On Fire’s Lance Henriksen Reveals His Favorite Directors

hLance Henriksen has been working in Hollywood for a long time, and has worked with a number of remarkable directors, including Kathryn Bigelow, James Cameron, and the legendary Stan Winston. The actor, speaking with ComicBook.com in support of his new indie movie On Fire, said that he couldn’t decide who his favorite director was to work with, but that several of his collaborators were impactful for different reasons, mostly regarding how they managed the set and how they came across with the cast.

It’s an interesting conversation to be having, since one of the defining elements of On Fire was the wild journey it took in terms of directors. The movie, which was co-written by Z Nation‘s Nick Lyon and was to be directed by Lyon, was made on the kind of budget that demanded a tight production window and as few disruptions and distractions as possible. Then, Lyon contracted COVID-19, and was unable to be on set for a while. Peter Facinelli, the movie’s lead and a member of the Directors Guild of America, was tagged in, and finished principal photography of the film, then worked with Lyon on post-production.

“All for different reasons,” Henriksen told ComicBook.com’s Chris Killian. “When we did Near Dark, that was [Kathryn Bigelow] who, she was as brave as you can get. And Stan Winston was a great director. He was very passionate and soothing and would do a good idea. I got really lucky. I don’t even want to bring up Jim Cameron, because I have a long lifespan with him over a lot of different movies…I’ve been influenced by all of them that I work with because they all have this magical thing of, are they going to have a long career or is this it? We’re all living in a kind of time gap. I loved them all. I really do — there’s only one director [I don’t like], I won’t tell you his name.”

Inspired by true and harrowing events, On Fire tells the story of an ordinary man (Peter Facinelli) that finds his world suddenly torn apart as devastating wildfires rip through the surrounding countryside. With precious moments ticking by, he must flee with his son (Asher Angel) and pregnant wife (Fiona Dourif) if they have any hope of surviving the rapid forces of mother nature.

On Fire is in theaters now.