Lauren London on recognizing her boundaries in ‘Without Remorse’ role: ‘I am deeply in my grief’
London’s role as John Kelly’s wife in the film is short but impactful
Without Remorse, the action-packed film that stars Michael B. Jordan, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Lauren London hit Amazon Prime Video this week.
theGrio caught up with Lauren London to find out why she chose the highly-anticipated project as her return to the big screen and how her personal pain helped inform the role.
Read More: Michael B. Jordan drops first trailer for ‘Without Remorse’ co-starring Lauren London
“Mike reached out to me personally and gave me some insight on the film and what they were looking for,” she says. “Honestly, with my personal experience with grief and loss and pain and moving forward just in life, I just want to make sure that I can give art some honesty and some truth.”
London lost her partner, Nipsey Hussle, in 2019 and Without Remorse is the first film role she has taken on since his passing.
“I just pulled from my own experiences and just felt like I was working with a friend of mine and it was a story that was true to my heart, and that I could really give some truth to it.”
Without Remorse comes from Tom Clancy and serves as the origin story of beloved action hero, John Clark who is part of the Jack Ryan universe. In it, an elite Navy SEAL uncovers an international conspiracy while seeking justice for the murder of his pregnant wife. When a squad of Russian soldiers kills his family in retaliation for his role in a top-secret op, Sr. Chief John Kelly (Jordan) pursues the assassins at all costs. Joining forces with a fellow SEAL (Jodie Turner-Smith) and a shadowy CIA agent (Jamie Bell), Kelly’s mission unwittingly exposes a covert plot that threatens to engulf the U.S. and Russia in an all-out war. Torn between personal honor and loyalty to his country, Kelly must fight his enemies without remorse if he hopes to avert disaster and reveal the powerful figures behind the conspiracy.
“I wasn’t that familiar with it. I just wasn’t raised around it,” London says of the popular Clancy series. “But after being sort of part of the film and just doing my research and hearing about how major this is, I’m like, oh, wow! I’m so honored that I can be a part of this. Extremely honored and blessed.”
London’s role as John Kelly’s wife in the film is short but impactful and her time onscreen with real-life pal, Michael B. Jordan is full of romantic moments.
“Outside of us just being friends, I am deeply in my grief and the loss of my loved one. So I’m not really open to that aspect of life. And so I just really went into it and, you know, really wanted to portray the character,” she explains.
Read More: Lauren London says sons inspired her to get back to acting after death of Nipsey
The actress revealed that she was clear about her boundaries and was grateful that she had her friend there to listen.
“I was very honest with Mike about what was uncomfortable for me and what was OK. And he was very, very, very gracious and understanding and respectful. And so, I just wanted to be present and make sure that I wasn’t just doing the job, but that I was giving this piece of art some realness and I really wanted to complete it in a real way for real. I just wanted to be present and to do a good job.”
Without Remorse is steaming now on Amazon Prime.
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