'The Lockdown' Interview: Caity Lotz and Leo Howard

(L to R) Caity Lotz and Leo Howard at the premiere of ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

Opening in select theaters on August 16th and available on digital beginning August 27th is the new action movie ‘The Lockdown’, which was directed by Ryan C. Jaeger (‘Kung Fu Games’).

The film stars Caity Lotz (‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’), Leo Howard (‘G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra’), and Michael Biehn (‘The Terminator’ and ‘Aliens‘).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Caity Lotz and Leo Howard about their work on ‘The Lockdown’, their first reaction to the screenplay, their characters’ relationship, shooting the fight sequences, having veteran actor Michael Biehn play their father, and working with director Ryan C. Jaeger on set.

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Caity Lotz in ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

Moviefone: To begin with, Caity, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay and your approach to playing Charlie?

Caity Lotz: Well, my first reaction was, “Do I want to do a martial arts film that shoots in Thailand? Hell, yes I do.” So, I was already a bit sold even before I got to the script. I was excited. Then after reading it I was like, “This is awesome.” The sibling dynamic in the film I think is cool, and to have so much heart and character in a martial arts film because it’s about the fights, but it’s lovely that there were also some great character moments. So, for me it was exciting, and I think I liked the character of Charlie a lot because she’s kind of righteous and very black and white and sees things one way and her brother is almost the opposite and watching them contend with that and deal with it together is cool.

(L to R) Leo Howard in ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

MF: Leo can talk about Jack’s relationship with his father, why he goes to Thailand to see him and what he’s hoping to get out of it?

Leo Howard: Yeah, so the whole kind of idea is Jack and Charlie, the gym that their father owned and ran for many years, to transfer it to their name, they must go get this deed signed by their father who’s locked up in Myanmar. For Jack, there’s kind of a full circle of Jack trying to live his father’s legacy and run the gym and make it successful again. He’s kind of been beaten down. So, there is a desire for his father’s approval, and I think there’s an expectation of getting that approval and what it’s like for someone not to get that approval and that journey throughout the film of what their relationship is like. Jack is the one that believes the best in people, he’s gullible and naive. Charlie has a much more black and white view. She was also older. She witnessed a lot more of the abuse in the family. So, it kind of lends itself for an interesting arc throughout the film.

(L to R) Leo Howard and Caity Lotz in ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

MF: Caity, Max is maybe the worst dad ever. Can you talk about Charlie’s resentment towards him and what was it like working with Michael Biehn?

CL: We had fun. It was interesting. I think I remember the first day we met Michael was in Thailand and we were going to do a read-through with the director and somehow it turned into this hour-long improv session of family therapy, and we just fell into our characters. It’s so interesting because the way he plays it and the way he views it’s like he’s not a, “Ooh, I’m the evil dad.” It’s he’s the victim. He thinks he’s the victim there. It was such a fun dynamic because just all those feelings naturally … I don’t know, he’s quite triggering in a fun way. When we got to finally watch the film and just seeing his smile, I’m like, “Oh. It’s fun.” I feel like he brought out a lot. It made it easy to act with him. So, I really enjoyed that.

(L to R) Leo Howard in ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

MF: Leo, what was your experience like working with Michael and creating this estranged father/son relationship?

LH: I felt like a sponge. I really learned a lot from watching him. To kind of cap on what Caity was saying, he was the victim. I think it’s a testament because some actors would’ve gotten in there and sort of played the villain. “I’m the bad guy of the film, right? I must make this decision”. He really justified it in a way that from Jack’s point of view, I could really empathize with. I get it. I thought that was a really great choice on his part and I learned a lot. So again, he was one that working with him, it was very easy because he moves me, he really affected me, and I think Caity feels the same way. He’s just a very intense man and unpredictable, which I think is interesting on screen. So, I had a great experience working with him.

Caity Lotz in ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

MF: Caity, can you talk about training and preparing with the fight choreographers for the fight scenes?

CL: Yeah, we had a lot of fun. To prep, because I have martial arts experience, but not a lot in specifically Muay Thai. So before going to Thailand, I deep dove into trying to just get ready to be able to keep up in doing Muay Thai in Thailand. Then when we got there, we got there at least three weeks early and basically had bootcamp. We were learning all the fights and training and getting ready because we had no doubles, there’s no stunt doubles, nothing. Everything you see is practical, no wires, no anything. No doubles ever. So that was cool. Also, I was like, “Wait, but you’re going to have somebody just in case, right?” They’re like, “No, you don’t need it.” I was like, “Oh yeah, sure, okay.” I got a little spoiled being on that TV show (‘DC’s Legends of Tomorrow’) where you’re there like, “You have a double, don’t worry. Go take a break.” So, it was fun. Doing the ring fights was also something I’ve never done. I’ve done a lot of fight scenes but doing a fight scene in a ring is totally different. The stunt people in Thailand are hardcore. They’re super talented and super tough. So, there was a lot of, “Just hit me. Just really, just do it.” I’m like, “Okay, but don’t really hit me. Not too hard. My shins are made of glass.” So, it was good, and it was fun.

(L to R) Leo Howard in ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

MF: Leo, what was your experience like working with the stunt team and to create those fight sequences?

LH: It’s awesome, man. It made the little kid in me very happy. It’s sort of what I always wanted to do when I was a kid. It’s kind of why I wanted to act and then ended up falling in love with acting in general. But I always looked at martial arts movies and I was like, “That’s what I want to do, Bruce Lee.” So, it was cool. It was a fun full circle for me. I train a lot. I’ve done martial arts my whole life. I’ve done Brazilian jujitsu for 14 years or so, and it was a hard shoot. It was tough on my body, but I’m very proud of all the fights that we did, and I think it looks great. So, it was a dream come true for me. I really enjoyed all the fight stuff I did, and the ring stuff was unique like Caity was saying. I’d never done any kind of ring fighting before. There’s different dynamics to it. It’s a little harder to hide things. You’re in a wide-open ring, and so the choreography changes, the style of fighting changes. It was a unique experience for me.

Caity Lotz in ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

MF: Caity, can you talk about collaborating with director Ryan C. Jaeger on set?

CL: Ryan’s awesome. We had so much fun and he’s super open while still having his own strong vision for everything. But he always wanted to hear what you felt, what you needed and how you wanted to bring the character to life and put a lot of trust in you while still having his strong vision for what he sees and how he sees it. I’m happy with the way it turned out. I think he got some beautiful shots. Tonally, I think the film’s also interesting because it’s quite dark, but then you have a lot of humor still in there and a lot of fun. So, I think Ryan kind of wove all those pieces together well.

(L to R) Leo Howard, director Ryan C. Jaeger and Caity Lotz at the premiere of ‘The Lockdown’. Photo: Paramount Home Entertainment and Tiger Style Media.

MF: Finally, Leo, what was your experience like working with Ryan on set?

LH: I love Ryan. He is a perfect mix of a collaborator, yet very firm in what he wants in the vision. I thought he did a great job from the script that I read, really bringing it to life and adding, like Caity said, the humor, the darkness. He didn’t go overboard with shots, and just laid out a nice film. I thought he did a kick-ass job.

Siblings Charlie and Jack are trapped in Myanmar’s toughest prison and accused of a crime they didn’t commit. Forced into televised fights against other inmates,… Read the Plot

What is the plot of ‘The Lockdown’?

Siblings Charlie and Jack are trapped in Myanmar’s toughest prison and accused of a crime they didn’t commit. Forced into televised fights against other inmates, they must work together and fight for their freedom.