WARNING: The following article contains spoilers for Army of Thieves, available now on Netflix.
Army of Thieves, which is a prequel to 2021's Army of the Dead focuses on safecracker Ludwig Dieter/Sebastian (Matthias Schweighöfer) as he unites with Gwendoline (Nathalie Emmanuel), Rolph (Guz Khan), Korina (Ruby O. Fee) and Brad Cage (Stuart Martin) to break into three incredibly difficult vaults. Over the course of the movie, though, things take a turn for the worse when Cage leaves Dieter for the police, effectively betraying him.
In an interview with CBR, Stuart Martin and Guz Khan talked about playing their characters in the film and what aspects of them they most related to.
CBR: What was your favorite part of the movie to film?
Stuart Martin: Oh, man, it was all a joy. We had a blast doing it. It was such a great process working with all the guys in our team. We were just so tight, and we had a lot of fun. But you know, the action stuff was great. Those days where... We'd film it over weeks, really. Those big action sequences on, like, the middle heist, especially. I love that. I love going in and holding up a bank and shooting my shotgun into the air and all of that stuff. Jumping through windows. That was amazing. I loved it. That was like a little boy's dream doing that stuff.
Guz Khan: Yeah, I missed out on every single bit of that. So now I'm in this interview with you, bro, and I'm sad. I was in a van, eating a baguette in the cold. But genuinely, like, seeing all of it come together. You realize, "Wow." There were so many components to the action. And you know, getting to know Stu, he's my guy, and seeing how adept he is at doing that. I knew [Nathalie Emmanuel] before and seeing it what a badass Nathalie's doing it, it's so good. I'm just a big fan. So seeing it all in real time was a brilliant thing, you know?
So I'm wondering, you guys played, you know, the more unsavory of the unsavory thieves. What aspects of your characters did you find yourself relating to most.
Khan: Trying to keep everybody sweet. Trying to keep everybody happy, it's something I have to do in my real life quite a bit. And I suppose if I had ever asked myself the question, "What would it be like playing that role and having that kind of personality whilst also robbing banks?" I got the answer: Very challenging. And I think what's great is Rolph's view of Brad and trying to keep him happy is kind of within this world of Brad also being an absolute archetypal movie superhero, [so] he kind of indulges him a little bit in his behaviors in the way he acts. And so it's tricky for old Rolph.
Martin: Similarities between me and Brad, both assholes probably. [Laughs]. I hope there's no similarities. Hey, but look, I think we've all felt that thing of being a 13-year-old or a 12-year-old and going, "You know, I want to be that. I'm gonna do that." I just think we drop it quite quickly, don't we? We sort of just become young adults. Whereas Brad's kept it going, you know? So yeah, I mean, I see where he's coming from he's been bullied and he goes "I'm gonna hit the gym." Like, I get him. But he's just put a lot of stuff on with that.
It reminds me of those old Charles Atlas ads where he's just pumping up iron so he can take down bullies, right?
Martin: Exactly. But then at that stage, I was going to say he's resourceful. He's got a metal bar. He's got some books on there. Resourceful kid. And then look what happens to him. It's a shame, really.
What are you most excited for people to see in Army of Thieves when it hits Netflix?
Martin: We're really proud of the film. We all loved it from the start right through the process. And then at each stage, we sort of got these little brilliant extras, you know. We start to see it piece together and you go, "Ah!" And then you see the action sequences piece together, and you get really excited, and then you find out one of your heroes, Hans Zimmer, is doing the music, and so we've had all these amazing stages with it. And so I'm just really excited for people to see it. And I hope they love it as much as we do. I think it's a really universal, lovely, brilliant film that Matthias [Schweighöfer] has made. I think he's a really, really exciting director. You know, he's obviously an exciting actor, fantastic actor, but you know, he's really exciting as a director as well. So, you know, I'm buzzed for people to see that.
Stuart Martin and Guz Khan star in Army of Thieves, which is available now on Netflix.
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