Filmmakers Dan Berk and Robert Olsen burst onto the scene with Villains, the riotous horror-comedy starring Bill Skarsgard and Maika Monroe. Their first big Hollywood blockbuster, Novocaine, sees them make an epic and funny genre-bending thriller with a creative high concept.

We at FandomWire got to speak with Berk and Olsen about the film, how they strike such an effective tonal balance in their work, and what makes a great action hero. Check out the full interview below.

Novocaine Interview

Amber Midthunder as “Sherry” Jack Quaid as “Nate” In Novocaine from Paramount Pictures.

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FandomWire: Just to nerd out here a bit, I think Villains is one of the great horror-comedies of the last decade. And I think Novocaine pulls off a similar balance between its action and comedy as Villains does with its horror and comedy. How does your work manage to juggle tones so effectively? 

Robert Olsen: It’s something that we’ve always done pretty naturally. I think that’s just the kinds of movies that we like. We were looking at a lot of late ‘80s/early ‘90s action movies when we were getting ready for this. Things like Lethal Weapon, Midnight Run, Die Hard. I think a lot of these movies are really, really funny, yet you don’t think of them as pure comedies. There’s real drama in those movies. The stakes are real. The characters are going through real trauma and plight.

So we were just trying to bring that vibe back a bit because I think a lot of times with action movies nowadays, it’s pushed one way or the other. It’s either all just a joke and funny, or it’s quite serious and dour and badass. And we love those movies too. But I think for us to get excited about something, it has to be a little funky and a little left of center.

We’ve been wanting to do an action movie for the longest time, and the concept for Novocaine was just something that drew us because we knew that the fight scenes would feel unique. It’s not somebody who knows how to fight, and you’re not used to seeing that as an audience member — your protagonist getting their ass kicked for the first 90% of the fight and then figuring out some crazy way to win in the last second.

Dan Berk: With the comedy infusion, I think it’s also a matter of making sure — like Bobby said — that there’s always stakes, which is a product of making the world around the character feel real. Like in Novocaine, it feels like it’s taking place in the real world, except Nate is obviously sort of in conflict with that world. He’s not a likely action hero.

So because of that, you get all these comedic moments. If you make the world itself all comedic and there’s all these setup-punchline sort of joke moments, that’s when you spiral into farce. And then there’s not really stakes anymore, and then you’d lose the heart that we think is so important at the center of the film.

Directors Robert “Bobby” Olson and Dan Berk in Novocaine from Paramount Pictures.

FW: Novocaine is obviously very inspired by classic action films. What do you think makes a great action hero?

Berk: An iconic action hero? That’s a good question. I think in our case, like Bobby said, the reason that we think this character is so special and memorable is how unlikely he is. The fact that he doesn’t have the skills, he doesn’t have the toolbox that other action heroes do, and yet he fights just as hard — if not harder — and he has to utilize what we think is a much more relatable characteristic: wit. You don’t have to go to the gym every day for 10 years to cleverly puzzle together a situation and figure out a way to overcome an adversary, and that’s what Nate’s doing. 

So almost every element of him is deeply relatable to an audience member, and we think that’s what makes an action hero really memorable and not just some forgettable kung fu master.

Director Robert “Bobby” Olson, Jack Quaid as “Nate”, and Director Dan Berk in Novocaine from Paramount Pictures.

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Olsen: Yeah, I think that’s the key word: relatability. I think that there’s something so human about John McClane and his struggle, and I think the same thing with Riggs and Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon. A lot of times, you either die a Riggs or live long enough to see yourself become a Murtaugh. And I think that goes against a lot of modern action movies. Your protagonist has a secret past or was an assassin or whatever, but when your protagonist has a secret past, you have to hide them from the audience. You don’t get to fully know them. 

Those other movies, you don’t really do that. You understand who John McClane is. You understand who Riggs and Murtaugh are. You’re meeting them in vulnerable moments or moments with their family. You don’t have to pretend they’re one thing because you’re going to reveal at the 15 minute mark that they know karate. So it allows you to be so much closer to the protagonist, and that’s something we think really works in this film.

Novocaine hits theaters on March 14.

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