The Lockdown Interview: Michael Biehn, Caity Lotz, and Leo Howard Talk Martial Arts Movie

ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to The Lockdown stars Michael Biehn, Caity Lotz, and Leo Howard about the new martial arts movie. The trio discussed the film’s family storyline, the intense fight scenes, and more. From Tiger Style Media, The Lockdown is now available to rent or own on digital platforms.

“The action thriller follows siblings Charlie and Jack, who are trapped in Myanmar’s toughest prison and accused of a crime they didn’t commit,” reads the synopsis for The Lockdown. “Forced into televised fights where inmates battle for the chance to escape death row, they face off against the deadliest opponents where each match could be their last. Charlie and Jack must work together, their bond tested in a high-stakes game where only the strongest can win their way out.”

Tyler Treese: Michael, your character in The Lockdown puts his own children in this wild prison fighting tournament so he can get released early. You’re not really playing dad of the year, but it is still a very fun role. What did you like most about this character?

Michael Biehn: Well, like you said, it’s fun. I have made a career playing antagonists, so I need to justify why I do what I do. In my mind, I thought, “I’ll get ’em in, but I’ll get ’em out.” So for me, playing the character, I’m glad they got in, and I had a deal to get them out if they won the fights, and I thought that they were gonna win the fights.

I just saw the movie, maybe a week ago or so, with Caity and Leo, and I was really surprised at how good it looked. I thought everybody just did a wonderful job in it. I was really, really pleased with it. I just didn’t think it would come out so well, but it really is very good. I didn’t know if the transition of my character from bringing his kids into prison and then turning around and kind of letting them go, if I really had enough space to do that. But it seemed to work. The whole [movie] seemed to work very well, and the fighting stuff looks great and I’m proud to be in it.

Caity, your time as White Canary really allowed you to flex your martial arts skills, but you’re really going all out in The Lockdown. What’s most fulfilling about doing these types of martial arts heavy fights where your background comes into play and you really get to show off your actual technique more in these fights?

Caity Lotz: It was pretty cool getting to do — I hadn’t done a lot of Muay Thai — so training Muay Thai beforehand. Then once we got to Thailand, we got there like three weeks early to get into bootcamp and basically learn all the fights. I didn’t have any experience doing ring fights, which was also really different because doing fight choreography, it’s almost way more like a dance and in the ring fights it was something different. I feel like it’s harder to get away with faking things.

The martial art stunt people in Thailand, they’re so badass. I remember one of the guys was like, “Just really hit me. Just hit me.” And I’m like, “Okay, are you sure?” And the in the ring, because you have gloves too, there’s a little more room for stuff and so you’re really going at it. So it was cool. It was really fun.

We never had any doubles, no wires, everything was just, just us. So that was fun. I got a little spoiled on my last TV show, always having the double there in case you’re like, “Hey, I’m just gonna be in my trailer,” but not on this one. We were doing all of it. So that was a challenge and it was really fun.

And you were up to that challenge and I imagine that footwork is so important as you mentioned, doing these stunts in the cage. Leo, just how was that experience of doing these fights in the ring and getting into these real wild brawls throughout the movie?

Leo Howard: Yeah, it’s awesome. I’ve grown up doing martial arts and I’ve done a lot of different stuff where martial arts was a part of it, but I’ve never done anything in the ring. I like the ring because the floor is padded, which is nice. We’re wearing gloves, so it doesn’t hurt quite as much. I like both of those things.

But also there’s a lot less room for error in the ring. The way you have to shoot it is you see a lot more, you see the spaces, so you gotta be a lot sharper. There’s fights in the ring in this film, and then there’s fights sort of in the prison on concrete. Those were significantly less fun, I would say, to shoot, but all around, very proud of the fights in this film. I thought they came out excellent.

Michael, you’ve had so many iconic roles in the past and you’ve worked with James Cameron so wonderfully. But I think my favorite performance of yours with him is The Abyss. You’re so great at showing that kind of psychotic breaking of the character throughout that. It’s such a departure from what we saw with like Kyle Reese and Hicks previously. What did you like most about working with Jim on that specific character?

Biehn: Well, by that time, Jim and I had done Terminator and Aliens and so we knew each other very well. Jim had so much to do on that movie because we shot so much of it underwater, and he was working 18 hours a day. That opportunity, I think, was difficult for some people. I think Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio found it difficult. I had a great time. I thought it was fun being underwater.

I like playing the antagonists because you have to justify, and that character was one in which No. 1) he was cut off from his chain of command. So this is a guy who’s used to taking orders. No. 2) he had a woman in front of him telling him there were aliens near them, which Bud, that Ed Harris played, didn’t even quite believe her. So I’m thinking she’s crazy. And then I have the underwater sickness thing going on. So that character is close to me because I’ve always kind of felt bad for him. I thought I was able to bring something to that character that Jim let me do, which makes you feel some empathy for a bad guy. Sometimes you don’t want empathy for a bad guy. You just want a bad guy in and out from beginning to end.

So, that’s kind of why I like playing Max in this piece. He’s kind of redeemable. Anytime I can make a character who is the bad guy either somewhat or halfway redeemable, it’s a real pleasure for me. It’s a lot more fun for me than not.

Caity, I love the brother-sister relationship in The Lockdown. How was it really getting that familiarity with Leo and being able to play off each other?

Lotz: It was so fun and like Michael was saying, we just got to watch the film. Seeing how the dynamic came out on screen, I was like, “Oh, actually it’s so cute.” I started to feel like… I was like, “Leo, you’re my little brother. Like, come here, come here.” I feel like that dynamic really came off on camera and I was happy to see that. I thought it was really interesting too, that you could see the shift sometimes when my character’s always kind of like the angry, tough, hard one, but then she’d have her moments and baby brother would step in.

So, we were hanging out in Thailand for like a month before and training every day. It was fun. I think it’s so special to have some time before you start filming. Like to really get to know each other makes such a huge difference when it comes to the chemistry on camera. Like you can fake it. Yeah. But when you actually get to become friends and care about each other, it really does come off on screen.

Thanks to the actors for taking time to speak about The Lockdown, which is now available.

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