Nathalie Emmanuel felt intimidated by the prospect of starring in the English-language remake of John Woo’s The Killer.
The Game of Thrones actress recently completed filming on the project, which was directed by the famed Hong Kong filmmaker himself.
In the gender-swapped remake of the 1989 action film, Emmanuel plays the lead hitman role made famous by Chow Yun-Fat alongside French actor Omar Sy.
Opening up about remaking the original, she told Variety, “It’s one thing to remake such an iconic movie – which is already really intimidating, because the original is so good – but it’s another to remake that movie with the same director and do a culture shift that blends Eastern and Western styles of action.”
In the original film, the assassin carries out one last hit to pay for the treatment of a singer who was injured during a shootout. The plot of the remake is unknown, however, the action has relocated from Hong Kong to Paris.
Reflecting on Woo’s “romantic” directing style, the British actress continued, “(He) dances with the camera, so it feels very dynamic and sort of sexy as well.”
Outside of Game of Thrones, Emmanuel, 35, is best known for the Fast & Furious franchise and Maze Runner films. But between The Killer and Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project Megalopolis, her career is heading in a new direction.
“It is a new direction and I think it’s a good direction. But I don’t like to limit myself. I’ve actively tried to look around and be like, ‘Oh, let’s try over here,'” she said, before adding of the latter film, “I feel very lucky to be a part of something so unapologetically itself. Obviously we’re talking about one of the greatest filmmakers here, but I do hope I get to work with more people who are highly regarded.”
Megalopolis premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. A release date for The Killer has yet to be announced.
