The Big Picture

Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with
Road House
co-stars Lukas Gage and Daniela Melchior about filming on location for the Prime Video remake.
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal,
Road House
is about Dalton, a former UFC fighter who becomes a bouncer to save a bar from the son of a mafia boss.
Gage and Melchior discuss their time on set, fight sequences with McGregor, and future projects like
Smile 2
and
Companion
with Jack Quaid in this Collider interview.

In Doug Liman’s (Edge of Tomorrow) remake Road House, Jake Gyllenhaal steps into the role of former UFC fighter Elwood Dalton, previously played by Patrick Swayze (as John Dalton) in the 1989 original. The movie adopts the OG’s action-packed spirit, but takes the story to a new location in the Florida Keys, where the cast and crew filmed on location with real-life UFC fighter Conor McGregor.

In the remake, Dalton is a UFC fighter cast from the limelight, who now makes his money in less admirable ways. When bar owner, Frankie (Jessica Williams) takes notice of his skills, she employs him as a bouncer to ward off the local bike gangs that have been hounding her establishment lately. It isn’t long before it’s discovered these are no ordinary bar fights, and Dalton is now all that stands between Frankie’s Road House and Ben Brandt (Billy Magnussen), who wants the land for his criminal empire. The movie also features Lukas Gage (The White Lotus), Daniela Melchior (Fast X), singer and producer Post Malone, and more.

In this interview, Collider’s Steve Weintraub talks with Gage and Melchior about their time on set in Florida, working with McGregor on fight sequences, and the inevitable punches they had to take. They also discuss whether Gyllenhaal or Swayze would win in a fight and Gage teases his upcoming projects Smile 2 and Companion with Jack Quaid. You can watch the full conversation in the video above or read the transcript below.

Road House (2024) An ex-UFC middleweight fighter ends up working at a rowdy bar in the Florida Keys where things are not as they seem.

Jake Gyllenhaal vs. Patrick Swayze: Which Dalton Would Win?

COLLIDER: First, let me start by saying how much I enjoyed the movie. It was exactly what I wanted. Here’s the most important question upfront, and don’t make your friendship with Jake part of this answer because I want your honest opinion — if Patrick Swayze’s Dalton and Jake Gyllenhaal’s Dalton were to meet in a fight, fair ground, who wins that fight?

LUKAS GAGE: I think Jake would even say that Patrick Swayze would win. I think I can say that because I can comfortably say that I think Jake would agree.

DANIELA MELCHIOR: I think they’re so calm and still, both of them, both of those takes, that they would just be still waiting for the other to make the first move and nothing would be happening. They would just grab a coffee and have an interesting conversation.

GAGE: I like that answer. I go with Daniela’s answer. I take mine back. They would have a great conversation together. Both will kick my ass, I’ll just say that.

I actually think both of your answers were very good. So one of the things about this is the location of where you guys filmed is ridiculous. So I’m just curious, how much do you pay to be in a movie when you get to be with Jake Gyllenhaal and film on location like that?

MELCHIOR: Oh my god.

GAGE: I feel like we should have paid to be there. I feel like it was a paid vacation. I mean, it was insane that we got to be in the most beautiful place ever with a movie star and the world’s best fighter and the world’s coolest actress ever, Daniela.

MELCHIOR: I made friends for life. If it wasn’t the ocean that separates us, I feel like we would be all like…

GAGE: I’m coming to Portugal and hanging out with you.

MELCHIOR: Amazing. Can’t wait!

UFC Star Conor McGregor Was a Safer Bet on ‘Road House’ Set

Being serious, when you guys saw the shooting schedule, did you have a day circled in terms of, “I cannot wait to film this?”

MELCHIOR: I had one scene that I was more nervous about. That is the exposition scene, the scene where I’m driving Dalton and explaining who was my father and everything. In every project that I have I always have a scene that I’m the most afraid of because English is not my first language, so I’m acting two times, you know? So yeah, I wasn’t excited, I was nervous for that one.

GAGE: That’s a hard job to do, but you nailed it. You did a really good job. I think mine was very easy. I just had to hang out at a roadhouse, drink, and sometimes get in a fight. I guess maybe with Conor McGregor it was a little bit scary the first time fighting with him, but he is such a pro and actually more safe than some of the other people I was fighting with. [Laughs]

I could not do these fight scenes. What is it actually like? The truth is there is an element of risk in every one of these shots. If someone misses, it’s a punch to the face.

GAGE: We did miss a lot and we did get punched in the face. [Laughs]

MELCHIOR: I didn’t, actually.

GAGE: You didn’t. But yeah, I think we all got hit. There’s an accident all the time, right? It just kind of comes with the territory. No one, of course, got seriously hurt, but it happened. You’re going to miss. It’s like dancing; you’re going to miss your cue every once in a while. It’s so choreographed that it just kind of comes with doing those scenes.

MELCHIOR: I think the most inevitable things are the grabbing because you can’t pretend. But at the same time, for me, it’s very easy to ask. I asked a lot of times, “Just grab me strong.”

GAGE: You’re tough, though.

MELCHIOR: Yeah, I’m tough. While I’m shooting I don’t even feel it. It’s the adrenaline. So yeah, the grabbing is the most difficult because you don’t miss or you can’t pretend, you just grab.

GAGE: That’s true.

What Is Jack Quaid’s Sci-Fi Thriller ‘Companion’ About?
Image via Amazon Prime Video

Last question for you guys. What do you both have coming up in 2024?

GAGE: Smile 2 and a movie called Companion that’s with New Line that’s really fun and has to do with AI and how scary it is.

MELCHIOR: It is.

GAGE: Really scary.

MELCHIOR: For me, I’m being more thoughtful about the things that I’ve been receiving or embracing as projects. After the strike, everything slowed down. So now, I want to be very selective because as an actress, that time that I was desperate to have work has past. So now I’m not as desperate to accept projects. Now I’m taking my time to think about what I want to do next.

Road House is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.

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