David A.R. White produced and stars in the new action/thriller A Line of Fire.
SYNOPSIS: After working as a secret agent in the FBI for ten years, Jack Conry aka “Cash” left it all behind after his wife passed to dedicate himself to his two daughters. Despite a fulfilling life at home, Cash misses the chance to make an impact and has been considering a return to the force. The decision is made for him when his old partner’s niece Jamie calls him for help, launching Cash back into a world of danger, corruption and intrigue.
The movie also stars Cuba Gooding Jr., Katrina Bowden and Jason Patric.
David stopped by to chat with us about the film.
Hi David, how are you?
I’m doing good. Thanks for having me.
Oh, my pleasure. So, today we’re talking your latest movie, A Line of Fire. What was it that made you want to sign on for it?
I’m one of the creators on it too, so that always helps (laughs). But, we kind of built this around that series on Netflix called Night Agent where he gets the call and so that’s kind of where; I always loved that idea. That was the inception of the idea that kind of built around this and we ended up with this. I have two daughters in real life and, hey, let’s tell a story about the FBI and a dad who wants to retire. And then all of a sudden he gets thrust back in unbeknownst to what’s going on. Then all the intrigue and the action elements that lead ultimately to the top and the bad part of what’s happening in the system.
How do you connect with Cash as a character?
Yeah. I mean, I think it’s in part, obviously he’s a dad. So, my daughters actually play my daughters in the movie so that was kind of sweet. You always have this life imitating art a little bit and those types of scenes. I’ve been doing a lot of boxing and kickboxing as of late. That’s kind of been my go-to and I have a martial arts background. And so just we wanted to bring that element into it. And then the FBI, obviously I don’t really connect to that other than I’m always fascinated with law enforcement and have great appreciation for them.
Talking about the various fight scenes which you have; what does it say the script? Does it just say “they fight”, or does it go into lots of detail about the fight scenes?
(laughs) Well, yeah, for the most point even the writers that have a lot of action background to them, it’s all changing when the fight coordinators get in there. We had that. We had this top crew out of Miami from G-Rod who is the stunt coordinator. And then Juan Bofill is second action unit director. They do all the massive stuff from the Bad Boys movies there in Miami. Those guys are amazing. So, it was a truly pleasure. That was my intro into meeting those guys; they brought a whole great crew and everything with them.
When it comes to stunts, do you like to try and do as many of your own or do you like leaving that to the pros?
(laughs) No, I do. I do almost everything other than get hit by a car and the big stuff; I’m not going to drop off a building or that type of thing. But yeah, all my all my fight coordinating choreography stuff I’ve been doing for years.
How do you find working with director Matt Shapiro?
Matt and I have worked together on quite a few films now. This is our first straight action movie. We did another one called Love on the Rocks in Malta a couple of years back. We did a romcom and we did a drama. We’ve done some sports movies together. We’ve done all kinds of things together. Matt came up with this concept based on what we’re talking about. He and Chris Covell really put together this great piece. Matt, as a director, is great and had a lot of friends in this movie. I’d never worked with Cuba Gooding Jr. before. We always wanted to and we used to run into him here in L.A. for a long time, but now he’s in Miami, which is great. So, him and Scott Baio is out there as well and just had a lot of friends in the movie, too, which was fun.
Jason Patric is a really nasty piece of work in this movie. Why was he the perfect choice for that character?
You know, I’d never worked with him, but I’ve always been a fan of his since NARC, you know. I’m not saying Speed 2 was my favorite movie of all times, but I’m not saying that (laughs). But he’s such a great actor and he was terrific in the movie.
This is kind of a random thing. I love the brief scene in the Boneyard, the airplane graveyard. I don’t know why that’s just always fascinated me. I think it’s a cool location. What’s it like there? And what’s the vibe like there?
Yeah, man, I love airplanes. I don’t know what it is. I don’t love flying, so to speak because I just had to fly back from Charlotte. It’s a long trip. There’s something about airplanes that are super cool. And then going to a Boneyard with all the planes when they go to retire and die, so to speak, is just fascinating. We created the scene out there; that’s where he flies in and out of, which was kind of cool and different. And visually, it’s just so intriguing to watch.
Whenever you’re doing an action heavy role, how do you prepare for it mentally?
I mean, I think the biggest thing is the physical aspect of it. Like just to prepare physically for it, to obviously try to stay in shape for the most part. I have my boxing gym that I go to. Josh is awesome. He’s my trainer and he just is like an ongoing thing. And then the acting thing, I’ve been doing it for a long time. I moved to L.A. when I was 19 and got on a show called Evening Shade with Burt Reynolds. Burt gave me my start years and years ago. I’ve been acting for a long time and I’m excited to get into this genre. I’ve been in the faith based film world for quite a while. And when Sony purchased PureFlix a few years back, it kind of opened up doors. New avenues for me to pursue that I had been wanting to do for quite a while.
Have we seen the last of Cash? I feel like we could see him come out of retirement again.
I don’t know. You know, I hope people come out and watch it and support it and in the process of that, Cash may return.
Generally, how do you separate yourself from a character after filming?
This one wasn’t too difficult because he’s a dad already. So, I still have my daughters at home, and I’m just the dad where I take them to school and to their activities and cheer and all that other stuff they do. But yeah, I mean, the action elements are sometimes, it’s a mindset. I think you have to get out of it for some things like heavier drama stuff. That’s a little harder to shut off. Sometimes it lingers with you a little bit.
Do you prefer the action or the drama side of performing?
You know what, I prefer both. I prefer the action with the drama over it, but I don’t like to shut the action off. I think so many action movies, there are some that are just slow. I like it to go from thing to thing to thing. I just want it to be entertaining and then the drama hopefully flies within those pieces.
Whenever I talk to stunt coordinators, we always say that a fight scene should tell a story in itself and either progress the story or the characters in some way. Do you think that’s true?
I sure hope so. Yeah. Yeah, I would absolutely hope so. I don’t know that I mastered that art yet, but what I don’t want is just action for action; let’s not blow a bunch of stuff up with no meaning because there’s no connection. I think it’s all about the story first and foremost, about the script. Then from there, everything else is the extra. It’s the dressings on the top, which is the exciting part but you still have to have that core there in the heart.
What would you say was probably the most challenging scene to put together for this film?
Well, the I’d say the biggest one is the club sequence and there’s so many people involved in that. And then obviously it’s also a climactic moment in the movie. So, it’s heavy action and at the same token, you got the music, and everything going on. Yet you got to have that through line, too, of the story of what’s actually happening here and the sweetness element to it. So, I’d probably say that was our hardest couple of days shooting.
Just the logistics of it all.
Yeah. Yeah.
What would you like audiences to take away from the film?
My whole goal in doing these action movies is to have heart at the core of them. So, I want to entertain the audience first and foremost, for sure. But I hope that people get really connected to the characters in it and they find some sort of connection to them. I’m not saying they’re going to learn a lot from it. But at the at the core of it, they’re connected to it, which makes them care about those characters and care about the journey of Cash and his kids through it. And we have a love interest. Obviously, Katrina Bowden (from 30 Rock) is awesome in the movie and she’s wonderful.
Oh, yeah, for sure. What do you have coming up that you’re able to talk about?
We just finished shooting a movie called Straight Shot and that’s a fun romp with Dolph Lundgren and Tyrese Gibson and Rachel Leigh Cook and William Forsythe, a bunch of other people, too. That’s a fun one. That’s a whole different type of movie but it’s a full on action movie as well. It’s less of a thriller. It’s more of an action movie.
It’s funny about Dolph. I met him last year. He’s such a soft spoken, quiet guy, isn’t he? You think he’s going to be this larger-than-life action star, but he’s just like this normal nice guy…
Super nice guy. Yeah, he was great. I mean, I just love working with him and hope to do it again.
Thank you very much for taking the time to chat and all the best with the film. Hopefully chat with you for the sequel.
Appreciate it. Yeah. A Line of Fire is out everywhere!
A LINE OF FIRE AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL SEPTEMBER 2ND