‘Ballerina’ Director Len Wiseman on the Film’s Most Killer Set Pieces, from an Ice Skate Melee to a ‘Snowball Fight’ with Grenades | rssama.com

Director Len Wiseman is nary alien to action franchises, having helmed nan first 2 “Underworld” movies arsenic good arsenic nan 4th introduction successful Bruce Willis‘ John McClane saga, “Live Free aliases Die Hard.” Stepping into nan beingness of “John Wick” to nonstop “Ballerina,” a film astir a caller characteristic (neophyte assassin Eve Macarro, played by Ana de Armas), Wiseman knew he had a formidable contented to unrecorded up to — and nan champion measurement of doing truthful was to return nan action successful an wholly caller direction.

“I didn’t want to replicate what ‘John Wick‘ did successful position of nan fighting style,” Wiseman told IndieWire. “I wanted Ana to person her ain power and voice.” To that end, Wiseman kept a adjacent oculus connected de Armas’ advancement while she was training pinch nan 87eleven stunt designers who person been a cardinal portion of nan “John Wick” franchise since nan beginning.

“During rehearsal, I would beryllium readying pinch my accumulation designer, and I’d get updates saying things like, ‘Ana is really bully astatine kicks,'” Wiseman said. “So we would build that into her language.” During prep, Wiseman began conceptualizing group pieces designed to capitalize connected de Armas’ strengths and to convey that this is an assassin astatine a very different shape successful her profession from John Wick.

“She’s a caller assassin, truthful it was overmuch much endurance action than onslaught action,” Wiseman said. “She’s jumping into a world wherever she’s up against a batch of very seasoned assassins.” Keeping this successful mind, Wiseman and nan 87eleven squad went to activity connected action sequences successful which Eve would improvise, utilizing thing and everything astir her to conflict disconnected nan onslaught of trained killers.

Ana de Armas and Len Wiseman astatine CinemaCon 2025 promoting ‘Ballerina‘Gilbert Flores/Variety

That led to immoderate highly entertaining and original group pieces, for illustration 1 wherever Eve fights disconnected a bid of attackers by wielding a brace of crystal skates arsenic weapons. Wiseman’s first draught of nan series began successful his garage, wherever he typically creates unsmooth sketches of his action scenes utilizing models and action figures that he shoots connected his iPhone. “I person a very elaborate setup pinch different scales of cars and different things,” he said. “I activity and hunt astir for nan segment and that gives maine a beautiful bully thought going successful of what nan edit is going to be.”

For a series involving crystal skates, Wiseman began pinch a brace he picked up from a sporting equipment store. “I put humor each complete them and changeable a fewer moves successful my car shed wherever she would usage them for illustration gauntlets connected her hands,” Wiseman said. He past shared his conception pinch nan 87eleven team, who helped him build connected apical of nan original moves to create nan group piece. “They took it to a spot wherever she utilized nan shoelaces and swung nan skates for illustration a mace.”

‘Ballerina’©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection

Because scenes for illustration nan ice-skate conflict grew organically retired of character, de Armas could enactment while fighting successful a measurement that gives each action series successful “Ballerina” added strength and urgency. “Sometimes, nan much analyzable nan action gets successful position of nan choreography and really overmuch location is to remember, nan acting takes a backmost seat,” Wiseman said. “Ana conscionable will not let that to happen. There’s truthful overmuch emotion and passion being performed during nan action.”

One of nan pleasures of “Ballerina” for audiences is nan measurement that it tweaks action movie conventions. You whitethorn person seen flamethrowers successful films before, but present there’s an out-and-out flamethrower gunfight betwixt de Armas and a foe. Another series finds de Armas wiping retired an full squad of assassins pinch grenades successful an elaborately choregraphed bid of exhilarating camera moves. “I thought, what astir a snowball fight, but pinch grenades,” Wiseman said, adding that executing nan thought was 1 of nan movie’s biggest directorial challenges.

“I wanted to sprout that series successful longer takes truthful you ne'er get a chance to breathe, truthful we had a batch of trap doors and hidden sections of nan set.” The action was cautiously planned truthful that bad guys would autumn retired of framework conscionable earlier nan explosives were detonated, because Wiseman wanted nan pyrotechnics to beryllium applicable and not added during post. “The timing of it was really challenging, but I for illustration that. I don’t needfully want to make a movie wherever location are nary challenges, nary pressure.”

Throughout nan film, Wiseman looked to Ted Kotcheff’s original “First Blood” for inspiration. “This was my opportunity to salary a small spot of homage to nan movie 15-year-old maine loved,” he said. “As nan bid went connected it sewage a small much superhero-esque, but successful ‘First Blood,’ you felt for Rambo because he was having to hunt and past and move everything he could into a weapon. And that’s what I was picturing pinch Eve, who has nary arsenal. She conscionable has to unrecorded by her wits.”

‘Ballerina’©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection

Another item successful “Ballerina” comes erstwhile Eve has to conflict John Wick, and Wiseman synthesizes nan 2 fighting styles — “John Wick” and “First Blood” — successful 1 scene. “Working pinch Keanu Reeves and having John Wick travel into nan ‘Ballerina’ world was a really memorable infinitesimal for me,” Wiseman said. “Often, you fantasize astir a segment and it doesn’t really travel off, but nan segment betwixt them successful nan snowfall was precisely what I imagined, and it was thing I had been picturing successful my caput for a agelong time.”

“Ballerina” marks Wiseman’s return to characteristic films aft complete 10 years moving successful nan world of episodic television, though he stresses that while he mightiness not look engaged to nan extracurricular world, he’s ne'er near movies down him — he conscionable sewage a small pickier, and immoderate of nan projects he chose didn’t travel to fruition. “For 4 years I was moving connected what was expected to beryllium nan past John McLane movie,” Wiseman said. “It was specified a cool book and specified a cool idea. Other movies would popular up, and I’d beryllium like, ‘No, this is going. We’re close.’ There were 4 years wherever I thought that movie was happening and past it didn’t.”

The McLane task was unopen down for bully aft Bruce Willis’ aphasia diagnosis, and Wiseman was thrilled to get backmost to big-screen action aft a sojourn directing pilots for bid arsenic varied arsenic “Hawaii Five-O,” “Lucifer,” and “Swamp Thing.” Those shows’ tighter schedules and budgets helped Wiseman hone his expertise to deliberation connected his feet, but “Ballerina” reminded him of what he’d been missing.

“I had awesome collaborators connected TV, but it’s just, get arsenic overmuch action arsenic you tin and move on,” Wiseman said. “I missed nan clip and respect you get erstwhile you’re making an action movie. It’s a full different mentality. If audiences are leaving their location for it, it has to beryllium good. It has to beryllium astatine a definite level. And you request to return nan time.”

“Ballerina” opens successful theaters June 6.