Jeremy Saulnier is your favorite genre fan’s favorite genre filmmaker, and to mark the 10th anniversary of Green Room, starring the late, great Patrick Stewart, the director took a break from the edit bay on his upcoming Slayground to surprise audiences at the Alamo Drafthouse in Downtown Los Angeles. When Saulnier takes the microphone, he fully admits that the intention behind his appearance was to shamelessly cross-promote Slayground (as evident by the blue Slayground Halloween buckets on every seat), but in the wake of the passing of Patrick Stewart, the beloved actor who also stars as the main villain in Green Room, he instead wanted to take the time to honor the legendary performer that many are collectively mourning.
“He had no business doing this movie; he had every option to do otherwise,” Saulnier told the crowd. After years of making mostly self-financed independent features like Murder Party and his breakthrough vengeance flick, Blue Ruin, Saulnier finally made the jump into what he described as “professional filmmaking” with Green Room.
“We were at the point of no return, building sets and under the gun without a heavy — without Darcy — the baddie of the film… we’re fucked.” Production on the film was close to having to shut down when Stewart, out of the blue, reached out with interest in playing Darcy Banker, the owner of a Nazi bar and leader of a the bar and leader of violent neo-Nazi skinheads. Within a week of thinking that production was going to be put out to pasture, Stewart signed on to play the role, and the film was instantly greenlit.
It’s unsurprising, considering Darcy is among Stewart’s career-best performances, and the juxtaposition of seeing someone as adored and respected as Star Trek’s Captain Picard playing one of the most despicable villains imaginable was a testament to his talent and dedication to the craft. He was even nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the FANGORIA Chainsaw Awards for his turn. “I thank him for taking that leap and making Green Room a thing,” Saulnier said. “It’s about the kids that I grew up with in Virginia in the hardcore scene… but Patrick Stewart is why I still can make movies.”
Stewart’s high-caliber star power provided the name value that’s become somewhat mandatory, even for lower-budget pictures, and the shock-value of seeing noted Good Guy Sir Patrick Stewart — a man who essentially had a cottage industry of goodwill simply by having the most beautiful friendship with Sir Ian McKellen — play a villain of this caliber was almost “too good to be true.” Except it was true. The performance did happen. And Green Room became one of the best films of the 2010s, regardless of genre.
Saulnier attests that Stewart was a “fuckin’ sweetheart” and a “true gentleman” who was a kind leader to the entire cast, but that he was always waiting for the hammer to drop, given Stewart’s insane stature as an actor. “One day, he comes up to me, and we’re shooting, and says, ‘Jeremy, love the script, I wanted to add a little something to the scene,’ and I’m like, ‘Shit! Here we go!’” he joked. “He wanted to inject into the text what he thought his character would say, and that’s nightmarish for me,” Saulnier said.
But that conversation led to what might be my new favorite Stewart Story. As the director tells it, Stewart’s big request was that during a scene after a camera came through and toward him, he just wanted to say “fuck.” That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. Predictably, Saulnier responded, “Permission granted, sir.” If Sir Patrick Stewart wants to utter a four-letter word, YOU LET HIM. “I just knew he was completely in line with the film, the aesthetic, his intentions, and me as a filmmaker,” he said.
To end his drop-in, Saulnier encouraged the audience to celebrate that “fuck” when the scene played out during the screening. “Clap for him. Cheer for him. But as Patrick Stewart would make sure I clarify here: whatever you do, don’t root for Nazis.”
Incredible words to live by. Rest in peace, Patrick Stewart. We will never root for Nazis.
