Novocaine, Jack Quaid, Dan Berk, Robert Olsen, interview

Action movies are a dime-a-dozen. Still, now and again, filmmakers go above and beyond the call of duty to bring something fresh to the genre. In Novocaine, when the girl of his dreams (Amber Midthunder) is kidnapped, everyman Nate (Jack Quaid) turns his inability to feel pain into an unexpected strength in his fight to get her back.

For a concept this outlandish, we needed to speak with the film’s directors, Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, who, in their talk with us, shared the details of their approach to making an off-the-wall action film featuring a disabled protagonist who turns his condition into a superpower. The following interview explains how the duo navigates Nathan’s rare condition, how Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade inspired aspects of the film, and how the limits of the film’s violence are kept in check.

JoBlo: The premise for Novocaine is really off the wall. I’d like to hear your thoughts about your first response to the screenplay. How did you know this was going to be your next project?

Dan Berk & Robert Olsen: When we read the original draft of the screenplay, it had a different tone than what we had wound up with. But that idea just stuck with us, you know. We’re sent a lot of scripts, and a lot of times, there’ll be something wrong with them, and you’re always going to have to fix something. You’re just looking for that one golden nugget. Does this have the seed of an idea that can turn into something? This one really did. The concept of a normal person who can’t feel pain going on a journey like this. That felt like it was an easily communicated idea because there’s so much shit flying at everybody all the time. There are so many new shows and movies coming out. So, you need something that’s going to stick out a little bit. People often use the term “sticky concept.” That’s what you’re looking for when you’re trying to find a project that you think might be successful. You’re going to want a concept people won’t stop talking about, and our brains immediately lit up with all of these set pieces that weren’t in that original draft that we incorporated when we took our pass.

JoBlo: There’s a particular energy to the concept and trailer. Aspects of Novocaine remind me of Leigh Whannell’s Upgrade.

Dan Berk & Robert Olsen: Oh, yeah. Upgrade was definitely one of our references. That’s a great example of a “sticky concept” movie. There’s a fight scene in Novocaine where Nova fights goons in his apartment, and the fight extends to the kitchen. You see his body and mind fighting with one another. His body is fighting back, but his face is apologetic. It’s a funny juxtaposition you can see in every fight scene. What makes Novocaine unique is that the action scenes don’t feel like John Wick, where your protagonist is kicking everybody’s ass the whole time. Nova is getting his ass kicked for the majority of the fight until he figures out some way to win.

There are a lot of movies featuring a gardener who’s actually a former CIA agent, and they’ve got these crazy assassination skills locked away. For us to engage and dedicate two years of our lives to a concept, it needs to stand out from the pack and do something for the genre that takes it in a different direction. We wanted to make something funny but action-packed. Finding that balance is part of the fun. Movies like 21 Jump Street and Lethal Weapon are good examples of balanced comedic action films. They’re funny, but there’s also drama and actual stakes. There’s also romance, but it’s not the foundation of either film. With Novocaine, we want you to invest in the relationship on-screen.

JoBlo: The concept of an action hero who can’t feel pain introduces a near-limitless amount of opportunities for outlandish exploits. Did you feel a creative rush while shooting Novocaine‘s elaborate set pieces?

Dan Berk & Robert Olsen: Yes, definitely. We even felt a rush filming the dialogue scenes. Once we started seeing dailies from our fight scenes, we were like, okay, fuck yeah! When you’re filming a comedic fight scene and making the crew laugh, that’s how you know it will hit. The crew is often the toughest audience.

In the trailer, there’s a scene of Nathan being tortured, and everyone was laughing. Jack [Quaid] is so incredible. We knew early on that we had something that would blow audiences away. It does take someone like Jack to carry that tone. The concept is cool, but you still need an actor who can carry the weight of comedy and drama. Because our character can’t feel pain, Jack has to relearn how to take a punch. When you get hit, you wince because of the pain. In Nathan’s case, he’s getting hit but can’t feel it. How do you get hit and not react? It’s a difficult line to walk, physically and visually. Sometimes, we’d be filming, and Jack would say, “I think that looked like I was in pain. Let’s go again,” and he’d give us different versions of the scene. It was a huge rush to see all that come together.

JoBlo: It’s a thin line to walk for sure. Did you research Jack’s condition, CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis), during filming?

Dan Berk & Robert Olsen: Yeah, it’s a fascinating medical condition. There are obviously liberties taken with the condition in Novocaine, as it’s very debilitating. Anyone who knows about people with that condition would say that what we’re doing goes beyond the ability of someone in that situation. At the same time, it’s a movie. We wanted to tell a story about this disability, but also someone who learns to turn that condition into a weapon. Nathan has felt like a liability his whole life, but in the movie, he turns that disability into a superpower. We did test screenings for people with disabilities, and the feedback was very positive. A lot of them were happy to see someone with a disability using it to their advantage, like it was something not to be ashamed of.

JoBlo: Was there any point while making the film when you had a great idea but, upon further reflection, realized it needed to be scaled back or cut for its absurdity?

Dan Berk & Robert Olsen: Not necessarily because of its absurdity. During production, you will have set pieces that need to be scaled down for budgetary purposes. Still, it’s funny; in almost every case, we end up falling in love with the solution to the problem more than the original concept. Honestly, though, there were only so many things we had to scale down on this movie. Novocaine is like a freight train; once it starts, it doesn’t stop. If there was any scaling back, it was during the writing phase. We needed to know what type of damage Nova’s body could take. We didn’t want him to bleed out or experience brain trauma. So, he’s not just a human pincushion. You have to keep track of the damage being done so you don’t step outside the bounds of what’s believable.

Novocaine comes to theaters on March 14, 2025.