David Leitch’s upcoming blockbuster “The Fall Guy” marks a Barbenheimer reunion of sorts, pitting “Barbie” Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling alongside “Oppenheimer” star Emily Blunt in a story about a stunt performer trying to solve a mystery and save his ex-wife’s film. And according to Blunt, the biggest Hollywood phenomenon of 2023 might make its presence felt in other ways as well.
In a new interview with Total Film, Blunt talked about looking to her Hollywood peers for inspiration as she crafted the character of Jody, a director who receives a big break directing a studio blockbuster that quickly flies off the rails. She cited “Barbie” director Greta Gerwig as an example of the positive filmmaking traits she tried to emulate.
“With the warmth and the charm, I guess there’s a little Greta in there,” Blunt said of the character. “She was a mix of a few other people I’d met and pulled from.”
In the same interview, Leitch’s producing partner and wife Kelly McCormick explained how the role of Jody evolved from a makeup artist to a director in order to raise the film’s stakes.
“Emily’s role was a makeup artist when we sold it, and we converted it to first-time directing right before we gave her a very rough draft,” McCormick said. “It made it feel like [the character] had more pressure on her.”
Early responses to “The Fall Guy” have been positive, with many critics praising Leitch’s film as the kind of star-driven event movie that evokes the best traditions of Hollywood popcorn filmmaking
“The humor in ‘The Fall Guy’ is silly, which consistently works; Jody’s ‘big break’ is directing a sci-fi epic called ‘Metalstorm,’ and Lietch and company have a lot of fun playing with the film-within-a-film’s alien costumes. And the story is very self-aware, which mostly works,” Katie Rife wrote in her IndieWire review of the film following its SXSW premiere. “This is popcorn filmmaking at its most cheerful and enthusiastic, driven by cheeky needle drops (the KISS disco hit ‘I Was Made for Loving You’ serves as an unofficial theme song), rousing action, and movie stars.”
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