The Bikeriders director Jeff Nichols didn't take much convincing to cast Austin Butler in his '60s-set motorcycle gang drama – in fact, the trailer for Elvis was all he needed to make up his mind.
"[Casting] started with Austin," Nichols says in the new issue of Total Film, which hits shelves next week. "It was before Elvis came out. I’d seen the trailer and there were just enough shots in that to say, 'Oh, that guy has done some serious work here'," Nichols recalls. "The script had been floating around, and it’s a compelling part. So, we had some incoming calls from people that were interested. And I knew that I wanted to meet with this young man. And then I met him."
Butler plays Benny, a wildcard member of the motorcycle gang. Jodie Comer, meanwhile, plays his girlfriend Kathy, who tries in vain to tame her unpredictable lover. Tom Hardy is gang leader Johnny, who wants to make Benny his successor. "I liked this idea that you build this love triangle – not two men chasing after the same woman, but a man and a woman chasing after the same young man," Nichols adds.
"But what if that young man is empty? What if ultimately that young man is not built to bear the weight of other people’s ideas for him, or their needs? So you spend an hour setting up and romanticising that strong, silent type [in Benny]. Then you pull on the thread just a little bit longer, and you see the fruit that that bears. And it’s quite painful, and quite trying."
The Bikeriders doesn't have a release date just yet. For much more on the movie, pick up a copy of the new issue of Total Film when it hits shelves on November 9. Check out the covers below:
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