In Martin Campbell’s (Casino Royale) latest thriller, Cleaner, One Piece star Taz Skylar gets to fight Rey Skywalker from Star Wars, Daisy Ridley. The sequence was so intense that he passed out, thanks to Campbell.
Speaking to ClutchPoints ahead of the release of Cleaner, Skylar talked about the movie’s third-act fight. He recalled the memorable accident on the Cleaner set.
Campbell would push Skylar to his limit: “Martin and I had this little competitive thing going on where he would ask me to do hard things, and I would always say, ‘Yes, sir.’ I never [made it clear] that something might be difficult because I never wanted to disappoint him.”
So, when Skylar’s character was hanging from a ledge, he passed out. Of course, the movie was filmed on a soundstage, so he didn’t fall far.
Campbell eventually won their battle when he refused to call cut on a scene. This meant Skylar was hanging from the ledge for a prolonged period. Skylar remembers hyperventilating and his arms being “pumped” from holding on for so long.
It felt like a half hour to Skylar, but Martin Campbell probably didn’t torture him for that long. At one point, he could feel himself passing out. Once again, he didn’t want to say anything to Campbell, so he held it in. Eventually, Ridley spoke up when she saw Skylar on the ground.
“Daisy was like, ‘Martin, I think he’s passed out,’” Skylar recalled. “Martin came, and he was like, ‘I broke you! I broke you! You’re not so tough, are you?’”
Skylar did attempt to get Campbell back, to no avail: “I tried to pass out again in front of him to try and get him to worry. He didn’t. He was like, ‘Get up. Don’t be stupid.’”
Taz Skylar and Daisy Ridley’s chemistry in Cleaner
Given his Taz Skylar’s martial arts background (thanks to One Piece) and Daisy Ridley’s Star Wars training, their chemistry on Martin Campbell’s Cleaner set was seamless.
“Even when we were rehearsing the fights in the stunt tent, there was definitely a very quick shorthand. It was clear that we both understood the process of how this works,” Skylar explained. “The kind of things that we needed to bear in mind to save each other from things going wrong or how to compensate if things did go wrong.”
These are things that, according to Skylar, you “can’t really assimilate in a very short period of time [unless] you’ve done those things repeatedly.”
In the moment, things happen fast. Having a shorthand allowed Skylar and Ridley to have an “awareness” of everything happening. Luckily, there weren’t any memorable slip-ups between him and Ridley.
The most difficult part of the sequence is when Daisy Ridley’s character has a wire around his neck: “It’s tricky to find the balance between something that looks real but at the same time isn’t quite literally taking somebody by the throat with a cable.”
Skylar may have gotten some cuts and bruises from filming Cleaner, but his mindset is, “Don’t say anything unless you need a doctor.”
His martial arts background
Skylar’s passion for martial arts came from his preparation for playing Sanji in Netflix’s One Piece series. It was a happy accident, as he now loves the sport. Prior to the series, he had “zero interest” in martial arts. Now, he is a master two black belts later for taekwondo and kickboxing. He also has a blue belt in jiu-jitsu.
“It wasn’t until One Piece that I found myself obligated to do this in order to bring a substance of truth to that character, and then it spiraled,” Skylar explained. “I think once I got past a certain threshold of pain and results started to show, I was like, Oh, wait a minute; this is actually fun. Let me see how far I can go with this.”
For Skylar, his enjoyment of a role isn’t contingent on him utilizing his hobbies. Sure, his martial arts skills help — he pitched a movie to me where he gets kidnapped before turning the tables on the kidnapper — but he wants to be in good films.
“Jumping out of planes, surfing, climbing, and all that kind of stuff is really cool,” he conceded. “But I’d rather do that on my own time [if] the film isn’t good.”
Playing the villain
Luckily, Cleaner drew him in, allowing him to play a devious villain. Skylar sinks his teeth into the role, and his character is a far cry from the bubbly personality sitting across from me on Zoom.
Ironically, Skylar wasn’t the kind of kid who enjoyed playing the bad guy while playing with neighborhood kids. He’s just so good at it, which is a testament to his commitment to Cleaner.
“I was never the villain — I always wanted to be on the good guy team,” a laughing Skylar revealed. “I never thought of myself as the Machiavellian before, and I quite relish this one.”
While he wasn’t a kid who loved villains, he is now “the adult who likes” them. Still, Taz Skylar is uncertain that Cleaner will propel him to play villains in his future projects, but it is a nice notch in his belt. It is another talent in the multi-faceted actor’s repertoire.
Cleaner is in theaters.
The post Exclusive: Taz Skylar passed out fighting Daisy Ridley in Cleaner appeared first on ClutchPoints.
