Jeff Nichols’ new film The Bikeriders chronicles a tumultuous decade in the life of a fictional Midwestern outlaw motorcycle club called the Vandals, who transform from a band of speed-loving bike enthusiasts into a full-fledged criminal enterprise during the 1960s and ‘70s.
Johnny (Tom Hardy), the Vandals' leader of the pack, finds an heir apparent in the thrill-seeking but fiercely individualistic Benny (Austin Butler). Benny’s strong-willed girlfriend Kathy (Jodie Comer) eventually wants a different kind of life for her and Benny, putting her at odds with Johnny and testing Benny’s loyalties as the world around the Vandals is consumed by violence.
I recently spoke with Austin Butler and Jodie Comer about making the film. The interview below has been edited for clarity; specific spoilerish statements they made were removed.
IGN: The love triangle in the movie is not the traditional one where it's two guys vying for a woman, but it's Kathy and Johnny both vying for Benny. What does Benny represent or symbolize to Kathy and then to Johnny?
Jodie Comer: For Kathy, she immediately fell in love with him. I think at the beginning it was incredibly intoxicating and really exciting. I think she led quite what people would consider a normal, mundane life. She had children to look after, and this world was not something she was aware of. So he kind of comes into her life as this whirlwind, and I think that's initially what she falls in love with. And as the relationship goes on, she kind of craves this sense of normal and family and wants him around. What she can see as the group becoming quite dangerous and untethered. I think she doesn't want that for him and she wants him safe and with her, but of course that's not who he was or who he's ever been.
And I think that's where the kind of friction comes in in the relationship. She feels like he's kind of being taken away in some way, but he was always that kind of freewheeling spirit. And with Johnny, I mean, I think Johnny probably sees himself in Benny in some way. I mean, listen, I can't speak for Tom [Hardy]. I'm assuming that as he's getting older and is kind of stepping away, it's like he recognizes something in Benny of an opportunity for him to take charge, and is kind of projecting that onto him, which is not what Benny wants. So I think Benny feels like he's constantly being pulled. But there is so much love there. They love him. There's just a selfishness that comes with that of wanting him to be theirs. And I don't think Benny can be owned. Love's not about owning anyway.
IGN: Benny is like a mustang on the prairie. It just wants to run wild and everybody keeps trying to capture it and break it. I feel like Benny was almost more that pure kind of thing that Johnny had to make himself into. I was watching you two guys and I'm like, "All right, he's Marlon Brando and you're James Dean, basically."
Austin Butler: That's cool to hear you say that. I love that image that you just said of the mustang on the prairie, trying to capture that bit of the wild. And in the film, when Johnny says "All these guys are – you're what they all are trying to be. You're all what they want to be." That truly not needing anyone else.
Jodie Comer: Yeah, because Kathy has that line where she says, "Johnny always wanted what Benny had." And Danny says, "What's that?" And she says, "To not care about nothing."
Austin Butler: Yeah. To truly not care about anything.
IGN: Did you guys have to do biker camp for this?
Austin Butler: Yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. Led by a wonderful guy named Jeff Milburn. He was also the motorcycle stunt coordinator and a lot of the bikes that you see in the film are his personal bikes. The bike I ride is his personal bike. So Jeff and I, many months before we ever started filming, we started riding together.
IGN: Were there safety wires or anything that would've been CG'd out? Or were you really out there riding around with no helmet on?
Austin Butler: I was really out there riding, no helmet. Yeah, I mean, and those sequences you see of us all in the pack, there's that one where we're going through a cornfield and –
Jodie Comer: Is that the opening? That's the opening, right? Or maybe I just remember that from the trailer. Yeah. It's so cool.
Austin Butler: I think it's the opening of the trailer, but there was a picture car in front of us and I don't know how many bikes there were, but we're all there, no helmets, riding together, and it's an incredibly freeing feeling. We train with helmets on, but then when you go to film, and you take it off and you feel so free. It was pretty amazing.
IGN: Even though it's set in the Midwest, the movie feels like a Western.
Austin Butler: Yeah, yeah.
IGN: Were you aware of that very Americana aspect of the movie, that it's kind of like a modern Western?
Austin Butler: I love that you say the modern Western. I hadn't really put that into words before, but the Americana aspect for sure. And I think Jeff Nichols is such a – it's Americana sort of flowing through his blood.
Jodie Comer: Yeah. It's like his North Star, I feel.
Austin Butler: Yeah, he really personifies that.
Jodie Comer: Yeah, and he really wanted to create an ode to that. So I feel like that was always at the forefront of his mind, definitely.
IGN: Was there a particular scene where you're like, "This is the one my character is going to be defined by in the movie and I have to nail this"?
Austin Butler: That's interesting.
Jodie Comer: It's a good question.
Austin Butler: It is a great question.
Jodie Comer: I feel like a big one for me was when Kathy confronts Benny about her wanting him to quit riding because I feel like it's something that has been kind of bubbling away and fizzing in her for such a long time that she's never probably dared spoken of. And then where we meet Benny in that scene, with what he's kind of doing, and where the stakes are for him, and that felt like quite a big moment character-wise. And I think generally just trying to throw the dialogue away. Actually, a lot was cut for timing and for the film to work properly, but she spoke a lot, and it was about trying to just make it sound as organic as possible like it was being said for the first time. She's kind of narrating the story in a way. So yeah, I would probably say that.
IGN: Austin, you play everything so close to the chest throughout most of the movie and I love that quiet, slow-burn performance. You’re really just using your eyes and your face for the most part.
Jodie Comer: I feel like you had that. I mean, as a scene partner, I feel like the beautiful thing about Austin is it's so readily available. I don't know, there was such an honesty in that moment [when Benny does allow his vulnerability to be seen] that, as with any of those scenes, you just kind of take a beat. But I don't know, watching you, it was like, "Oh." It was there, and maybe it was because you were kind of holding it. Do you know what I mean? Holding it in. I don't know.
Austin Butler: That's nice to hear you say that. I do think there are many moments in the film where it's also about knowing when to hold, and knowing when not to crack, but there's also that tricky thing of being somebody who says that they don't care about anything, but yet it's obvious that there is a care and there is a love. So it's finding that balance as well because there's a reason why I'm in the family with Johnny. There's a reason why Benny and Kathy are together, and those moments of connection, and then finding what it feels like to also have one foot in and one foot out, in a way.
IGN: Austin, you have a few scenes with Michael Shannon. Did you guys ever trade notes on both playing Elvis?
Austin Butler: Yeah. That's great. The first time that we met he had just seen the film, and so he spoke to me about it, and it was very nice, and I had watched his film [Elvis & Nixon] in preparation as well, so we did share a mutual feeling for each other, which was cool.
IGN: I would love to have been a fly on the wall for that.
Austin Butler: Yeah, he's truly one of the greatest actors.
The Bikeriders opens in theaters on June 21. Read IGN's review here.
