Considered one of the UK’s top directors in the mid-80s, Martin Campbell became acclaimed for his 1985 Edge of Darkness, a five-hour BBC miniseries which won him six BAFTA awards. Soon, he was on his way to directing feature films with titles such as the 1994 fan-favorite Sci-Fi Action flick No Escape. Soon, he would become attached to the James Bond series, revitalizing it with 1995’s GoldenEye and later 2006’s Casino Royale. Also recognized for his work on films such as 1998’s The Mask of Zorro and 2000’s Vertical Limits, Martin Campbell continues to make exciting Action Thrillers to this day.
Most recently, directing the film Cleaner (starring Daisy Ridley, Taz Skylar, and Clive Owen); it is a story about colliding generational ideals and how to approach corporate greed and corruption when the betterment of the world is hanging in the balance. Released in theaters on February 21, 2025, Cleaner punches a checklist of action, excitement, topical material, and seamless direction from Martin Campbell. Proud of the work, the veteran filmmaker recently sat down to talk about his love for Action, Thrillers, his experiences in the cinema, the time-making Cleaner, plus more.
Cryptic Rock – You have been involved in filmmaking for quite a long time now with a good deal of success. Before going any further, how would you describe your career as a filmmaker to this point?
Martin Campbell – Oh, God knows. I’ve managed to stay in work. I came from television at the BBC in London for many years. I worked in the ’80s. I have always loved Thrillers and Action movies. I love being entertained in the theatre. I’ve generally done, to a large extent, Action and Thrillers, if you see what I mean. That’s pretty much what I’ve done.
In the early days, I did a movie for HBO called Cast a Deadly Spell (1991), which was very interesting. It had magic, a Humphrey Bogart-type character, and so forth. I’ve done a few that are different from what I normally do, but I enjoy Thrillers and Action.
Cryptic Rock – As you said, you have done quite a few Thrillers and Action films. You also worked in television before making more feature films. What was it like having that foundation working in that media before going into directing full-length movies?
Martin Campbell – For a training ground in England, it was terrific. I started off in the late ’70s and early ’80s doing all the one-hour British kind of Action shows and stuff. Then I branched out of that and got into more serious TV.
As a training ground for Action, it couldn’t be better because you’re working pretty much all the time. Most of those series, certainly the ones that I did, are Action-driven.
Cryptic Rock – That is great. You went on to do a lot of cool things, such as 1995’s GoldenEye and 1998’s The Mask of Zorro, and so on. It all seems very exciting.
Martin Campbell – Yeah. Absolutely. I started working in films in 1988. My first film was actually a film called Criminal Law with Gary Oldman and Kevin Bacon. It was, again, a Thriller. The budget was $3.5 million. In those days, the budgets, now by comparison, are very different.
Cryptic Rock – That is very true. Your latest film, Cleaner, recently arrived in theaters on February 21, 2025. What brought on and inspired this project?
Martin Campbell – First of all, when I read the script, it was one of those page-turners, I suppose you’d call it. Secondly, it had a female protagonist, which I really liked the idea of. Thirdly, working with Daisy (Ridley). I’d seen her on two or three things, which I was really impressed with.
The story within the Thriller element was interesting as well, particularly on the so-called eco-terrorist side. I thought it was a very interesting take on it, obviously a serious subject. You had Clive Owen as a veteran activist character named Marcus. He believed what he was doing was absolutely correct. The guy is nonviolent but threatening everybody, getting confessions from a company that has, over the years, been corrupt and destroying the environment for the benefit of the shareholders and so forth.
On the other hand, a generation younger, you have the Noah character, played by Taz Skylar, who is much more extreme and believes that what the Marcus character is doing isn’t enough. In other words, you have to make a grand gesture. You have to really be extreme in order to send a message.
Within that group, there’s a conflict between those two generations, between Clive’s character and Taz’s character. I thought that was a very interesting take on the so-called bad guys. Though I don’t think Clive’s character is a bad guy at all, I think what he’s doing is admirable.
That was, for me, one of the attractions. Apart from that, I like the idea that she has an autistic brother. She’s neglected him over the years and is ignored. Suddenly, she is confronted with having to take him along to her workplace for the day. Over the course of the movie, that relationship becomes stronger, and they reconcile by the end of the movie. There she is outside that building, looking into a goldfish bowl, basically. Half the movie, she is desperately trying to get back inside to save a brother and do whatever she can. All of those elements, for me, made up a good Thriller.
Cryptic Rock – It certainly does. There is a lot of intense action in that story. This is also a very important topic in relation to corporation corruption and the environment. These are things that really hit home, especially nowadays.
Martin Campbell – Oh, my God, yes. Look at the horror of what’s happening in America right now. Who doesn’t believe in climate change? It’s always there to the forefront.
You do wonder what it takes to get the message across and to get people to really understand how serious this problem is. Marcus, Clive Owens’ character, is doing exactly what he should be doing, which is taking this company hostage, if you will, and exposing the corruption and environmental catastrophe that these people cause for the sake of money. I think he’s doing it absolutely correctly.
Cryptic Rock – Right. That’s an interesting dynamic as well. You talk about someone who wants to do things a more dignified way and the right way and someone who maybe wants to do things a little more extreme way. There are two different dynamics there, which are very interesting. That is where we are at a lot in society, too. It seems like there is a divide between ideologies on how to approach things.
Martin Campbell – Very much so. It’s a generational thing to an extent because Noah, Taz’s character, is a generation younger. Yes, he’s extreme; he’s an anti-humanist, if you see what I mean. That group actually exists. I don’t think it’s that big, but it certainly exists. They are extreme, absolutely. When you’re basically saying, “I’m prepared to die, and I want everybody else to as well in order to send the message. Because that’s the only way I believe that people will sit up and take notice. ” It’s psychotic. Obviously, it’s psychotic. You get two very different points of view on what should be done in order to get the message out.
Cryptic Rock – Yes, and this should be something everyone thinks about. You mentioned wanting to work with Daisy Ridley. What was it like working with her?
Martin Campbell – First of all, I think she’s terrific as an actress. I watched her first Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), which I thought she did a very good job with. Physically, she did extremely well.
Then I watched Young Woman and the Sea (2024). If you haven’t seen it, you should because it’s terrific. She is quite the opposite in it. It’s a period piece about the first woman to swim the English Channel. She’s absolutely terrific in it. They couldn’t be more opposite to one another, the two films I saw.
She’s clearly got a lot of range. Also, although people probably wouldn’t believe it, most of that action, including the big fights she has, she did most of that herself. I would say 95% of it was her. She trained very hard, and that’s her.
For a director, that’s great because when you get doubles in there, you’ve got to rethink slightly how you shoot these things. When you have the actress doing it, it makes your life so much easier. Also, she’s bloody good in action, which is terrific.
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