By James Fletcher
Since marking his acting debut with the Australian soap McLeod’s Daughters, Ben Milliken’s star has continued to rise, with the English-born actor working his way through a number of high-profile guest spots on the likes of Melrose Place and CSI: Miami, eventually culminating with a recurring role in the acclaimed Amazon Prime crime drama Bosch.
While Milliken, who grew up on Sydney’s Northern Beaches, certainly possesses the kind of charisma and presence required to command the lens, the OnCamera Studio graduate, who’s also respected as an amateur boxer, hasn’t rested on his laurels, testing his mettle in a variety of productions, including the Australian indie Newcastle, the surfing sequel Blue Crush 2, and the 2020 musical drama Mighty Oak, which marked Milliken’s first credit as an executive producer.
His latest venture, the contemporary western crime thriller Run & Gun, continues the multi-hyphenate’s hot streak. Helmed by Christopher Borrelli, best known for penning the scripts for recent genre films The Vatican Tapes, Whisper and Eloise, Run & Gun effectively serves as a star vehicle for Milliken, while marking his sophomore turn as executive producer, a credit that tasked the filmmaker with bringing the darkly comedic actioner to fruition under the disruptive chaos of COVID.
“I’ve got to tell you, that was very interesting,” reveals a bemused Milliken as the inevitable subject of the pandemic arises. “We didn’t have one single case. Everyone was very, very careful. And because that was COVID wave number one, right back at the very beginning, it was an interesting experience. What was crazy was that I didn’t see any of the crew’s faces that whole time. If I saw any of them later on, without a mask, it’d be like, ‘Oh, that’s what you look like!’ It was really, really interesting. I ended up knowing people just as masked faces.”
Set in the desert outskirts of Los Angeles and Joshua Tree, Run & Gun is a fast paced crime thriller, with Milliken starring as retired fixer Ray, a low-key rogue suddenly pulled back into service for one last job as a ruthless, and slightly eccentric, crime boss threatens to effectively end his new life as a suburban stepdad. Assigned to collect and deliver a mysterious bag, Ray quickly finds himself running from, and chasing after, a number of hired guns as the simple job turns into a clusterfuck of missteps and double-crosses.
“We actually wrote the film to be COVID-friendly,” Milliken explains. “When I first saw the script, I thought, ‘This is going to be a hell of a lot of fun!’ It had that kind of deserty, westerny, Tarantino-esque vibe to it…this slightly off, bizarre quality that was really appealing to me. Once I’d read the script, I was like, ‘Let’s do this thing!’”
With Milliken essentially acting as a conduit linking the film’s various acts, Run & Gun utilities a narrative thread that allows the story to keep its forward momentum without ever crowding the frame, or cluttering the plot with unnecessary exposition. An effective plot device designed, as Milliken suggests, in order to keep the cast COVID free, but which results in a surprising dynamic that keeps the film’s kinetic pacing fresh.
All of this is further complemented by the exciting talents who appear as the caper unfolds, including Angela Sarafyan (Westworld), Mark Dacascos (John Wick Chapter 3), Celestino Cornielle (Bosch), Brad William Henke (The Stand) and Richard Kind (Tick, Tick… BOOM!), who brings his usually brilliant mania to the role of a crime boss obsessed with the metaphysical urban legend surrounding the infamous Sinbad-starring Genie movie Shazaam, which doesn’t actually exist.
“The credit goes to our incredible casting director, Joseph Middleton,” says Milliken of the ensemble. “I mean, he’s just the best. I’ve known Joseph for years, and he’s really, really good at building a full cast. He got the script, and he came to us with all these ideas. To him, it was like putting together a puzzle, and he approached it really, really strategically. I swear, casting directors need an awards category, because they really do such a good job. It’s such a skill.”
While Run & Gun proved to be a physical challenge for the actor (“Every. Single. Day. I’d come home with a different bump or bruise or ache”), it also proved to be a steep but positive learning curve, as the actor pulled double duty as the film’s executive producer. “It was great,” he recalls “I’ve got to tell you, it’s such a different feeling than auditioning for something, getting the job, showing up, acting something out, and then head home. Then a year later, you might actually get to see it. But with Run & Gun, I was involved from the very, very beginning, and I got to see the whole process throughout, up until the absolute finished product. It was a really great experience, being able to see something go from a conceptual idea to a finished product, and how many different evolutions that thing might make.”
Milliken’s involvement gave him a whole new understanding of the filmmaking process. “I’ve always said there are three versions of one movie,” the actor says. “There’s the movie that gets written, then there’s the movie that gets shot, and then there’s the movie that gets cut together that everybody sees. And the way that a film evolves is so fascinating. They really take on a life of their own. And this is such a fun movie, especially during all this madness in the world that’s going on. It’ll just brighten your day. That’s what this movie is for.”
Run & Gun is available now to buy or rent at home on digital.
This movie looks awesome. Can’t wait to see it. This guy Ben is TERRIFIC.