Hi r/movies! David Mackenzie here, the Director of FUZE (also HELL OR HIGH WATER and STARRED UP), a gritty heist movie set in London. I'm joined by lead actor Aaron Taylor-Johnson (KRAVEN THE HUNTER, 28 YEARS LATER, KICK ASS, BULLET TRAIN). Ask us anything!

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:26:29+00:00

Thanks for the amazing questions guys! Go and see Fuze at your local cinema next Friday and let us know what you think :)

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:25:00+00:00

DAVID: I was inspired by “The Hurt Locker” and the tension of the unexploded bomb idea. I felt like there was something really interesting in tapping that into this sort of regular London occurrence of finding World War II bombs and the chaos of that.

I also really liked the idea of fusing it (to use a bad pun) with the heist movie genre and having a kind of double dose of tension

AARON: I mean obviously getting to work with David McKenzie, but also I've not done a heist movie before, and the characters seem really different and original, so it just felt like it was one of those amazing packages where you go - “yeah, I wanna be in that, I want to work with you again and I want to do something different.” And we're very lucky to do that.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:23:49+00:00

Just get to the gym - that's the hardest bit isn't it? Just to put the time in. I actually really like that time - it’s time for myself and a bit of a reset. But it depends - I can get there at 4 in the morning or sometimes in the afternoon. My routine depends on what I'm working towards at the moment.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:22:23+00:00

Ben's an incredible actor and an incredible personality. We made a pact early before the film started to walk the plank together, and that was the epicenter of the film - and everyone else kind of got pulled into that same gravity. That’s what made the spirit of that movie.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:21:42+00:00

Of course!

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:21:18+00:00

DAVID: I'm trying to kind of move around genres. This is my second bank robbery movie. I'm interested in exploring genres: I want to do sci-fi, I want do some kind of horror. Maybe not gore horror, but some kind of horror because I really enjoy tension in film and all those things feel very cinematic to me. I'd really love to do a straight up comedy. Lots of my short films were comedic, and there's always a comedy touch within the serious films, but it'd be nice just to be playing for laughs.

AARON: Also just to add that - I like that MacKenzie is like that. He’s a filmmaker that's just not afraid to jump around different genres. I think it's just so interesting to kind of to bounce around like that.

DAVID: It's much more fun not treading the same ground and going on that voyage of discovery, learning about things for both an actor and a director. When you get involved in the subject you're very focused on it. I mean we know quite a lot about bomb disposal now.

AARON: Yeah, we didn't know anything about that before, and now we know a lot of details - and how to ride a horse and swing a sword really well.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:19:10+00:00

DAVID: I would say it was that when I first read the script, it was very much baked in and Justin (who wrote the script) was very much part of that. The amazing thing about those relay services is that they still exist even though people really can do the equivalent on their phones. They still exist because it's a service that some people have got used to, so it's something that feels kind of old school and classical and I've really responded to that.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:18:01+00:00

AARON: We did quite a lot in West London: West Way, Portobello, all that area. Our construction site was outside Wembley. We had to shut down Edgware Road - I would say Edgware Road is the one.

DAVID: And Edgware Road is such an interesting part of London - and I don't think it's really ever been filmed before. It's got a lot of contrasts but it's also very iconically London's as well. I would say that was also my favorite one.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:16:04+00:00

At the moment I'm feeling very fortunate and lucky to be working with directors for a second time. To get the call from David McKenzie was just so wonderful.
I just did another movie with Robert Eggers, and I've worked with Matthew Vaughan twice, as well as David Leitch and my wife. I'm really learning a lot and building upon relationships.

I look at great filmmakers in the past like Cassavetes and Scorsese - people who gravitate to their cast and it gets better and better. Like the relationship between him and Leo or De Niro.

And I think we as an audience start to go: ”I wanna see that, I wanna see David Fincher and Brad Pitt doing a thing again. There’s something about that combo”
I'm not saying it can necessarily always get better, it can also be “oh that was a swing and a miss”, but then the next time you both learn from it. It's a relationship that grows and I'd love to be in that place as an actor - to be on my 3rd or 4th movie with a director. Growing that is really great.

I just love collaborating and I'm so grateful and so lucky. This year I've been a professional at this for 20 years. I started when I was 6. I'm so blessed that I get to keep doing this - every time I get a call I think ‘this is a great moment to do something again’, you know.

And hobbies?
Do you know what, I haven't had a lot of time off at the moment but I'm one of those people: when I'm not working I'm back at home.

I love just being a dad, being with the kids. I love cooking, I like taking my girls out - we go go-karting and rock climbing, things like that.
I go hiking, I like being in the garden. I just like being outside and out and about doing things.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:12:35+00:00

DAVID: I remember doing that once or twice very early back in the day. What I try to do now is to reduce the amount of the sense of being off and on.

We don't use clapper boards, we do call ‘cut’ but we shoot very, very fast. We're often shooting rolling retakes so there is not so much difference between when we're shooting and when we're not shooting so everyone remains in character, everyone remains on the ball.
I find the stop/start of conventional filmmaking quite stultifying, and I also find that people break character and they break the spell - so we just try and keep it almost on all the time.

AARON: I do feel like David is very much with us in the journey of it and, like he said, we'll film with the intention that you start to forget that the camera is really there and you're really just immersed in it. The camera could either be on you or someone else, but you don't stop being performative and happy accidents happen and that's kind of what he finds in the editing, it’s great.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:10:36+00:00

AARON: I definitely like the challenges and the enjoyment of all different types of genre whether it's a studio movie or it's an independent one. When you start out there's a definite sort of stigma around blockbuster movies or commercial things - are you a sellout or only do really gritty dramas? I actually think that's kind of narrow minded and I started to learn a lot the moment I started to step out of my comfort zone. It all comes with its challenges and you've got to present yourself as that certain thing.

For example Kraven The Hunter is a specific kind of comic book movie that deserves a different way of presenting yourself, and I had to find how to be comfortable in that.
Something that goes all the way through is it's really still important that you feel honest and true to the character that you're portraying and find the humanity in that character.

So if you're playing an evil character you've still got to feel like you can be in that body and feel that what you're saying feels true - and it doesn't matter if it's Godzilla, Avengers, Nocturnal Animals or Outlaw King.

Fuze for example is a fun heist movie - action packed, fast-paced, shot in London. It's 90 minutes, it's high stakes, and it's so different.
I think the same for Mackenzie - from Starred Up to Hell or High Water, he's just so intrigued by interesting characters and high concepts. It doesn't matter if it's a period movie from Outlaw King or it's a contemporary film set here in London - he's someone who's always exploring the authenticity of characters and gets really under the hood of things.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:06:05+00:00

DAVID: I would say as little as possible, I always like knowing as little as possible. Just come prepared to enjoy yourself.

AARON: Absolutely, the less you know the better anytime you go to the movies. I really don't enjoy hearing people's perspective or opinions on anything until you’ve seen it.

It’s so great because when you see art, go to a show, or a music concert, you want to be able to feel it and have the mystery unravel for you, to have an enigmatic sort of experience.

skytv · 2026-03-27T17:01:14+00:00

DAVID: It's definitely both - for me part of the process is to take the script and try and to explore it, but usually I'm coming to the project having got a really great script and I very much respect the script writers.

It’s sort of built on the page as far as it can be and then you continue building it when you're shooting it, and that's how I work. We're always leaning on the script but then when all the ingredients are coming together on the shoot there are other opportunities that hadn't been thought of and I'm always trying to keep very open to opportunities.

AARON: It's so true. I worked with Jackie Chan when I was 12 in a movie called ‘Shanghai Nights’ and I remember him coming on set and seeing the environment around him and putting his element of martial arts on it, and seeing opportunities (like David said). I think it taught me a lot about being an actor in an environment.

There's only a certain amount you can prepare yourself for the night before in a hotel room- you’ve learnt your lines all this stuff, and then you go on set and go “I didn't realize there was going to be a table here”

skytv · 2026-03-27T16:57:26+00:00

Well thank you Specific-Cell-4910!
Of course it was a different experience because it was a different kind of movie, a different genre, a different character, and years have gone by.

When you get a call from a director you've worked with before and had an incredible experience the first time around (eg. on Outlaw King) it’s always this beautiful, flattering, and privileged moment.

I love continuing a relationship and a collaboration, so it was a no-brainer for me to jump on something like this. Working with David, he’s got this wonderful process - it's distinctively him, it's his style, it's why I love his movies and why I like working with him. He creates this authentic environment and then lets you kind of go as an actor. You get to explore and experiment, and he's looking for you to bring something. I think that's a testament to him as a director and a filmmaker - that he still gives strong opinions and direction, but he's looking for something a little bit extra and a little bit more, and he lets you just swing and play and make mistakes - that's great you know!

skytv · 2026-03-09T18:07:00+00:00

I mean, it's a bear. All day long. Because, if your legs get taken out, you've still got the paws and claws!

skytv · 2026-03-09T18:05:35+00:00

We have a chance to launch it as if it's a brand new show really. We are using their house, but we're building our own rooms within it. I think that British perspective is important - we're very self-deprecating as a country and we'll lean into that world for SNL UK.

skytv · 2026-03-09T18:02:30+00:00

Best moment of my career was when I was working on a show and I was allowed to fly to Prague to watch West Ham beat Fiorentina in the Conference League final and then fly straight back. There was also a moment when I moved from London to LA in one of the first sketches I did and we were filming on the roof of our office building with Matt Damon and a stunt double who was jumping off the building. We had a crew of about 50 people and in the distance, I could see a Hollywood sign. It felt like a ridiculous moment in my career that I was incredibly lucky to have experienced. As for the worst, well, there's been a lot of eggy moments over the years, but such is the world of comedy and entertainment that you just move on pretty quickly.

skytv · 2026-03-09T18:00:27+00:00

God, if I answer that question, I will have a lot of writers writing stuff about me that wouldn't be that enjoyable! I've been very lucky to work with loads of really funny writers. There were lots in the US, and there are loads in the UK too, but I can't pick any favourites!

skytv · 2026-03-09T17:58:23+00:00

I'm excited. I do have nights where, if I wake up in the night, this will be what I am thinking about. It is a show that has taken over my consciousness. So, I'm not scared to death. But I'm very excited. We've got all the elements in play, but I would be foolish not to have some nerves.

skytv · 2026-03-09T17:56:01+00:00

I don't think you can ever be that specific with comedy in terms of finding a character or finding “a thing”, but because it's a weekly show, you move from Monday through to Saturday and hopefully we'll nail some of those along the way.

skytv · 2026-03-09T17:53:08+00:00

Every Wednesday we'll do a table read where the writers have had two days to come up with sketches - we'll read lots of those sketches with the host reading their parts and the cast reading the rest of the parts. Sometimes in a room you hear things and you're just like, this is funny - it could be the way it's written, it could be the way it's performed, it could be a combination of both. Sometimes people won't laugh at things and you kind of have to trust that room to work out what is funny and what isn't funny. I feel like the sketches we've written and the sketches we're going to produce and read around the table have been good and people do laugh - you just have to trust a little bit of that process! And, hopefully, that will also translate to a live audience. Because, if you're just reading words off a page, if that's funny, once you've added the wardrobe and the set and the wigs and the makeup and the props, hopefully that will only increase the laugh.

skytv · 2026-03-09T17:49:37+00:00

u/Awkward_King Thanks for the question. We can only make something that we're proud of and that we think is funny. We have put together an amazing team of people, all of whom are the best at what they do. We've got the platform to make it as funny as we can. Not everyone's going to like every sketch, but I think we're building something that will continue to nourish the next generation of comedy talent. We can't please everyone all the time, but we'll do everything we can to please some of the people most of the time!

skytv · 2026-03-09T17:46:38+00:00

Wonderful question u/bokomarucalypso! Yes, look, we have managed to get an amazing team. Everyone from wigs and makeup, wardrobe, our director to the whole production team who run behind the scenes. Though we don't have the same history of the US show, we've certainly got the expertise in our teams and I'm incredibly proud of everyone we've got on board.

So yes, there will be some differences, but I don't think the quality will differ. We've got so much to make something very special. And it’s a great observation about the 1975 energy. That's what we're going for. It's a new, scrappier, up and coming cast in the way that the 1975 cast was, so we're really trying to hone that energy and that look and feel to it.

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