West assured, a Western thriller can be a lot of fun to watch, especially when it has crime and comedy … like Sydney Sweeney’s new film, “Americana.” Saddle up! Deco’s getting up to no good with the cast.
Paul Walter Hauser (as Lefty Ledbetter): “What would you do if you had a million dollars?”
Sydney Sweeney (as Penny Jo): “I’d go to Nashville, sing professionally.”
Paul Walter Hauser (as Lefty Ledbetter): “I didn’t know you were a singer. You sing country music?”
Sydney Sweeney (as Penny Jo): “What other music is there?”
Paul Walter Hauser (as Lefty Ledbetter): “Wow!”
Sydney Sweeney and Paul Walter Hauser are hungry for more than fame and fortune in the Western heist thriller “Americana.” They’ve got an appetite for crime.
Character in “Americana”: “If someone were to make an effort to liberate that garment, I would pay…”
Sydney Sweeney (as Penny Jo): Half a million dollars, really?”
Paul Walter Hauser (as Lefty Ledbetter): “That’s what the man said.”
Talk about a fashion emergency! Because everyone is after this super rare, Native American ghost shirt.
Hijinks, corruption and laughs? Sounds kinda like…
Paul Walter Hauser: “‘Pulp Fiction’ or ‘Fargo.’”
Sydney Sweeney: “‘No Country for Old Men.’ When I first read the script, I always felt like it was a mixture of a Tarantino film meets a Clint Eastwood film.”
Those are some big shoes to fill, but the film has the cast to back it up. We’re talking Eric Dane.
Eric Dane: “The story was so compelling.”
Simon Rex.
Simon Rex: “It’s a badass movie. Kinda like a modern cowboys and Indians, but not really.”
And Halsey, in her first-ever dramatic role.
Halsey: “It’s kinda sexy, but also kinda dirty. It’s just so many things all wrapped into one.”
She admits she was super nervous, but director Tony Tost had her back.
Halsey: “I said, ‘I’ve never acted before. Don’t you want me to audition? Aren’t you nervous I’m gonna be terrible and I’m gonna suck? What if I ruin this whole thing?’ And he was like, ‘No, I have faith in you. It’s gonna be awesome.’”
Sydney was also very much Team Halsey.
Sydney Sweeney: “She and I have been really good friends for a couple of years now, and so, being able to work with someone who’s your fellow friend and one of her first projects, it’s so amazing to watch her grow.”
The film is a reunion for her and Eric, after years of working on “Euphoria” together.
Eric Dane: “Sydney and I are pretty tight, and she’s just a super talented pro. Super precocious.”
Sydney Sweeney: “I had a few scenes in ‘Euphoria’ with him, and so, being able to work with him, different kind of characters was a lot of fun. And he’s just – he’s awesome.”
As for Paul and Simon, they were drawn in by all the colliding storylines and themes.
Paul Walter Hauser: “The desire to not be alone, to the desire of having or understanding family, to the desire of wanting to make your dreams come true and maybe doing something really unethical to get your dreams and your desires met.”
Simon Rex: “Everybody in this story is all trying to have their come-up, and it’s a matter of who’s gonna get it.”
Simon Rex (as Roy Lee Dean): “The waitress is here?”
Sydney Sweeney (as Penny Jo): “God-[expletive] right I am.”
“Americana” opens in theaters Aug. 15.