Xavier Gens is the director of the apocalyptic thriller “The Divide”. He is known best for directing films “Hitman” and “Frontier(s)”. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Xavier about his new film and working with such an amazing cast.
Mike Gencarelli: How did you come on board to direct the “The Divide”?
Xavier Gens: I was shooting a commercial and received a call from the producer, Darryn Welch. They sent me the script and said that they were fans of “Frontier(s)” and wanted to get my on board. I told them I really liked the concept but wanted to re-write the script a little to show my vision. I worked with Eron Sheean and Karl Mueller for eight months during casting and pre-production and we came up with the final script for the movie.
MG: The cast is such a broad collection of talent, tell us about how the cast was chosen?
XG: I worked with a fantastic casting director, Lindsey Kroeger. She has done wonders for a lot of movies and brought us a lot of great ideas. Since we did the casting only one month before shooting, there weren’t a lot of actors who were available. I never could have imagined that Michael Biehn would have been available to make this film. It was a pleasure to be working with such a legend from the 80-90’s, I grew up watching his movies. I was a little bit impressing in the beginning to direct him on the set. I put a weapon in his hands and directly I thought of Hicks from “Aliens” and it was really cool. Everyone on the film was just great.
MG: Like “Frontiers(s)”, “The Divide” is pretty brutal and intense; how do you know when you go to far with your films?
XG: I was frustrated on “Hitman” because I couldn’t do the editing. For me on “The Divide”, it was very important for me to do exactly what I wanted. It was like making my first film again. For me it was important to go much further where I could and bring something new out of this surrounding, almost poetic. I was great being able to have 100% creative freedom on the project. It was a great experience for me.
MG: What was your most difficult task in directing “The Divide”?
XG: I think it would have to be shooting in chronological order. We had our actors on diets during shooting, so they were losing a lot of wait. For example, Michael Biehn lost 17 pounds during filming. I also gave a lot of creative freedom to the actors. I used that a lot to catch the organic tension between the actors on camera. Lauren German had trouble shooting a few scenes because she never knew what the other actors were going to be doing. There was some scripted lines but most of it was free-range improv from the actors.
MG: How do you feel that “The Divide” differs production wise from your past films “Frontier(s)” and “Hitman”?
XG: It was a great really. I got to do exactly what I wanted. I was really happy with the final cut of the film. It is hard to get that normally from a studio. It was fantastic and I look forward to working with those people again.
MG: What do you have planned next?
XG: I am currently working out financing for a movie and waiting to sure what will be next. I cannot be sure for the moment. We will see what happens.