Christian Bale, John David Washington, Margot Robbie and more of the starry cast and crew of David O. Russell’s upcoming film Amsterdam — including executive producer Drake — stepped onto the green carpet in New York City to celebrate its world premiere Sunday.
Amsterdam, which is loosely based on real events of the 1930s, follows three friends — Bale, Robbie and Washington — who witness a murder and, after being framed for it, become suspects themselves. Over the course of the film, with the help of Robert De Niro’s General Gil Dillenbeck, they uncover one of the most outrageous plots in American history.
Washington and Robbie sang praises of each other and of Bale on the carpet, explaining what made their onscreen chemistry “seamless.”
“Their professionalism, their humility and their craving; their hankering for telling the truth and getting to the source of what all the actions are, what motivates the actions, as an actor, made it easy to just get in line, blend in and have the chemistry,” Washington told The Hollywood Reporter of working with Robbie and Bale to create Amsterdam‘s central trio.
He continued, “Our bedrock of humility was that foundation, and I think that’s what made it seamless as far as chemistry was concerned.”
Robbie echoed Washington’s statement, sharing that it wasn’t difficult to find chemistry with Washington and Bale because they’re “really good guys.”
“Whenever you have a really fulfilling and interesting and exciting creative experience, you do come out bonded anyway, like anyone would,” she told THR. “So, [the chemistry] wasn’t something we really needed to work at. It was pretty easy.”
The actress also explained that she grew particularly close with Washington because it was the first time doing a Russell film for both of them.
“We immediately kind of clung to each other, like, ‘OK, are you scared? Because I’m scared. Ah! What do we do?’” she said. “Then, you dive in headfirst and you have the time of your life, and Christian’s going like, ‘Don’t worry. It’s always like this. You never know what’s going to happen when you go to work that day,’ and you really don’t, and that is thrilling.”
Mike Myers, whose main scene partner in the film is Michael Shannon, said he was excited to work alongside the actor, though, “I was very intimidated by his talents, and it was such a great learning experience,” Myers told THR. “His concentration is unbelievable. He’s just a great actor, and I feel like I went to school for several weeks there.”
For most of the cast, getting to work with a Hollywood legend like De Niro was among the top draws of the film, with Robbie calling it a “career highlight” and “life highlight.”
“Who stood out was obviously Mr. De Niro, the G.O.A.T., one of the greatest all the time to do it,” Washington said, adding that working alongside Chris Rock, who also stars in the film, was just as exciting. “One of the greatest comedians of all time. He’s in the same room as Richard Pryor and company. I think he’s an intelligent actor. He’s got range, and he’s funny as hell even when he’s not on.”
De Niro said he enjoyed the chance to co-star in the film with Bale, with whom he’s worked with in the past, as well as all the other actors on the film. The actor also opened up about working with Russell on several occasions, like Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and Joy, and why he keeps coming back.
“He’s a very special director,” De Niro said. “He cares deeply about what he does, and so that kind of feeling, determination, passion — for want of a better word — is half of it or more, 60 to 70 percent, so most everything because you know they’re going to do something special.”
Amsterdam, which also co-stars Rami Malek, Anya Taylor-Joy, Timothy Olyphant, Zoe Saldaña, Andrea Riseborough and Taylor Swift, hits theaters Oct. 7.
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