"Infinite worlds. Endless choices. One way out."
The Shift is a modern-day retelling of Job which follows Kevin Garner (Kristoffer Polaha, Wonder Woman 1984) as he embarks on a journey across worlds and dimensions to reunite with Molly (Elizabeth Tabish, The Chosen), his true love. The narrative unfolds as a dystopian drama and sci-fi thriller, where a mysterious adversary, The Benefactor (Neal McDonough, Arrow), disrupts Kevin's reality.
Faced with infinite worlds and impossible choices, Kevin must navigate through an alternate reality, resisting The Benefactor's tempting offer of wealth and power. As survival hangs in the balance, Kevin fights to return to the familiar world he cherishes and the woman he loves.
To do so, he'll have to go through The Benefactor and McDonough brings that ultimate villain to life in what might just be a career-best performance from the Captain America: The First Avenger star.
In this exclusive interview, we hear from Neal on the work that went into bringing this character to life on screen. He also reveals what it's like to so often be cast as a villain and explains how his career ended up heading down that path. Filmmaker Brock Heasley, meanwhile, explains his approach to the Multiverse and the challenges that come with creating a post-apocalyptic world.
Oh, and we also hear from Neal on his time playing the MCU's Dum Dum Dugan! You can watch the full interview in the player below.
Neal, you’ve played some incredible villains over the years, like Damien Darhk, but what was it about this role which grabbed your attention when Brock first came to you with The Benefactor?
Neal: Well, at first, I said no. I didn’t want to play the devil. I’ve played some pretty heinous characters from Yellowstone to Justified to Daniel Darhk, who obviously had his issues. This, I thought would be too much. I went home and prayed over it with my wife Ruvé and she said, ‘Look, you might be the best villain in Hollywood. You have such an incredible relationship with God; you have to play this part because if they cast the wrong person in this, it might send the wrong message to the world.’ Because I got to work with Brock, and he created this and it’s his baby, he allowed me to infuse as much humanity into The Benefactor as possible.
By the end of the film, there’s a moment - and it may be on of my favourite moments I’ve ever had on film - of you having a little compassion for Lucifer because he sees that Kevin has given up everything…I offer him anything he could possibly want, but all he wants to do is do the right thing, give glory to God, and you see on Lucifer’s face, ‘Gosh, I wish I still had that. I wish I didn’t make those big mistakes in life; what am I here?’ Then, I switch back to being Lucifer again. That moment is one I love so much because we all have to grapple with problems in life with addictions to envy, greed, and all kinds of stuff. It’s how we dust ourselves off and get up after these incidents in our lives which dictate what kind of men and women we are for Him.
That’s what I love so much about this film. Brock designed it to make people, whether you’re a believer in God, not a believer in God, a Catholic, Agnostic, Jewish, Muslim…it doesn’t matter what you are. It call you to be a better human being. We saw the film at the premiere the other night and I never watch my stuff, but I sat there with my wife Ruvé and our five kids, ranging from 17 to 9, and after the movie, they loved it so much and had so many questions. To sit around a movie and have your family talk about the film…most of them, you can’t do that anymore. They’re so dark. I’m guilty of being part of very dark fare because that’s what is offered to us out there nowadays.
Angel Studios has given Brock the opportunity to tell a story about light instead of just darkness and thank you brother for that, you’ve made the world a better place through the film you’ve just made.
Brock: Ah, I appreciate that. I love that your kids are talking about it. That’s awesome.
Neal: We have a screening tonight and I’m like, ‘Guys, you don’t have to go to the movie tonight,’ and they all said, ‘No, dad, we’re all going again.’ Wow. That’s never happened before!
Brock: That’s awesome.
The way The Benefactor explains how he’s been shifting people really blew me away as it’s such a unique concept; Brock, what was the biggest challenge in putting a new spin on the Multiverse given how much we’ve seen it on screen lately?
Brock: The interesting thing about the film is it’s been an eight-year gestation. When I first started this, I had to really educate people as to what the Multiverse was. Now, pop culture has caught up. There are now so many Multiverse movies out there!
Neal: You started the trend.
Brock: [Laughs] I started the trend! It all started with me. No, in that way, it’s been both a blessing and a curse. People have said, ‘Are we tired of this?’ At the same time, I don’t have to explain so much but I love what you just said: this feels different to those. The original conception is a little bit older than some of the movies that have come out recently so I don’t really see where we’re treading on the same path that they are. We’re definitely looking at it in a different way. We are bopping through universes a little bit but maybe not as much as some other movies and I’m much more interested in, conceptually, what consequences do our choices have and what do they mean? I think that’s what the Multiverse gets us to because, thematically, that’s the territory we’re exploring here. Within that exploration, we end up with a different angle.
Neal: I loved seeing the amazing Kristoffer Polaha jump into the skin of different versions of Kevin. The sleazy gun-toting maniacal, ‘gave into the devil’s whims’ Kevin?
Brock: He’s so good at that.
Neal: He’s awesome! I laughed in the theater because getting to know Kris as well as I have since doing the film, he’s one of those guys - like myself - we jump into our characters and live, eat, breathe, and sleep them. It was like game day every day we got to set. The two of us just had at it and it was awesome.
During that scene with The Benefactor and Kevin, we see the cool, collected side of this character, his rage, and crucially, the way he strikes fear into those around him. Neal, you seem like such a lovely guy, but you’re so good at making us hate the characters you play…what’s your secret when it comes to creating these despicable villains?
Neal: Josh, when I moved to Hollywood, I had no idea I’d be the villain. I came out here to be a comedian. They’d say, ‘You’re funny, but you just don’t look funny. How about the cop? The soldier?’ Then, Walking Tall came along. When I went to the meeting, I thought I was going in, after they let me read the script, for Johnny Knoxville’s character. They said, ‘No, no, no, we want you to play the villain.’ ‘The villain? I can’t play a villain! There’s no villainy in me, what am I gonna do?’ They told me, ‘That’s why. You’ll figure that out because you’re a great actor.’ I have five mouths to feed and I won’t do sex scenes, so I have to do something to provide for my family; it’s either a soldier in the middle of the battlefield or the villain and it all culminated to this moment to play The Benefactor in The Shift. I got to use all the tools that I’ve built and worked with over the years to craft and carve a character that was so well-written for me.
With Brock’s pinpoint direction, we came up with a character…that first day was nuts. The first day was a nine-page scene. It was the diner scene. ‘Here we go…and roll cameras.’ I said, ‘Uh, do we get to rehearse a little? No? Okay, here we go.’ For me, I love that. Coming from such a big sports background, I love that it’s game seven of the World Series every time I go to set. It’s infectious to other people and I know it is because I’m so ramped up to crush up whatever scene I’m part of. To have that as your scene right out of the gate set the tone for the whole crew. They were like, ‘Oh, it’s this kind of film? There’s some A game being brought here today.’ Everyone lived up to that and Brock was so exact in what he wanted. By having that, and a great coach who takes his players and creates a winning team and environment, it was just playtime.
For Kris, myself, and the rest of the crew, we saw what Brock wanted and we didn’t want to let down him, the audience, Angel Studios, my production partner, who just so happens to be my wife Ruvé, and we certainly didn’t want to let God down. Those are all the things that pumped through our veins while making The Shift.
This is a high-concept sci-fi story as well, of course, so when it came to creating what I felt was a really convincing and compelling post-apocalyptic setting, what did that process entail for you, Brock, particularly when you’re not necessarily working with a blockbuster budget?
Brock: I appreciate that. You know, ingesting a lot of comics over many decades and a lot of sci-fi was certainly helpful. ComicBookMovie.com is not a site that is unfamiliar to me. You’re talking about the world I’ve lived and breathed since I was a kid. Definitely, we don’t have Marvel money, but there’s a great tradition of grounded sci-fi. My favourite movie of all time actually is Gattaca. It’s a brilliant, brilliant movie that sets a tone and takes place in a world that’s futuristic but is not trying to wow you with a million special effects. It tries to wow you with its story. That’s where the focus went for this movie. ‘Let’s focus on the story, the characters, and the ideas.’ If we do that, we knew we’d get the scope we’re looking for.
Neal, I know it’s been a while since you played Dum Dum Dugan in the MCU, but are you hopeful we might get to see more of him and the Howling Commandos again, whether it be in a flashback or spin-off, somewhere down the line?
Neal: Well, we did the film, Captain America, then we did Agent Carter and then some shorts, video games, and all kinds of stuff. I hope…it’s hard, because for Dum Dum, I gained probably 40lbs of weight. I always say, I’d wake up at 4am and eat an entire chocolate cake. I’d eat and lift and eat and lift all day and grow that massive moustache. To get that big again, yes, I would enjoy that challenge, for sure. I loved playing Dum Dum. He was very near and dear and very close to who I am in real life. So, you never know. I’d love to see it come back.
The Shift arrives in theaters on December 1, 2023.