Director Joseph Kosinski on the “High-Wire” Aspects of Top Gun: Maverick and Spiderhead

Liz Shannon Miller
·12 min read
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The post Director Joseph Kosinski on the “High-Wire” Aspects of Top Gun: Maverick and Spiderhead appeared first on Consequence.

Get ready for the understatement of the week: “We knew how to shoot an aerial sequence at this point.” That’s director Joseph Kosinski talking about making the new Netflix drama Spiderhead, which happens to feature a few scenes in which Dr. Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) flies a small plane to his island hideaway, where patients played by Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett experience some very unconventional treatments, all set to a bopping yacht rock soundtrack.

The above quote is an understatement because prior to Spiderhead, Kosinski directed Top Gun: Maverick, which also featured a scene or two involving planes. The flying sequences of Spiderhead, though, were just one aspect of what Kosinski calls a “mostly in-camera movie,” shot during the COVID-19 lockdown and just coincidentally making its way to Netflix a few weeks after Maverick‘s record-setting theatrical debut.

Kosinski tells Consequence in a phone interview that he realized about six months ago that his two films would be released closely together. “Top Gun was a movie that we kept pushing, waiting for theaters to reopen, and then there turned out to be three weeks [between them], which you’d think would be a little concerning. But, honestly, they’re such different films and in different mediums. It’s kind of fun to see how they compliment each other, and knock out all my press over an intense six weeks.”

Below, transcribed and edited for clarity, Kosinski explains his approach to tackling something small like Spiderhead in the wake of Maverick and what was involved in nudging actors like Hemsworth and Teller out of their comfort zones. He also reveals a big difference between the plane sequences in Maverick and the plane sequences in Spiderhead: For Spiderhead, he actually got to be in the plane… while Hemsworth flew it.

In general, what was the experience like going from something as big as Maverick to something as comparatively small as Spiderhead?

For me, it was refreshing. I like the rhythm of bigger to smaller. I like the different challenges. I like the constraints. Obviously they’re very different films, Spiderhead being essentially an ensemble piece about three people on this one set. So I liked the challenge of doing something completely different, and was honestly just really excited to be able to make something during that time in the pandemic when people were wondering if we could work at all. This was a film that I knew we could make given the restrictions, because of the nature of the story.

Yeah, what’s really exciting about this period of film right now is seeing what people were making during the pandemic, and how many different ways there are to tell a story with just a few people in a room.

Yeah, exactly. At the same time, you don’t want it to feel constrained by the pandemic, or that compromises were made. This was a story where it lends itself to this ensemble piece, but at the same time it was great to get outside and open it up, and shoot on Whitsunday Island, which is a place I’d probably never go to if it weren’t for this film.

Having these really lovely panoramic shots goes a long way towards keeping it from feeling claustrophobic.

Yeah. That was the nice benefit of being able to shoot in Australia. Chris invited us all down there, and I got to see a part of the world I’d never seen before that really lent itself to the tone of the film. It ended up being the perfect place for it.

When it came to shooting the plane sequences, at this point were you just like, “I got this. This is easy”?

Yeah. We knew how to shoot an aerial sequence at this point. [Maverick cinematographer Claudio Miranda also shot Spiderhead.] What I got to do on this film, that I didn’t get to do on Top Gun, was that I got to lay down on the floor behind Chris while he was flying this 60 or 70-year-old airplane. I got to be with him while he was shooting it, which I never got to do on Top Gun.

Afterwards, did you feel that that was an experience you definitely wanted to have? Or that it was an experience you could have lived without having?

It was a pretty old plane, and there was a moment where we were flying over the Coral Sea — Chris was flying — and all of a sudden I just started smelling gas in the airplane. The other pilot, who was sitting in the other seat was like, “Oh, don’t worry about that, that happens when we transfer fuel between the tanks.” And I was like, “Okay.” But at some point, you’re like, “Was this a good idea?” But it all worked out. It was great.

So there was another pilot flying with Chris?

Yeah. Chris was flying during the sequences, but we obviously had a professional there if needed. Even after only one lesson, though, Chris was able to land and take off. I guess the float plane is a little easier, maybe, because you can land anywhere. But still, I was impressed with how quickly Chris picked it up. And we were able to shoot all those sequences in camera, just like Top Gun. Which was a lot of fun.

Very cool. Talk to me a little bit about Chris Hemsworth, as it’s a pretty different performance from what we’ve gotten from him before. What was the process like working with him for you, and finding the layers he could bring to this character?

This is a very high-wire act. Only now, looking back, do I realize how important it is for the actor in this role to commit himself to it 100%, because if they don’t, I don’t think the movie works at all. And Chris was so committed to this character that the experience working with him was phenomenal. I was just so impressed with how prepared he was, and how willing he was and brave he was to try things, and do a character that’s unlike anything he’s done before.

That’s one of the great, fun things about the film, watching the layers peel away on who this character is, and the secrets that he carries with him, and why he’s doing what he’s doing. Chris is an incredible character actor with this leading man exterior. I’m just excited for people to see what range he has as an actor, and how much fun he’s having in this role.

Absolutely. Was there anything in particular he did that surprised you?

I mean, every day he came in so well-prepared, and the amount of dialogue that he has in this film — these monologues that he has — are incredibly difficult. So he would come in at 7:00 a.m., an hour or two before shooting, and work on the American accent to get that right. And then on the weekends, he would meet me on the set during our down days and we would walk through the blocking of all the scenes so that he could move around.

He reminds me of Tom [Cruise], in that he really understands how to work the frame. He understands lenses, and where to be in the frame, and how to use the camera to his advantage. And he wanted to know precisely where the camera was going to be, and how he wanted to move around. It was just great to experience him really dialing into this character.

Excellent. By the way, I love the fact that when you just say “Tom,” it’s still very clear who you mean.

There is only one. All you have to do is say “Tom,” and everyone knows who you’re talking about.

This is your third film with Miles Teller. What’s it been like working with him over the years, and getting to see him evolve as an actor?

It’s been incredible. Obviously, he was born with a tremendous amount of talent, and everyone knows about this talent, from Rabbit Hole or Whiplash where we first saw it. My first experience was on Only the Brave, where I needed someone who could carry the tremendous amount of emotional weight that that movie required. And he was just incredible in it.

He was at the top of my mind when I went to see Tom and Jerry [Bruckheimer] in Paris to talk about Top Gun for the first time. he was always the person I had in mind for Rooster. Even though we auditioned multiple actors and he earned it on his own, I knew he was capable of doing that, and he obviously did a tremendous job in that film, holding his own with Tom, which is hard to do.

And then, for this film, what I liked about it was that it was very different from anything I’d done with Miles before. Miles is a very strong actor and likes to drive scenes, and that’s what he’s known for. And this was a character that had to be much more impressionable and vulnerable to the charms of another character, and kind of going along with things as a passive participant. I didn’t see Miles doing anything like that before, and for the first half of the film that’s what he’s doing, until he turns the table.

I thought that would be a good challenge for him, and he did, too, so I’m glad he took it on and we were able to do another movie together.

Spiderhead Joseph Kosinski Interview
Spiderhead Joseph Kosinski Interview

Spiderhead (Netflix)

I’m glad he was on board for the challenge. It’d probably be a very different thing if you said, “By the way, you’re doing this, and we’re not going to have a conversation about it.”

No. He was on board to try something new, and he’s got such incredible range. For him, it’s about continuing to push it and find something new to take on. The career he’s built, even though he’s in his early 30s, is pretty phenomenal.

In general, a film like this is an opportunity to see actors do stuff that they don’t normally get asked to do. What’s important to you about finding those opportunities?

I’ve never read a story [like this], where the actor has to play an emotion that’s completely opposite the context of the scene. It’s hard to think of any other story like that, other than playing someone who’s deranged or crazy or possessed. This was kind of beyond that, because we have such a variety of drugs and emotions. It’s a huge challenge.

So like any project, casting is everything. And if you cast a movie correctly, you’ve got a shot at making a movie that works. If you’ve cast it incorrectly, you’ve really stacked the deck against yourself. So I knew I needed incredibly talented actors in every role, especially the three pillars, being Abnesti, Jeff, and Lizzy. So I tried to get the absolute best ensemble I could. You never know how they’re all going to gel, but the chemistry between the three of them is fantastic, and it all really worked.

Absolutely. In terms of the effect work, was it mostly practical?

It is. It’s a mostly in-camera film, shot on location on Whitsunday Island, which is near the Great Barrier Reef, and then on a giant set that we built on an unused basketball arena because of COVID. The whole set is built on a basketball court on the Gulf Coast. Which you’d never guess, with the lighting pushing some light into the ceiling. But yeah, a 40 day shoot, which for me is the shortest I’ve ever done. But again, a really fun challenge to figure it out.

As someone who came from the world of commercials, like a lot of great visual directors, what does it mean to have gotten your start in that area?

I think about the directors I admired growing up: Ridley Scott, David Fincher, Mark Romanek. I grew up as a child of MTV. And that’s a time where a lot of those guys did cross over from that world into film and were very visually driven. Tony Scott as well.

Since my path was not through film school, but through engineering and architecture school, commercials were my opportunity to start working as a director, and obviously David Fincher gets credit for giving me my first opportunity. He kinda got me my first commercial. So I’m just very grateful for the path I took, and I think it informs the films that I make and how I make them. I think commercials are a great training ground for making films like this. You get to play with all the toys and work at an agency and you get a script and have to come up with a vision for shooting it. It’s great training for what I do now.

My last question is, simply, what’s next for you?

Well, you never know for sure. I never believe a movie is greenlit until I’m about two weeks into photography. But right now, it looks like I’m gonna be doing a movie set in a world of Formula 1 with Brad Pitt. Jerry Bruckheimer and Lewis Hamilton, who’s a seven-time world champion, are producing it with me, and we’re hoping to start shooting next year.

I saw that you’re planning on doing it in concurrence with the F1 season?

Yes. In partnership with Formula 1, and shooting at real races. So logistically a huge, but exciting, challenge.

Director Joseph Kosinski on the “High-Wire” Aspects of Top Gun: Maverick and Spiderhead
Liz Shannon Miller

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