Vadhir Derbez Reveals What White Elephant's Action Scenes Were Really Like To Film - Exclusive
While tear-jerking romance films tug at the heartstrings and leave us inquisitive while heading home from the movie theater, there is just something about action movies that make them stand out. Think about it — what's more exhilarating than sitting in the cinema, watching the likes of "Top Gun: Maverick" and almost throwing your popcorn onto the person next to you because the jet propulsion just whisked you out of your seat? And don't even think about getting comfortable with films like "RED" that will keep you on your toes with scenes like when John Malkovich blows up a double-crossing agent holding a bazooka that's aiming straight for him and Bruce Willis.
Speaking of the iconic pair, Willis and Malkovich have teamed up again for the newly released action-packed film, "White Elephant," thrilling the very viewers who still consider "Armageddon" to be the preeminent action adventure. Joining Michael Rooker and Vadhir Derbez, "White Elephant" follows the story of an ex-marine officer forced into life-altering decisions. Without giving too much away, Derbez joined Nicki Swift for an exclusive interview ahead of the film's release where he not only dished about filming alongside an icon such as Willis, but gave us some insight into just how insane some of the action sequences were to capture on-camera.
A tense building explosion happens in 'White Elephant'
Action movies are not only fun because of the cast, but also for the special effects and stunts that help to attract viewers. "White Elephant" is no different, and when we sat down with Vadhir Derbez, the actor detailed one particular stunt that left him pretty much speechless.
"It was very, very crazy, some of the things we did. I remember this one scene, for example, that they chose a building for [where] they only had to blow out three windows that had to explode," Derbez explained. "So, they had the bombs or whatever they used ... The thing set off, exploded. Let me tell you that thing blew. It was insane. It was like all the windows shattered from the whole building."
We can't even imagine the noise, let alone the surprise factor, of such a stunt — and Derbez was just as much in awe of the production.
"The whole building has no windows anymore," he said, chuckling at the grandness of the event. "There was fire coming out of it. ... We were all in shock, but it was fun to watch for sure."
Vadhir had to prepare for close-quarter stunts
We've all seen the "stage slap" and the parodies of the stunt when done poorly (or maybe that's our inner theater kid talking?). If you're not familiar with the on-stage act, a stage slap is simply a choreographed movement between two actors, simulating a brawl while allowing neither to get hurt. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well for Vadhir Derbez and the cast of "White Elephant," a bit more went into setting up such intricate close-quarter stunts for this film.
"All the fights that I had to do, they were very exciting. I had to do this knife fight with this dude that was huge. Like six feet and a giant [build]," Derbez explained. "So, I had to train for that. I had to do all the gun training for all the shooting parts. There were a lot of things going on in every scene and I just loved it. It was fun."
Derbez told us that he had done "some shooting stuff" in the past, but had never been involved with a film that had this extent of action. "All these people — they're so, so great and talented and I admire them so much," Derbez said of Bruce Willis, Michael Rooker, and the cast of "White Elephant," adding, "Having them there and playing around, it was very nice."
"White Elephant" is now in theaters and streaming on AMC+