Jason Statham an ex-military heading into the shadowy world of people trafficking and counter-terrorism to search for his boss’ kidnapped daughter Jenny (Arianna Rivas) in David Ayer’s latest film, co-written by Ayer and Sylvester Stallone? Yes, A Working Man can undoubtedly count on over-the-top fights, explosive stunts and a high level of machoism. However, there is a lot of heart and emotion running through this feature, mainly thanks to Noemi Gonzalez and Arianna Rivas, who counter-balance the masculinity beautifully, emotionally and sometimes in a bad-ass way as mother and daughter. Geek Vibes Nation chatted with both actresses about their scenes together, the stunts, their favourite family meal and more.
Geek Vibes Nation: Hi both, congratulations on the film.
Noemi Gonzales: Thank you very much. Very exciting.
GVN: What was it about the script that made you want to do this? Noemi, let’s start with you.
NG: Essentially, receiving a script with the names Sylvester Stallone and David Ayer on it. That was an immediate freak-out moment. But in general, I worked with David on something, and we were developing a TV show about missing women. Since the show didn’t come to fruition, I was thrilled to be able to work with him again on something that needed to be shared and talked about. So, I was thrilled that I was able to see it in a different way. It wasn’t in the show package; now it was in a movie, and now more eyes are on it.
Arianna Rivas: Like Noemi, seeing the name Sylvester Stallone was such an amazing moment. I have a very personal connection to him with Rocky. So, he was always my inspiration as an actor and I was always impressed by his resilience. And so immediately, I thought, “Oh, this will be good”. There’s going to be a lot of heart to this script. And then knowing David’s work, watching him in interviews, and hearing how he speaks about his craft showed me that I would be in good hands. I knew it was going to be a great story. And I love the sense of justice and the fighter spirit throughout the film. So, I was excited to jump into it.
GVN: And because of the nature of the story, there are not a lot of scenes between you two. How was it then to portray the scenes you had together?
AR: Oh, the family energy was there; there weren’t many moments where we got to embrace levity. We always found moments, but having those family dynamics where we bounced off each other meant a lot, mainly because Noemi and Michael Peña [who plays Joe Garcia] put so much effort into building a natural chemistry. And during prep time we just talked and got close. For us being in those family dynamic scenes was just natural and electric. It was so much fun to do those.
NG: I was very thankful that we implemented that, and that was David facilitating it. He brought us together and said, “Listen, it won’t be believable if you don’t spend time together”. So we had dinner and brunches. We went out, we went to check out Leeds Castle together. We went on an excursion to spend quality time outside of London and get to know each other. Then we got to be on camera laughing and miss each other. We had the memories of getting to know each other as actresses. It was a good time.
GVN: How was it to be the female power to the masculinity of most of the team?
NG: Yeah, it was terrific.
AR: It was phenomenal. It felt empowering. Jenny is a firecracker. She doesn’t take no for an answer and gives it her all and everything. She might be in these environments that are male-dominated, but she doesn’t even see it that way. She’s like, “I’m here, two fists blazing, let’s go”. And so that was very empowering to me.
NG: Yeah, it was cool to see how it was written in the script. It was also crafted as a team, including her and Michael and David, where we registered like, you know, sometimes when moms go through something, you cannot believe that they’re the strong one, that they’re the ones that are stoic through something. However, you realize that women are the ones that can handle a lot more than is expected. It was remarkable to see how we took care of ourselves and others and that it wasn’t only the men taking care of us; that was highlighted, and we got to have fun doing it.
GVN: Arianna, in the film, your character gives Jason Statham’s character a family meal. I was wondering if you two would give the other one a typical family meal, which one would it be?
NG: Good question.
AR: I was going pass that baton to you because Mama knows best. For sure. A chicken tikka. It’s the family staple, at least. You can’t go wrong with that one.
NG: Chicken soup for me. I have chicken soup waiting at home for me to finish. I did the broth the other night. Now I’m going put it all together soon. It’s so comforting, especially after all that action. You’re going to want some chicken soup.
GVN: Arianna, how was it to do those fantastic stunts?
AR: It was a dream come true. I’ve always loved just throwing myself around. I did gymnastics growing up, so doing physically challenging things was just something that I truly enjoyed, and it gave me life.
So, I did some really fun things when working with such a great stunt team, like karate. Then, I could do things like throw fake rocks at people. It was all around. I felt like a kid in a candy shop. It was exciting. And it was tough at some points, but all in all, it was just so much fun.
GVN: And was it for you to see it on the big screen?
AR: It was surprising. At the moment itself, I knew I was nervous about getting it right, and I thought, “Okay, I hope that my movements translate well”. But watching it, I felt the energy. I felt my intention and my movements. And so I was just proud watching it.
GVN: Noemi, how was it to see those action scenes from your on-screen daughter?
NG: Incredibly impressive. I was also very jealous. I was excited for her. It was incredible to join and see that she had been in training for so long. You were in Windsor, and I was staying elsewhere. When I finally saw it on screen, after all the preparations, I was like, “This is so cool”. It was just really colourful and dynamic. You can feel that fire and that action.
GVN: Can you tell me about the other projects you’re working on now?
AR: I can say that I am working on Black Phone 2. I can’t say much about it, but I am excited for everyone to watch it, and I think everyone will enjoy it. It comes out in October.
NG: I’m developing some other projects that are still in the works that I also can’t talk about, so it’s exciting.
A Working Man is out in cinemas on the 28th of March courtesy of Amazon MGM
Subtitle translator by day. Film journalist by night.
