For the cast of Twisted Metal, the end of the world meant getting to play with cars and explosions. In fact, when veteran actor Thomas Haden Church talks about the filming of the Peacock post-apocalyptic comedy, he does so with child-like glee: “I liked the car stunt stuff — I liked being in that armored suburban with the firepower. And some of the other stuff… you know, firing rockets… I really liked the car stuff and the artillery stuff.”
Church also adds that “shooting in an abandoned Six Flags is crazy. Crocodiles. It was fun.”
Based loosely on the Sony Playstation games, Twisted Metal brings an irreverent spirit to the Mad Max ruins of America, following the collapse of society in the early 2000s. (Which doesn’t come as too much of a surprise, given that its producers include Cobra Kai writer Michael Jonathan Smith, and writing team Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, whose credits include the Deadpool films and Zombieland.)
Speaking to Consequence prior to the SAG actors strike, star Stephanie Beatriz says that it was that tone that attracted her to the project: “That tone of comedy is like, ugh, I love that stuff. I just think it’s so funny and silly. The darkness and the silliness, combined with the action on this show — reading the scripts, I just blazed through all 10 scripts in like a day. I was reading them out loud to my husband and sister. I just couldn’t believe what was happening from page to page, and I think that is what I was drawn to. Because I thought ‘If they can pull this from the page and put it on screen, it is going to be electric and unhinged, and I want to be a part of that.'”
Beatriz plays Quiet, who doesn’t say much at first, but becomes a partner for the fast-talking John Doe (Anthony Mackie) on a cross-country road trip through the wreckage of civilization. Building her character’s bond with Mackie began right from the audition, she says — “we just immediately riffed, and were able to find these characters together, and the back and forth that I think the series needed.”
As fun as Quiet and John Doe’s relationship is, Beatriz notes that “some of the most fun stuff is the stuff that you’re going to see on screen that involves us and cars. And it is wild. Some of the stuff that we did in those cars is absolutely bonkers. The final cuts of it are so crazy. The days that we were shooting those scenes were so fun.”
Twisted Metal (Peacock)