No Man’s Land is getting in on the modern Western wave, this time inspired by the Texas-Mexico border. The film, out on January 22, is at turns tragic and triumphant and features Frank Grillo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) in a particularly difficult role.
Grillo spoke to Screen Rant about how the story reflects today’s political climate, the collaboration process with writers Conor and Jake Allyn, and the way he humanizes his role.
What was it about the role of Bill Greer that attracted you to the film?
Frank Grillo: What attracted me to the role was the script, first and foremost. I loved the idea of telling the story from different perspectives, and to humanizing what we in this country have been demonizing and vilifying for too long.
And then, I love the fact that Conor and Jake [Allyn] are two white guys who grew up kind of wealthy in Texas. I just loved how ballsy it was for them to tell a story like this, and I wanted to be part of it with them. They proved to be formidable filmmakers, and they did a great job.
I want to talk about Gustavo and Bill, because they almost mirror each other. Can you speak to that a little bit?
Frank Grillo: They do mirror each other. At the end of the day, they're fathers who love their children and want the best for their family; want them to stay safe and healthy, and will do just about anything to make sure that happens. And that's the story.
I don't care if there's a border, a fence, a wall - if it's a moat. It doesn't matter what it is. Human beings are human beings, and we all want the same thing. We want a better life for our children, and we want them to grow up and be able to be successful and continue on. Those parallel stories are what makes this movie special.
People aren't used to seeing George Lopez in this type of role. What surprised you the most about his performance?
Frank Grillo: First of all, I knew without a shadow of a doubt that George not only would do well in the role, but that he would excel. Comedians are incredibly intelligent, incredibly talented, incredibly smart entertainers; they're performers. And so, it didn't surprise me that he is just as comfortable with drama as he is with comedy.
When you watch his standup, it's not a guy telling jokes. This is a guy who's intelligent, and who knows what's going on in the world. What's going on around the world is scary, but he's able to do that with humor. Every great actor has to find humor in the worst of things, and George absolutely crushes it.
Bill wants his son to shoot for his dreams, but Jackson's a bit hesitant about pursuing a career in baseball and wants to stay on the farm. Can you talk to me a little bit about Jackson and Bill's relationship?
Frank Grillo: I have three sons; one is 24 and just graduated film school. My son has an apprehension now of actually going to do it. I think I see the writing on the wall, as a parent and as an adult, about what's going on with my farm; not only just with my land and my business, but what's happening in the whole area. I want to get this kid out of there. He's a good boy; he's talented. Even if it doesn't work with the baseball, he needs to get out of here because there's no future.
And that's another message that we're trying to get across without hitting the audience over the head. These people are facing an annihilation of their future. So, how do you expect them to behave? Again, I don't know how they did it, because they didn't live this life. But they executed it in the film. I would believe that it was their story, crossing the border.
What did you want to bring to Bill that may have not been on the page?
Frank Grillo: I think there's an inner humanity, an inner softness, that wasn't necessarily in the words. But if I didn't bring that to the character, then who cares about him? He's kind of a one-dimensional [character] - almost like he becomes the antagonist to Gustavo's protagonist. I couldn't have that happen, because I don't want anybody to vilify the other side.
It's two good guys with good families that bad things happen to, and they're capable of doing bad. It doesn't make them bad, but they're capable of doing bad things. That's the human part of this whole thing.
Jake Allyn co-wrote the film and plays your son. Can you talk about how him being a co-writer helped inform his performance?
Frank Grillo: He's amazing. He's gonna have a great career; he's going to get a nice bump from this movie. I mean, he wrote the film. He's a threat; he's a stud, and he's a young, compassionate, really intelligent, very educated, and very well-traveled young man who has his eye on the prize. He wants to tell real stories, you know? He's not going out there and doing silly, frivolous things. He's telling real stories.
He could have fell flat on his face with this, because this is not the easiest movie to get made. George Lopez said this earlier. He said, "If he was Mexican, nobody would listen to me. Nobody would make this story." He's telling a story and is representing a culture that he's not part of, and I think that's a beautiful thing. I think that shows a lot about who this kid is, and his brother as well. They're a dynamic team, and they've got a great dad. I look forward to seeing what they do.
It's hard not to think about the current political situation at the border when seeing the events of this film. What real world aspects help draw you into the project?
Frank Grillo: The whole Trumpian border wall thing became such a big part of his campaign and his presidency. To me, it's embarrassing and the joke is Mexico should build the wall. It just happens that this film is landing smack in the middle of what continues to be an embarrassing situation, but also a dangerous situation for our country.
Our country's kind of a no man's land. To quote George Lopez again, he said to me, "A no man's land doesn't need to mean borders. It can be anything. It could be a neighborhood, or it could be an idea." I think we're in a no man's land. United States is in a no man's land. We're not here, and we're not there. We're somewhere stuck in the middle, in purgatory almost. And it's going to continue if we don't consciously make a change. That's what the film is.
How was the collaboration process with Conor? Can you talk about his directing style?
Frank Grillo: Yeah, he's only directed a couple of smaller things. But what he lacked in experience, he made up for it with his ability to collaborate and to take criticism. I'm not the easiest guy to work with if you don't know exactly what you're doing, and sometimes it got a little bumpy. It got a little rocky, and he would listen and either agree or disagree.
At the end of it, I would always say to him, "This is about making the movie better. That's all it is. It's not personal; it's about protecting and making the movie better. When I leave this set, because you've got to shoot another two weeks or three weeks after me, keep pushing yourself as if I was pushing you."
And it stuck with him; it really did. I'm the old guy, and I've been around a lot of movie sets - big, small, and everything in between. He listened, and he wrote me after and said, "Telling me to keep pushing, and to get out of my comfort zone, is what made the movie really good." I felt like that was my contribution as the old guy to the movie.
What can you say about Bill's mindset after Jackson comes back home? I think it's such a powerful scene when Bill is putting out the water for anybody that may cross his land.
Frank Grillo: I think, again, that's the journey. In a movie, hopefully, the characters are making some kind of journey and there's some kind of redeeming quality that you see in them.
I think it starts with this hopefulness of baseball being a way out and getting him away from from this part of the world. Then it's like, I gotta send my kid to jail, because that's what's right. And I get through this, learning about compassion. Everyone struggles throughout this film, but you get back to basics. The question that [Andie MacDowell]'s character said to me in the house was, "What happened to us? We used to put blankets out. What happened to us?"
I think that resonates. That's the start of it: become a human being again. I think that's the message for our country: become a human being. Care about your neighbor, care about a stranger; just start caring. And that's the end of the movie.
You touched on this a little bit, but what are you hoping audiences take away from No Man's Land?
Frank Grillo: First and foremost, it's a movie. So, I hope they are entertained for an hour and a half. Especially during times of COVID, I want people to see a movie and say, "Wow, that was a good movie. I enjoyed it."
Secondly, I want them to be aware that No Man's Land is real. This is the struggle, and the struggle doesn't end by just coming across the border. Remember, these people are risking life and limb. And they have nothing guaranteed on the other side. That's how bad their situation is.
They have to come now, and they have to stay in this country; they have to find a job, and they have to keep the job and continue their journey. They hope they can stay here and continue their life, and make a better life for their kids. I want people to understand that they're not taking anything away from us. They're just trying to get what our relatives, what my mother and father coming from Italy, got. It's just an opportunity.
Switching gears a little bit, you recently mentioned that you're coming back for Marvel's What If series. What was it like being able to play around with a different version of Crossbones?
Frank Grillo: For me, it's always fun. I'm always flattered and humbled by people even digging Crossbones, who was really onscreen for 10 minutes. Brock Rumlow was all over Winter Soldier, and then Crossbones unfortunately met his demise very soon after.
I'm always humbled by being included in any of it, and it was fun. I didn't know much about it, but my son did. I went to do it, and I won't tell you anything about it. But it was a hoot. I think I have to go do four or five more of them pretty soon; I don't know.
I don't even know if I'm allowed to talk about it. They'll probably find me; they've always threatened to fire me for talking about things.