Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub speaks with Anthony Anderson, Marsai Martin, and Christopher Farrar for Prime Video’s G20.

In the movie, Anderson, Martin, and Farrar play opposite Viola Davis as President Danielle Sutton.

The trio discuss working with Viola Davis, the physical and mental preparation behind the scenes, and a battle with Davis vs. John Wick.

In Prime Video’s G20, Marsai Martin, Anthony Anderson, and Christopher Farrar join a star-studded cast led by Acadey Award-winner Viola Davis in a story of political upheaval and resilience.
G20 is a tense action thriller in which a violent coup erupts during the G20 summit, forcing U.S. President Danielle Sutton (Davis) to fight for her life — and the fate of the world — when terrorists seize control. Trapped behind enemy lines, she must use her wits, training, and courage to outmaneuver the attackers and prevent global catastrophe. In the film, Martin plays the president’s daughter, Anderson portrays the First Gentleman, and Farrar appears as a young tech specialist caught in the chaos of the summit attack.
In an interview with Collider’s Steven Weintraub, the trio reflect on the energy and emotion surrounding the film’s premiere, where audience cheers and applause confirmed the film’s impact. They also share behind-the-scenes insights from intense physical training and emotional preparation. Their reflections on G20 quickly turn to Davis, taking the opportunity to describe the awe of working alongside such an iconic performer.
Viola Davis Vs. John Wick: Who Would Win?

“My money’s on Viola.”

Image via Prime Video

COLLIDER: I have to ask you what it was like yesterday? I was at the screening, and witnessed people clapping and cheering and laughing, and then it just played like gangbusters. And you guys came in and did the Q&A. I don’t know how much you knew about how well it played – were you aware?
MARSAI MARTIN: I wasn’t there for the screening in particular, but we were there for the premiere, of course. I watched it with my family, my best friends, and everybody else that was in the space, and, yeah, we were able to get a glimpse of how it reacted and how well it did and the clapping at things that I didn’t even think there was going to be a clap. But I was like, “Oh, they like that part of me!” So we did get a glimpse of it, and it was really dope to see and very reassuring as an actor.
I can only imagine. I have to ask you this – probably the most important question. Do you feel like between The Woman King and now G20, this is all been building for Viola to fight John Wick?
MARTIN: Oh! Low-key.
ANTHONY ANDERSON: [Laughs] My money’s on Viola.
MARTIN: The way she preps…
ANDERSON: Yeah. I mean, when she shoots a gun, I’m with that.

Image via Prime Video

I would not bet against her. Although Keanu [Reeves] is John Wick. I mean, he is pretty badass.
MARTIN: I will say, so is Viola! That would be a great battle to see, though. Yeah, I will say.
ANDERSON: That would be a good one. Till the end.
MARTIN: Until the end! It should be just a film of that — just that.
I’m bringing it up to wish it into existence.
The Cast on Working With the Legendary Viola Davis

“She brings everything that you need, want, desire, and more as an actor.”

Image via Prime Video

Being serious, I love Viola, and her presence on screen. For all three of you, what was it actually like working with someone like that and what she brings as an actor? And how much when you’re not in a scene with her watching her to be like, what can I crib? How is she doing this that I can use for my own acting in the future?
ANDERSON: Oh, she brings everything that you need, want, desire, and more as an actor, as an artist, to the stage, to the theater, to the small screen, to all of that. Just being a fan of Viola’s and just watching her work over the years and then to be handpicked by her, to be in her film is something otherworldly to me, to be able to sit back and watch greatness. The way that she brings it, and to bounce off of her in those scenes, in that greatness, it was a beautiful thing to watch and to be a part of.
CHRISTOPHER FARRAR: She just brought so much depth to each scene. I don’t have too many scenes with her, but the scene I did have with her, she kind of gave me my performance in a sense. Like, she gave me so much to work off of it. It was great.
ANDERSON: How can you not work off of what she brings?
FARRAR: Exactly.
ANDERSON: It’s just amazing.
MARTIN: No, exactly that. That was the ultimate thing for me, especially towards the end, and I think pretty much throughout the whole film, because, of course, the core of it is a mother-daughter relationship. To be able to portray that with an amazing talent like Miss Viola is just something that only I could ever dream of.
The Experience Of Working On G20

“I want to be seen in a way that I’ve never been seen before…”

What do you think would surprise people to learn about making a film like this with action and humor, and what goes on behind the scenes?
FARRAR: Well, I didn’t have too many actions, but when I did go to the gym, just to work out, I saw everybody trained in jiu-jitsu working on different stuff, training their body just to stay prepared. So it’s more than just the acting part of it. They actually have to get physically ready for these roles, and it’s not easy. It’s a lot of recovery.
MARTIN: Yeah, you’re talking about physically. Honestly, for me, I had to really work on myself mentally and staying in it, staying consistent, being able to remember the points in the notes that I had for my character. Because what you see, we probably have done thousands and thousands of times over and over again, making sure it was perfected, in the way that Patricia [Riggen] wanted. It definitely just takes a lot of work. It’s just a lot of work and a lot of doing it over and over again, and making sure you’re staying in it and giving your 100% for each take that you do. So, for me, I think that was probably the most daring thing that a lot of people wouldn’t expect to see.
ANDERSON: It’s not as easy as people would think it would be. I’m glad that Marsai talked about the mental aspect of it, of just being conscious enough to stay in the moment, of this character in these scenes. And Chris, the physical part of it is not just the training that a lot of us work through. You think about what an action film is, the toll it takes on the body, the toll it takes on the mind. And it’s not just a physical thing, it’s also a nutritional thing. Our stunt crew did this — the way they took care of us — prepared meals, and all of that. A lot goes into being that person on that poster and being the faces of these characters on the screen for something like this.

Image via Prime Video

It’s so funny because I tried telling people. I’ve been on sets, and people think it’s this glamorous thing. In actuality, it’s far from it.
ANDERSON: Oh, definitely.
MARTIN: No, definitely not. And you sacrifice so much. We filmed in Cape Town, where we were away from our families. We were away from our friends, away from our normal daily routines. And we had to mentally stay in it. I think that is the wildest part of it all. But when you see everybody enjoying the film and being able to take the message and continue to move forward with their life knowing that this film is there, and they can tell their friends about it, it’s very much worth it.

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When you saw the shooting schedule in front of you, what day did you have circled in terms of, “I can’t wait to film this”?
MARTIN: The helicopter. Because that was at the very end. So I woke up every day thinking like, “All right, we’re getting close to that helicopter thing.”
ANDERSON: Oh, because you wanted it to be over?
MARTIN: No! Because I didn’t know what it was going to be like. That was one of the things I would read the script, and it was one of the most daring scenes for me to be like, “Oh, that’s…I’m working with Miss Viola, but now I’m holding on to her for dear life.” Going literally bang for bang, head for head on some things. So for me, that was one that I was looking forward to the most, to see how that was going to play out.
FARRAR: For me, it was probably just the rockets scene – shooting that was super cool.
ANDERSON: Two for me. Day one. Just to get it started, and to be a part of that. And the day that I had my fight scene, just to make sure that I was like, “Okay, I want to do this right. I want to be seen in a way that I’ve never been seen before, and I want it to look real and authentic.” So, yeah, I was looking for those two days.
G20 releases on Prime Video April 10.

G20

Release Date

April 10, 2025

Director

Patricia Riggen

Writers

Noah Miller, Logan Miller, Caitlin Parrish, Erica Weiss

Producers

Andrew Lazar, Julius Tennon