VOD Spotlight: Director David Ayer Talks Casting “Sabotage”

Director David Ayer cast the movie Sabotage with a specific execution firmly in mind. Ayer explains, “I want people to believe that these characters really exist. Most importantly, I wanted to surround Arnold [Schwarzenegger] with strong, capable actors — actors with great skill sets, talent … and soul.

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“Arnold’s an incredibly charismatic guy and really warm and engaging. He has this great relationship with Olivia [Williams, who plays Caroline Brentwood], both on and off camera. They have this incredible common ground. You never know how two actors are going to get along until you get them in the same room together. Arnold got off a flight, we cut his hair, threw him in a suit, stuffed him in a car with Olivia and said, ‘Go, guys,’ and it was pure magic right off the gate.”

Says the director of the Cambridge-trained British actress, “Olivia is playing against Arnold. The two actors’ approach and backgrounds are so different but their scenes together are amazing. There’s incredible chemistry. It’s magic.”

The director shares, “I’ve met Sam [Worthington] in the past and I’ve always wanted to work with him. I’ve always been struck with his fearlessness as an actor and his level of commitment to roles, and his desire to work out of the box. To get him on board, for me, was a real coup. I’m finally getting to work with the guy and he’s delivering beyond my expectations.”

“[The role of] Lizzy was incredibly difficult to cast,” says Ayer. “We read everybody. It’s heartbreaking because these incredibly gifted actresses come in and put it all on the table for you. While they’re incredibly gifted and amazingly skilled, as a director sometimes you have a very specific idea in mind and you’re hunting for that specific person. Mireille Enos showed up and when she read, she killed it. She just crushed it!”

Enos recalls how she landed the role of Lizzy. “I was sent the script to read. I guess they’d been pulling the cast together and looking for Lizzy but hadn’t yet found her. I got the script on a Sunday morning with a note saying that if I responded to it David would like to meet with me the next day. I got to page four and called my manager and said, ‘Please, please, please, I want to do it. I want to do it.’ So then David and I met the next day, on Monday. We had a wonderful conversation about her and then I came back in on Tuesday and we did some work together and played some scenes. By Wednesday she was mine!”

Producer Bill Block says, “We’ve put together a real dream team on Sabotage. Arnold [Schwarzenegger] has been a longtime friend and bringing him together with a provocative filmmaker like David Ayer and our amazing ensemble cast is a win for all of us at QED and Open Road Fims”

Sabotage is available starting July 22 on Video On Demand. Check your cable system for availability.

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photo credit: © 2012 QED International Credit: Robert Zuckerman