Every time we find out more about what filming Suicide Squad was like, the more convinced we are that it was a nightmare beyond understanding. This week: Viola Davis calling Joel Kinnaman a “pussy” and a “bitch”.
Davis had an idea for how she wanted Amanda Waller’s first scene with Rick Flag (Kinnaman) to go. David Ayer had a different idea. One which involved Davis heaping a bunch of surprising new lines on Kinnaman. Here’s how Davis described the scene to Entertainment Weekly:
He would make me call, [Davis starts laughing and can’t really stop] Joel Kinnaman a pussy at times. A bitch. [More laughs.] It’s completely politically incorrect but it caused a reaction in me. It made me feel like a straight up thug, and it made Rick Flagg want to kick my arse. So David got what he wanted.
Or, and we’ve said this before in reference to the completely bananas stories coming out of the cast, Ayer could have tried letting the actors act. Kinnaman backs up Davis’ story, adding, “Some of the stuff she said really pissed me off. And I felt really betrayed.” As for Ayer, Kinnaman said, “And that’s exactly what David wanted me to feel… And now it’s in the movie. That’s some pretty high-level direction through manipulation.”
Yeah, it is. Doesn’t sound like fun, though. No matter how many times they say they loved working with Ayer, we’re going to keep getting a slight Stockholm Syndrome-y vibe from them.
Of course, it could be worse. He could have had them punch each other. Oh wait. He totally did that, too.