David Mackenzie, Sam Worthington, & Gugu Mbatha-Raw on Fast-Paced Thriller 'Fuze' [EXCLUSIVE]

Written by Ben Hopkins and directed by David Mackenzie, Fuze is a gritty, hectic thriller about a group of criminals who undertake a bank heist under perfect cover when London is evacuated due to a latent bomb threat.

As the bomb disposal team rush to carry out a controlled detonation to ensure the city's safety, the police quickly realize that something much more sinister is at play; and under London's empty streets, a group of tight-knit criminals carry millions of pounds in duffel bags.

The film stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Theo James, Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Sam Worthington, with cinematography from Giles Nuttgens.

We had the exclusive opportunity to speak with director David Mackenzie and stars Sam Worthington & Gugu Mbatha-Raw about their experience making the film, which was released in the United States on April 24, 2026.

Men's Journal: Logistically, this must have been a pretty hard film to shoot, with the evacuation of London and the empty streets. How does that process work practically?

David Mackenzie: Closing down Edgeware Road was the biggest challenge, the other things were smaller challenges. We did it on two Sunday mornings, and the police were very helpful. Every fifteen minutes, we were allowed to close the road for three minutes. We had to get our fake police cars in there, get all the tape up and everything, and then finish the shot in the three minute time frame.

It was definitely really challenging, but we were very organized in advance about it. We had big floor plans with toy cars and camera positions, and so everyone knew where they were going to be at every point.

MJ: And you originally had the idea for the film, David, but you passed the writing duties on to Ben Hopkins. Can you speak about where the idea came from, and why you passed on writing it?

DM: I like tension in cinema, and I wanted to mash up the tension of a bomb disposal movie-I'd actually recently watched The Hurt Locker-and the bank robbery movie. It wasn't something I intended to write, and when I met Ben and pitched it to him, he said "I'll go there", and that was great. We started researching some of the details and evolved it further, and it is what it is now.

MJ: Sam, this is your third time working with David-is it safe to say you were always going to be in his next film?

Sam Worthington: No, there was no part for me in Fuze. I loved working with David, I think the way that we work aligns, but I had to reach out to him and convince him to give me something. [...] David's approach to filmmaking is a very organic one; he loves going into a naturalistic style and making things as grounded as possible. He's very hands-off in that regard, we now have a level of trust where he understands I can play "Henchman 2" and create something out of it that can serve his story.

MJ: Was it always this character you wanted to play? Were you ever interested in another character in the script?

SW: The whole thing was [already] cast, I just wanted to work with David again. Just like with Relay, it had all been cast and was about to shoot. I think I can do something with these characters that may be thin on the page that allows his story to have a different energy, and that's how I approach screenplays that David's directing.

MJ: How did Fuze's time constrants compare to a big Hollywood production, like Avatar or Terminator, for example?

SW: You're always running out of time, it doesn't matter how big the movie is. I think David is very good at accomodating time; speed is your friend on a movie. When we filmed Relay, we did it in the wild of New York City, and it gives it a different energy. Fuze is very action-packed, it's not necessarily character-driven, it's just a very fast film. Shooting this way gives it the visceral energy that, I think, the film demands.

MJ: Gugu, your character Zuzane is one of the few people who doesn't have a dark secret or an ulterior motive-is it fair to say you're the hero of the film?

Gugu Mbatha-Raw: [Laughs] Well, thanks. I guess the other guys are anti-heroes in a sense. What appealed to me about her is the leadership under pressure, and how she maintains her integrity when it's a very high-stakes situation. She's a Chief Superintendent, she's very well-trained, she's experienced-but the ground is shifting constantly under her feet. There's limited information, she's having to pivot in real time.

MJ: Your character is a very senior police officer surrounded by male figures, and the film does a great job of showing that tension. Was that a part of the film that you particularly wanted to explore in depth?

GMR: Yeah, I mean obviously, as a woman you want to see complex female caracters. In the research I was able to do with the female police officers that I met, [I saw] they're still a minority, and it's interesting to get into the psychology of what it really takes to get to that level. It's interesting to represent that, and maybe flip on their head the other police dynamics that you see in other movies.

MJ: A lot of the film is driven by the dynamics between the characters-how do you all build that rapport on set?

SW: I cut all my lines. I said I don't need lines-then Theo doesn't really know what I'm thinking, and he becomes the talker in the scenes because he's negotating with people who don't give him much back. I believe character comes through human behavior, I don't think it comes through lines. I think that's where me and David's styles align. Sometimes, the less you do, the more intense scenes can become. What I wanted was a dynamic between me and Theo where he was unsure what I was going to do, so each take I would make differently.

MJ: You seem very aware of how other actors will feel during a scene, and your character's purpose within the script. Is that something you're always conscious of, rather than just trying to get inside a character's head?

SW: Yeah. I work very interior outwards, but if I am working on an outer level it's to understand what the character's function is in the whole story. Once I've got an idea of what that is, then I can look at what I have to do to make that happen. You're trying to live directly in the moment of what's unfolding. The great thing about David's movies is that he allows them to organically grow in the moment.

MJ: This film feels very British-London almost feels like a character of its own with the fast-paced grittiness of the story. Was that a specific choice, and how does it differ from working on American productions?

DM: I wanted to lean in very specifically to the Edgeware Road area, which is quite panicked. It felt very interesting to explore that and try to create a contemporary London that has cinematic qualities to it and feels different and fresh. That was definitely part of the excitement of the film for me. It was the first time I've ever shot a film in London, which was great.

MJ: This story is very faced-past, very intense-how much of that comes directly from the script, and how much of it came from the direction? How do you bring that to life?

DM: It's always both. You start with a script and you try to elevate it. You have a plan, and you try to make it come alive. I'm always very open to the magic of the moment, and trying to encourage everybody not to lock themselves into things and explore the material. Once you start going into the actual shooting, you're just playing with the ingredients. It's exciting when I'm surprised by things that happen.

This interview has been edited and abridged for clarity.

Read our review of Fuze and watch the film in theaters in the United States from April 24, 2026.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Apr 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published April 25, 2026 at 12:00 PM.