In just two years, actor Frank Grillo and director John Swab have teamed up for four films: Body Brokers, Ida Red, Little Dixie, and One Day as a Lion, a crime comedy paying homage to Quentin Tarantino and the Coen brothers. The action-thriller from Lionsgate, which is now playing in select theaters before hitting digital and on-demand April 7th, was written by and stars Scott Caan (the Ocean’s Eleven trilogy) as a nice-guy hitman hired to take out debtor Walter (Spider-Man‘s J.K. Simmons). For his fourth collaboration with Swab, Grillo — known for tough-guy roles in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, The Purge films, and Wheelman — plays Pauly, a no-nonsense mobster bookie.
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“He’s 20 years-plus younger than me, but John and I just have the same sensibilities about everything [in] life. About marriage, about family, about everything politically. We just all are in alignment,” Grillo told ComicBook‘s Chris Killian. “He’s a no-nonsense, non-sentimental — I wouldn’t say unemotional, but his emotions don’t control him.”
“I just love him. I mean, I love being around him, I just love his vision of how he makes films,” he continued. “I think he’s gonna have a long, very illustrious career. He’s gonna get to work with much better people than me.”
In One Day as a Lion, Jackie Powers (Caan) is a nice guy — but a lousy hitman. When he’s sent to take out a crafty debtor (Simmons), Jackie only pisses him off. Fleeing the scene, Jackie takes bored waitress Lola (In the Dark‘s Marianne Rendon) as a hostage. After Jackie reveals he needs money to get his son out of jail, Lola cooks up a scheme for them to get cash from her dying mother (Sideways‘ Virginia Madsen).
“Frank is a great actor, like a really, really great actor. I feel Frank gets more to do than he’s given the opportunity in other films with us,” Swab told ComicBook. “The material is rich, in my opinion, but also, I’m a pretty collaborative guy. I like having lots of discussions with Frank about how to do things, and given the opportunity to run with a character, Frank’s as good as anybody.”
Swab continued: “Another thing I love about him is he’s prepared. He’s always prepped. I don’t take that for granted, because when you’re on an indie budget, you don’t have a lot of time. I think we just like the way each other works, and when something works, why deny it?”
One Day as a Lion is available on Digital and on-demand starting April 7th.
