'The Black Demon' Interview: Josh Lucas Talks New Shark Movie

Moviefone speaks with Josh Lucas about 'The Black Demon.' "I think any actor would say working on water is the hardest environment to work in," Lucas said.

Josh Lucas as Paul in the action film, 'The Black Demon,' The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Opening exclusively in theaters on April 28th is the new shark movie ‘The Black Demon,’ which was directed by Adrian Grunberg (‘Rambo: Last Blood’).

What is the plot of ‘The Black Demon?’

'The Black Demon' follows Oilman Paul Sturges' (Josh Lucas) on an idyllic family vacation that turns into a nightmare when they encounter a ferocious megalodon shark that will stop at nothing to protect its territory. Stranded and under constant attack, Paul and his family must somehow find a way to get back to shore alive before it strikes again in this epic battle between humans and nature.

The Black Demon

"Nature bites back."

R1 hr 41 minApr 28th, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch The Black Demon Online

Who is in the cast of ‘The Black Demon?’

'The Black Demon' stars Josh Lucas ('Ford v. Ferrari,' 'Poseidon') as Paul Sturges, Fernanda Urrejola ('Blue Miracle') as Ines Sturges, Venus Ariel ('Exposed') as Audrey Sturges, Hector Jimenez ('Nacho Libre') as Chocolatito, and Julio Cesar Cedillo ('Sicario') as Chato.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Josh Lucas about his work on ‘The Black Demon,’ his approach to his character, his relationship with his wife, the challenges of working in water, his love for shark movies, and the film’s environmental message.

Fernanda Urrejola as Ines, Josh Lucas as Paul, Carlos Solórzano as Tommy and Venus Ariel as Audrey in the action film, 'The Black Demon,' The Avenue release.

(L to R) Fernanda Urrejola as Ines, Josh Lucas as Paul, Carlos Solórzano as Tommy and Venus Ariel as Audrey in the action film, 'The Black Demon,' The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

Moviefone: To begin with, Paul Sturges is a character that is very sure of himself and thinks he has all the answers. Can you talk about your approach to playing the character?

Josh Lucas: I wanted to bring what I think are some of the problems with American tourists, American capitalism and corporate philosophy of how American oil companies will go into these beautiful countries and just wreak havoc on it, and not even think about it because they go back to their big cars and their big lives back in America. I love the idea that this guy, he's married to a Mexican woman. His children are half Mexican, and yet he refuses to speak Spanish. I've seen these travelers all over the world, where you go into a cafe in France and see the ugly American, right? So, I felt like that's kind of what Paul is. He's trying to be a great dad and trying to be a good guy, but the reality is, the things that he's done, they're nasty karma. I like the idea that the karma kind of presents itself as this angry God, who's enraged about not just what this individual guy has done, but the way this corporation has come in and caused so much havoc on that beautiful, idyllic little small Baja town. The reality is, those oil rigs are out there. They've had problems with them. They were put out there without a lot of regulations, and it's kind of got weird true elements that way.

MF: Is it nice to be in a film that is not only entertaining, but also has an important message about the environment?

JL: I've thought this from so early in my career, because I love movies. I've always loved movies, and just purely at their best, they are entertainment, right? But the best entertainment, of course, it's so obvious to say, has something deeper going on. If you listen to Francis Ford Coppola, the greatest behind the scenes interview I've ever heard was the director's commentary of ‘The Godfather.’ It is just so brilliant and so moving, because he talks at length about how he did not want to make a movie about violence, but he made a movie that's intensely violent; and that he was trying so hard to tell this story about America, family and love. So, ever since that, and that's obviously one of my favorite movies, as it is so many people, but hearing him talk about his responsibility and what he was trying to do as a filmmaker. Sure, we can go do something that's just simply a fun little piece of entertainment, but if there's something underneath it that is going on, and in this case, I don't want to say a cautionary tale, but there really is the true element that these oil rigs were put off the coast of Baja California and they are causing damage. They were done without regulation. Not that I hope that there's an angry God who's going to unleash a megalodon on the people to get revenge, but I thought it was a really fun, silly way to approach quite a serious subject.

(L to R) Josh Lucas as Paul and Fernanda Urrejola as Ines in the action film, 'The Black Demon,' The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

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MF: Can you talk about the relationship between Paul and his wife, Ines, and what it was like working on that dynamic with Fernanda Urrejola?

JL: Look, she's a really interesting actress. She's from Chile, and so she's a very environmental-minded person, Fernanda is. So, we talked about how to have these moments where, you see these marriages in life, where there's a cultural separation between the two people. It's funny. My ex-wife is Colombian, and her family, they do not speak Spanish, ever, when they're in America. I was always like, "Why don't you teach our son how to speak Spanish?" She goes, "They only speak English, because they so wanted to assimilate." So, I think what happens is, particularly when I see Americans go into other cultures, they don't try and assimilate at all. But when people come to our country, oftentimes they work very hard to assimilate, to be part of the American culture. I's an interesting thing that I've seen within my own family, that my son does not speak Spanish, and I wish he did. So we tried to bring some of those kind of honest family dynamics. At the same time, we're trying to tell a story where the family, I don't want to say has "Spielbergian" elements, but where it's got those kind of real rhythms. It's why I love going back and looking at ‘E.T.’ and seeing the great moment of Drew Barrymore being like, "You're a dick." These little kid moments that Spielberg movies are so great at capturing. We were trying to capture some of that kind of lightness and humor, but also to then have the family seem real enough that when you put them in an obvious ridiculous situation on an oil rig being attacked by a megalodon shark, you are interested in them and the struggle they're going through, and why they would obviously be so desperate to survive. It's a fun environment, and yet at the same time, we tried to bring little levels of depth and authenticity to the understory of it, basically.

MF: As an actor, can you talk about the challenges of working in water, and did you have any 'Poseidon' flashbacks while making this movie?

JL: I think any director or actor would say working on water is the hardest thing and the hardest environment to work in. The big difference here was that ‘Poseidon,’ when we made that movie, they flooded the stages of Warner Brothers, which is 100-year old stages, and they recreated the entire environment on a sound stage. Everyone got what was called the “Poseidon Crud”, which was this terrible illness that everyone was getting from the water and everyone was sick all the time. It's just a weird, tough place to shoot. ‘The Black Demon’ was very much, in a way, the opposite, because we shot outside in a tank in the Dominican Republic, kind of on the ocean. They built this oil rig for real inside the tank. So, the water, there's an organic thing when you're inside real water and you're working. I love diving and I love being in the ocean, and there's something so different. I find there's a kind of a Marvel fatigue these days, because when I watch those movies, I feel like everything about them is CGI. They're standing on a green stage, on a green floor. So, every single thing is created. I tell you, it's very hard to act in those environments. But in a much better way, when you're in the ocean, as hard as it is, the reality of being there and the reality of the rig was built for us, even in our small little movie. It was done in a way that wasn't at all fake. The only thing that's fake is the shark. So, it's a much more enjoyable environment. Even being underwater for 8 to 10 hours a day during the scuba/snorkeling scenes is a cool challenge. It's something I really like.

(L to R) Josh Lucas as Paul, Fernanda Urrejola as Ines and Julio Cesar Cedillo as Chato in the action film, 'The Black Demon,' The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.

MF: Finally, are you a fan of shark movies in general, and can you talk about how they made the shark look real in ‘The Black Demon?’

JL: Man, I am. I definitely, like everybody loved ‘Jaws.’ But I think there's some great ones out there. ‘The Shallows’ is great, ‘Open Water,’ and ‘Deep Blue.’ There's a bunch of really fun shark movies. It's a very hard and interesting genre. It goes back to the 1930s, we've been making monster movies since silent films, and environmental monster movies like ‘The Creature From The Black Lagoon.’ These great movies that my dad talked about loving when he was a 10-year old boy, and that my parents would take me to the drive-in movie theater when I was younger. So, it's a genre that I find there's a reason why people love it. It's hard to do well. It's hard to get it right, and particularly because we rely so much these days on CGI. So I think filmmaking wise, sure, we've gotten much better. The CGI is pretty seamless these days. But I don't know, man. It's the mystery of filmmaking, right? The mystery of trying to make it be authentic, make it real, and make it fun. It's always a great challenge, let me tell you.

(L to R) Jorge A. Jimenez as Junior, Venus Ariel as Audrey and Josh Lucas as Paul in the action film, 'The Black Demon,' The Avenue release. Photo courtesy of The Avenue.