Hitting A Snag

Actor BEN MILLIKEN talks about directing himself in his latest bleached-out Tarantino-fuelled crime caper…

A British ex-pat brought up surfing on Sydney, Australia’s Bilgola Beach, Ben Milliken trained for 10 years as a boxer before stepping out of the ring and in front of the camera. He then made his name in Tinseltown in hit series Bosch and the noir crime thriller Run and Gun, and now he steps up to co-write, direct and star in the new action film Snag.
Playing like a gender-switched Tex-Mex version of Kill Bill, fast and furious actioner Snag follows Snag (played by Milliken), an out-of-town Aussie laying low after a life of crime who is pulled back into the violent world he was trying to escape after discovering that Valentina (Sofía Castro) – the woman he was going to marry and thought was dead, is alive and being held captive by her psychotic gangster mother. MAXIM spoke to the actor-director about the directors who influenced him, his kick-ass female cast and his love of a ’90s pop princess…

Snag has the same Tarantino meets Breaking Bad feel that coloured Run and Gun…
The thing is with Snag it’s an idea that I’ve had since 2017 and I’ve been working on the story since then. I think there’s a lot of my own personality in it. The film is full of little Easter eggs that are very personal to me from my own life. I wanted to inject as much of myself into the project as humanly possible, so it’s coloured by me.

Tell us more about the film.
Essentially, this movie is a modern-day, violent fairy tale about a boy who loves a girl. That’s what it is at its emotional centre. He’ll stop at nothing to get to her and get them back together. It truly is a love story at its core, just masked in this genre that I love so much.

Apart from Tarantino, are there any filmmakers who have influenced you as a director?
I love Taika Waititi. His films have an innocence and playfulness to them that I think is so endearing. There is a thing about certain directors like Taika and Robert Rodriguez and Guy Ritchie – you watch their films and you know they made it. You know what I mean? It’s their movie, it’s their voice and they’re unapologetically them.
Let’s talk about the film’s visual style – for instance, the “Then” and “Now” transitions were fun.
I wanted the film to have its own distinct style, like a graphic novel or comic book. I wanted it to exist in its own bubble. There’s no modern technology in the film. It’s not a linear story so we have graphic cards to explain what’s happening. And I just think in creating that world, that bubble of reality, anything can happen in that space as long as you establish those rules right off the bat. If something completely outrageous does happen within the confines of what you have set up, the audience will run with it.

We really enjoyed the Ennio Morricone channelling Spaghetti Western score, but most viewers will be humming a certain ’90s pop song after watching Snag, right?
[Laughs] Yes! Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now!” That song in particular speaks to the characters. Yeah. It speaks to where they’re at and what they’re doing at this point in their lives. And it’s also catchy as hell.

As a director, you shot your short film The Break in 2015 and horror film Lake Alice in 2018, what were the challenges that came filming Snag?
Besides crippling self-doubt and imposter syndrome? [Laughs] If I’m being 100% honest, the biggest challenge that we actually had was the weather. It’s completely uncontrollable. We were shooting in Santa Fe, New Mexico in winter, so we’d get snow. I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by a lot of people that are way smarter than me with a wealth of experience.

And you are directing yourself as an actor.
Funny thing though, it was very freeing because there was no ego. Like all of the things you can get self-conscious about, something else became more important than me. And that was the movie.

Do you have a favourite memory from this shoot?
I remember when I walked up to base camp on the first day and I saw all these trucks and people everywhere. There was so much going on. And I remember just stopping for a second and being blown away by the fact that this started with an idea on my front porch in 2017. And now this is happening. I was just so grateful, man. It was a pinch yourself moment.

Tell us about the casting process.
My casting director, Joseph Middleton is a genius when it comes to putting together the puzzle that is an entire cast. It was important to me that all the female roles be very, very strong. So, the movie is full of strong women. Sofía who plays Valentina is always rescuing Snag. It’s not a damsel in distress movie.

The film ends with the big cliff-hanger. What do you have in store for Snag?
It’d be wonderful to be able to finish his story. There is more to the story so if audiences respond to the film, if they like it, and enjoy it as much as we enjoyed making it, then I’m sure we’ll see. I’d love to do it.