'One Day as a Lion' Interview: Scott Caan

Moviefone speaks to Scott Caan about 'One Day as a Lion.' "I come up with an idea and I write it down. If I keep writing notes, I know it's a solid idea."

Opening in select theaters on April 4th and available on digital and On Demand April 7th is the new crime drama ‘One Day as a Lion,’ which is directed by John Swab (‘Body Brokers’) and written by actor Scott Caan (‘Gone in Sixty Seconds,’ ‘Ocean’s Eleven’).

What is the plot of 'One Day as a Lion?’

'One Day as a Lion' centers on Jackie Powers (Scott Caan), a nice guy but a lousy hitman who is sent by gangster Pauley Russo (Frank Grillo) to take out Walter Boggs (J.K. Simmons), who owes him money, but Jackie only pisses him off.

Fleeing the scene Jackie takes bored waitress Lola (Marianne Rendon) as a hostage. Jackie needs money to get his son (Dash Melrose) out of jail and Lola cooks up a scheme for them to get cash from her dying mother (Virginia Madsen). Meanwhile Russo sends his thug Dom (George Carroll) to kill Jackie, but instead he ends up with Jackie’s ex, Taylor (Taryn Manning).

One Day as a Lion

"Every hitman deserves a second shot."

R1 hr 27 minApr 4th, 2023

Showtimes & Tickets

Watch One Day as a Lion Online

Who is in the cast of 'One Day as a Lion?’

'One Day as a Lion’ stars Scott Caan (‘Enemy of the State,’ ‘Varsity Blues’) as Jackie Powers, Marianne Rendon (‘Charlie Says’) as Lola Brisky, Taryn Manning (‘8 Mile’) as Taylor Love, George Carroll (‘The Town’) as Dom Lorenzo, Dash Melrose (‘Little Dixie’) as Billy Powers, Billy Blair (‘Alita: Battle Angel’) as Ken Walsh, Frank Grillo (‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’) as Pauley Russo, Oscar-nominee Virginia Madsen (‘Sideways’) as Valerie Brisky, and Oscar-winner J.K. Simmons (‘Whiplash’) as Walter Boggs.

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Scott Caan about his work on ‘One Day as a Lion,’ writing the screenplay, its fun tone, creating his character, collaborating with director John Swab and working with the impressive cast.

Scott Caan as Jackie Powers in the action/thriller, 'One Day as a Lion,' a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

You can read our full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Caan, director John Swab, and actor Frank Grillo.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your writing process and specifically breaking the story for this film, and when you were creating the character of Jackie Powers, did you know that you would eventually play the role yourself?

Scott Caan: I'll start with that and I'll go backwards. Usually when I'm writing something close to home like this, because it has a lot of stuff from my childhood and a lot of characters are based on people that I grew up around and with, I'm usually writing the main character with my sensibility. Happy to have somebody else play the role down the line, but when I'm writing, certainly something like this, I'm writing it as me or some version of me. My process is I come up with an idea and I write it down, and then if I keep writing notes on it for about a week or two, then I know that it's a solid idea and I got to stick with it. A lot of the time I'll come up with an idea for a play, or a movie, or TV, and within four days I'm stuck. There's nothing, and I'm not going anywhere else, and then that's when I kind of leave it alone. But if I keep going at something and my phone starts adding notes, and then my book is filled with stuff over a couple weeks, then I know it's something that I got to stick with. Also this role specifically, I get typecast as a certain guy. I feel like I look one way, but on the inside I'm different. So Jackie, to me, was a way to dig into a role that I probably otherwise maybe wouldn't be hired for. Just the fact that I feel like he's a sensitive dude who's not a tough guy on the inside at all. He’s got muscles and he can fight, but he's a sensitive dude, he's not a heroic dude. He's not somebody who walks around with his chest out all the time. He's a dude who's got issues and he's kind of messed up, hence the title ‘One Day as a Lion.’ It's him doing something for the first time in his life that's heroic and for somebody else. So it's like a hero who's an unlikely hero.

Scott Caan as Jackie Powers in the action/thriller, 'One Day as a Lion,' a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: The movie deals with some serious subject matter but still has a really fun tone. Was that important to you while writing the screenplay?

SC: For sure, man. If we succeeded in that, to me, that's the biggest compliment. Because I think it's a really hard thing to do, to deal with tricky, tough subject matter and find humor in it. It's my favorite thing to do as a writer, and I feel like you fail a lot with that. It's a hard line to walk but yes, that's my jam. I want to take the most horrific, awful things and find humor in them. I feel like if I have anything to offer the world as a creative, it's trying to find humor in really terrible situations.

(L to R) Marianne Rendón as Lola Brisky and Scott Caan as Jackie Powers in the action/thriller, 'One Day as a Lion,' a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

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MF: Can you talk about the relationship Jackie forms with Lola and your experience working with actress Marianne Rendon?

SC: Maryanne is a monster talent. She is so good. We scored so big with her. I can't believe she's not a movie star. She should star in every Wes Anderson movie. She should be in Cohen Brothers films. The way she deals with drama and comedy, and her honesty. I can't say enough about Maryanne. Look, I don't want to admit to it, but one of my favorite movies of all time and one of my favorite love stories of all time is ‘Buffalo '66’. I've definitely been a fan of that movie. I'm a fan of Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci in that movie. Also ‘True Romance’ a little bit. ‘True Romance’ is definitely a little more fantastical, but just these two messed up people who, there's no way that at the beginning of the movie they are going to end up being together. It's not romance, it's not a love story, but somehow at the end you believe these two people are going to end up together without a goofy cinematic romance. That was my goal. I was like, I want to touch on that. If we can succeed with that, then I'll be happy. That's sort of what I was going for. Also, because the movie is a nod to ‘90s independent film. We really tried to make a ‘90s independent movie. So those were my inspirations. Those types of love stories are really interesting to me. To have a love story where there is no sex, there is no kissing, there aren't those moments. I think it's a really cool problem to solve and I think John Swab did a fantastic job with making that happen. Maryanne is, man, we got so lucky with her. It blows my mind she's not a big movie star. She will be.

Scott Caan as Jackie Powers in the action/thriller, 'One Day as a Lion,' a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: Can you also talk about Jackie’s relationship with his son and how he’s willing to do anything to make sure he is safe?

SC: When I was a kid, I had a little problem with the law and I remember being in juvenile hall thinking, I don't belong here. I wrote a movie years ago that took place in juvenile hall, and I picked that section out and put it in this movie because I wanted to write a movie about a dude stepping up for one time and being a hero, and there's nothing more heroic than stepping up for your son. I just related to that character having been in his shoes. I always had this idea of a father breaking his son out of juvenile hall somehow. But when you make an independent movie, the break-in turns into a lawyer finessing it. It originally was a big dramatic action sequence, but we couldn't afford that. So it turned into a lawyer.

(L to R) J.K. Simmons as Walter Boggs and Frank Grillo as Pauly Russo in the action/thriller, 'One Day as a Lion,' a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: Finally, the movie has a fantastic cast that also includes Virginia Madsen, Frank Grillo and J.K. Simmons. What was it like to have actors of that caliber join you on this project?

SC: Those are hard roles and John Swab is really smart and he knows the difference between good acting and bad acting. All three of those people you just mentioned are monsters and we were just lucky to have them. I don't think a movie like this works without people that are that talented, regardless of if they're famous or they've won Academy Awards. You talk about ‘Buffalo '66.’ You look at those cameos that Vince was able to get. It's not them being famous that makes those scenes work. It's their talent that makes those scene works. It's the director figuring out how to use that talent and make it work. Specifically with J.K., he's a friend of mine. I don't write anything without writing something for him. So I think the movie works because of those people.