Director McG — previously of the “Charlie’s Angels” movies and “Terminator: Salvation” — has never shied away from big talk. And it’s a quality he brought with him while promoting his latest, “This Means War,” an action movie/romantic-comedy hybrid about two CIA agents (Tom Hardy and Chris Pine) battling it out over the same girl (Reese Witherspoon). Here’s a look at some of his more eyebrow-raising statements about his film.
On a lack of diversity in ‘This Means War’:
“Listen — that’s a huge concern for me, you know? And I can answer that in good faith because I put Lucy Liu in ‘Charlie’s Angels.’ I don’t like lily-white movies with lily-white people bouncing around, but you also just got to do what you got to do. In the spirit of the Benetton ad rainbow coalition, you know, the most empowered character in the film is indeed a black woman [referring to Angela Bassett’s CIA boss]. I love ethnic diversity all over the place, but I’m hoping to just transcend beyond that.”
On toning it down for a PG-13 rating:
“It’s funny because it’s the prudish, uptight MPAA that’s fine with the violent components but [not] anything that has to do with sexuality. [Cast member] Chelsea [Handler] is out of her f—ing mind and that’s why we love her. The MPAA was trying to take out all that stuff. But we retained the authentic comedic stylings of Chelsea Handler.”
On finding the right ending for the film:
We wanted to have flexibility. There’s even an ending where the two boys end up in each other’s arms. A homoerotic finish. I pussed out on the ending of “Terminator 4.” I should have gone with the dark ending for that one, so maybe I’ll do the dark ending with this one.
On star Reese Witherspoon:
“She’s fearless. She’s given birth twice, she can do anything.”
