Posted in: Amazon, Interview, MGM, Movies | Tagged: A Working Man, Amazon MGM Studios, david ayer, Eve Mauro, jason statham, sylvester stallone

A Working Man: Eve Mauro on Seizing Opportunity, Ayer, Statham & More

Eve Mauro (Cypher) spoke to Bleeding Cool about her latest action thriller 'A Working Man', director/writer David Ayer, Jason Statham & more.

Eve Mauro has been working hard at her craft for the better part of 20+ years since her debut in a Madonna music video in 2003. She secured her first TV series on the ABC sitcom Ugly Betty in 2006 and worked her way through mostly the independent film scene and occasional TV roles, including Showtime's Dexter, FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Fox's Bones, and more. She landed one of her biggest opportunities in Amazon MGM Studios' action thriller A Working Man, based on the Chuck Dixon work Levon's Trade. The story follows Levon Cade (Jason Statham, an ex-Royal Marines commando, trying to live a peaceful life as a construction worker in Chicago. He's tasked to search for his boss's teenage daughter, discovers she's a victim of a trafficking ring, and to save her, he'll have to unravel the conspiracy. Mauro spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with director David Ayer, adapting to the larger scale production, and more.

A Working Man: Eve Mauro on Working with David Ayer and Star Jason Statham

Bleeding Cool: What intrigued you about 'A Working Man?'

David Ayer, being the director, speaks for itself. He wrote 'Training Day' (2001), was also the director of 'Fury' (2014), 'Suicide Squad' (2016), and so many amazing movies. Also, [Sylvester] Stallone wrote it, and we all know 'Rocky' (1976). How amazing are those two people together? You add Jason Statham; what an amazing career in action! Every single movie he does breaks the bank, which is great. Those were three leading factors. However, the script was amazing. The things it touched on with trafficking, drugs, and current events, and it was action-packed, and I was excited to be a part of the project.

Was working with David everything you imagined?

Oh yeah, exceeded by far. There's one day, you just really felt it. You walked onto the set, and you're like, "This is a major motion picture! How cool is that?!" They even had a fake moon. This moon was huge, and you look up, I'm like, "We have a real moon!" But you have this huge egg moon there and like, "Wow!" I felt more like an actress at that moment. You have those moments of clarity, and you're there, and you're like, "Wow! I made your motion picture; how dope is this?!" As a director, he was amazing, and he took his time with everyone. He helped everyone develop their character and make sure they were there and connected. That was important.

Did you feel more pressure given the project of this scale?

I felt the pressure of this as a bigger budget movie than I've ever done. The stakes were higher, but I did what I needed to do to prepare for it. Of course, there was that pressure, but it made me work even harder. I want to make sure that I cross every T and dot every I, and walking on set with all these amazing actors, you're like, "Wow! I got to pull my weight here."

Did you have a chance to talk to Jason, David, or any of the more seasoned veterans and poke their brains about the craft or the industry in general?

When we did the table read, all the actors talked about the craft with David, and we improvised and did things. He got into the character's psyche and helped us develop it. I don't think David's a real small talk kind of guy, which, you know, small [laughs]. So that's good, and Jason was great. He's very professional and he's an amazing person to work with. He knows what he wants in a character. Everyone on set since this great big production is super focused, has blinders on, and it's this vision that they're focused on. As much as small talk does help in a lot of sets, in this one, everyone had this vision, and when we were on set, we went for it.

Was there a particular sequence during filming or just an aspect of your production that stood out to you or something that might have taken a little longer to film for you than usual?

We prepared and trained for the stunts, and everything moved. We did stunt training; it wasn't like we jumped in there and winged it. We went for it, and everything went smoothly. Nothing took longer than I anticipated, just the opposite. Some things were faster than I expected. Everyone was on point. There were so many people on set. You have hair, make-up, and so many people doing their job. It was meticulous and done very smoothly. Nothing dragged on, and nothing that I thought could have been better. It was amazing.

Were there other genre work you hope to do more in the future?

I enjoy this villain era, so I would love to dive into it and develop it with different characters, different people, and the same people. I would love to work with them again. I love thriller action and anything that I can sink my teeth into.

What takeaway do you have from your whole experience on 'A Working Man' you came away with?

It's important when developing the character that if it was just about the lines and it wasn't developing your character and improv-ing, it wouldn't have worked quite as well. Seeing all the work, everyone else did and knowing how the characters were all developed so strategically by each of the actors. Putting in the work is my best takeaway and when we all did, the project came together. When everyone puts in equal amounts of effort, magic happens, and always makes that magic happen.

A Working Man, which also stars David Harbour and Michael Peña, comes to theaters on March 28th.

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