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It’s surprising that it’s taken this long for Mitch Rapp to make it onto the big-screen. The character, a fixture of Vince Flynn’s novels, has appeared in over sixteen best-selling books. It would seem like a no-brainer to turn such a popular series into a franchise (a la Jason Bourne & Jack Ryan). Yet Hollywood has struggled to crack the narrative, working on a filmic version for the better part of a decade if not longer. The film’s been in the works so long that the first adaption will be released over four years after the death of Vince Flynn.
American Assassin, based on the eleventh novel in the book series (but the first chronologically), focuses on Mitch Rapp’s (Dylan O’Brien) recruitment into the CIA and his first mission abroad. Under the tutelage of Stan Hurley (Michael Keaton), Mitch travels across the world to uncover a terrorist conspiracy and the covert agent(s) behind the pending attack.
In the following interview with Michael Keaton and Dylan O’Brien, the duo discuss the Vince Flynn novels, how their characters differ from the book’s version and crafting their own backstories from the American Assassin script (as opposed to the books). For the full interview, watch above. Below is a list of what was discussed.
- Are children terrified of Michael Keaton now after Spider-Man Homecoming?
- How familiar were the actors with the Vince Flynn novels beforehand?
- How many Flynn books did they read?
- How are O’Brien and Keaton’s characters different than the book versions?
- Do they look to the books or the American Assassin script to base their performances on?
- How do they get past the spy cliché of the student-mentor relationship?
- What headspace does Michael Keaton have to get in before shooting an intense torture sequence?
