Bryce Dallas Howard & Bryan Cranston On Matthew Vaughn

In Argylle, author Elly Conway writes about fantastical espionage adventures. When she meets undercover spy Aiden, the plot of her novels begins to bleed into her real life as she is pulled into a real-life spy adventure. However, as Elly is drawn deeper into this world, she discovers that nothing is as it seems.

Bryce Dallas Howard leads Argylle, which features a powerhouse cast including Henry Cavill, Sam Rockwell, Bryan Cranston, Catherine O’Hara, Dua Lipa, Ariana DeBose, John Cena, and Samuel L. Jackson. Matthew Vaughn directed Argylle from a script written by Jason Fuchs. The movie was produced by Vaughn and Fuchs, along with Adam Bohling and David Reid.

Screen Rant interviewed Argylle stars Bryan Cranston and Bryce Dallas Howard, who discussed how Matthew Vaughn pushed them each out of their comfort zones. Howard also shared how she felt connected to Elly and what she wanted to infuse into the character.

Bryce Dallas Howard & Bryan Cranston Talk Argylle

Screen Rant: Jason Fuchs, who wrote this film, said that Matthew Vaughn pushes people outside of their comfort zone and that’s where the magic happens. How did Argylle push the both of you out of your comfort zone, and can you talk about working with Matthew as a director?

Bryce Dallas Howard: What you quoted of Jason Fuchs, our writer and producer, is exactly correct. Just the nature of the ambition of this movie pushed everyone outside of their comfort zone, and that’s thrilling. And it’s especially thrilling when you feel you’re safe to do that. That’s what the job is — to maybe go a little bit too far, maybe embarrass yourself, maybe there’s some schmacting at some points.

But then in between that, there are discoveries that wouldn’t happen unless you were given that permission, and Matthew certainly gave everyone permission to go there. Definitely a wild ride and very, very, very exciting.

Bryan Cranston: Well, the tone and the style of a Matthew Vaughn movie requires you to leap into the unknown and allow yourself to explore. He certainly encourages that and, on the set, he’ll be yelling things out. “Try this, try this. Go further, go further. No, hold that back. Now go…” He’ll be yelling out, and it’s a little chaotic, but that also gets the energy up and the excitement of it. It’s all exploration, and it’s like a big trust exercise. You understand what your character wants, but you’re not always sure where the twists are coming yourself.

It’s not an easy guidepost to guidepost, or “This leads to this, which leads to that.” It’s like, “Oh, we just zipped over here, and now we zipped over there.” That’s why it’s got to be seen in the theater, so that you can watch it all the way through. Because if you miss a little piece here and there, you’re going to be lost. You got to see it a second time.

Bryce, you play Elly Conway. What did you want to bring to Elly that wasn’t on the page?

Bryce Dallas Howard: Well, I loved playing Elly, and I felt very connected to her because my mom is a novelist. I grew up in a household with a mom who had a million cats, was introverted, and would totally devote herself to her work and would research extensively.

I just felt I understood that because that had been modeled for me in my life, and I think that just in general, it’s really, really, really fun to play a character who has a very limited worldview and then gets pushed out of her comfort zone. The character was in a way going through what I as an actor was going through, and all of us, and that’s very rewarding.

About Argylle

Elly Conway is the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books—which center on secret agent Argylle and his mission to unravel a global spy syndicate—begin to mirror the covert actions of a real-life spy organization, quiet evenings at home become a thing of the past. Accompanied by Aiden), a cat-allergic spy, Elly (carrying Alfie in her backpack) races across the world to stay one step ahead of the killers as the line between Elly’s fictional world and her real one begins to blur.

Check out our other Argylle interviews:

Source: Screen Rant Plus

Argylle

Argylle is an action thriller by director Matthew Vaughn. The movie centers on an introverted novelist who is thrown into the real world of espionage after the plot of her most recent spy thriller parrels the crimes of an underground syndicate. Argylle has a star-studded cast, including Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Dua Lipa, and Samuel L. Jackson, among others.

Release Date

February 2, 2024

Director

Matthew Vaughn

Cast

Henry Cavill , Ariana DeBose , Sofia Boutella , Catherine O’Hara , Bryce Dallas Howard , John Cena , Dua Lipa , Samuel L. Jackson , Sam Rockwell , Bryan Cranston , Rob Delaney

Runtime

135 Minutes

Writers

Jason Fuchs

Studio(s)

Apple , Cloudy Productions , Marv Studios

Distributor(s)

Universal Pictures , Apple