An Australian lone wolf's quiet existence is shattered in Snag when he learns that the love of his life, whom he thought was dead, is alive. She is being held captive by ruthless gangsters, so he must seek out allies and storm into a world of violence to save her in this gritty, modern-day violent fairy tale. Ben Milliken not only stars as the title character in Snag, but he also wrote and directed it. Sofía Castro plays the woman he once loved, Valentina, and Jaime Camil also stars.
Screen Rant sat down with both Ben Milliken and Sofía Castro to discuss Snag. Ben revealed where the inspiration for the story came from and what it was like wearing two hats while filming. Sofía spoke about what it was that made her want to be a part of the movie. They both gave their thoughts on the cliffhanger ending, as well.
Ben Milliken & Sofia Castro Talk Snag
Screen Rant: Can I just immediately start off by saying I need a sequel? Like, what? You can’t end it like that.
Sofía Castro: When I originally read the script, I was the same as you!
Ben Milliken: It’s a cliffhanger! I wanted to end it like an episode of television.
That's exactly what it feels like! When we used to have to wait and you couldn't binge stuff.
Ben Milliken: Or even when you used to watch Game of Thrones. You're on last episode of the season, then you have to wait a year for the next season. It's like nooooo! So, I may have written it already.
Ben, what was it like trying to juggle so many hats in this? Being in front of the camera, and then in front of it? Does it drive you crazy?
Ben Milliken: No, it's super fun. It's really, really fun. I mean, I love movies. I love movies so much. And being able to make movies is an absolute dream come true. I’m one of the luckiest people in the entire world to just have a small corner of this wonderful thing that is movies. And so ultimately, at the end of the day, the movie is the most important thing. And it was really fun; it was amazing.
Sofía, what was it like watching him be in front of the camera, and then go behind the camera, and then be in front of it again?
Sofía Castro: It was fun. It was strange. I was freaking out my first day because it was like, he's my boss. He's the director. But at the same time, I have to kiss him. And it's my love partner. I was like, "Wait, what is going on here?" But he was great. Ben did a great job, and I'm really grateful to him for this huge opportunity for me in my career. The good thing is that when he was watching the scene, I could watch it also. So I was like, "Okay, I can change a little bit of this and have a couple of that." I think that was a good part; I also could watch my scenes.
Where did this idea come from, Ben? Because it was an absolute blast to watch.
Ben Milliken: Thank you, I really appreciate that. That means a lot. It actually came from a conversation on my front porch in 2017 on a very cold night. And it was a conversation with someone very special and it was like, you should make your movie about a guy. That loves a girl. Call him Snag. And then that was it. And we ran with it since then.
What I love about this is it's action, but it is a love story and then there's all this crazy stuff going on. Sofía, what was it that drew you to want to be a part of this film?
Sofía Castro: I did that eight-scene audition and then the callback. When I got the role, I was freaking out. I remember that I was on the phone and my manager was like, "You got the role." And I was like, "Wait, what? I got the role?" I didn't know what was going on because this is a huge thing for me in my career. It was a beautiful experience. I worked so hard for this role. I work so hard to be ready to be Valentina, and I want to go back on set. I want to be in New Mexico again.
Can we talk about the rolling around in the sand scene? Because I feel like you must have gotten so sandy and dirty.
Ben Milliken: I still got some. Yeah, that fight scene with Jaime in the sand dunes. I will tell you, it was about 30 degrees that day. The sand wasn't the worry. It was hypothermia. It was in the middle of winter in New Mexico. And that specific location, the week before, the sand was covered in snow.
Sofía Castro: The weather was really strange.
Ben Milliken: Snow in the desert is beautiful. That was the main, the biggest challenge in acting.
Sofía Castro: That happened the day of the wedding. I was with a huge coat. [Then] action, and I have to be in a beautiful white dress.
It was beautiful. How did you feel when you first put it on?
Sofía Castro: I loved it. I loved it when I had the dress rehearsal and Ben was choosing the wedding dress. I think that was the perfect one for Valentina. And it was not an easy dress, because I had to run in that dress in the sand. And Ben was catching me at the end of the hill. That dress is my favorite one.
One of the things I love is when it freezes the frame, and it has words up on the screen. Can you talk about including that? I thought that was perfect.
Ben Milliken: You know, those ideas came at like three o'clock in the morning, I woke up, during the editing process, at three o'clock in the morning, it was one of those, we should do this. And then so the next day went into the editing room and said guys, this would be so cool. And we tried it, and it really worked. Really, really worked. Those are one of my favorite parts of the movie, actually. They're so fun. They really throw the movie in your face real quick.
Can you guys talk about doing all the stunts too? Did you do your own stunts? Did you have stunt people with you?
Ben Milliken: Weirdly, I did all of the dangerous things. Like falling through the table and jumping away from the explosion, all of those things I did. And they were super fun. But we did have an amazing stunt team on this movie and incredible fight choreographers, and they put these sequences together. I don't think there is a day that I went home not hurting somewhere.
About Snag
A lone wolf's quiet existence gets shattered when he learns that the woman he once loved and thought was dead is alive and being held captive by ruthless gangsters. Now, to take on this dangerous criminal organization, he must seek out allies and storm into a world of violence to rescue the love of his life.
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