Movies

David Zayas Teases New Action Movie ‘Snag’ Is ‘Stylized’ With a ‘Lot of Twists’ (Exclusive)

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Action movie fans are always on the lookout for something new to satisfy that itch for a twisty, high-octane flick, and Snag right now. The film is written and directed by Ben Milliken, who also stars as the title character, a man out of his element who winds up on the wrong side of a ruthless crimelord. Starring alongside Milliken is David Zayas — famous for his role as Lt. Angel Batista on Dexter — who teased that the movie has “a lot of twists.”

PopCulture.com had a chance to speak with Zayas about Snag, and he shared how much he loved working with Milliken on the “stylistic” project. “There is something unique about how Ben does it,” Zayas said, explaining that while the filmmaker incorporates elements of Westerns and the “amazing films” of Quentin Tarantino, “there is something that he put his own fingerprint on it in style and how he wants to see it, how he wants to show that story. I found that out when I saw it I was like, ‘Oh, he got in. He went there.’ That’s great.”

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Zayas also offered some insight into how his perception of the story in Snag shifted between reading the script and seeing the finished film that Milliken delivered. “In reading it, I read this story about loyalty, about love. It’s a love story, and I read it as it would be in real life. I didn’t really think about the stylized way that he was going to either edit it or set it up. But when I saw it, I was so pleasantly surprised on the style and how he handled it and how he went from moment to moment, from one story going back in time and it’s almost so… He handled it really well, and I really enjoyed watching it.”

Not only did Milliken craft an incredible screenplay, but Zayas says he cultivated a “great environment” on set that made everyone feel “involved.” He added, “It was such a positive feeling and a real gentle experience. It was calm… Then, actually, all the chaos breaks loose and then they figured out what we can do to make it better. I mean, it was really great to work on it with them. The set was tight, the crew was great. It felt so safe, especially with all those weapons… The people, the team, the stunt coordinators, the armorers, they were on it. They were on it. They did their job the way it’s supposed to be done.”

Finally, noting that he’s had the benefit of working with writer-directors who also act in their project “a few times” in the past, “with Ben it was just smooth,” he said. “He put his hat on as a director, took his hat off, went in as an actor,” Zayas continued. “Everything was just cool. There was never really any sense of panic… If there was, and they didn’t show it on the set. It was a very smooth transition that he had from director to writer to actor in it, and I was very impressed by that. He’s young, he’s talented and there’s going to be a lot of things he’s going to be doing in the future.” Snag is now available to watch on Digital and in select theaters, and is also available On Demand starting May 12.