Summary

Director Jonathan Eusebio makes his debut with Love Hurts, an action-packed Hong Kong-inspired film starring Ke Huy Quan.

Eusebio’s extensive history in stunts and Hollywood has prepared him to take the directorial main stage.

The movie showcases ’80s Hong Kong action film influences and intense fight sequences, all anchored by a fun and fast-paced tone.

With 25 years of iconic stunt work under his belt, the multi-talented, multifaceted filmmaker Jonathan Eusebio is finally making his directorial debut. From John Wick to The Matrix to all things Marvel and Star Wars, Eusebio has been a massive player in the design and execution of some of the most memorable fight scenes in the entire history of cinema. Now, he brings his unique vantage point to a brand new “fast fun” Hong Kong-inspired action flick, Love Hurts, as director, and the results have audiences screaming.
Love Hurts follows Academy Award winner Ke Huy Quan’s Marvin Gable, a realtor with a steady life. When his former partner-in-crime Cliff (played by Sean Astin) shows up out of the blue, he brings along an ominous message forcing Marvin to confront his violent hitman past. The film co-stars fellow Oscar Winner Ariana Debose and Marshawn Lynch in an action-packed debut role.
Ahead of the movie’s release, Eusebio sat down with Collider’s Steve Weintraub to discuss how the filmmakers chose the action flick’s unique tone, the influence of the Shaw Brothers, designing and choreographing fights for all of he Avengers, and what eventually brought Eusebio from the stunt world to the directing mainstage. You can check out the full conversation in the video above or in the transcript below.
No Rules Applied for Jonathan Eusebio on ‘Love Hurts’

Being director afforded the filmmaker more freedoms on set.

COLLIDER: How long have you been thinking about directing a movie?
JONATHAN EUSEBIO: Oh, gosh. I mean, I’ve been in business for about 25 years. I started out as a stunt performer, and kind of made my way up as the second unit director. But I didn’t really think about directing until I was shooting Deadpool 2. Kelly McCormick was talking to me, and she’s like, “I think you should start thinking about the next phase of your career. You should start thinking about directing.” That’s how that idea popped into my head. Then she was getting me a lot of scripts, and then this script came up, and I just loved it.
I looked at your resume. It’s pretty crazy. You were second unit director on Deadpool 2, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Violent Night, just to name a few. When you think about those projects, what do you think would surprise people to learn about being a second unit director on projects like that?
EUSEBIO: Again, as a second unit director, you’re going into a world where the rules are kind of made for you, but you have to operate within those rules. So, everything I did as a second unit director was guided by the rules that were given to me. The same processes I used for that, I applied for me going into main unit directing.
Is there any good story from those shoots? Anything you want to share for fans? Because those are all things people really enjoy.
EUSEBIO: Off the top of my head, it’s hard to say. A lot of those were fun. For example, Violent Night, we shot this barn scene, and it’s a huge scene, but we didn’t have enough space or time, so we shot at the same time as the main unit, which is literally next door to us. So in between takes, we’re whispering and tiptoeing, and I had the people tiptoe-walk their stuff. Then, as soon as they yell, “Cut!” We went, “Action!” We would be in tandem like crazy. I’m really happy about how that turned out because that was really crazy in terms of how to execute how we’re shooting.
Jonathan Eusebio Talks ‘Fall Guy’ Stuntwork

Image via Universal Pictures

You coordinated the fights on Fall Guy.
EUSEBIO: Yes. I was one of the fight coordinators.
I love that movie. What can you say about some of the fights you worked on? What are your memories of that?
EUSEBIO: I came into that project in the middle of it. Anything I do with David [Leitch], the fights are super fun. The sets are huge and the spectacle is so fun. For me, it was about being around those bigger stunt sequences in there and watching it, how it laid out, how they figured it out, and how they executed it on the day. That was mind-blowing to me because it wasn’t a fight-oriented movie per se. There’s action all over, but some of the bigger stunts, like the car rolls and high falls and the jumps, those were very fun to be part of.
I spoke to David about it, and he got to do so many cool things in that film. For anyone who’s not seen The Fall Guy for the love of God, push play.

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Producer Kelly McCormick joins the director in this Q&A to discuss all the behind-the-scenes in a spoiler filled Q&A.

You worked on The Avengers and coordinated some fights. Talk a little bit about your time working with Joss [Whedon] and making that movie.
EUSEBIO: At the time, they were trying to start this shared universe. He didn’t know if this thing was going to be a hit or not when the first Avengers came out. So for me as a fan boy growing up reading comics, to see all those characters together was amazing. I had so much fun on that set. The best part was, because I was the fight coordinator, they would give me all the props of the weapons, like Thor’s hammer, the Captain America shield, Hawkeye’s bow. They had Loki’s staff. They would give me the prop versions of it so I can practice with it. I’d carry this huge bag with all that stuff. I was like, “This is like a treasure trove.” I’m carrying it around, like, “This is amazing.” I was just fanboying out a lot on that movie.
The Stunt “Train Is Always Moving” on ‘Love Hurts’

Image via Universal Pictures

Jumping into the film, you see the shooting schedule in front of you. You know you don’t have enough time. You know it’s going to be a challenge. What was the thing that you were most nervous about being able to pull off with the time and the limitations that were in front of you?
EUSEBIO: There’s a lot. I give a shoutout to my action team, led by Can Aydin. When we designed these action sequences or we were conceptualizing them, I knew they were big. They’re big, and they take time to shoot. I just had to trust that for every time I didn’t finish something, the guys would come and clean it up. The train’s always moving. We’re just hoping that we can get the setups done in time. It’s always just time. Time constraints. But I was lucky because of a multitude of factors. We were prepared that way and I have a cast that can pretty much do anything I asked of them physically.
Ke is so good in the action. When did you realize, “We’re going to be able to do longer takes and we’re going to be able to show him and not have to do cutaways?”
EUSEBIO: I knew already. I knew when we were doing the training, he’d be able to do all this stuff. Now, in terms of the longer takes, it’s hard to do masters, masters, masters, and then go in for coverage because we don’t have the time for it. So we just made sure we knew what we were going to shoot from one angle. How many moves from this angle? Boom. Move to another one. I needed someone that can stay in that mode of the choreography the whole time and he can do it without even batting an eyelash.
Marshawn Lynch Is A Major Crowd Pleaser In ‘Love Hurts’

Image via Universal Pictures

Marshawn Lynch is in this. Unlike his previous roles, he does a lot of action and a lot of dialogue. This is a big role for him. When did you realize he can actually pull this off?
EUSEBIO: I didn’t get to see Marshawn until almost two days before shooting. I knew physically, as an athlete, he’s amazing, but I think he’s just a natural actor. He’s very funny. He’s very charming. Because he’s such a high-level athlete, he takes physical direction very well. So if you told him to do something, he can almost do it to a tee. He knows his body so well. He has very good judgment and timing, his distance, and knowing how to pull his strength back.
Totally. If I was in that scene and Marshawn is coming at me and getting ready to throw a punch, I will run the other way.
EUSEBIO: [Laughs] Ke was scared. You can see it. He’s nervous at some point, like, “Oh man, if this guy hits me, I’m gone.” But I think that’s what makes the fights exciting because you can kind of feel that. You can feel the danger of it.
Completely.
Jonathan Eusebio Talks Editing ‘Love Hurts’

“At the end of the day, it’s for the best of the movie.”

Image via Universal Pictures

I’m fascinated by the editing process because obviously it’s where it all comes together. So, you do your first friends and family screening; what did you learn, and how did you change the movie based on that?
EUSEBIO: A lot of those things, you just learn what works or not—if the tone is working, what the audience is laughing at, what they’re responding to. You see what they respond to and you just make sure that it keeps going. I was fortunate to have great notes from everyone. It’s all super helpful because I know at the end of the day, it’s for the best of the movie. You just got to look and sit in there and go, “Okay, what works? What’s the audience reacting to?” That’s how you make your choices.
Did you make any significant changes, or was it more like just tweaking scenes?
EUSEBIO: There are some significant changes in terms of some plot points, but it didn’t really change the essence of the story. As long as it doesn’t change the essence of the story, moving things around or taking things out is not is not as important.
I laughed when I saw the Mortal Kombat video game. Do you have to get permission?
EUSEBIO: Yeah.
Why did you want the Mortal Kombat game, and how tough was it to get?
EUSEBIO: I don’t know how tough it was to get, but of course, I wanted it. I grew up in that time. That’s the time I grew up in. You play video games, you read comics. I watched animes and I watched martial arts movies. Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat are a big part of my childhood, I would say.
I got a kick out of that.
There Are Some Extreme Kills In ‘Love Hurts’

“We made a conscious effort to show that emotional journey through the fights.”

Image via Universal Pictures

There are times in this movie where the violence is turned to 11. It’s, pardon my language, fucking crazy. Then, other times, it’s a little more tame. Did you have any battles with the MPAA over the R rating?
EUSEBIO: No, I don’t recall any battles at all with them. What I was trying to do was the fights are emotional and it’s like a pathway of his mindset throughout the movie. So that’s why, in the beginning of the movie, he’s a little bit more playful and elusive. Even the way it’s shot, everything’s more steady and smooth. But as the movie progresses and his mindset goes back to that old Marvin character, it starts getting handheld, a little bit more visceral, more gritty. We made a conscious effort to show that emotional journey through the fights.
I don’t want to spoil anything, but there are two significant kills. What was it like watching with an audience for the first time and hearing their reaction? Because last night, people reacted.
EUSEBIO: That’s what you’re trying to do. You’re trying to subvert expectations, right? I like shocking the audience and getting a good reaction out of them. Those moments that you’re talking about elicited the response I wanted to get from them.
Oh, and it works 100%. I was cackling. Yeah, I will say it like that. One of the other things I’m curious about is the tone. There are times when it’s really serious and there are other times where it’s just a lot of fun.
EUSEBIO: That’s part of the editing process, too. You’re watching where it’s like, “Does it get too heavy at times or too melodramatic? What works the best?” Everyone loves the fun. They love the fun, so we’re like, “Let’s keep it fun.” But, again, your story changes throughout the whole process of filmmaking. You make a movie during prep, you make a different movie during shooting, and then you make an entirely different movie in post. All these things happened organically in terms of what the tone in the movie was. But I always knew the movie was going to be fast and fun.
‘Love Hurts’ Is an Homage to ’80s Hong Kong Action Films

“I grew up watching a lot of Shaw Brothers movies.”

Image via Universal Pictures

I’m always fascinated by longer cuts. The movie’s 90 minutes. Did you have a cut that was a lot longer, or was it always in your mind, like, “It’s going to be about a 90-minute movie?”
EUSEBIO: I do have longer cuts, for sure, especially for some action pieces, But it wasn’t that much longer. I think the stuff we cut out needed to be cut out. I always wanted fun and fast. The movie just keeps going. That’s the vibe we were trying to get.
Talk a little bit about what you wanted to accomplish with some of the action sequences. As someone who has coordinated stunts, you’ve done second unit, and now you are in control, was there a fight sequence that you’ve been saving? How did you figure out what you wanted Ke to do in the sequence?
EUSEBIO: A lot of stuff, I talk over with my stunt team. When I was making this movie, it’s really an homage to the ’80s Hong Kong movies I grew up watching. That vibe was always in there. I grew up watching a lot of Shaw Brothers movies, Golden Harvest. You see a lot of those influences throughout the fight scenes. When I was doing it, I knew what Ke can do, so I wanted to make sure whoever he was fighting in different scenes, there’s a style that complemented his style of fighting. So the first one really is about trying to escape and then be quiet. You just present these circumstances and how he gets through these circumstances.
You’ve gotten your taste for directing. Are you looking at other scripts? Are David and Kelly like, “What else are you thinking?”
EUSEBIO: No, I’m trying to get through this thing right now. I’ve been reading a lot of different scripts and trying to decide what’s next for me. So, hopefully I see some that resonate and hopefully I get to work on something that’s just as fun as this one.
Love Hurts is in theaters now.

Love Hurts

Release Date

February 7, 2025

Director

JoJo Eusebio

Writers

Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, Luke Passmore