Gerard Butler is a terrific actor who has starred in movies like “300” and “Bounty Hunter” to name a few. This role in “Den of Thieves” cast him as Big Nick, a Los Angeles County Sheriff. Director, Christian Gudegast, loves the range he has in the movie that he wrote.
“He was perfect for the role and he was all in. He did a lot of prep for the role. He gets a film finance deal, that’s the reality of the business,” Gudegast revealed. “With him it was total immersion. It was a great opportunity to do something special. His character was based on some real people and we hung out with them a lot. He worked his ass off.”
Curtis James Jackson (50 cent) should get other parts based on the work he did on this film.
“Curtis is a beast. He is totally dedicated. He’s attacking the whole acting thing. He’s focused and he’s all in. He’s the real deal.”
O’Shea Jackson Jr., the son of rapper and actor (Ice Cube) is important to this film as well as playing the part of Donnie Wilson.
“This was about capturing the reality of a specific world. We were meticulous about the casting and make sure the actors were right for the role,” said Gudegast. “He’s focused on acting 100%. He’s crazy talented.”
The Federal Reserve is the target of a robbery in the film so they had to make sure that portion of the movie was as accurate as possible.
“We could only do so much. I got access. They helped us out. I actually got in their four times myself and one time we brought in the entire art department and production designers, who build the sets. One of the producers had a connection and we made the most of it. In this film. It’s as exact a reproduction as you can get,” Gudegast stated.
“All the walls are plexiglass. It’s like that for security reasons. It takes your breath away. You see all the stacks. There was billions of dollars right in front of you. When you’re there for a few minutes you realize it’s a well-oiled machine. It’s pretty jaw dropping how it operates and it’s 24 hours a day.”
At the end of the day, Gudecast was pleased with the results in this, his directorial review.
“All the actors did their own stunts in this film for the most part. We did long, long, very exhausting days.”
This movie is available on DVD and on-demand.
