Exclusive Interview: Camille Delamarre Talks About Assassin Club, Collaborating with His Cast, and More

Camille Delamarre is a world-renowned director who is best known for pulsating action films including The Transporter Refueled, Brick Mansions, and Lockout. His latest project, Assassin Club, is no different.

In Assassin Club, Henry Golding stars in this highly entertaining, globe-trotting action thriller. The hunter becomes the hunted when an elite assassin (Golding) is given his final contract: to kill seven people around the world – only to discover the targets are equally skilled assassins hired to kill him. His only shot to survive is to uncover the mysterious mastermind behind the deadly plot before it’s too late. Also starring Daniela Melchior with Noomi Rapace and Sam Neill.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Camille about Assassin Club, collaborating with his cast, and more!

PC: Tell us about Assassin Club. What was it about Thomas Dunn’s script that attracted you to this project?
Camille: This is an action movie about a hitman who wants to try and leave this game. But he’s forced to accept one last mission if he wants to stay alive. I got this script from my agent. When I read it, I fell in love with the story and characters. It’s a great mix between action and drama. It’s a great diverse, international cast. It had all the ingredients that I like to play with as a director.

PC: You were an editor before you became a director. How have those experiences editing lent themselves to your work as a director, specifically with this project?
Camille: I started my career editing for action movies because the action genre is my passion. As a kid, I played out my action scenes on my PlayStation, so this is a genre that I’m very familiar with. I learned as an editor how to build action moments. Of course, this is a very specific genre, but it’s something that I like a lot.

PC: You’re working with such an international star-studded cast. What was it like getting to collaborate with Henry [Golding], Sam [Neill], and Noomi [Rapace]?
Camille: What a great cast. I’m sure they all jumped on board because they had a great character to play and interpret. They weren’t generic characters. We have an action hero who isn’t a machine or robot. He’s not just a cold-blooded killer. He has feelings. That’s why Henry was great for this. He’s a great actor, very talented, and he has something to say in action. He did every fight and action moment. He has a real capacity for this genre, but he’s also a great dramatic actor. He has a lot of charisma.

Noomi is another great actress. She’s so tough in life so she’s perfect to play this strong female character. She’s played characters like this in the past, but it was still a huge challenge for her. She was so involved. She worked a lot to make this a great film. She changed her voice and accent. She’s great to work with.

Sam Neill is a legend. It was a dream to get him on set. He was just, “Wow.”

PC: The action is nonstop from start to finish. Which sequence was the most challenging to film? What one are you the most excited for audiences to see?
Camille: In the past, I used a lot of car chases. It’s something that I know really well. But on this film, because it was a lower budget, we didn’t have the time or money. It gave something great to the movie because we had to make everything real and not lean on CGI. But safety is the biggest priority. When you don’t have a huge budget, it can be a huge challenge, but you need to have a crew together.