When you hear people talking about working with Steven Soderbergh, they always mention his speed on set, how he knows exactly what he wants, and that you’ll never do extra coverage filming a scene. That’s because not only is Soderbergh the director, he’s also his own cinematographer and editor. So when he walks on a movie set, he is always thinking five moves ahead and knows exactly what he is looking for.
With Soderbergh’s fantastic new movie, No Sudden Move, arriving on HBO Max tomorrow, I recently had the opportunity to speak with Benicio del Toro, Don Cheadle, Brendan Fraser, Bill Duke, Jon Hamm, Noah Jupe, Amy Seimetz, Frankie Shaw, Julia Fox, and Kieran Culkin about making the 1950s-set crime thriller. Since I asked all of them what it is really like working with Soderbergh, we decided to offer their answers in a fun supercut.
Besides mentioning some of the things I previously wrote, they talked about how he would spend his afternoons editing so by the end of the shoot you could watch a cut of the movie, how you’ll work very short days, the way he shoots exactly what he needs, how he’s a detail genius, and more. As you watch the cast talk, it’s very clear they all love working for him and it explains why Soderbergh always puts together amazing casts for his films.
No Sudden Move was written by Ed Solomon and it’s about a group of small-time criminals who are hired to steal what they think is a simple document in 1954 Detroit. When the plan goes sideways, they’re forced to search for who hired them and for what ultimate purpose and their journey takes them through the race-torn, rapidly changing city. The film also stars Ray Liotta and David Harbour.