The studio wants Emily Blunt’s character to be very different in ‘Sicario’

The Big Picture

• Emily Blunt’s role in Sicario Originally intended to be played by a man, Benicio del Toro believes casting her as Kate Mercer was the right decision.
• Del Toro recognizes the challenges women and actors of color face in getting fleshed out and meaningful roles.
• More opportunities are emerging for actors to play characters that challenge the stereotypes of old-school Hollywood.

Denis Villeneuve2015’s Thriller Sicario Widely regarded as one of the best action films of the 21st century. A combination of the director’s terrific vision, has written a great story Taylor SheridanAnd the talented cast created the sequel, Sicario: Day of the Soldier, is currently in talks to greenlight a third film. But it’s the original film and the believable appeal of its leads that make it pop off the screen. Benicio del Toro knocks it out of the park as Alejandro Gillick, a hitman driven to avenge his family’s death at the hands of a cartel kingpin. Josh Brolin

DEA agent is solid as Matt Craven, who calls all the shots.

But if you could say there was one performance that made you sit up and take notice, this would be it Emily BluntA fantastic turn as Kate Mercer, an FBI special agent recruited by Craven to do battle with deadly cartels. When you compare Sicario Along with its sequel, the biggest reason it’s considered the best film is the absence of Blunt’s Kate Mercer. So what if the studio had gotten their way in the beginning and cast the part as someone other than Emily Blunt Sicario? It seems impossible to imagine another actor playing this role, and even harder to see a man in the role. But before the decision was made to cast Blunt, the studio wanted a man.

Emily Blunt’s character in ‘Sicario’ was supposed to be a man

In an interview with Kim Taylor-Bennett with Vice, Benicio del Toro opened up about how the studio originally wanted Kate Mercer’s Emily Blunt role as a man. The topic came up when he talked about the famous final scene between Alejandro and Kate and how he workshopped the scene with Blunt and Denis Villeneuve, which was different from what was originally written to deliver such a memorable finale. Del Toro praised Blunt and how happy he was to work with her for various reasons.

The actor praised the decision to make the lead female and to cast Blunt because he identifies with the challenges of being a person of color in the industry and getting fewer opportunities than white actors to play meaty and meaningful parts like Mercer and Gillick. She sees a parallel in women not being considered for “tough guy” roles like FBI special agents. Sicario

. She acknowledges that the industry is changing, but she feels that some actors and women of color have a hard time landing these types of roles.

The industry is changing when it comes to the role of women

In the interview, del Toro said how he felt it would be a huge mistake if the film made Mercer a man. Although the studio offered a larger budget, del Toro felt the film was stronger and more original because Mercer was played by a woman. He also said that, in that context, Women and people of color are “on the same side” in the right to get more screen time and more original roles that venture outside of stereotypes..

Del Toro’s hopes from that 2015 interview aren’t unfounded. The industry is publishing more stories with women at the center. Acclaimed films like Anatomy of a Fall offering Sandra Haller A chance to shine in the spotlight, Emma StoneA tour de force performance in Poor thingsBreakout performance by and Lily Gladstone in Assassins of Flower Moon Make Del Toro’s case for that. Not only this but the action films of 2023 featured women in action roles haunted

, Rebel Moon, Indiana Jones and the Dial of DestinyAnd Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. Blunt’s turn as Kate Mercer was a pivotal role that proved once again that women can excel in roles that defy stereotypes.

Sicario Available to stream via Prime Video in the US

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