael Cebrián.
Potsy Ponciroli helmed the feature, with a screenplay from Chad St. John.
Motor City is now playing in theaters!
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ROHAN: The film’s tagline reads, “Love Will Drive You Mad.” How would you say that madness defines your character?
BEN: Well, it's a love triangle, and it's a hard-boiled, sexy, funny - I hope it's funny in moments - movie. In terms of madness, man, love will drive you crazy. People will do all sorts of things to defend that.
ROHAN: 3:10 to Yuma is one of my favorite films of all-time, and you get to play another villain in this film. Is there something about villainous or darker characters that you find more freeing, as a performer?
BEN: Well, at least in North America, cinema is pretty traditional in its setup of the hero, which doesn't have a lot of traditional color, and I wouldn't say the role that Alan plays is the most squeaky clean, I just take pleasure in the human animal.
ROHAN: The film has a unique premise, where there is almost no dialogue, save for a few lines. So, when you do have the opportunity to deliver a line, was there any added weight to the moment or was it something else?
BEN: I think something else. I mean, you know, in your day, Rohan, where it's the space you share with a loved one, or someone that you work with, you might not get along with, it doesn't need to be said, that's a human experience we all have, so getting to play in those territories was a joy. You're not actually labored by saying or not saying the thing, you're with each other, and I'd say it turned up the volume with Shay and Alan and Pablo, wonderful cast, to listen to each other's animals in a cage. So, when a line was spoken, I hope that it's put out of our mind. It's just you finally say the thing you need to say.
ROHAN: You have a lot of very intense scenes with Shailene’s character in the film. What are your conversations like before you shoot some of those more challenging moments? Or how do you develop that chemistry, especially when there is a genuine love there, especially from your character’s side?
BEN: I'm glad to hear you say it. It was important when I came on to talk with Potsy, to say, you know, you can call him a villain or not, but the strength in the read was that these are people that love someone and they'll do anything to get that love back, so in terms of choreography, where it might be more physically demanding, you have to go through some of those beats, but quite often Potsy just reminded us where we were in the film, and I mean that by narrative of emotional care and the physical actions to find it's what you do, it's not what you say in life.
ROHAN: There’s a great car chase in the finale. How was that experience, filming that sequence, especially at night with all the different setups?
BEN: It's wild, you know, I'm not a tall man, and you're fighting Alan, and he's a big guy and cars are moving and guns are firing. It's finding the reality and also the pleasure, but you're not going to tap out, you're not going to quit, and how do you contend with that, and whatever it takes to survive, and that's exciting, and it's those are values I like to watch as a lover of film. How far would you go? So, we just pushed it to the limit.
ROHAN: You mentioned survival, and your character may genuinely be one of the ultimate survivors. When you have a character with that kind of philosophy, survive at all costs, no matter the cost, how does that shape your approach to Reynolds?
BEN: It's such a profound question, and I don't know if I'll be able to give a good answer, other than I do think it's important to say what and how far would you go for the things you care about, and where you come from and where you're going and we can all relate to those questions late at night, we've all had them, everyone has them. How far would you go for your love and your values? So, I don't know, it wasn't conscious if the survivor informed this film, but it's a question that I think we all have as humans.
In 1970s Detroit a working-class romantic is framed by a ruthless gangster after falling for his girlfriend. After years in prison, he returns with only one mission: revenge. With operatic scale, MOTOR CITY unleashes a barrage of brutal action, magnetic performances, and striking imagery, fueled by a thunderous rock score, precision-crafted action, and immersive sound design to create a visceral, propulsive spectacle built to electrify audiences this summer.