My Father Die – Special Event Coverage

Staci Layne Wilson |

Jan 19, 2017

Do you like old-school, no-holds-barred, violent revenge flicks? If so, you’re going to love My Father Die (review). It’s a brand new gritty, father-versus-son thriller set deep in the seamy, sultry Louisiana Bayou and is chock-full of gators, guns, and gearhead wet-dreams (Harley, Charger). It is the directorial debut of Sean Brosnan.

The movie starts streaming everywhere this Friday, but we L.A. folks got a big-screen sneak peek at the vintage Cinefamily movie theater. Writer-director Sean Brosnan was in attendance, and so were cast members Gary Stretch and Candace Smith. Stars Joe Anderson and John Schneider, and executive producer Pierce Brosnan, were no-shows… but that’s OK – we were plenty entertained.

After the movie – which faded out to major applause from the audience – Brosnan, Stretch, and Smith told stories about filming My Father Die, and then took the time to chat 1:1 with cinephiles and fans at a casual mixer out on the back patio.

During the Q&A, Brosnan assured animal lovers that no, alligators were not harmed during the filming, which did indeed take place on location in Louisiana. The same can’t be said for the actors, though. Stretch, who is a world-class boxer turned actor, has a scene in which he attacks Smith. Both of them went for it, whole-heartedly.

“The rape scene was very hard, on both Gary and myself,” said Smith, when asked if there were any injuries during filming. “We wanted it to be authentic, and so I kind of gave him the green light and he took it.” Stretch deadpanned, “She kept saying, one more take.” Smith laughed, but admonished, “Come on, Gary! Come on.” He said his elbows and knees were killing him after the scene, and Smith shot back, “Oh yeah? Whose hips were hitting that hardwood floor?”

As for the motivation leading up to the brutal rape scene, “Sean actually gave us a lot of creative control, when it came to our character’s backstories,” said Smith. “When it comes to whether my character, Nana, had had ‘consensual’ sex with the father [played by Stretch] in the past… well… ‘consensual’ is cloudy because, let’s face it, Nana was a young black girl in South, with an older, intimidating white man. There had been something there, so in that rape scene after years had passed, Sean and I both wanted to achieve, was acknowledge her part in all that – that she had been with the father, and his sons. There was some guilt Nana was carrying. But she has a good heart. She’s going to church, and trying to raise her child right.”

Sean told another tale of hard knocks: “The whole shoot was 16 days, or 18 days. We shot that massive car chase scene in 2 days. We had to do some pick up shots later with just Gary, and he was driving that Harley… it was really cold, and he was in that leather vest. At one point, he came over to me, and pulled up the vest and said, ‘Does this look weird?’ and I saw his entire back was black and blue… he’d thrown it out while punching me [director’s cameo] in a scene in the bar. I said, ‘We should get you to a hospital’ and he said, ‘Let’s finish this take first’ – that’s my guy, right there!”

Brosnan already has his next film lined up: a psychological thriller set inside a house, to be filmed in L.A.