When casting Safe House, producer Scott Stuber and director Daniel Espinosa placed importance on avoiding tired tropes. Stuber explains the rationale: “Action without character is boring.
The script read well because everything moves at a quick pace. Then, when you sit and get to know these people, there’s a real depth to them. We went after actors who could be in those moments and have the audience feel what these characters are feeling.”
Denzel Washington
As the producer and the director discussed their dream cast, Denzel Washington was brought up as their ideal Tobin Frost, the CIA’s most notorious traitor.
The two invited Washington (then starring on Broadway in the play Fences) to discuss the proposition. Stuber recalls the meal: “At the end of lunch, Denzel stood up and said, ‘All right, we’re going to do this,’ and walked out.
I thought, ‘What? Is he going to call his agent? Is it a done deal?’ I wanted to make sure, so I called Denzel’s agent and he said, ‘I just got off the phone with him. He’s doing the movie with you and Daniel.’ It was one of those rare, great moments in this business.”
Washington, who had a window in his schedule coinciding with preproduction, labored with the filmmakers to hone the project and the character of an operative who has spent 9 years selling out the US.
The actor offers what attracted him to the role of a man wanted for espionage on four continents: “I got the chance to see Daniel’s film Snabba Cash, and it had a unique style and was a very different film. That made me very interested in him as a filmmaker. Scott, Daniel, David and I worked on developing the character. Safe House was an opportunity to revisit ways of working what I used to do. I invested heavily in the character and the story.”
As he prepared for the role, the performer went into full immersion mode. Washington says: “I didn’t want to do a lot of CIA research because Tobin Frost wasn’t CIA anymore. He hated everything about the CIA, and I wanted to discover his dark side. Scott gave me some great books to read, one of which was ‘The Sociopath Next Door,’ which became my bible that I would refer to in developing the character. I felt Tobin was a sociopath. When you think ‘sociopath,’ you think violence, and the majority of sociopaths aren’t violent but they want to win and manipulate. I thought he was a great liar, a great manipulator and perfect for the CIA.”
The filmmakers valued the actor’s work ethic on the project. Offers Espinosa: “Denzel is a master. He works harder than any actor I’ve ever met. When he decided to do the movie, he thoroughly researched and spent about a half a year studying his character before we even shot. When he got on set, no matter what the situation in front of him was, he reacted as the character that he was playing.”
Ryan Reynolds
With Washington attached, the team began the search to find Matt Weston, the man responsible for his house guest. For Espinosa, it is the contrast between and the evolution of Frost and Weston that distinguish the story. Notes the director: “Matt is a guy who has a lot of dreams. He believes that he can maintain a relationship with his girlfriend and have a somewhat normal life, while at the same time, coming closer to his goal of becoming a full-blown CIA case officer. He clings to the notion that you can be a strong, ethical, moral person while working in his chosen field. There is no gray area. Frost, however, is well beyond any such notion.”
They found their perfect Weston in performer Ryan Reynolds. Stuber recalls: “We had to be certain that the actor opposite Denzel would be ready. I’ve known Ryan for a long time and was sure that he would step up to that challenge. More importantly, he wanted such a challenge.”
Reynolds explains his interest in joining the team: “First and foremost, I was riveted by the story. It was also an opportunity to work with Daniel, who is an unusual and unpredictable filmmaker. He is unlike anyone I’ve ever worked with, or even met before. He’s this incredibly wise, intuitive, intellectual thug. It’s a weird combination that gives him this incredible street sense. He’s a guy who could easily be in a bar fight, and at the same time, if you name any book, there’s a good chance he’s read it—among the plusses, not the least of which was working with Denzel. You know you will learn a lot working with Denzel: Spending time with him makes you a better actor.”
The actor found the duality of Weston’s life—the housekeeper’s cover is that he is a health worker—compelling. He says, “I was fascinated by the fact that my character lives a complete lie. He’s lying to himself and wraps himself up in the flag. There’s a lot of hubris involved. He feels what he’s doing is righteous, and yet, there’s a dark, seedy underbelly to what he does—not the least of which is the fact that he lies to everyone he loves, and that takes its toll. He’s beaten up from this.”
Reynolds explains his character’s transformation: “Matt’s growth is debatable. In some ways, it’s almost a regression. Throughout the course of the film, he’s resorting to some of the same ways he’s previously despised. The audience’s concern as we’re watching is that Matt might be affected by Frost in the same way that Frost was swayed by whoever it was who caused him to go off book. One of the things that Frost does is reveal to Matt what this agency really is, how some of the black ops that it engages in are in the guise of a higher good. It affects Matt deeply, and he’s seeing how this could easily become him one day. Whether that’s growth or not, he’s definitely changed.”
Washington saw that growth in the man playing Weston and found Reynolds a worthy on-screen adversary. The performer compliments: “Ryan is a very good actor who works very hard, and we had good chemistry. He has an inherent innocence that I think was right for the part.”
