It’s difficult enough wrangling all of your departments once production is underway, but it can be even more complicated when you’re still adding folks to the cast. Filming started at the top of May 2018, and Mark Dacascos joined the cast about a week or so later, which made him hustle in order to be camera ready. Here’s how he explained it to Zavvi:
“I didn’t have long to prepare. Chad [Stahelski, director] texted me on Sunday, we talked on Monday, I was on a flight that night, shaved my hair on Wednesday and we started shooting on Thursday. So in that respect, it was the most challenging movie I have done.”
It seems rather fitting given how we’re introduced to his character. You may recognize the “Brotherhood of the Wolf” star as The Chairman from over two decades worth of the reality cooking show “Iron Chef America.” In “John Wick: Chapter 3,” Zero is ironically recruited while cooking sushi at his own little New York establishment as a last-minute favor.
I have to imagine the assassins in the “John Wick” universe are so prepared for what may come their way, that they’re able to pack up and go whenever they need to. But acting is a whole other ball game. In spite of the eleventh-hour addition, it sounds like Dacascos was up for the challenge. He was in front of a camera in less than a week, and the performance of a killer fanboy speaks for itself.
“John Wick: Chapter 3 — Parabellum” is currently streaming on Peacock, and “John Wick: Chapter 4” is due in theaters on March 24, 2023.