Netflix’s latest hit, The Old Guard, is a thrilling action flick about a group of immortals led by Charlize Theron’s Andy. After KiKi Layne’s breakout performance in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, the 28-year-old newcomer had the opportunity to work closely with one of the few (and most badass) female action stars in the business, Charlize Theron. Layne discussed here experience and big fear with these words:
It’s Charlize, who’s been such an inspiration and so instrumental in terms of opening doors for women in this genre. So, of course being super grateful but also like, ‘Girl, if you actually hit her in the face… it’s over for you.’
Oh... true. This is an aspect of the job you might not even think about until you find yourself standing in front of Charlize Theron about to film a choreographed fight scene. As KiKi Layne told Variety, she was really excited and honored to share scenes with the Mad Max actress, but a lot of "don’t punch her, don’t punch her, don’t actually punch her" was floating through her mind most days.
Hey, it's happened before. Harrison Ford famously punched Ryan Gosling in the face during the filming of Blade Runner 2049 while shooting a fight scene with him. So this is a completely valid fear for the up-and-coming actress to have had on the set of The Old Guard.
The pair have an especially incredible sequence on a plane that probably made all that anxiety worth it. The two actresses did not use stunt doubles for it either, which is super impressive. Charlize Theron did get a nasty injury while working on the flick – she tore a tendon on her left thumb. You can check out the actresses break it down below:
KiKi Layne said she had to dive right into a completely new world, playing trained marine Niles, who finds out she is immortal like the rest of the lead cast members of The Old Guard. In her words:
For my character, the military and tactical training was incredibly important because I was playing a marine. So, that had to look as genuine as possible for an actor coming in with only a few weeks or so to try to grasp what people have spent years mastering.
Kiki Layne remembered she was oddly good at reloading the weapons during her training that started months before the cameras started rolling. The actress had to do tactical, military, weapons and choreography training between gym sessions to build muscle.
Considering the success of The Old Guard on the streaming service this week, the movie could very well come back for a sequel. The film’s director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, told CinemaBlend she already knows what happens next in the planned trilogy of the graphic novel adaptation becomes a Netflix franchise.
The Old Guard is streaming on Netflix now. If you’ve already had the chance to see it, you can check out our breakdown of the ending here and stay tuned on CinemaBlend for more movie news.
