'Vault' star Clive Standen talks about the realness of the film's setting and of his character Chucky being looked upon in awe
Clive Standen has a new movie on the way and it is nothing like how fans are used to seeing him in his longstanding TV drama, 'The Vikings.'
The new film, called 'Vault' is directed by Tommy DeNucci, is based on one of the biggest bank heists in US history. It has crime, low-level criminals and the Italian mafia trying to take each other down and to teach the mafia a lesson, Standen's character Chucky and his best friend Deuce (Theo Rossi) get hired to rob a bank. But while the lead crooks were both real-life characters, Standen would like to note that it was the essence of the 70s and the thrill of carrying out one of the biggest crimes at the time, which proved to be the highlight of his experience.
"The great thing about when we filmed Vault is that we filmed in real locations in Rhode Island," Standen shared in an exclusive interview with MEA Worldwide (MEAWW). "This bank was in Rhode Island and they call it the Superman building because it looks the same as the building where Superman was filmed. But it's actually a bank with a vault in the basement, so we actually were on location - none of it was a set, so to speak," he explains about the thrilling experiences.
And as challenging as it got at times, the realness of the setting is what Standen adored the most. "You could touch, you can move and play with everything around you - it felt like you were really there. And she hasn't been changed from the seventies, it was all in that place," he shared. "So once we got in and started doing the heist, it was an amazing experience! Pulling out all these safe deposit boxes it and there was bank notes everywhere and golden jewels. It was really just one of those days where there was no action required because it was all just there for you. "
Speaking about the authenticity of the setting, Standen also recalled the fun moments where bystanders watching the filming would tell them anecdotes from the time when the heist had actually happened. "It's interesting because Rhode Island is a small place. Seventy percent of the people were extras on the set and the general public passing around would take an interest in our filming," Standen notes. "They would tell stories about how they remember when this went down, and some of them were actually kind of in it. Or they knew somebody who knew somebody who was actually involved, and sometimes you find yourself turning around to someone in the middle of the street, and they were like yeah, I knew Chucky - the guy you're playing. So it was really interesting."
What is also interesting is how glorified the people involved in the crime in real life still are to this day in the area. "This was one of the biggest heists in US history, and it's become so famous in that area, especially Providence. They don't have any sports teams, so there's a lot of these guys that were involved in that crime who are not necessarily counted as heroes, but they're put on a pedestal and talked about at bars and clubs in Rhode Island, because a lot of them are still around," Standen remarked, adding: "A lot of them still have family living around and that's interesting to be in hold of that world - at least for me from the UK, as a complete outsider. It was brilliant for me to kind of get into character 'cause I was surrounded by guys just like Chucky to pull from and to use little bits from to log into my characterization."
But 'Vault' isn't just a story about low-life blue collar criminals robbing a bank. A pivotal essence of the film is the friendship between Chucky and Deuce and how people like them would do literally anything to make ends meet. It is about the differences in the seemingly similar characters and the struggle to make it big in life and that's what makes us look forward to it with such anticipation.
'Vault' stars Samira Wiley, Chazz Palminteri, Don Johnson, and William Forsythe. It premieres worldwide on Friday, June 14.