The Bluff is a brand new action film from Amazon MGM Studios and AGBO, following the story of Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden (Priyanka Chopra Jonas), a former pirate who thought she had escaped her sordid past and found peace. However, when that past comes knocking, she soon finds herself fighting for her life and her family's.
With the film now streaming on Prime Video, we were recently granted an exclusively opportunity to sit down with stars Priyanka Chopra Jonas (Don: The Chase Begins Again; Citadel; Heads of States) and Karl Urban (The Boys; Star Trek; Mortal Kombat II) to talk about the swashbuckling pirate revenge thriller.
In our conversation, we talk about what makes this role different from Chopra Jonas' past action roles, whether Urban was able to draw any parallels between his pirate captain and Billy Butcher, how the duo were able to establish their contentious chemistry, and a whole lot more!
Frank E. Flowers helmed the feature, with a screenplay he co-wrote with Joe Ballarini, while the Russo Brothers served as producers alongside Priyanka Chopra Jonas. In addition to Chopra Jonas and Urban, the supporting cast featured Safia Oakley-Green, Temuera Morrison, and Vedanten Naidoo.
The Bluff is now streaming on Prime Video!
Watch our full interview below and/or keep scrolling to read the full transcription. Plus, remember to subscribe to our YouTube channel for more exclusive content!
ROHAN: Priyanka, you’re well versed in action roles from Quantico and Citadel all the way back to Don (which is probably one of my favorite movies of all-time), but all of those past characters - Roma, Nadia, Alex - had some level of restraint, which Ercell doesn’t. She’s a ruthless killer. As a performer, what did you have to call upon to push yourself to that next level required to give this kind of visceral performance?
PRIYANKA: I think none of the characters that you mentioned were moms. That factor just gave Ercell an added level of stakes, and I think I understood that. I only understood it after we had our daughter. She was two years old when I was filming this movie. She was in Australia with me. She was on the sets of The Bluff, and I just remember channeling into the feeling of what I would do if anybody hurt her, you know, I would go to the ends of the Earth. And that was my North Star in every choice that I made in the movie, and that's what is different from everything else that I've done before.
ROHAN: Karl, when the movie picks up, Capt. Connor is one of the last remaining pirates, did you approach him as someone that actually cares about retrieving the treasure for his crew or as someone hellbent on revenge, knowing it may be all he has left?
KARL: Neither, actually. I guess the central motivation for Captain Connor is to be able to live in the world that he helped create. He is now an outlaw, a former member of the East India Trading Company, and the one way that he can live in this world is he has to track down and hunt over his former partner, and, you know, so while there is, yes, there's an element of revenge in there, there's also a greater objective, and even greater than that, is a questioning and a desire to know why she betrayed him, because I think, at its heart, you know, there's really a bit of a tragic love story here, at least from Connor's perspective as well. So, yeah, there was a lot of fertile ground to play with.
ROHAN: Priyanka, there are so many epic stunts in the movie. Was your sword fight with Karl near the end among the most challenging to choreograph and get right? Or was there something else you found more difficult to pull off as both the star and producer?
PRIYANKA: The beginning and the end of the movie were the hardest for my character. The fight with Karl required a lot of precision, because it was just him and I, and there was so much unsaid between us that was just happening on our faces. It required precision, jumps, agility, so it was really physical, but, you know, also within the elements. So, it was hard, you know, we shot really long pieces together as well. And I had never done sword fighting before, very little bit, maybe back in Drona or something. So, I didn't know it very well, and Karl is very well versed. He was taught by Darth Vader, himself, so I was like, I've got to not be stupid here. So, I practiced for months, actually, while I was filming Heads of State, and when we started working, and we worked together extensively, again, while we were shooting, whenever we could get the time, and then the beginning, the invasion sequence, because it was, you know, I was literally in just pajamas, and I had splinters everywhere. The home was wooden. There were bruises. It was tough, but it was really, really cool to be able to do that.
ROHAN: Karl, you've gotten plenty bloody on The Boys and you’re no stranger to physical roles, but The Bluff feels particularly raw and blood-soaked. How did the 1840s Caribbean weaponry change how you approached the choreography?
KARL: Yeah, I really enjoyed working with swords and knives and the guns in this movie. There's a, you know, it's fun. There's a swashbuckling element to, you know, to being a pirate. And, you know, I really just enjoyed those moments where we got to play, and just really completely trusted in our fantastic stunt team, headed by Rob Alonso, who's done some of the greatest action in many, many years, and I loved working with Priyanka on this. I mean, she just threw herself at it 1,000% and I knew that I could not turn up to set, and, you know, be even 5% down in energy, because Priyanka was always going to deliver, and she was always going to be there with energy. So, we went for it, and I think, you know, when you watch the film, you can see it. These two really look like they're going to kill each other, and, yeah, it was just fun.
Ercell “Bloody Mary” Bodden (Priyanka Chopra Jonas) thought she had escaped her violent past as a pirate, finding peace in the Cayman Islands with her loving husband T.H. (Ismael Cruz Cordova), their son Isaac (Vedanten Naidoo) and her sister-in-law Elizabeth (Safia Oakley-Green). But when her notorious former captain, Connor (Karl Urban), arrives seeking revenge, Ercell’s world is torn apart. Forced to confront the demons she’s tried to bury, Ercell is thrust back into a deadly game of secrets and survival. Armed with lethal swordsmanship, cunning traps, and a fierce will to protect those she loves, she wages a brutal war against Connor’s merciless crew. Ercell’s fight to save her family becomes a journey of redemption, as she reclaims her power and embraces the warrior she once was. Against the breathtaking backdrop of the Cayman Brac’s Skull Cave and towering bluffs, producers Anthony and Joe Russo present The Bluff; a gritty, adrenaline-fueled action-adventure about family, survival, and the indomitable strength of a mother’s love.