‘Bob Odenkirk can kick my ass for sure,’ JOE spoke to the director of Nobody 2 about what fans can expect from the much-anticipated sequel.
A first trailer has hit the web for Nobody 2, the much-anticipated sequel to the 2021 Bob Odenkirk-starring modern action classic, which will be released in cinemas this summer.
The original saw the Better Call Saul actor play a seemingly ordinary husband and father named Hutch Mansell, whose family is the victim of a home invasion.
After Hutch is seen as a failure for not standing up to the thieves, he sets out to retrieve a bracelet that the criminals stole from his wife, Becca (Connie Nielsen).
Doing so, however, sets off a chain of events that drags Hutch back to his mysterious, violent past that he swore to leave behind.
Thanks to its great premise and the always lovable Odenkirk unexpectedly but brilliantly going full-action man, Nobody was a box office and critical hit, leading to calls for a sequel.
And now we have a teaser for the follow-up, which sees Hutch trying to take Becca and their kids on holiday.
The place he brings them on vacation, however, just so happens to be an old bootlegging route. As such, Hutch eventually finds himself forced to unleash his deadly skills on drug dealers and crooked cops (who work for a new franchise villain, played by Sharon Stone) in order to protect his family.
JOE spoke to Nobody 2’s director Timo Tjahjanto about the trailer. The sequel marks the filmmaker’s English-language feature debut, having already made a string of hard-hitting Indonesian action flicks, including Headshot, The Night Comes for Us and The Shadow Strays.
Tjahjanto told us he was excited to make a big studio film with a lighter tone, but that he was able to bring some of his trademark brutality to the follow-up.
“Yeah, I tried. I always try. Basically I know: ‘Okay like I’m doing a Hollywood film. How do I find that balance?’ I think we did that.
“At the core of it all, I have to remember my mission with Nobody 2 is not to make a dark and gloomy film just because I did that with The Shadow Strays and The Night Comes for Us. People often call my films nihilistic in a sense. I disagree,” he adds laughing.
“But with Nobody, especially with this film, the concept of it all is: How does a seasoned assassin manage and try to manage and balance his family life?
“So naturally, I have to find the middle ground there. Because this is a guy who loves his kids, who loves his wife so dearly. There’s a sweetness there. It’s not going to be a Cormac McCarthy sort of take on this thing.
“The producers and us and Bob, we were kind of like: ‘Yeah, this is essentially a family vacation movie,’ but there is a grittiness to it that we allow.
“From the get-go, we know this is going to be about a guy who’s balancing this summer vacation life while also getting into all sorts of trouble, so that’s the big outline of it all.”
Comparing Hutch to a wolf, Tjahjanto explains: “You’re a wolf who’s trying to have a holiday, so how do the people, the dangerous element around you, react to that?
“So we still get to do our graphic stuff, but it’s still feel-good.”
Bob and Timo on the set of Nobody 2
And in the same way the first Nobody was inspired by a real-life home invasion that Odenkirk experienced, the actor (who co-wrote Nobody 2) also drew on his past for the sequel.
As Tjahjanto explains: “Some people know that the first film is kind of loosely based on [how] Bob at some point got his house broken into and a robber pointed a gun at him. That’s how the script came to be.
“I think with [Nobody 2], Bob once again is tapping into something that has become a strong core memory. It’s all about his childhood.
“He said to me: ‘Timo, there’s this place in the Midwest, it’s in Wisconsin. It’s called the Dells and it’s got water parks and amusement parks.’
“That became: ‘So, the topic will be Hutch now is trying to take his family on this vacation because he wants to make these good memories with his kids, with his wife.”
And though Tjahjanto has made several movies starring real martial artists, he is full of praise for Odenkirk’s action prowess, calling the actor “a machine”.
“I didn’t learn until much later that Bob was actually 61 when we were shooting. I was like: ‘Holy crap, this guy is committed’,” he laughs.
“I would like to say that I’m the younger man in the dynamic between me and Bob but I know Bob can kick my ass for sure.
“I often joke Bob’s probably the only dad who has a six-pack, but he doesn’t want to show it.
“He’s kind of like Ned Flanders. He’s not showy at all. He has this ripped physique, and he doesn’t even want to make a deal out of it, and that’s a good thing. Classy.”
Odenkirk had a heart attack in 2021 but later revealed that being in the first Nobody helped save his life because he was already in such good shape.
When JOE raised this to Tjahjanto, he said: “Trust me. He is so disciplined. He has a very tight workout schedule, and then he eats certain things only.
“I’m a sugary guy. He’s like: ‘Timo, don’t touch those.’ He’s committed for sure.”
We then asked the director if there was extra care in regards to Odenkirk’s training and stunts, because of his heart attack a few years ago.
He replied: “That’s the surprising thing because I was aware of that too. I remember the stories of how he got that heart attack, and I was like: ‘Hey, how careful should we be with Bob?’
“I always discussed this with the action team and his trainer, and look, Bob will say it when he can’t do it anymore. He knows his body best.”
He also told JOE: “Bob’s very aware of his skills and his limitations. There are certain things that he can do really well, and there are certain things that he’s like: ‘All right, I think this is maybe a bit too dangerous.’
“I have a talented action coordinator, Greg Rementer. We saw what Bob’s strengths are, and we applied them to Hutch as a character.
“Hutch is really like a ground-and-pound fighter, so we applied that a lot.”
Speaking of his surprise at Odenkirk’s strength, the director added: “There were times when we literally were on top of a pontoon boat in the middle of a river and the heat is overbearing because the sun’s shining right above us and I remember Bob just kept doing these takes where he’s being punched and then he’s hitting a pole.
“We did it like 10, 11, 12 times, and I was like: ‘Bob, we can stop if you want to.’ and Bob says: ‘Nah, I still can do it, let’s let’s keep on going.’ He’s a machine, trust me.”
Tjahjanto also said it was a dream come true to work with Sharon Stone, having grown up a huge fan of her movies, Casino and The Quick and the Dead.
Sharon Stone in Nobody 2
On this, he said: “Honestly, working with Sharon has been nothing short of fantastic. She’s an extremely sharp and smart woman. She doesn’t take any shit, that’s for sure, and I love her for it.”
The director said it was very important for him to have several “very strong female characters” in Nobody 2, citing Nielsen and Stone’s characters as examples.
“I think the audience will be surprised just how much significance these women have in the film,” he noted.
Summing up the appeal of Hutch as a character, Tjahjanto told JOE: “One thing we for sure maintained, Hutch Mansell is not John Wick. Hutch Mansell often becomes the underdog, and I love that for him.
“The best thing is that we often allow Hutch to get his ass kicked, and that’s what separates it from the rest.
“I feel like: ‘Yeah, this is a guy who’s good at killing but also, his best days are behind him, he’s ageing, and his mind is often distracted with trying to keep his family safe from harm.’
“So, he does get his ass kicked from time to time and Bob’s good at that: Kicking ass and getting his ass kicked,” the director laughs.
