With The Old Guard 2 finally reigniting the immortal war today, we were recently granted an exclusive opportunity to catch up with stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (Doctor Strange; 12 Years a Slave; Venom: The Last Dance), Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians; Snake Eyes; The Gentlemen), and Marwan Kenzari (Aladdin; The Mummy; Black Adam) to talk about their pivotal roles in the Netflix action sequel.
Ejiofor and Kenzari reprise their roles as James Copley and Joe, respectively, from the previous film while Golding joins the cast as Tuah, an old friend of Andy's (Charlize Theron) who may hold the key to discovering the mystery behind immortality. However, before unlocking the secret, they'll first have to square off against a vengeful Quynh (Veronica Ngô) and the oldest immortal Discord (Uma Thurman), who is out to destroy the world.
In our informative conversation, the trio filled me in on where we'll find their characters when the film picks up and how their decisions will ultimately affect the fate of the world. Plus, they also get into their own thoughts on immortality and more!
The film's synopsis reads, "Andy and her team of immortal warriors are back, with a renewed sense of purpose in their mission to protect the world. With Booker still in exile after his betrayal, and Quynh out for revenge after escaping her underwater prison, Andy grapples with her newfound mortality as a mysterious threat emerges that could jeopardize everything she’s worked towards for thousands of years. Andy, Nile, Joe, Nicky and James Copley enlist the help of Tuah, an old friend who may provide the key to unlocking the mystery behind immortal existence."
The Old Guard 2 is now streaming on Netflix!
Watch our full video interview with Academy Award-nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor, Henry Golding and Marwan Kenzari below and/or keep scrolling to read the transcription. Plus, please remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Chiwetel, after Copley's big discovery in the first film, what does he see as his new role on the team this time around?
CHIWETEL: I think that's how it started, you know, for me, I feel like he comes out of the first movie - he's really logistics, I think, for a while, for the Old Guard and part of how they set up and deal with the operations, and he uses his own set of skills in order to help them achieve their goals. But more and more is drawn into the kind of the family, really, and becomes more part of the group, you know, even in the field. So, he sort of needs reminding sometimes that he's not immortal because he's rushing around, getting involved in all of the shenanigans, but really, he's there to kind of facilitate and aid and assist their operational goals, which is a great evolution of Copley as a character, and I think it's a role where he finds that he has an opportunity, really, to heal and discovers, you know, within the camaraderie of this group, and his place within it, you know, a real chance of being part of something positive.
ROHAN: Henry, you’re the newest cast member but play one of the oldest immortals. How did you approach stepping into Tuah’s shoes and joining this ensemble?
HENRY: Yeah, I think, you know, the complexity of Tuah really lies within he knows more than he's revealing. He's been trailing these guys around the world, researching and documenting for thousands of years, and so, he knows them quite intimately, strangely, but he can't give it away, because he's new to the group. He doesn't want to sort of scare anyone off, but also, he's a recluse, you know, he's been in hiding for so long, one because of fear, two, because of this mission that he feels that is necessary to complete with the idea of why the immortals exist. So, he's been trying to get to the bottom of that by finding out how or what effects their actions have on civilizations. So, for me, there was like this one part of this heaviness of what he's been doing for the past, however long, but also this idea that he wants this relationship, and this idea of companionship from this very strong group. So, he's got two sides of something that's pulling him. I love how complex he is.
ROHAN: Marwan, Joe’s one of the most empathetic characters—especially in how he handles things with Booker and Nicky. What drew you to that emotional complexity?
MARWAN: Well, I think what is nice about the ending of the first movie is also the camaraderie and the built up relationship between - I mean, it's quite obvious that the strongest connection for Joe is between Joe and Nicky, but that doesn't mean that the connection between, in this case, Joe and Booker, isn’t also a strong connection, and therefore to see him going in exile for that long sort of sets the tone for the second movie in terms of whatever Joe and Nikki do or do not share in their relationship, which is an interesting new color that we have not seen in the first movie because the focus was different, but that is how the second one starts. So, it was interesting to find out, can you see cracks in the relationship between Joe and Nicky, and can they, after that, trust each other again?
ROHAN: For everyone, Immortality means something different to each of your characters. If you had the choice to either gain immortality—or lose it—where would you land? And has playing these roles shifted your perspective at all?
CHIWETEL: Well, it is interesting, you know, about what mortality means in today's day and age, you know, just this idea, because there is such a focus on longevity, you know, it's sort of been removed from folklore, in a way, and the kind of fountain of youth, into real scientific desire. I mean there’s real striving to find out if there is and I think inevitably you end up thinking about those questions, the sort of existential questions and, but I wonder whether really it is a question of immortality, it is a question of forever, or whether it's a question of another fifteen minutes, you know, give me another day, give me another week, you know, and whether that is the drip feed of a kind of immortal question. I don't think you can ever deal with that kind of idea of all of that time, you know, but we all understand what the emotion might be of wanting to spend a little bit more time, you know, obviously, with the people that you care about.
HENRY: I think, from a perspective like Tuah’s, it's really the curse of being immortal. I think he lived so many lives with people that have passed that he got to a stage where he locked himself away and so he could continue with the work and rather than suffer the losses. And maybe there's something about him that wishes there was an end, and perhaps that's why he's trying to find, you know, what that looks like?
MARWAN: Yeah, and I think for Joe is maybe the most, you know, if you could put them into seasons in a year, maybe Joe and Nicky would be the spring of this group, because the fact of their relationship and their connection, but that also puts like a big pressure on what would happen if one of them would disappear, or one of them would stop being immortal, which is something that they think about. Therefore they cherish the fact that they're together, but what if that was not the case, and that would obviously change the weather quite significantly.
Andy (Charlize Theron) and her team of immortal warriors are back, with a renewed sense of purpose in their mission to protect the world. With Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) still in exile after his betrayal, and Quynh (Veronica Ngô) out for revenge after escaping her underwater prison, Andy grapples with her newfound mortality as a mysterious threat emerges that could jeopardize everything she’s worked towards for thousands of years. Andy, Nile (KiKi Layne), Joe (Marwan Kenzari), Nicky (Luca Marinelli) and James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor) enlist the help of Tuah (Henry Golding), an old friend who may provide the key to unlocking the mystery behind immortal existence. Directed by Victoria Mahoney, and also starring Uma Thurman, The Old Guard 2 is an emotional, adrenaline-pumping sequel, based on the world created by Greg Rucka and illustrator Leandro Fernandez.