When It Came to Stunts, ‘One Battle After Another’ Kept It Real

When stunt coordinator Brian Machleit signed on to Paul Thomas Anderson‘s “One Battle After Another,” the writer-director gave him one clear mandate. “Paul wanted to keep everything grounded in reality and to have the actors do as much action as possible themselves,” Machleit told IndieWire. That meant planning stunts in close collaboration not only with experienced actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Benicio Del Toro — who did all his own stunt driving in the film — but newcomers like Chase Infiniti and non-professional actors like the Army Rangers who were essentially playing themselves.

“Whether it’s a veteran actor or somebody who has never been on a movie set before, the challenge was to make sure they had the tools to perform whatever Paul needed from them,” Machleit said. In both cases Machleit had to come in with a set plan that he could then modify according to the discoveries Anderson and the actors made in the moment, something he was used to from both his prior collaborations with Anderson (“Licorice Pizza”) and DiCaprio (“The Aviator,” “The Revenant”).

“Leo is fully invested,” Machleit said. “He spends time on research and his backstory and collaborates with Paul ahead of time. My job is to give him the resources to give him the confidence to know he’s safe. We give him the parameters to work in, but also allow him to develop something new on the day.” For a stunt in which DiCaprio had to bail out of a moving car, for example, the actor kept adding ideas that made the scene funnier and more real, as he worked various props into his jump. Another stunt, in which DiCaprio fell while trying to jump across two tall buidings, was even more ambitious.

“We did a few takes of him falling before he said, ‘Hey, what about this? I think it would be funnier if I fell through a tree and clipped a few things going down, but then landed in this awkward state.’ We integrate that and then the scene really comes alive and he puts his stamp on it. You never want to restrain an actor or say, ‘Can you throw a punch like this?’ You want them to do what’s organic for the character.”

Part of helping the actors stay true to their characters is giving them extensive training ahead of time, so that the technical aspect of the stunts becomes second nature. “You have to set the stage and really dive in ahead of time to make sure everyone knows the ins and outs of what their car can do, so when they perform they don’t have to think about that,” Machleit said. “They need the training to be responsible for the other actors in the car. The fun part was being a mentor to day players, or people who were brand new.”

Machleit was particularly impressed with Chase Infiniti, who made her feature film debut in “One Battle” and trained with Machleit’s team to learn not only the driving stunts but her martial arts moves. “She went toe to toe with these heavyweight actors and they all treated her as an equal,” Machleit said. “It was great to watch that rapport.” He gave Teyana Taylor high marks as well, noting that one of her stunts involved running for several before hitting a precise mark at the end of a long take — jumping sideways into a minivan driving at top speed.

That stunt came in the middle of a chase sequence that grew out of Anderson’s location scouts, similarly to the already iconic final set piece set among the rolling hills of Borrego Springs, California. “That’s the fun part of working with Paul, his creative process is always evolving,” Machleit said. “He gets out on the road and his creative juices really get flowing.” Machleit says keeping an open mind to the possibilities of any given scene is essential, not just when working with Anderson but on any film.

“Any director of stature is going to want to keep things organic,” Machleit said, though he added that Anderson’s sets are special. “I think it was a 98-day shoot, but it didn’t feel that way because with the people Paul puts together, you’re watching a varsity team playing the game every day. Everyone has something to offer him to make the best film possible, and it’s really cool to be able to go to work and see that. Because there’s no point if you’re not learning something new every day.”

Warner Bros. will release “One Battle After Another” on 4K UHD on January 20.