Jeff Nichols reveals which actor from The Bikeriders was not allowed to get on a bike. Directed by Nicholas, The Bikeriders is based on a true story and is a highly-anticipated crime drama about a young man named Benny who falls in love with a woman named Kathy all the while wrapped up in a motorcycle club that commits increasingly dangerous acts, forcing him to choose between Kathy and a life of violence and crime. The film features a leading cast including Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, Tom Hardy, Michael Shannon, Mike Faist, Boyd Holbrook, and Norman Reedus.

Speaking with ReelBlend Podcast, Nichols reveals which of The Bikeriders actors was not allowed to get on a motorcycle in the film. Nichols said that “all of the men go through training,” except for one actor, Shannon. In Shannon’s case, the team did not allow him to “get near a motorcycle,” or, as Nichols joked, they “barely let him lean on a motorcycle.” Nichols explained that this was actually Shannon’s preference with the movie, as when cast, he asked the question “I don’t have to learn how to ride, do I?” Check out the full quote from Nichols below:

So all of them, to be honest, all of the men go through training. Now some guys took to it better than others. Sadly, for everyone, Michael Shannon wasn’t allowed to, you know, get near a motorcycle. We barely let him lean on a motorcycle. You know, when we made Midnight Special, he didn’t even have a driver’s license. It was like, we gotta teach Mike how to drive for this scene. I mean, he’s great. He’s obviously a genius and super talented, so I imagine had we put him on a bike, he would have learned it very quickly. But that was one of the first questions he asked, he was like, ‘I don’t have to learn how to ride, do I?’

The Riding in The Bikeriders Is Intense

Nichols’ quote also references Midnight Special, his 2016 film where actor Shannon plays a gruff father who is on the run from a cult that is trying to exploit his child, who has supernatural abilities. The director said that Shannon did not even have a driver’s license when working on Midnight Special. To those who have seen the sci-fi film, the thought of Shannon not being able to drive is amusing, because the majority of the film is three characters driving through the darkness, so Shannon taking the wheel was an important aspect to the story.

Even though Shannon is not manning a motorcycle in The Bikeriders, the film overall has intense riding scenes. Just this week, Shannon’s co-star, Butler, explained his experience with a riding accident on The Bikeriders set. According to Butler, the actor was filming a scene at 3am that required him to start up his motorcycle and ride towards some train tracks, and turn around when he got there. When he unexpectedly hit a wet pile of leaves before stopping, he was flung from the bike.

Butler was luckily okay during this incident, but the fact that it happened shows just how intense The Bikeriders was in terms of bike riding requirements. Actors who trained extensively were likely given more time on the bikes, which is good for the film, but makes the potential disaster more likely. Given the majority of the actors are doing their own motorcycle riding work, it will be interesting to see how Shannon’s character fits in as the film avoids showing that it is not the bad driver-actor himself on the vehicle.

Source: ReelBlend Podcast / YouTube