Exclusive Interview: Cam Gigandet Talks Blowback, Getting Into Character, and More

Cam Gigandet is one of Hollywood’s most sought-after leading men. He’s starred in hit television programs and blockbusters including The O.C., Never Back Down, Twilight, Easy A, and Reckless.

This June, he can be seen opposite Randy Couture in the action-packed film, Blowback.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Cam about the role, how fatherhood has impacted his career, and more!

PC: Introduce us to Blowback and your character in the film.
Cam: Blowback is about a father whose daughter is sick. He has to revert to old ways. He’s tried to get past that but he’s willing to do anything for his daughter. He has a certain set of skills, and that may include robbing banks. [laugh]

This is what spoke to me as I have three kids. Like most parents, I would do anything for them. Because of that connection that he has with his daughter, he will go to whatever lengths he feels he needs to in order to protect or save his daughter.

PC: That’s the perfect segue to this next question. Like you were saying, we see the lengths that a parent is willing to go to to protect their child. You’re a father of three. How has fatherhood impacted the way that you approach your craft?
Cam: It definitely has, especially with roles like this. Before I had kids, I wouldn’t even understand where he was coming from. Having kids changes your perspective on a lot of things—not just your career but in general. My priorities have shifted. You want to set a good example for your kids. You want to provide for your kids. It’s not just about you. You have to think about your family. It definitely shifted my perspective on everything. It’s been a roller coaster ride, but I’m here for it.

PC: How did you prepare to step into your character’s shoes as he regresses back to his old ways?
Cam: I had to focus on why he’s going back to his old ways and whether that’s going to lead him astray. It was about keeping that front and center. He has laser-focused tunnel vision. Hopefully, he can have the best of both worlds where he can save his daughter and he can also save himself from falling back into that world.

Hopefully, we accomplished that goal and the audience will feel that he’s only doing all of this because of that reason. He even had an old flame and all these distractions coming back into his life, but as long as he keeps his daughter right there in the front then he’ll end up being okay.

PC: This is a fun, action-packed thriller with tons of twists and turns. Is there a scene that you’re particularly excited for your fans to see?
Cam: I don’t know if I’m excited for audiences to see it, but it’s the one that keeps popping into my head. It’s when my character gets shot as he’s running away in the dark. He falls into the dirt, and he’s trying to hide from people. We shot on the outskirts of Vegas. We got there at night and they were like, “We’re going to run in this field.” It’s pitch black. I couldn’t see anything. I remember very vividly thinking, “Why am I literally crawling? There’s dirt in my mouth and I have no idea where I am.” It was a weird experience being covered in all this dirt and not knowing anything about my surroundings. It was a very uncomfortable feeling. But Nick got shot, so it was probably worse for him, but it was also bad for me. I had a lot of anxiety. Hopefully, that played well and I was able to use that.

PC: Throughout the film, we see this cat-and-mouse game that develops between your character and Randy’s. What was that collaboration like as you brought that dynamic to life on the screen?
Cam: That was real. Anytime I saw him, I would try to get away from him. [laughs] Every time he looked at me, I was like, “Ah, he wants to beat me up. He does. I can tell. I can just feel like he wants to beat me up.” [laughs] Even the first time I remember him getting out of the car. I think he had sunglasses on. He gets out of his black car with tinted windows, and I’m just watching. He gets out and takes his sunglasses off. I’m like, “Oh my God, he is terrifying. Stay away from him.” But he was actually very sweet and very willing to play around and have a good time, which is all you can ask for when the cameras start rolling: someone who jumps in with you.

It was funny. I’ve watched his previous films. For Never Back Down, I remember watching his highlight reels and seeing how terrifying he was, which worked on this. Even though I had to pretend that he wasn’t intimidating, he definitely was. He had that presence that makes you step back, which is fun to play off of.

PC: You’re no stranger to the action-thriller. What is it about this mashup of these genres that excites you as a creative?
Cam: Anything with action I just love. I feel like it’s a perk of this job. I want to be able to experience that fun, intense kind of action and to feel like I accomplished that without a whole bunch of stunt people. There are still stunt people. They make me look good, but it’s fun to be able to try any of those things on your own. It gets you into the story and into the character. It’s a little method, but you can feel where he’s going and what he’s going through when you can do your own action.

When you miss out on that, you miss out on the experiences that he’s going through. I’ve always found that it helps bring me into his world a bit more. Anytime I can do my own stunts, I would much prefer to be able to do that.

PC: You’ve worked on a couple of projects now with Tibor [Takács]. How has that collaboration grown project to project?
Cam: It’s funny. There are certain directors where you get self-conscious or you get insecure about things. But with him, I trusted him from the get-go. I felt like I was in good hands where I could focus on what I wanted to focus on and do my job and know that he’s got my back and that we could collaborate at any time. I didn’t have to get self-conscious or feel weird. Sometimes I can get a little weird, but he was open to trying anything—throwing out ideas and making it really easy for the actors to explore, play around, and not feel weird.

PC: Besides this film, what’s next for you?
Cam: I just finished a movie called Violent Night, which is a Christmas one—a violent one. It has David Harbour from Stranger Things playing Santa Claus. It’s basically Santa Claus meets Die Hard. The reason why I love that is because there’s a lot of action and a lot of crazy fight scenes, but I wasn’t in any of them. I did none of the fights. My only action scene was me running away from the fights through a window. That was my big action sequence. It’s a comedic role, which I had a blast with. I definitely had a good time with that.

To keep up with Cam, follow him on Instagram. Watch Blowback wherever you stream movies.