When Sharon Duncan-Brewster found out she was going to be in a John Wick spinoff, she didn’t know what to expect. Prior to being cast in Ballerina, she had only seen one John Wick film.
“I knew there’s a bit of fighting and there’s a bit of action and there’s fast cars going on,” Duncan-Brewster tells Inverse. But apart from that, all she knew was that it starred Keanu Reeves — a factor that made her answer an immediate yes.
So when she arrived in Budapest to start shooting, she got the crash course. She watched all the John Wick movies — or at least the relevant one, aka John Wick: Chapter 3, which Ballerina is a direct spinoff of. When she got the gist of the complex assassin franchise, she was raring to go. “I was like, ‘Give me everything,’” Duncan-Brewster says. “You want me to go and learn martial arts, I’ll do it. You want me to do backflips? I’ll learn how to do it.”
The ironic thing is Duncan-Brewster’s character in Ballerina, a Ruska Roma member named Nogi, doesn’t actually get to fight in the movie. Nogi is the second-in-command to Angelica Huston’s Director, and she becomes a mentor of sorts to Ana de Armas’ Eve, teaching her to hone her rage into a finely tuned weapon. But even if the extent of Nogi’s fight scenes involved one scene in which she teaches Eve how to “fight like a girl,” that didn’t mean Duncan-Brewster didn’t get the exhaustive combat training that everyone else got.
“I had stunt trainers teaching all sorts of moves and routines so that even though you don’t see Nogi necessarily doing anything in this movie, we understand she knows what she’s talking about,” Duncan-Brewster says.
“Once you dive into the John Wick world, you don’t really let it go.”
The intense two-week boot camp that Duncan-Brewster was put through — which exhausted her to the point that she collapsed in her hotel room every night — did more than just get her into fighting shape. It also helped her shape her character.
“Once you dive into the John Wick world, you don’t really let it go. That was something that helped me develop Nogi’s character with a sense of it’s about really living and breathing that discipline and that underworld.”
Inverse spoke with Duncan-Brewster about getting the part in Ballerina, how much of the movie Chad Stahelski really directed, and who would win in a fight: Nogi, or her Dune character, Liet Kynes.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Can you talk to me about how you first signed on to star in Ballerina? What was the audition process like?
I didn’t actually have to audition. And this doesn’t happen a lot for me. I got a phone call saying that the guys from the John Wick franchise want to speak to you. It was an invitation to just talk about a character that they had written and they had me in mind for, Nogi, and they told me a little bit about her. And in the middle of this meeting I was like, “Just so I’m clear, you say you want me to do this role or is this just a general chat or is this an audition or is this a chat to have an audition?” And they were like, “Are you interested?” I said, “Hell yeah, of course I’m interested.” From the time you say John Wick and you say the John Wick franchise and you talk about a character who’s so tough, for me, I couldn’t say no.
It was a very quick turnaround. Within less than two weeks, I was getting ready to get on a plane and go to Budapest to start getting ready for prepping for the character, doing some stunt training and getting acquainted with weaponry, armor, and all sorts of things. So it was a real baptism as soon as I arrived in Budapest.
I wanted to ask you about working with both Len Wiseman and Chad Stahelski. I know Len is the primary director for this; Chad stepped in to do some reshoots and other second-unit work. What was it like working with the two of them and seeing their vision for this movie?
It’s such an interesting question because most of my experiences towards the end of filming were with Chad. And so you have these two individuals who, for me, most of my conversations when I first joined and signed up was with the two of them. And you see how they view the film in very different ways. There’s a sort of philosophy in Chad’s approach, and Len is about … the visual artistry. And I think the joy of working with the two of them, from my experiences with the two of them, is that the lines meet and where the lines meet is where the drama is created, but also it’s embedded in a very secure visual.
So it’s exciting to work with two directors. I’ve never had that before. And for me, Chad’s philosophical approach, the whole martial arts way of thinking, he started to send some little seeds and spread some little whispers in my ear. And I love it that they both know in order to create a character, that you have the base of the cake, you have the layers, and it’s the same for them. Only the flavors are extraordinary. It’s not what you would see in most films that we see at the moment.
If she were ever to show up again in either another Ballerina sequel or main John Wick movie, would you like to explore that backstory or would you want to have her own spinoff movie?
Either of the two. You asked the question. I would have either of the two. I mean, I’d love if she came back to the film franchise, because her relationship with Eve, and even just working with Ana, she’s an extraordinary performer. And the work that she puts in, her dedication, to witness that and to be a part of that and to work alongside her... For me, I’d love to work with her again, be it now, be it a year, be it four years. I’ll take that. And if you’re going to offer me a John Wick franchise TV, yes, my dear, bring it, I will take it. This is what I love about that world as well, it’s respectfully knowing where all these intricate little details and cogs of all these different people all over the world, how they fit. And it would be great to explore her backstory because you could bring a whole two continents into the film. So without saying anymore, yeah, it would be great.
“There are moments where it’s just little looks between myself and Ana, and that’s the unspoken.”
Speaking of Ana, I wanted to ask about working with her and establishing a rapport. What was it like getting that relationship off the ground? Because your characters have known each other all of Eve’s life basically — getting that dynamic on screen, how was that like?
You know something, we never actually talked about how we would approach it. I think that maybe we just met on a linear level, which was in agreement with our energies. She’s a really generous human being, and that helps when you are a newbie on the block. I stepped onto the set, and she very kindly said, “I want to show you something.” She showed me some footage of what she’d been up to and she said, “I want you to know what this film is, what this film means. Welcome.” And I thought that was very kind-spirited. For me, that’s all I really needed.
But yes, to know that our characters have known each other most of her life, and to see the sense of influence that Nogi has upon this young being who needs security, who needs support, who needs empathy and sympathy because she’s been through so much. But yet as we see her growing up, Nogi is responsible for taking everything that she holds and making her the warrior that she needs to be. And so there are moments where it’s just little looks between myself and Ana, and that’s the unspoken. The rest, it’s all there.
Your other main scene partner is Anjelica Huston as the Director; can we talk about that relationship? There’s a little bit of partnership, but there’s also the hierarchy because the Director is obviously in charge but also quite intimidating.
Our scenes are — am I allowed to even say it? Spoilers! We’d done green screen for us to be in our scenes. So I still haven’t actually met Anjelica.
So for me, I’m in scenes with this amazing actor, legendary performer. And so it’s about having to trust what you’ve been told from the people who are directing you in the moment of green screen, but also to remember what I’d seen previously and have an instinct about how the lines were going to be delivered. It was an interesting process recording those scenes, but when I saw the final moments, you can’t even tell that we’re in two different places, which is testimony to everybody on board, including myself.
Well, I had no idea. It’s seamless. She wasn’t present though in any of the scenes that you shot with her, huh?
Yeah, we did green screen, and I was so excited to be doing these scenes with Anjelica, and then they said, “Oh, well she’s across the other side of the world.” And it can happen and these are things that we just have to go with it. But I’m still excited to be meeting her at some point, hopefully soon.
This is not your first time in a genre blockbuster movie. You played Dr. Liet Kynes in Dune: Part One, a role that I absolutely loved you in. How do the two productions compare?
There was a very different pace to Dune. It was a very expansive world that we inhabited. And with regards to the John Wick world, everything seems compacted, and there’s a lot going on, and it’s a forced pushed energy and action as well. And also visually as well, because I like to work with pictures, there’s space, and there’s sort of dusty oranges and greens. With John Wick, there’s these deep beautiful purples and blues, which create more sort of graphic novel world. Whereas with Dune, you sort of have, yes, graphic novel, but in a slightly different style, the sort of mythological energy. As far as characters and actors go, it’s a world; it’s nice to be able to inhabit both.
A kind of a sillier question: If Dr. Liet Kynes were to go up against Nogi, who do you think would win? Liet is kind of a fighter too; she can ride a sandworm.
Yeah. My girl can ride sandworms; she can go there. It depends on the environment that they’re in. If it’s a question of survival in exterior worlds of forests, deserts, then I believe Kynes would probably outlast Nogi. If it’s combat, I think Nogi without a doubt. But the skill that Kynes has with, like you say, sandworms, looking after herself within caves, there’s not a drop of water to be found, she’ll be all right. I think depending on the environment, I’d go for Kynes. But combat, Nogi for sure.
You’ve carved out a great space for you in different genres like sci-fi with Dune and Andor, and now assassin thrillers with Ballerina. What’s next?
Is there another dream? The boxes are getting ticked fast and furious. I do feel that a lot of people don’t ever get to see the humorous side of me. Everyone sees quite serious and some very stoic characters that I’ve played. But I would love people to see the fun side of me and the kooky side of me, which really does exist. I can’t hide it.
It would be fun to do a feature, maybe some indie art house stuff as well. Comedy, fantasy, little playful stuff would be fun too. I just don’t like doing the same thing twice. I’ve always said that if you see me doing the same thing again, it’s probably because I thought I didn’t do it properly the first time. Or there’s somebody within the project that I’m bursting to work with and can’t say no to.
