American director Zach Cregger couldn’t be more thrilled about collaborating with actors Julia Garner and Josh Brolin on his upcoming horror-thriller film, Weapons. Known for his breakout with Barbarian, Zach returns with a new story where a group of schoolchildren vanish at exactly 2:17 a.m., and only one is left behind.
As the film gears up for release, Zach opened up about working with his lead stars Josh and Julia, calling it one of the most rewarding parts of the process. “The two most forward facing ones at the beginning of the movie are Julia Garner and Josh Brolin,” he said.
He also admitted that Julia’s appearance may give off a misleading first impression. “I think it’s easy to mistake Julia as a little bit of a delicate person. She’s got a very slight frame and this really wild, blonde shock of hair. And she’s very funny,” he said.
But what struck him most was the strength she brings beneath that surface. “She has this really, really powerful core. I think her magic is that she’s able to access both of these parts of herself with a lot of compelling expertise,” Zach added.
He was particularly impressed by her ability to shift from vulnerability to strength, something he sees as rare. “It’s fun to see someone who you would at first think is kind of a prey animal turn into… not a predator, but into something formidable.” He added, “It’s easy to cast a badass, but could that badass play a compelling third grade teacher whose main problem is that she loves her class so much, but still needs to be able to bring it? It’s a short list of people who can do that, and Julia can.”
As for Josh, Zach doesn’t hide his admiration. “Josh is one of my favorite actors… He’s so talented. He’s able to do so much with so little. He’s gruff, but he’s incredibly vulnerable… He’s a movie star. It’s one of the gifts of my life to be able to have Josh Brolin be in this movie,” he said.
The film, produced by the teams behind IT and The Conjuring, stars Brolin and Garner in lead roles, alongside Alden Ehrenreich, Austin Abrams, Cary Christopher, Benedict Wong, and Amy Madigan.
