Exclusive: Lance Reddick Talks ‘Angel Has Fallen’

Coming out this week from Lionsgate is Angel Has Fallen, the third installment in the ‘Fallen’ franchise following Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen.

The film stars Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Jada Pinkett Smith, Lance Reddick, Tim Blake Nelson, Piper Perabo, with Nick Nolte, and Danny Huston.

Morgan Freeman’s Allan Trumbull has succeeded President Asher (Aaron Eckhart) and put Mike (Butler) in charge of the Secret Service.

When there is an assassination attempt on U.S. President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), his trusted confidant, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), is wrongfully accused and taken into custody. After escaping from capture, he becomes a man on the run and must evade his own agency and outsmart the FBI in order to find the real threat to the President. Desperate to uncover the truth, Banning turns to unlikely allies to help clear his name, keep his family from harm and save the country from imminent danger.

For Lance Reddick, who was recently in the action-packed John Wick 3, he’s no stranger to appearing in these sort of film, having been featured in White House Down a few years ago. Between TV and films, seems like Reddick can flow in and out between both platforms without missing a beat.

Blackfilm.com recently spoke with Reddick regarding his experience on Angel Has Fallen and working with the cast.

You’re no stranger to playing some sort of high security office so what was the attraction to doing this movie?

Lance Reddick: You know what’s funny is like I thought I thought initially this was the third outing for you in this movie but then I got confused because you were also in the white house down you know so yeah so then talking about the difference in your row.

How would you best describe your character?

Lance Reddick: He’s the head of secret service. He took over after Angela Bassett’s character died in London Has Fallen. He took over in between that film and this film and at the beginning on this film, he’s getting ready to retire. Then everything goes down.

You’ve done action films before is this film the most you’ve done physically?

Lance Reddick: I did an action film called The Guest, which was directed by Adam Wingard. Many, many years ago, I did a fair amount of action in The Siege, which was one of the first feature films I ever did and starred Denzel Washington. That was over 20 years ago.

From the studio and independent films you take, what goes into saying yes to the roles?

Lance Reddick: It’s one of three things. It’s the role or the project, or it’s who’s asking me to do it. For Little Woods, it was more about the project than the role. With Angel Has Fallen, I had the offer before I got the script, so I wasn’t sure I wanted to play the head of secret service because there’s just so many people in charge of law enforcement. Then, once I read the script and Ric Roman Waugh, who co-wrote and directed the film, got on the phone and pitched the role to me, it became very appealing after that conversation. I wasn’t disappointed with the production shoot.

Had you seen the previous Fallen film prior to taking this project on or did you have to go back and watch them?

Lance Reddick: I had to go back and watch them. I actually watched London Has Fallen again.

You’re working opposite Morgan Freeman and Gerard Butler. What’s that chemistry like when you’re the new guy coming onto the scene?

Lance Reddick: It was a little different from the John Wick series only because I was there from the beginning. It took a minute to get my bearings. Any time I walk into a new situation, it’s the same drill. You just have to work on your stuff and work professionally with the people on the set and then you work out the kinks as you go.

What do you think has made this a successful franchise?

Lance Reddick: The whole flawed hero angle is something that we love. Gerard is so great with the action and having watched both films, you care so much about the character. His performance in this action film is fantastic. It’s a combination of the performances, the action and caring about the characters. It’s hard to go wrong.

From the films you have done, you’re that character that won’t die. Is that part of your contract?

Lance Reddick: With the John Wick, I already read the scrip right away to know if I’m going to make it out alive. That’s a series where anyone can die except for John.

How do you find a balance between doing TV and films?

Lance Reddick: You just have to be good at scheduling. Last year was crazy. Maybe the craziest years I’ve had only because I had Angel Has Fallen in London for about a month, then in Bulgaria for 2-3 weeks. Then I literally went into shooting season 2 of Corporate and once I was done with that, I started shooting John Wick 3. I was actually going and back until Corporate was done. As soon as John Wick 3 was done, I started the fifth season of Bosch. I was able to wrap a bit early on Bosch so I could go to Hawaii to film Godzilla Vs. King Kong. It’s just a scheduling thing.

You have Sylvie coming up in which you are working with Tessa Thompson again. What’s your role going to be in that?

Lance Reddick: I play her dad. The funny thing about that is that ever since we worked together on Little Woods, I said to myself that I would love to do a movie with Tessa where I play her dad and it’s funny how this film came up this year. It’s a beautiful script. I think it’s going to be a great film.