Directed by Denis Villeneuve, 2015’s Sicario is one of the best action-thriller movies of all time. The film’s screenplay was penned by Taylor Sheridan, and it stars Emily Blunt as Kate Mercer, an FBI special agent on a mission to take down a Mexican drug cartel leader.
During an interview, Sheridan spoke about breaking several screenwriting conventions while penning the film. At the same time, he revealed one crucial detail that was nearly impossible to pull off, but credited Villeneuve with successfully executing it. Here is the one aspect of Sicario that Sheridan praised Villeneuve for pulling off.
Taylor Sheridan Credits Denis Villeneuve For Pulling Off the Shift of Perspective in Sicario
Taylor Sheridan wrote the 2015 film Sicario, which was directed by Denis Villeneuve. The film follows the story of FBI special agent Kate Mercer, who is assigned to take down a drug cartel leader. The critically acclaimed film is known for breaking several screenwriting conventions.
Sheridan opened up about the same during an interview with Variety. The Yellowstone creator explained that he wanted to change the audience’s perspective, using different characters as the heroes for different phases of the movie.
And then when I shift that perspective in the third act and we follow him as our hero.
Sheridan made the above comment regarding Benicio del Toro’s Alejandro Gillick, an assassin who serves as the POV character in the third act.
However, Sheridan added that through Alejandro’s actions, viewers learn that Kate was right all along. He added:
It was very risky to do, and had it been in any capacity lesser anything, it wouldn’t have worked. It was so brilliantly handled by Denis.
From Sheridan’s words, it is evident that the shift of perspective was nearly impossible to pull off, especially because of rigid screenwriting conventions. However, he credited Villeneuve with successfully executing the shift and adding a new layer of depth to the narrative and its themes.
Taylor Sheridan Discusses Pressure to Turn the Main Character in Sicario Into a Male
In the same interview, Sheridan also spoke about facing pressure from producers to change the story’s protagonist from a female to a male. In the film, actress Emily Blunt plays the role of Kate Mercer, who serves as the primary protagonist for most of the movie.
Very early on I took a meeting with a producer who asked if I would change the role to male so a specific actor could play it.
Sheridan made the above statement, highlighting the issue he faced while trying to sell his script to producers. The writer added that he used some pretty harsh words to turn down the producer who demanded the story’s protagonist be a male character.
At the same time, Sheridan also noted that after the project was greenlit, Villeneuve faced some pressure to make a similar change, but the duo refused to budge. Hence, Sheridan’s comments make it evident that Sicario might not have achieved the same critical acclaim without Villeneuve.
