character, but the overall narrative
arc. He arrived in Budapest early to
acclimatise to the Blade Runner world
and get into the head of his director,
who he describes as “humble and
soft-spoken but fearless”. They often
found themselves imagining Scott
sitting in the corner as they discussed
a scene.
Gosling and Ford’s relationship was
to prove more like that of school kids.
“They were always picking on each
other,” laughs Ana de Armas, who
plays Joi, K’s lover. “Harrison would
park his trailer in front of Ryan’s.
The next day Ryan would decorate
his trailer with pot plants. After that,
Harrison would put out a red carpet. It
just grew.”
On Ford’s very first day, word
travelled around set like electricity
— he’s here. The studio that day,
not unusually, was sheathed in
mist, transforming everyone into
silhouettes. Gosling stared in vain,
trying to make out that famous
profile. “Then he just appeared out of
the mist...”
After that everything felt more real.
Leading men aside, when it came to
casting Villeneuve noticed something
strange. There are faces that fit the
Blade Runner universe and faces that
don’t. “There is something theatrical
in the first movie, very operatic,” he
says. This is what led him to Hoeks for
Luv, the Dutch actor reading a scene
from the original in her impressive
audition tape. And for Joi (both names
pun on emotional states), he foundCuban actor de Armas, who like Hoeks
wasn’t even born when the original
came out.
Asked to define Joi, she says
she is “K’s best friend, his lover, his
cheerleader... She has a big surprise.”
For Niander Wallace, Luv’s superior
and resident of a minimalist high-rise,
like the first film’s Tyrell, Villeneuve
needed a rock star. “Our first thought
had been David Bowie, who had
influenced Blade Runner in many
ways. When we learned the sad news,
we looked around for someone with
qualities like that.”
They found them in Jared Leto,
erstwhile rock star and Method
exponent. He was “highly dedicated”
says the director, but alas can say
no more.Women in charge: (1) Ana
de Armas plays Joi, the
partner of K (Ryan Gosling);
(2) Mackenzie Davis is
Mariette, a mysterious
“doxie” who has a thing for
K. (3) Sylvia Hoeks plays
Luv, the (non-human)
assistant to Jared Leto’s
scientist Niander Wallace;
and (4) Robin Wright
portrays LAPD Lieutenant
Joshi, K’s no-nonsense boss.1 2
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