When Guy Ritchie came to film his war movie The Covenant, just three months after the tragic events on the set of Rust, he had a big decision to make about prop guns.
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant sees a U.S. Army sergeant, played by Jake Gyllenhaal, return to Afghanistan to try and extract the interpreter who saved his life.
Newsweek spoke to Ritchie and Gyllenhaal about how weaponry was handled behind the scenes of the action thriller, which is out in movie theaters from Friday, April 21.
Ritchie co-wrote and directed the movie, which was shot in early 2022, when the events on the set of Rust in New Mexico were still fresh in everyone's mind.
On October 21, 2021, a prop gun being held by Alec Baldwin discharged, shooting both director Joel Souza and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins died as a result. Baldwin was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter and pleaded not guilty, but the charges were dropped Thursday.
In a movie where military and Taliban personnel get involved in multiple shootouts, the team behind Guy Ritchie's The Covenant had some important decisions to make.
Gun swap
Gyllenhaal is no stranger to starring in movies with heavy gun use. Some of his past examples include Jarhead, End of Watch and Ambulance, with Guy Ritchie's The Covenant the latest to be added to that list.
Since he'd used prop guns both before and after the events of Rust, Newsweek asked Gyllenhaal how it changed things on his latest project.
"I generally feel like that's more of a question for the producers, just because those are the choices that they make, but we used Airsoft weaponry on this," Gyllenhaal told Newsweek. "It allowed for a creative freedom, particularly as we were moving in the way guys shoot, so everything was safe."
Airsoft weapons are used in games where players use realistic-looking guns that fire plastic pellets. Think paintball but less messy.
Ritchie, who was speaking to Newsweek on the same virtual call as Gyllenhaal, added: "That whole thing has changed now, the whole game has changed.
"We haven't used a real weapon since then. So there were no real weapons. It's the first shoot that we had, which I have to tell you, it's a tremendous relief for all of us.
"They're as good as, they look as good as real weapons, they do all the functions as a real weapon. You get a gas discharge. It all seems as authentic as it can be, but as Jake said, it's Airsoft though. No one can get into any trouble."
Ritchie's back catalog of movies has often featured firearms; from his British gangster films, to The Man from U.N.C.L.E. and the recent Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.
Ritchie admitted he's always had trepidation when it came to having real guns used as props on set.
"I've never, I've never liked real firearms. I had no idea why we carried on in the industry with real firearms. It was just one of those things that everyone did, and it's a tremendous relief, as I'm sure it is for Jake, as much as it is for me, that you don't have that sword hanging over us any longer."
Interpreting, not translating
The core partnership we see in The Covenant is between Gyllenhaal's Sergeant John Kinley and his interpreter Ahmed, played expertly by Dar Salim.
While the story is fictional, it is based on the very real scenario many Afghans found themselves in during America's presence in their country. Those who volunteered to translate and interpret for the U.S. were promised a fast track to citizenship, though this did not always come to fruition.
"One of my closest friends that I've grown up with was a marine. He was a marine for a number of years and he fought in Fallujah," Gyllenhaal said, sharing his previous knowledge of interpreters in the war. "I communicated with him throughout the war, and he spoke of his interpreter all the time." Gyllenhaal noted that his friend is now head of the emergency services in New York City, working for the mayor.
"My friend told me, 'I owe my life to him [the interpreter]. So my real understanding, as intimate as it could get, is down to him. Now [my friend's] brought over his interpreter's family, and his daughters are devoted to New York City and being a part of that city as a result of their exchange in their relationships.
"One of my favorite lines from the movie is said by Ahmed: 'I'm not here to translate. I'm here to interpret.' What I love about that is what Guy did with the film. It's a movie about behavior more than it is about verbiage. These two characters don't speak a lot to each other, yet they say so much with their behavior.
Despite being a clear chain of command in place, Ahmed and Sergeant Kinley initially butt heads as Ahmed isn't shy about questioning orders. This is a quality Ritchie says he appreciates on a movie set.
"Yes, you do want pushback. What you want is you want to create an environment that is essentially positive and creative and open to ideas. And we have an expression, 'what you're after is a good bad idea.' Because a good bad idea leads to a good idea eventually and there's really no such thing as a bad idea." Ritchie continued, "What there is such a thing as is everyone's too petrified to have an idea, because that idea will get shut down but you really must recognize that the greatest roses come from the worst manure."
Specifying this technique to The Covenant, Ritchie said: "What Jake understood is that, you've got to come wearing a hat of positivity, creativity, and prepare to throw out everything that you previously thought was relevant in the situation, and go: 'You're right. Let's start again.'"
"We had a very unique and special experience," Gyllenhaal said of working with Ritchie, shooting The Covenant in Alicante, Spain. "When you're in Guy's world, there's an artistic exchange, and when that happens it's so unique."
Gyllenhaal recalled a scene in the movie where he was tasked with learning a monologue, while Ritchie figured out how to shoot it. "We were high off of it for a few days after we'd figured it out," he said, adding: "Inspiration is everywhere, kind of. And that's what it feels like working with Guy. I deeply loved it."
The Covenant, also titled Guy Ritchie's The Covenant, is in U.S. movie theaters starting Friday.
Update, 04/20/2023, 4:25 p.m. ET: This story has been updated to include the news that all charges against Alec Baldwin were dropped Thursday.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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