Dane DeHaan is very relieved to finally be talking about Wardriver — the script first landed in his inbox a decade ago.

Directed by Rebecca Thomas (Stranger Things) and written by Daniel Casey (F9: The Fast Saga, 10 Cloverfield Lane), Wardriver spotlights the art and culture of wardriving: a microcosm of the hacking industry that involves searching for networks from a moving vehicle. His modern day Robin Hood-esque character, Cole, exploits this highly spe- cialized skill of his to commit high-tech robberies from his laptop.

When criminal Oscar (played by Mamoudou Athie) uncovers Cole’s abilities, he forces him to hack the account of Sarah (Sasha Calle, best known for The Flash), draining nearly a million dollars. Cole discovers that a powerful, mob-connected lawyer (Jeffrey Donovan) has been using Sarah to hide his money. Falling in love with Sarah, DeHaan’s character initiates a plan to replace the sto- len money and protect Sarah but soon finds himself in deep water.

DeHaan, star of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, The Staircase and most recently Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, is a producer on the film alongside Tim and Trevor White’s Star Thrower Entertainment, David M. Wulf and Highland Film Group (which is representing international rights and continuing sales at the American Film Market).

However, the actor reveals, Wardriver took a little while to get made. After bouncing around directors and producers for 10 years, Thomas finally took on the project as her second feature film and managed to shoot in just 20 days: “I haven’t made a film this quickly and this down and dirty in a while,” DeHaan says.
He spoke to THR about the “It” factor of co-star Calle, the community spirit of Salt Lake City and why this film, as well as Oppenheimer, is proof of the vital need for more risk-taking in Hollywood.

Congratulations on this film. What attracted you to Wardriver?

I have a really long history with this movie. Actually, I first received the script for Wardriver 10 years ago — it’s been in my inbox for 10 years. It’s a really gripping story with a lot of interesting twists and turns, but it’s also a part of the world that I wasn’t aware of. I didn’t know what wardriving was or what this world was. It’s just a really great part for me. Honestly, it’s a part I always felt like I could bring to life. He’s like a modern-day Robin Hood.

I think 10 years ago, when I first got the script, I was playing a lot of bad guys, and this seemed to be a great opportunity to play someone whose heart is really good and wonderful and who wants to help people, but also gets himself in a very exciting situation.

You’ve worked with some really impressive directors over the course of your career — recently, for example, Christopher Nolan in Oppenheimer. How was it working with Rebecca? Was her approach different to others you’ve worked with?

Becca was awesome. I haven’t made a film this quickly ... in a while. You know, we made this movie in like, 20 days. It was a very like run-and-gun scenario.

Wow. When was the shoot?

I think it was June. And a lot of it takes place at night, so we were also shooting at the time of year where you don’t get as much nighttime. I think Becca has a really keen understanding and sense of the edit and the shot she needs, and she really knows what she’s doing.

Why did the film take so long to come to fruition?

Oh, man, it’s just the story of so many independent movies, where it’s a miracle any time they get made. They have to have the right producer, the right cast, the right director, and it all needs
to come together. Over the past year, we couldn’t [film] because of the strike, and then we had issues getting the waiver to shoot during the strike. And then we were about to shoot — Dan was going to direct it, and he dropped out to take some writing job. There was still the passion with me and the producers to get this thing made. And that’s when they brought Becca in. And like I said, she saved us. I think at one point, a long time ago, it was set up at Universal, and then it changed hands from producers, and you have to get the right cast together to get the funding. It’s the journey of any indie movie, but I think there’s something that feels like it’s a miracle any time they’re made.

Do you think that speaks to the difficulty that independent films are in at the moment, in the industry?

Absolutely. I mean, the industry is in a really weird place anyway, not just indie movies. I’ve seen many projects fall apart this year, so the fact that we were even able to get this one up and running and finish it and make something cool and exciting — I think it speaks to how special the project is, that there’s enough motivation to actually get it made at the end of the day. But, yeah, the whole business right now seems to be in a pretty tricky spot that I would appreciate if it would figure out. (Laughs.)

Is it just a lot more uncertainty for actors?

Yeah, it’s crazy. I don’t even know what it is. I know it’s a combina- tion of things, but I think at the end of the day, the people that are pressing the “go” button, making that final decision, they just have to start taking risks. This isn’t really what the inter- view is supposed to be about! But the strike, it happened at an unfortunate time in our industry because it was when the Barbenheimer thing was hap- pening. And usually the people that run the studios, when some- thing like that happens, they just say, “Oh, those are the movies people want to go see. Let’s make more of those movies.” And I think if, in that time, they would have had the ability to make more movies like Oppenheimer, would they be taking that risk now? Maybe. I would love to see more movies like that get made, but it seems like they took such a break from everything. Everyone just seems scared to make the first move, and it’s like, let’s start taking risks. Oppenheimer, that was a 185-page movie, but the studio was confident in the filmmakers and the cast and the producing team to make something come to life and make it magic. And I think that should be the lesson: We’re all capable people. We work at the highest level of our industry, like, let’s fucking go! You know?

What was it like on the Wardriver set, and were there any performances that surprised you?

We have a really awesome cast. Sasha Calle, she has that charisma, you know, that je ne sais quoi. Even on set, everyone wanted to hang out around her and be around her and joke around with her. I think she’s a star. I really do. I think she’s really got that thing.

Is there anything else you wanted to add or that stayed with you from this experience?

I just want to say we made the film in Salt Lake City, Utah, which was a place I had never worked before, and I had never really heard of many people working in Utah. I didn’t know what to expect going into it — this indie movie with a Utah crew. And the community of people in Utah ... they’re all so good at what they do. We couldn’t have done it with- out them in that community that they’ve built over the years. So I just wanted to give a shout-out to Utah and its crews for going along this ride with us and help- ing make something special.

By Lily Ford, The Hollywood Reporter