The new sci-fi action thriller, Skylines, follows a team of elite strike team of soldiers on a mission to save the world from an extraterrestrial threat that could turn all of Earth's assimilated newcomers into rabid beasts. The original Skyline, released in 2010, was co-written by Liam O'Donnell, who stepped up to write and direct the sequel, 2017's Beyond Skyline, which shifted away from horror and leaned more into martial arts action and a desperate fight for survival.
Building and expanding on the lore and world of Skyline, the new film continues the more action-focused direction of the first sequel, and the result is a delightful evolution into 1980s/1990s-inspired B-movie action, but with the production values and obvious love and dedication required to rise above its direct-to-video contemporaries. It's a fascinating trajectory for the trilogy, which began as a grim horror flick before growing into a crowd-pleasing action extravaganza.
While promoting the release of Skylines, actor Jonathan Howard spoke to Screen Rant about his work on the film. He plays Leon, a member of the team sent to space to take down an alien menace, who learns to confront his own prejudices about the complicated relationship between humans and aliens. He discusses how he was a last-minute addition to the film and how he had to convince his wife, Daredevil actor Élodie Yung, to let him take the role after he had initially decided to take a break to raise their baby. He talks about living in Lithuania for the duration of the shoot, and how one of his fellow castmates became a veritable tour guide during the film's production.
Skylines releases December 18 in theaters, on Digital, and VOD.
Your movie is so jolly!
Oh, good, that makes me happy!
It's such a fun trilogy of movies. They're all so different.
I know, right?
The first one is so grim and oppressively scary, and then this one, you just can't help but stand up and cheer at all the crowd-pleasing action. It's just a jolly, rousing movie.
That's amazing, that makes me so happy. I love you guys at Screen Rant. I read a lot of your reviews, and you're one of the few publications I pay interest in reading.
It's always nice to talk to a fan.
(Laughs)
Tell me, how do you get cast in this? Do you get a call, does your agent go, "You've gotta read this script!" Do you pursue it? Tell me about the process.
This came around very last-minute. My wife is an actress, her name is Élodie Yung. You might know her from playing Elektra in the Marvel shows, and Gods of Egypt and stuff. We have a two-year-old daughter now. A year ago, when we shot this, she was just a year old. My wife was going to Toronto to do a movie, and I said, "I'm not going to do any jobs. I'm going to go and just be a good father and a supportive partner, and be the full-time daddy day care in Toronto." And then my agent called and said, "Look, there's a script. The lead guy had to drop out, and they're really interested in you. Take a look." And I was like, "Ahhh, I promised my girl, I promised my wife I wasn't going to work!" But then I read the script, and I was like, ah, okay, this is pretty interesting! I like this character's storyline, I like his arc. I like where he starts and I like where he ends up. So before I gave an answer, I watched the first two movies. I really liked Beyond Skyline, with Frank Grillo. And I thought, this one might be even more interesting. Because, like you said, the evolution of the three movies, from the first one to the second one and now this one, we're actually going to Cobalt, to this alien planet... So I called my wife and said, "Maybe we can fly your sister out instead, and I can go to Lithuania for three months!" So that's what happened. I took this movie very last-minute. The whole cast and crew had already been there for a couple of weeks. I had, like, maybe ten days before principal photography started, before we started shooting.
These days, it's so refreshing to see an actual alien. Well, not a real alien, but an alien creature that's not entirely CGI. Those suits are gorgeous. Is it easier to act with one of those than to a tennis ball?
Of course it is! Absolutely. I applaud Liam for that. He really wanted to use as little green screen as he could. My experience is with doing these big sci-fi movies, stuff like Thor and Godzilla. It makes a massive difference, having an actor or stuntman behind the mask. Really nice things come out of it. The guy who plays Trent, Jeremy Fitzgerald, we stayed in the same hotel for three months, so we got to know each other. So, when we were on set, even though he's on stilts and he's nine feet tall and can't really walk very well in them and the big rubber suit... But the costumes themselves are just breathtaking when you first see them. Something that comes across is the chemistry between me and Trent. He's Rose's brother. That chemistry was not planned, it was nothing I even thought about. But it comes across because you have an actor to actually play with, as opposed to your massive mega-budget Godzilla and Thor, where you have a pretty bored, nonplussed First A.D. going, "Okay, now there's a monster! Oh, the monster's climbing up a building! Wow! Very scary!" That's a lot harder to play than when you've got an actor or a stuntman in your face.
There's a power that sci-fi has, to tell these fantastical stories with themes that we can identify with today, here and now. My favorite scene in all three Skyline movies is when you explain how weird it feels to see the aliens in a different light now that you've gotten to know them, that it was so easy to hate them, but it's different now. It's more difficult to understand than to fall back on hatred, but you can't go back. It's a really beautiful scene.
It's amazing that you saw that, Zak. That's what drew me to this project, this guy's arc. Yeah, we're making a fun sci-fi film with fantasy and escapism and an alien planet with hybrid weapons, but for me, it's about what's grounded. What can make this truthful? Well, what's going on right now? There's such distrust of people. Human beings. We can't understand them. You can get pretty deep into them. And it's awesome that, in a fun little movie like this, we can actually have a real moment of humanity and realization, that we're not trusting each other, that we're skeptical of each other, and we can bring that to people's attention with aliens and pilots and humans.
Tell me about working with Alexander Siddig. He's got that coveted role of being the elder statesman of the cast who gets to look awesome and be hammy, you know?
Him and James Cosmo, for sure. James is a just a little bit older than Alexander. (Laughs) But Alexander has been doing this for a long time, and he's very relaxed, very cool, very calm under pressure. And a real gentleman. We filmed in Vilnius, which is the capital of Lithuania. Lithuania's population is about three million people. It's not a big city. It meant we had lots of nice moments with having dinner and getting to know each other. To work with Alexander and James Cosmo was a massive bonus for me. When I was first offered the part and looked at the script, I was like, "Who else is playing in this movie?" And when I saw Alexander and James' names, I was just like, "No brainer, I want to do this."
I've never been to Lithuania. Or Europe at all. What was your exposure to the local culture and all that? What did you eat, what was the vibe there?
Vilnius is a brilliant city. Initially, I was like, "Lituania, that's like Eastern Europe, so are they not going to like me, an Englishman?" I was so ignorant. Lithuania is a thriving country. Vilnius is a very cultured and vibrant city. One of the Cobalt team actors, Ieva Andrejevaite, she's Lithuanian. We had this firsthand look into life there. I went to watch a Lithuanian play at the theater. I didn't understand a word they were saying, but I loved it! She took us to all the local restaurants. We were introduced to all her really cool artistic, creative friends! It was awesome, honestly one of the best experiences on location I've ever had.
Now I want to go visit!
You should try it! (Laughs) If they open the borders again. I've been stuck in America for the whole year now, since we can't fly, we can't leave the country.
I was supposed to go visit my brother, who lives in Ukraine, just a couple of countries over. We're not Ukrainian at all, but he chose to go live there, and he's living The American Dream, so to speak!
I bet. Whereabouts in Ukraine is he?
Kyiv, he goes to the Kyiv Institute of Music, that's where he's making his bones.
You should definitely get out there. Ukraine has a rep of being an old USSR Soviet Union place, but it's not. These countries are proud of their nationality, they're patriotic, and they don't want to be put in the basket with Russia. They get offended if you talk to them in Russian. They're like, "Why are you talking to me in Russian? Talk to me in English or Lithuanian."
Absolutely, same thing there. Look, this movie is so much fun. It looks like you had a lot of fun making it, and I had a heck of a lot of fun watching it. Thanks so much!