Monarch: Kurt Russell Admits He Had to Up His Game Acting Against His Son

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters featured the father and son duo of Kurt and Wyatt Russell playing the same character, and it turns out Kurt Russell felt like he needed to up his own acting game after seeing his son in action! Monarch: Legacy of Monsters introduced the two Russells as Lee Shaw, a U.S. Army colonel who was involved with the early investigations into Godzilla and other Titans, and years later ended up playing a much different role in the series. It was a fun twist as fans got to see the father and son playing the same character at different times, and the actors themselves got to inject it with a competitive energy. 

Speaking with Deadline, it was explained that both Russells worked with different crews and different schedules during the production of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and the parallel work schedule allowed Kurt to see more of his son Wyatt in action, "We were doing two different crews and I said, 'I'm going to go check out and see Wyatt's group was doing,' " Kurt began. "It was fascinating for me because for the first time, this is my son – I'd known him all my life. He knew me his life, I was an actor."

Monarch: Kurt Russell Reveals Dynamic With Wyatt Russell

Continuing further, Kurt explained, "I'd watched him before and I'd been on sets of his and stuff, but in an appreciative sort of way. Now I was suddenly watching this character be laid down that I was going to be the other half of much later in life. And it was really fascinating." Elaborating, Kurt then explained that his own acting chops had to be raised for this as well, "I found myself watching this actor and I remember thinking, 'F*ck, man – this guy's good. I better get my game going here, because this can't fall down when it gets to my part of it."

As Kurt explained, the two Russells ended up collaborating on developing Lee Shaw as a more fleshed out character, ""When we came on, it was just a casting idea: Lee Shaw was in the maybe three or four shows that were being talked about at the time, was really a fifth or sixth character," Kurt revealed. "So we had to come up with a reason why Wyatt and I were going to do the show." Continuing further, "We thought it would be an interesting challenge to maybe do something that would help explain or be very indicative to the audience about what it was we were trying to do with Monarch," Kurt explained. "It was really the only place where Wyatt and I got to work together, because that was where we worked on what it was that that Lee Shaw was going to be. It was a lot of fun."

What did you think of Kurt and Wyatt Russell as Lee Shaw in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on X (formerly known as Twitter)!

via Deadline