Summary

• Nina Dobrev discusses her experience working with Aaron Eckhart and preparing for her action-oriented character in The Bricklayer.
• The chemistry between Nina Dobrev and Aaron Eckhart shines through in the film, creating some of the best moments.
• Nina Dobrev reflects on the enduring popularity of The Vampire Diaries and its ability to form strong attachments with viewers through its characters and storylines.

Steve Vail,a former CIA agent, is pulled out of retirement to handle a catastrophic problem in The Bricklayer. When an insurgent begins framing the U.S. for the murders of foreign journalists, the CIA needs to handle the matter quickly. Vail was a rebellious agent, but he could prove to be exactly the agent needed to shut down the threat as countries begin to turn against America.

The Bricklayer is based on the 2010 novel of the same name written by Paul Lindsay under his pen name Noah Boyd. The movie is directed by Renny Harlin and based on a script written by Hanna Weg and Matt Johnson. The Bricklayer stars Aaron Eckhart, Nina Dobrev, Tim Blake Nelson, Ilfenesh Hadera, and Clifton Collins Jr.

Screen Rant interviewed Nina Dobrev about starring in The Bricklayer. She shared the experience of working with Eckhart, preparing for such an action-heavy role, and collaborating with Harlin. Dobrev also explained why she believes The Vampire Diaries was so popular and comments on if she'd return for a potential reunion or prequel series.

Nina Dobrev Talks The Bricklayer

Screen Rant: I love this movie and it's a hell of a way to kick off 2024. The Bricklayer is action-packed with so many twists and turns. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it kept me guessing the whole time. You play Kate Bannon, a hotshot analyst who is the yin to the grizzled, jaded ex-agent, Steven Veil's yang, played by Aaron Eckhart. How did you prepare for such an action-oriented character?

Nina Dobrev: I grew up in a household with an older brother and a dad who loved '90s and early 2000s action movies, so I feel like I was born prepared or I was preparing myself, my whole childhood. Also, because my brother would beat me up, and so the first 18 years of my life, I've learned how to fight and sort of defend myself, so I was kind of ready for it from the very beginning.

But the movie, like you said, it's so fun. It's so action packed. It's so entertaining. And it was the first time that I got to play a character that I joke and call it my big girl role, but she's a young professional and she's really smart and ambitious and very goal and research oriented and very specific. And so the dynamic between that and Veil who's jaded and uninterested and not really, he lost his passion and drive, those two personalities coming together and butting heads.

That dynamic was really interesting to explore and to see as the movie progressed and getting to see the person that Kate, my character was at the beginning and who she becomes at the end. That arc was really exciting for me to get to play and explore.

That's awesome. Now, the chemistry between you and Aaron really shines through. I feel like those are some of the best moments in the film, is you two together. Can you talk about working with Aaron on The Bricklayer?

Nina Dobrev: Yeah. He is the most dedicated person I think I've ever worked with in my entire career so far. He's so committed, he's memorized and he's researched. He actually showed up on the very first day of not even rehearsal. We were just meeting for the first time, and the director asked us to, if we wanted to do a little read through of the script, just the three of us, and so we did, and I'm very prepared. I have different colored pens for my stage direction and my notes and my things and highlighters, and my script is like my holy grail. And so I remember taking it out and feeling very prepared.

And then about 10 minutes into the read through, noticing that Aaron didn't have a script because he'd already memorized the entire thing from start to finish, all of his lines he had in his head already, and we hadn't even started shooting. So yeah, it was the most impressive, and for me, embarrassing thing because I was like, "Wait, I didn't get the memo. Did we have to memorize this today?" So yeah, I learned a lot from him. He's very committed and he lives and breathes the role and you can see on camera his performance is really great.

Yeah, he's absolutely amazing. Now, Gerard Butler's a producer on The Bricklayer. Can you discuss working with him in that capacity?

Nina Dobrev: Yeah, he actually didn't come to set, so I didn't get to see him, but I know Gerard and he's a fantastic person and a great actor and action actor in his own route as well.

Absolutely. Nina, you can do it all drama, comedy, romance, but the action shots you display in this are amazing. Tell me about doing your own stunts and what did you learn about yourself during that process?

Nina Dobrev: I had a blast. We shot this movie in Greece, and luckily because I had a gymnastics background and I have really good spatial and physical awareness, I sort of picked up on the choreography pretty quickly for any fight sequences that we had on the day or if they wanted me to shoot a gun. I've done other movies in the past where I had gun training, and so I felt like I... But actually Aaron taught me a lot. There was some things, I didn't know that at one point I had my gun out with Aaron in a scene and I was covering him, and you're not supposed to point a gun at your fellow, even in the direction of somebody that you're working with, which I wasn't aware of. And so he taught me certain protocols and things that you should and shouldn't do.

Now you were hanging out of cars, shooting guns and in real locations, which I absolutely love. I love the usage of practical locations. What scene stands out to you the most as this intense shoot, and did you get any tips from your director, Renny Harlin, who has directed some great action genre classics?

Nina Dobrev: Yeah, it was really fun to watch him directing as somebody who has aspirations to direct someday too. I want to do a feature film as well. And what I loved about Renny is that even though he's done this so many times, he hasn't lost that childlike wonderment and excitement for the craft. And he was this big teddy bear that was excited and happy to be there, and he knew exactly what he wanted, but he was also the master of, he had six different cameras, some of them hidden, you sometimes didn't know that he was shooting a certain angle, so it felt very real and raw. And sometimes you have drones fired in the air at the same time as the shots that were on the ground. And yeah, I learned a lot from him. I was studying and sort of shadowing from afar as well.

That's so cool. That is so cool. Now, you also had the opportunity to share the screen with Tim Blake Nelson, who plays the CIA boss, O'Malley. Can you talk about working with him on this film?

Nina Dobrev: Yeah. Tim is fantastic and so sweet and also incredibly dedicated, and he had a lot of dialogue, a lot of really complicated government jargon, if you will. And I did too, but he had it way more than me. And so I feel like he's played similar roles to this in the past, and he just came in and crushed it and did his thing. And he was only in with us for maybe five or six days. He was in and out pretty quickly.

Wow. Now look, we have some hardcore Vampire Diaries fans at Screen Rant, so I'm going to switch gears for a second because as The Vampire Diaries fans continue to cherish the series, what do you think made Vampire's Diaries so enduring and beloved, even after its conclusion?

Nina Dobrev: I feel like, I don't know specifically after its conclusion, but at the time, there was a huge vampire craze. Everyone just wanted vampire content of every kind. And our show really where Twilight came out every once in a while, ours was more of a constant, and you can also explore a lot more story and character and ball deeper and get to know the characters a lot more when you're doing a TV show as opposed to a movie.

Think about it now. When a show comes out now, I get addicted to shows. Once I start it, I can't stop until I know what happens next. And so when you have eight seasons of that, people get really attached. And so that's probably where the longevity comes from, if I had to guess.

But it's been really interesting ever since the pandemic and beyond, people were at home stuck and bored, and so a lot of people re-watched the show or a lot of people who maybe missed it the first go around, started watching it for the first time in the pandemic and even generations of kids that were too young maybe a decade ago to watch it, now started watching it. So it sort of renewed its life in a weird way. And I've found that a lot of it feels like it's back on the air, even though it's not. And it has a new home. It's on HBO now.

Absolutely. Now, if a reunion revival were to happen, would you want to return to play Elena or a doppelganger if there were a prequel?

Nina Dobrev: Oh my goodness. You're asking me writer questions. I'm not in control of that kind of stuff. You should ask Julie Plec, I think. I don't get to control the story.

About The Bricklayer

The Bricklayer follows a rogue insurgent blackmailing the CIA by assassinating foreign journalists and making it appear the agency is responsible. As other nations begin turning against the U.S., the CIA must lure Steve Vail (Aaron Eckhart) -- their most brilliant and rebellious operative -- out of retirement.

Check out our other The Bricklayer interview with Aaron Eckhart.

The Bricklayer is available now on digital.

Source: Screen Rant Plus