Waving the Flag
Suicide Squad opens wide Aug. 5
NEW YORK — After starring in the remake of RoboCop a few years ago, Joel Kinnaman thought he’d experienced fans’ great expectations. And then his Suicide Squad role of mission leader Rick Flag came along.
Since the DC Comics movie started shooting in Toronto last summer, the anticipation has been beyond intense.
Written and directed by David Ayer, the movie showcases a misfit collection of psychotic supervillains released from prison to save the world from destruction.
It is up to black-ops commander Flag to control the incorrigibles while keeping them focused on the task at hand. It helps that they have built-in behaviour modifications; each has a lethal explosive device inserted into his or her neck.
The bad-guys-turned-almost-good are assassin Deadshot (Will Smith), demented manipulator Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), murderous thug Boomerang (Jai Courtney), firestarter Diablo (Jay Hernandez), humanoid Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) and Slipknot (Adam Beach).
Shadowing the squad is Harley’s boyfriend, who just happens to be the off-kilter Joker (Jared Leto). But he’s less a threat than the evil spirit Enchantress (Cara Delevingne), who’s seeking global revenge.
During a chat at an abandoned U.S. postal station transformed into Suicide Squad promotional headquarters, Kinnaman, 36, offers his thoughts.
On the movie’s allusion to modern-day issues:
“I think that’s one of the most interesting things about this film,” says Kinnaman. “There’s a moral grey area in this story asking the questions ‘What would you do?’ and ‘How far would you go?’”
On Flag’s balance of good and evil as a soldier:
“My character is sort of a badgood guy,” the actor says. “He’s following orders and carrying out this mission for his country, but you have to wonder if he’s really a good person.”
On Flag’s conflict with Deadshot:
“This is his journey with the squad and especially with Deadshot,” Kinnaman says. “I do what I do to defend my country, supposedly, and he does it to make money.”
On Flag ’s self-doubts:
“There is part of him that feels like maybe he’s not just following orders,” Kinnaman says. “Maybe the violence does appeal to his dark side.”
On the similarities between Deadshot and Flag:
“In many ways they are two sides to the same coin,” he says.
On developing that relationship:
“Will and I got along and we were finding our sense of humour together off set and incorporating that into our characters on set,” Kinnaman says. “It was almost like we had this buddy-cop relationship.”
On the contradictions between the two characters:
“In some ways, Deadshot has the higher moral ground,” says Kinnaman. “He’s saying exactly who is, and so he’s saying Flag is the facade.”
On improvising some dialogue:
“We did, and even David (Ayer) would throw out some new lines sometimes,” says Kinnaman.
On how the director kept his ensemble sharp:
“All of a sudden he’d arrive and say, ‘We’re doing a different scene today.’ He was creative like that.”
On Ayer’s offbeat approach with his actors:
“I was doing a very emotional scene in front of a crew of 200, and when I finally got there David said — and this is classic David — ‘OK, that take didn’t make me hate you.’”
On the positive energy on the Toronto sets:
“Everybody felt compelled to put their heart into it,” Kinnaman says.
On Smith leading the way:
“Will’s the most humble and the hardest working and the most generous,” says Kinnaman. “I’m not going to say we didn’t have some diva moments, but those moments were really highlighted by Will’s firstrate behaviour.”