Rami Malek believes his character in “The Amateur” stands apart from the typical espionage thriller protagonist.
“He’s extremely different. Usually, we see someone who would be difficult to necessarily relate to personally for the majority of us, whereas I think we can see a lot of ourselves in Charlie,” Malek told Variety at the film’s New York premiere. “Many of us, just day to day, probably feel overlooked and underestimated at some point. I know I have in the past; I can imagine 99.9% of us have. That’s who Charlie is.”
Based on Robert Littell’s 1981 novel of the same name, “The Amateur” follows Charles “Charlie” Heller (Malek), a CIA cryptographer who embarks on a personal mission to seek revenge on his wife’s (Rachel Brosnahan) killers. “He’s one of those guys who feels like he’s on the outskirts of society — an outcast,” Malek added. “I love playing those roles: the alienated, disenfranchised humans who are capable of being extraordinarily resourceful and doing the unexpected.”
Director James Hawes (“Slow Horses,” “Black Mirror”) was similarly invested in subverting the genre’s norms.
“I was interested to see what a different version of the ‘revenge movie’ is — where somebody is going through the processes of grief, but they’re not Liam Neeson,” said Hawes, referring to Neeson’s role in 2008’s “Taken.” “They don’t have that skill set. How do they, the underdog, come good? And how do we make it believable that they can achieve their quest?”
While Hawes agrees with Malek that Charlie stands apart from the usual lead of an espionage thriller, he noted the genre’s lasting appeal.
“I think [audiences] love the idea of this single hero being thrown into a dark and shadowy world. It’s the loneliness that’s part of the thrill,” Hawes explained. “Spy thrillers often inhabit what I call the ‘inverted world.’ If you think of ‘Three Days of the Condor’ [Sydney Pollack’s 1975 thriller starring Robert Redford], he’s going about his everyday job, but the New York he knows has kind of flipped on its head, and the places and the people he thought were safe are suddenly the hunters and the shadows. It’s the same sort of thing.”
He continued: “I think, at the moment, we’re in a world that feels a bit turned upside down — whatever your point of view — and this is a lens through which we look at it and interrogate what we believe, what we’re scared of, what’s the threat, and it’s exciting to watch.”
Laurence Fishburne, Caitríona Balfe, Michael Stuhlbarg, Holt McCallany and Julianne Nicholson also star in the film. Fishburne, who portrays Charlie’s mentor, Robert “Hendo” Henderson, has long been a fan of the genre. “I think because they’re filled with secrets — and we all like secrets,” he explained.
Naturally, this spy thriller is packed with intense action sequences, which was also part of the appeal. “I have a pretty big fight scene in the movie, so I was excited about that,” Fishburne teased. “But I have to say, there’s a particular action sequence in Marseille that involves vehicles and boats and drones and birds, and I really like the way that was cut together. It’s really beautiful.”
Another standout sequence is the exploding glass pool scene, which was featured in the film’s trailer.
“It’s kind of terrifying to find the location. You’ve got to persuade somebody to let you pretend to blow up their swimming pool 16 stories in the air,” Hawes said. “It happens that that location in London is right opposite the American Embassy, so we had to have some delicate conversations with them as well.”
“The Amateur” is now playing in theaters.
