Outside The Wire, which drops January 15 on Netflix, takes place in a near future where an android must help a drone pilot disable a doomsday device. The sci-fi adventure aims to find humanity in the most unexpected places, and features complex performances from Anthony Mackie and Damson Idris.
The stars spoke to Screen Rant about the themes of the movie and the ways they approached different turning points for their characters.
Anthony, how were you able to explore the themes of the movie, like what it means to be human, while playing a cyborg?
Anthony Mackie: A big thing for me was just the robotic and mechanic nature of being a cyborg, but also emotionally keeping him available and open. Mikael and I talked about the idea of this guy coming across as a human - looking like a human - but when he fights, he's a cyborg that reacts and creates as a reaction to the person he's fighting. He learns from the person that he's fighting so he can attack their style.
So, that was something that we talked about and we worked on. I did a lot of yoga to try and figure out those poses and moves and all that kung fu stuff.
Damson, in what scene do you believe Harp began to evolve from a desensitized drone pilot to a man who was aware of his effect on the world?
Damson Idris: It was definitely that bank scene, when Eckhart calls in that drone strike. I believe that was the first time that Harp really sees the perils of war; sees what he's been doing to people, from all the way in Nevada Creech Air Force Base. That was the first time. And, in my opinion, it a turning point in the movie where [he] begins to truly understand Leo's morals, Leo's thoughts and what he's up to.
Anthony, you've already played a bonafide superhero in the biggest franchise of all time. But your hand-to-hand combat and action sequences in this film are next level. Can you talk to me about the biggest difference in the fighting styles between Captain Leo and the Falcon, and if we could see some of that fighting style in The Falcon and Winter Soldier?
Anthony Mackie: The biggest thing is I had a great stuntman who recently retired, Aaron Tony. A lot of the stuff on the Captain America side, I never did, because he was so amazing at it. This was my first time in almost 10 years working without him, so I took a lot of the training and lessons that I do with him.
I would walk around Budapest every night and study my jujitsu poses. If you saw a weird black dude smoking a cigar, doing jujitsu in the streets of Budapest, that was me.
Damson, you've made a movie with the most charismatic man in the MCU, the Falcon himself. If you were to join the MCU, is there a character that you would like to portray?
Damson Idris: Here's the thing, when I was growing up, I was too busy watching Bad Boys and Dirty Shame to have a real childhood. I only got well-versed in Marvel characters later on in life.
The one that I always let the universe bring to me is the one I see people talk about on social media. With young actors today, they put your picture up and they say, "Oh, we you to play this guy." Stuff like that excites me. So, I don't know anything about his power or anything. But people always scream this guy called Static. I don't know anything about it.
But as we go, we'll see. I would love to work in that world. And if I can cross paths with the Falcon, that would be even better.
What did you guys want to bring to your roles that may have not been on the page?
Anthony Mackie: Humanity. I feel like, for Leo, a lot of times we don't think about how our actions affect us in society. We think about how society dictates our actions. A lot of times, we should be responsible for how we act in our different walks of life instead of being reactionary. I just wanted to make that point; I wanted Leo to be very forthcoming and aggressive and proactive on how he affects the world, and not let the world affect him.
Damson Idris: I want people to see Harp as themselves. He's someone who's 10 steps behind, and someone who's really, in a twist in a movie, assessing humanity's relationship with warfare. He's assessing humanity's relationship with technology going forward. I want Harp to basically be the eyes of the audience.