sondramedia Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to actor Aaron Eckhart and director Jesse V. Johnson concerning the new motion thriller film Thieves Freeway. Eckhart and Johnson mentioned what individually drew them to this challenge, how the film touches on some real-world points, and extra.
“After a lethal confrontation, lawman Frank Bennett (Eckhart) uncovers a large smuggling operation,” the synopsis reads. “Lower off from cell service and stranded with out his truck, Frank is pressured to tackle a harmful gang led by a deranged ex-military commander. Stopping them earlier than they attain the border isn’t simply his responsibility, it’s his solely shot at survival.”
Thieves Freeway is now enjoying in choose theaters. Will probably be out there on digital platforms on December 16, 2025.
Brandon Schreur: Jesse, I wish to begin with you and ask just a bit bit concerning the journey of getting Thieves Freeway made. I do know you didn’t write the script for this one, however you probably did direct it. What spoke to you concerning the story of Thieves Freeway and made you wish to direct it? And what did the method of bringing this film to life seem like?
Jesse V. Johnson: I’m going to encapsulate it as a result of I do know we’ve restricted time. It was written by a fellow known as Travis Mills, who I used to be working with in Hungary on a TV present that he was producing. He advised me slightly bit about this subject material that he was very enthusiastic about. He had a good friend, J.D. Pepper, who will get the co-writing credit score, and I consider he was an Arizona cattle rancher who was very conversant in this drawback that’s going down. I’m all the time drawn to scripts which can be written by individuals who have real-world expertise with what they’re writing about. It feels genuine. There’s one thing for me to get my enamel into. I really feel that, if I can do this, the actors that I wish to collaborate with are going to learn it and go, ‘Oh my gosh, that is one thing I can get my enamel into.’ This can be a actual human being coping with a difficulty that’s occurring on the market. There are little particulars in there that solely somebody that has lived that life can put into the script.
You recognize, script writers are great, imaginative folks, and so they do analysis, they watch a number of YouTube interviews. However this man had pushed the miles in Arizona, from ranch to ranch; he’d performed it. There have been little items, little tiny bits of motion, little description, and little anecdotal motifs that might solely come from somebody who had lived that life. That I discovered very thrilling. As I learn it, I seen that the lead character was additionally an old school kind of main man with this calibrated morality and sense of objective that’s uncommon, and I like that. I do know Aaron is drawn to these kinds of characters, as effectively — talking for him, which I shouldn’t do. However I like them as effectively. I like that because the central motif. From there, the motion and every part performed off that. Ideally, you may have a script that feels prefer it tells a narrative that’s acquainted to the viewers, however differently. That’s what I took away from the script; that’s why it appealed. That’s why I took it, auctioned it with my very own money, which I don’t often do, and ran with it and tried to search out financing.
Positive, completely. I’ve a follow-up query to that, however first, I wish to go to you, Aaron. I’m such a fan of your work, and I’ve to say that I like Battle: Los Angeles a lot, and it’s a disgrace we don’t have like 5 sequels by now. However are you able to inform me slightly bit concerning the means of being forged in Thieves Freeway and what made you wish to be part of this challenge? What was essentially the most intriguing facet that stood out to you and made you say, ‘Yeah, I wish to get on board with this?’
Aaron Eckhart: Properly, Jesse and I had made a film known as Chief of Station that we made in Hungary, I feel a yr or two earlier than that. As he stated, he received the script and requested me to do it with him. And I beloved it. I beloved the concept that it was a small, contained story concerning the American West. About this concept of cattle wrestling and a lawman. I like {that a} man who has an ethical code, and possibly typically has to interrupt that ethical code with a purpose to discover justice and to punish folks — that’s an attention-grabbing idea.
I like working with Jesse as a director as a result of he’s received ardour. He loves films. He loves movie-making. I don’t love movie-making as a lot as Jesse does. Should you ask me on the set, ‘Do you like doing this?’ I’ll say, ‘Eh, I don’t know. Unsure.’ Jesse loves making films. He is aware of every part about films. So, it’s a great collaboration as a result of I like to have a look at my administrators and know they’ll do no matter they need to with a purpose to make the film. I really feel like I’m that approach, as an actor. I’ll do no matter it takes to get it performed, and get it performed to one of the best of our skills. So I feel it’s a great collaboration.
Completely. That jumps into what I needed to ask each of you, subsequent. I do know that you simply guys have collaborated earlier than on Chief of Station. I needed to ask about that relationship as creative collaborators. Because you already had the one film beneath your belt, what was it like reuniting for this challenge, and did you discover that your working dynamic had modified in any respect? Have been you guys extra comfy collectively this time round?
Johnson: I’m simply thrilled to have the ability to work with Aaron. I feel the dynamic was slightly extra acquainted, however not a lot. Aaron could be very, very simple to work with, as main males go. Or as main actors go, he’s very low upkeep. He travels himself to the set; he’s there early and able to go. The [pressure] is on me to maintain making the work higher and to place in as a lot of myself as he’s placing into the character. And that’s good, that retains you in your toes, and I don’t suppose a lot has modified in that diploma. We’ll proceed to push one another. He actually pushes me. I don’t suppose I push him, truly, however he pushes me to be one of the best I probably can.
And I like that. That’s the sort of collaborator you need in any sort of endeavor. It’s thrilling — my work, I’m very proud once I look again and have performed stuff with him. It’s as a result of you may have a co-conspirator on the market within the water, within the mud, or within the warmth. God, it was sizzling after we had been filming this factor. It was like a sauna each day as you stepped out of the trailer; it simply swept over you. And we’re doing motion in that.
We had been coping with one set the place, on the wide-angle shot, the place they’re stealing the cows, it was virtually a mile from proper body to left body. This can be a huge canvas, you realize, for a small film. We shot in 12 days. That is fairly a problem, logistically. And you may solely do this, you’ll be able to solely pull it off, when you may have a accomplice in your main man. And when you may have a accomplice like Aaron, it’s only a pleasure.
Eckhart: I’ll say that it’s good to make a film with anyone you’ve made a film with earlier than. Since you do know one another’s rhythms. It’s comforting, versus having to get to know everyone. An important relationship is the director and the actor. You’re not coming into that chilly; you may have a relationship, and I feel it helps the movie out tremendously.
Oh, completely. And I feel it comes throughout within the film, too — like I stated, I actually loved this. I didn’t know the place it was going, however I simply discovered it, particularly that entire final half, so tense. This might go in any route, however the street it took me on, I used to be all for it.
Johnson: Have been you in a position to keep for the little piece after the credit?
Yeah, I did see that, too. That was surprising, however I used to be like, ‘Oh! A post-credit scene! Cool!’
Johnson: It’s so disappointing as a result of we had so many contractual producers on this. I stated, ‘Oh, simply throw a few producer credit on, after which throw within the sequence with the letters.’ However due to some contractual factor, it ended up being about 25 totally different producers’ credit [laughs]. However I’m so glad you managed to see it.
I positively noticed it, and that was a cool little method to finish the film, I assumed. Aaron, I wish to speak to you concerning the character that you simply’re enjoying in right here, Frank, as a result of he’s such an attention-grabbing man. On the floor, he’s very stoic, he’s very badass, and he’ll get the job performed. However I additionally suppose there’s extra to him than that, and it’s actually enjoyable and attention-grabbing to observe you deliver that out in your efficiency whenever you’re enjoying this man. What drew you to this character essentially the most whenever you had been studying the script for the primary time? And did you see any similarities between Frank and a number of the different characters you’ve performed prior to now?
Eckhart: Yeah, I feel, as you’re saying that, I feel the one factor that comes out in my thoughts is his loneliness. This concept of dwelling alone, dwelling this life. Kind of, that man that’s misplaced on the market on the prairie, and that is his life. He has associates and every part, however he’s remoted. I kind of dwell that life myself, in actual life. I dwell out on a ranch on my own. And it’s an attention-grabbing dynamic for an older man, as a result of I’m 57 years outdated. And I assume he’s the identical age as I’m [laughs].
So, this concept of what you may have in life, on the later finish of your life — who you might be and what you may have. Are you proud of it? How was your life? Relationships, are they significant, and would you like extra? That sort of stuff, I loved concerning the script. This concept that, sure, he’s a lawman and, sure, he has an ethical code, but additionally, he has a soul and a coronary heart. Is he being nurtured, and is he being fed? Does he need extra? I feel a number of males are on the market in these related or identical circumstances the place life simply didn’t go the place they thought it was going to go. They’ve unrequited love, or they misplaced love, or no matter it’s. It takes a toll on a person. Loneliness takes a toll on a person.
Yeah, completely. Once more, I beloved how this film explored that and the totally different instructions it goes, I assumed it was very well performed. Jesse, Thieves Freeway is clearly a film that’s about cattle theft. There’s a line of dialogue close to the start the place somebody is like, ‘Half the nation doesn’t even know that this can be a drawback anymore.’ And, I’ll admit, I’m from snowy ‘ole Michigan, so I used to be not conversant in this in any respect. However I like a film that opens up your worldview and exposes you to totally different points you may not pay attention to. So, I’m curious, was this subject one thing you had been conversant in earlier than you began engaged on this film? And what did you find out about it whenever you had been making Thieves Freeway?
Johnson: It 100% wasn’t something I used to be notably conversant in earlier than the script, earlier than studying it. Once I learn the script for it, it resonated as a result of it was one thing that I didn’t suppose existed. It was written by, as we stated, J.D. Pepper with Travis Mills, who was an Arizona livestock detective. I feel he might need been an Arizona ranger, as effectively. So it had these nuances, it had these little particulars of actual life in there. Which actually appealed to me.
After doing a number of analysis on this — not solely in Arizona, however Oklahoma, Texas, and the place this crime is — I spotted that this really is one thing that not many learn about. And that’s thrilling for a filmmaker to discover a script like that. It’s the little man, it’s the farmer, the small farmer, the mom-and-pop enterprise, the fellows who’ve been there since their grandfather. This farm is constructed on the blood, sweat, and blisters of three generations. And it’s been taken away from them as a result of there’s little or no you are able to do about these cattle rustlers. They’re often somebody who labored on the issue, sooner or later, who now has a meth drawback. They know the place the gates are. They’ve a bucket of feed, which they shake, and the cows run over to the gate. They put them on the again of a truck, and so they’re out of there, they’re gone. They usually’ve decimated this farm, they’ve destroyed it.
The farm gained’t get better — it’s not as simple as saying that cow is price 5 grand, six grand, or three grand. It’s not that simple as a result of the farmer has put ten years, 5 years, or seven years of funding of his time and power into that. So it’s a really actual crime, and I discovered {that a} stimulating backdrop to place an motion film towards. It felt recent and it felt totally different, and we’re all on the lookout for that. You’re on the lookout for a narrative to inform that folks haven’t seen earlier than. We’re not desirous to make reworkings of the final widespread motion film, however made at a low funds. That’s not what we wish to do. I don’t wish to make a single-take film as a result of Extraction did effectively, so I’m going to repeat that. This isn’t the place I wish to be. I don’t wish to pay homage to movies which can be already being made. I wish to do one thing that has a grain of authenticity and originality to it.
Now, if it harkens again to the Nineteen Fifties or Sixties westerns, that’s okay! However I loved the script, I loved studying about this world, and I loved the character. I assumed it might attraction to Aaron, and I’m so thrilled with the character that he created and we captured on display. I’m happy with the film.
Due to Aaron Eckhart and Jesse V. Johnson for taking the time to debate Thieves Freeway.
