ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke with Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver stars Ed Skrein and Fra Fee about Netflix’s sci-fi sequel. The two discussed filming action scenes and their character arcs. The movie is set to release on Netflix on Friday, April 19.
“Rebel Moon — Part Two: The Scargiver continues the epic saga of Kora and the surviving warriors as they prepare to sacrifice everything, fighting alongside the brave people of Veldt, to defend a once peaceful village, a newfound homeland for those who have lost their own in the fight against the Motherworld,” reads the movie‘s synopsis. “On the eve of their battle the warriors must face the truths of their own pasts, each revealing why they fight. As the full force of the Realm bears down on the burgeoning rebellion, unbreakable bonds are forged, heroes emerge, and legends are made.”
Tyler Treese: Ed, you have one of my favorite scenes. It’s right when the big battle starts where we see Noble get fully unleashed. You’re cracking necks, you’re stabbing dudes — it’s just one display of nastiness after another. Zack’s obviously a real pro at these action scenes. What’s most gratifying about getting to collaborate on these really large-scale sequences that we just don’t see that often in films?
Ed Skrein: Yeah, that’s a great question. It’s something I enjoy so much, and I really enjoy that first section as well because the thing I feel like most actors miss when they do action scenes is they’re thinking about it physically within beats. “I do this, I do this, I do this — ow, that hurts.” And I go, “What they forget is the acting.” And Phil Silvera, who’s a fight coordinator on Deadpool, always used to teach me. He used to stop and say, “Ed, why are you doing this? How does your emotion change once you get hit? Then the next look needs to inform that and have the energy of it.” And I really like that first section because I come out and speak to her. You have the explosion and the flip, and then you just see him get up and go, “Alright.”
And he sees the trench hole, and he just walks over, standing up in the middle of it, and takes a big breath, jumps down, and it’s like unleashed. Yeah, I love that section. I was telling Fra earlier on that the little section down in the trench was the best bit just because I got to play with loads of stunt guys, stunt women, and stunt men. We had the best time rehearsing for that and doing that. Fun fact: while I was rehearsing for that, I was in there — obviously, it’s in a tight enclosed space — so we had all of the mats up in the rehearsal space. And then, halfway through, I was just going through doing all of that. And then Freddy, the stunt coordinator, went, “Ah, Ed, could I have a word?”
And I went, “Yeah, of course.” And he comes out and I was like, “What have I done wrong, man?” And he was like, “No. Congratulations.” I said, “What?” He said, “You’ve got Covid.” Oh my God. He was like, “You need to leave now.” I was like, “Dude, we need to finish this fight.” We were going to shoot that the next week. After that, I was sent home. I wasn’t really allowed to leave my house for like seven days. And so I was just working out with my kettlebell at home. [Laughs]. And I was like, “Okay, well, I’ll just use this as an opportunity to rest.” And then came back. But actually, the best thing about that was that the crew got two days off. And the crew needed it, because they were struggling and they were all texting me like, “Ed, thank you so much.” [Laughs]. Like it was a gift. But yeah, I was really pleased with that. [Laughs].
Fra, you have such a unique experience on this film because your character is kind of on an isle and you’re not interacting with a ton of the other main cast, but you’re also playing such a key role, so you have such a mystique to the viewers as Balisarius. What do you like most about getting to play with that character that is manipulating behind the scenes rather than at the forefront?
Fra Fee: Yeah, it was a fascinating challenge, really. And one that I knew what I was getting myself in for, because I could see that this was. His story was being peppered throughout the first two films. It was my responsibility to fill in the gaps, of which there were many. We start — the first flashback is him as a young soldier for the Imperium when he kidnaps Kora. And decades later, he’s at the position that we sort of see him in the present day in the film.
But Zack knows exactly who this person is, where he’s come from — a planet that is as-of-yet undisclosed. And he’s an outsider to this world in many ways. He has found his way through manipulation, the grooming of Kora to find himself in this position of power. It was a different challenge, but one that I absolutely enjoyed. It’d be wonderful to fully play those gaps in the future at some point, because he’s a fascinating person, for sure.