Shelter' Interview: Director Ric Roman Waugh

Moviefone speaks with director Ric Roman Waugh about 'Shelter' and working with Jason Statham. "He is 100% committed to what he's doing. He is all in."

Ric Roman Waugh attends the UK Premiere of ‘Shelter’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on January 20, 2026 in London, England. Photo: StillMoving.Net for Black Bear.

Opening in theaters on January 30th is the new action thriller ‘Shelter’, which was directed by Ric Roman Waugh (‘Shot Caller’ and ‘Greenland 2: Migration’) and stars Jason Statham (‘The Beekeeper’), Bodhi Rae Breathnach ('Hamnet'), Naomi Ackie (‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’), and Bill Nighy (‘The Constant Gardener’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with director Ric Roman Waugh about his work on ‘Shelter’, his first reaction to the screenplay, the emotional core of the movie, crafting the action sequences, working with Jason Statham and Bill Nighy, and finding the right tone for the movie, as well as looking back at his prison masterpiece ‘Shot Caller’ and with ‘Greenland 2: Migration’ also currently in theaters, what it’s like as a filmmaker to have two big movies at the box office at the same time.

Ric Roman Waugh attends the UK Premiere of ‘Shelter’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on January 20, 2026 in London, England. Photo: StillMoving.Net for Black Bear.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay, what you thought you could bring to it and why you wanted to make this movie?

Ric Roman Waugh: I was fortunate that Jason had reached out. We'd been trying to work together, and he was talking about this script, which he was super passionate about. When I read it, I got it. Ward Parry's script, it just punches you in the gut with great emotion. I thought this is exactly the type of film that I like to do, a movie that can be a big action ride, but has a real emotional thrust in it. So now I'm going to give you your cake and eat it too. I'm going to give you Jason Statham, the action star at his best, but I'm going to remind you what an amazing actor he is as well. My type of heroes, the antihero, the man, or the woman that's vulnerable, sensitive, dealing with demons, trauma, in crisis, all these things that we love about movies that go back to ‘Shane’ in the '50s, to ‘Man on Fire’ and ‘The Professional’, because they're relatable to us. We all deal with different kinds of issues like that. I've never been a fan of the 10-foot tall bulletproof, impervious to pain type of hero. I like the mortal human beings and that's what I love about this movie, is that Jason's character is not just a man of action, but he's also a human being and with real sensibilities.
Jason Statham in 'Shelter'. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.

MF: Can you talk about the relationship between Mason and Jesse, and why he decides to protect her?

RRW: I think the movie speaks on two levels, and I'll unpack the first one with you, which is that we all tend to put ourselves in some form of exile, and then we're quickly reminded how much we need each other. I love that this movie, this story spoke to that, about a man mysterious to us living in this abandoned lighthouse, and he saves this young girl from the sea, who's been trying to give him the time of day, but he's been completely shut off. He saves her only to realize that she's probably there to save him from this form of self-exile that he's been living in trauma and realizing that she is also in a form of exile to herself of trauma and loss. Then they find family in one another. Again, going back to the movies of ‘Shane’, or ‘Man on Fire’ and ‘The Professional’, it becomes about a hero that must shelter this young girl, but also is cognizant of the dark cloud that follows him, and making sure that doesn't get cast upon her as well. So, they get that great moral dilemma. Am I going to be selfish and keep this young girl in my life because I finally found family and have a connection again? Or am I going to do the right thing and get her to safety, but not have her in my life? I love that dilemma that runs throughout it. At the same time, we give you this big action ride.

(L to R) Jason Statham and Bodhi Rae Breathnach attend the UK Premiere of ‘Shelter’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on January 20, 2026 in London, England. Photo: StillMoving.Net for Black Bear.

MF: Can you talk about Jason and Bodhi’s onscreen chemistry, and did they connect right away on set?

RRW: I got this thing about chemistry. It's a big thing for me. I think you can put all the best Academy Award winners in front of the camera, but it doesn't mean they're going to have chemistry, and we wonder why those movies don't work. We looked at 500 young girls. There was a wide net. I remember seeing a tape of this little freckled girl, and there was just something about her eyes. There was a deep soul within her, and this vibrancy. So, we brought Bodhi in and did a chemistry test with her and Jason, and it was just electric. We did one of the more emotional scenes in the movie. If you've ever been around Jason, Jason Statham is a force of nature. There's an energy level to him that can be daunting to some people, and intimidating. But Bodhi and him, it was just like electric, watching the two of them together. So, I knew that my job was just to get the hell out of the way, put them in front of the camera and let them do their thing. So, they're not faking it and they're not forcing it. It was real, and in fact, I'd remind them, “Don't be so together as a family unit yet. Still play into the estrangement of things.”
Jason Statham attends the UK Premiere of ‘Shelter’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on January 20, 2026 in London, England. Photo: StillMoving.Net for Black Bear.

MF: Can you talk about working with Jason and what he brings to a movie like this?

RRW: Well, first, Jason is 100% committed to what he's doing. He is all in, and I met my match with that. I've been known to be a juggernaut as well with being very passionate about the things that I'm making, and just waking up every morning wanting to tear into it. That's Jason. What I also realized is he's super authentic in his real life, and there is a code that he lives by, the way he respects those around him and demands respect in return. I think they're all the essential elements that you see in his characters, and that's why he is so authentic to a lot of people, because he's living and breathing it in real life. I also really admire the family man he is, and how he is with his kids and with his wife, Rosie (Huntington-Whiteley), and his parents coming to set. So, all those kinds of familial sensibilities were fun to explore in this film, to show you the action star, but humanize him and bring a different aspect to him than you've seen before.

Jason Statham attends the UK Premiere of ‘Shelter’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on January 20, 2026 in London, England. Photo: StillMoving.Net for Black Bear.

MF: How involved is Jason in choreographing the action and fight sequences?

RRW: He's an amazing collaborator. Jason is involved in every aspect of it, and I love that. I love that I'm not going to have to remind him what we're shooting. I'm not going to have to remind him of what we're doing. He's very much about the attention to detail. So, he's not only involved in the action, he's involved in every aspect of it, but he also understands that his fighting style is a certain way. He is a real martial artist and a real fighter, so that there's a way that he wants the choreography to go, because it goes into his more organic way of doing things. I love that, but there was never any moment that I felt like I didn't have a pure partner in raising the bar together. He's a prep freak like me as well, which is good because when you rehearse and you get things in a good rhythm, when you get there on the set, you just let it fly, and then you're raising the bar versus trying to find it. I love that.

(L to R) Tom Malone, Theo Shakes, Savannah Sachdev, Ali Woods, Paigey Cakey, Jay Urban, Jason Statham, Eddie Hall, Ashley Cain and Big John attend the UK Premiere of ‘Shelter’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on January 20, 2026 in London, England. Photo: StillMoving.Net for Black Bear.

MF: There is an amazing car chase in the movie. What is the secret to shooting a great car chase sequence?

RRW: To not treat it as a car chase. For me, coming from the stunt world in my early days, a lot of people asked me what it was like to do stunts. I realized over time what they were really wanting to know was, “What did it feel like? What did it feel like to be set on fire? What did it feel like to be driving 200 miles an hour in ‘Days of Thunder’ and crash on purpose,” and the exhilaration and the fear and all those things. So, when I'm shooting action, I'm trying to immerse you in the action the way I was. I'm trying to put you, in this case in the seat, where the cameras are in the car and it's from the inside out. So, you're in the character's point of view and his point of view becomes your point of view. So, when you're a bucking bronco going down a hill and the car's falling apart and bullets are going through it, you feel immersed in that. You're not watching a car chase, you're in the car being hunted, and you get a different perspective of it. I always called it trying to make your own IMAX ride out of the action, to always be from the inside out.

(L to R) Naomi Ackie in 'Shelter'. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.

MF: Can you talk about the tone of the film and the challenges of balancing the action with the emotional core?

RRW: Tone is everything for me, as a screenwriter, as a filmmaker, and it's being as true to the tone of the material as you possibly can. Not trying to get too cute with it, and not trying to make it over-serious. It really found its place on Jason's point of view of really choosing to be elegant, where you're doing everything in a very grounded and authentic way. You're not forcing more violence. You're paying attention to what you would do in front of a child to protect her and protect her innocence. So, when you start playing into the fundamental laws of the familial bond between a pseudo father who's trying to protect a young child, you let that dictate your tone. You let that become your compass and your guide of where you go. I feel like that's always the true north star for me in anything I'm doing. ‘Shot Caller’ is a movie that I've done that is far more violent, but because the tone of it dictates it. So, you do that in an unflinching way because prison is unflinching.

(L to R) Bill Nighy and Jason Statham in 'Shelter'. Photo: Black Bear Pictures.

MF: In my opinion, Bill Nighy is one of the greatest living actors and every breath he takes on screen feels authentic. What is it like directing an actor of his caliber?

RRW: It was funny, the first day Bill worked, it was the day that he and Jason meet at the end of the movie. I remember my monitors were right around on the other side of the room because it was a very small room, so we couldn't be inside of it. After the first take, Jason walked over and he goes, "I could hear that guy say anything. It doesn't even matter what he says." That's it. Bill Nighy is just an absolute legend. But I really have been fortunate to work over the years with some of our elder statesmen and stateswomen, like Harriet Walter on this movie, who's just phenomenal. But from Sam Shepherd to Morgan Freeman to Nick Nolte and my new pal, Bill Nighy, they're in it. You would think at their time of their life and their body of work, they can phone it in, take the money and run. No, I mean, they just really own the space. That's what we loved about Bill. Bill came in and just owned it, and we're talking about turning him into an action star now. He's an incredible human being, but that work ethic is just next to nothing. It's amazing.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in 'Shot Caller'. Photo: Saban Films.

MF: You mentioned ‘Shot Caller’, and I think that is one of the greatest prison movies ever made. I feel like the movie has had a renaissance recently thanks to streaming. How do you feel about that movie now? Do you feel like the film is being rediscovered by audiences?

RRW: Yeah, it's really rewarding because we made that with a lot of passion and put a lot into it. I went undercover for two years as a parole agent in California to learn the system. I did the first movie ‘Felon’, and then the follow-up ‘Shot Caller’. It's fun when you make a film that is constantly being discovered and rediscovered and is brought up. It's really rewarding to have that because I have mine. I have my films that I've discovered. I'm like, how the heck did I miss this when it came out? It just blows me away and then becomes a favorite of mine. If ‘Shot Caller's got a little of that going for its fan base, that’s awesome, because everybody that was involved in it were just amazing people. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, so proud of what he did, and Jon Bernthal, Jeffrey Donovan, and Holt McCallany. We can just go on and on. We had just an amazing cast of people. What's fun about ‘Shot Caller’, to give you an example, the prison riot scene when there's 250 guys that are fighting out there, 200 of them are real (prisoners). We put MMA fighters and certain people around closer to camera, but we had all factions out there, and they would look like they're going to literally kill each other. Then I would yell “Cut”, and they would all pick each other up and laugh, because they knew there wasn't a real life or death situation on the prison yard, but they loved and appreciated that we wanted to make it as authentic as it possibly could be. To this day, ‘Shot Caller’ is one of the teaching tools for the California prison system, where they show that to a lot of the new correctional officers, so they can see what is going on in our prison systems.

(L to R) Gerard Butler as John Garrity, Morena Baccarin as Allison Garrity, and Roman Griffin Davis as Nathan Garrity in 'Greenland 2: Migration'. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: Finally, you also have ‘Greenland 2: Migration’ in theaters right now. As a filmmaker, what is it like having two big films at the box office at the same time?

RRW: It's been surreal because they both mean a lot to me in different ways. We made the first movie ‘Greenland’ pre-pandemic, but it came out in the pandemic. We couldn't even put it in movie theaters in the US when we were already booked in IMAX and Dolby, because there were no theaters open, but then we were watching it go number one around the world. Then Adam Fogelson, who's our chairman of STX and now at Lionsgate, he just made a bold move to put the biggest streaming deal ever at that point together with HBO. It luckily became a darling where a lot of people really discovered it in a time that we were all sheltered and stuck inside. We never thought we were going to make a second movie. Then when it got the response that we had hoped for, we decided to mirror the timeline, mirror post-pandemic, and mirror a lot of the things that we had dealt with as well. So, I love that we get to finally see what I call the final chapter of the Garritys, and you can watch these movies back-to-back and see a family that faces real crisis, and finds love and atonement again, and then deals with trauma and tragedy. Those are all these things that make it relatable to us. Then this movie with Jason, ‘Shelter’ is really a dear one. I consider it a badge of honor and a real notch on my belt of the movies that I've made. I'm very proud of it and very proud of the cast. It's just been a fantastic ride all the way through. I hope a lot of people get their butts to the theaters this Friday because it's a big, fun ride, and it will grab you in an emotional way. It's a special one. I’m happy about it and hope a lot of people will go and see it.

'Shelter' opens in theaters on January 30th.

What is the plot of ‘Shelter’?

A former assassin (Jason Statham) is forced to kill his former organization to protect a girl (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) who had been supplying him.

Who is in the cast of ‘Shelter’?

Jason Statham as Mason
Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Jesse
Bill Nighy
Naomi Ackie
Daniel Mays

(L to R) Ric Roman Waugh, Bodhi Rae Breathnach and Jason Statham attend the UK Premiere of ‘Shelter’ at Cineworld Leicester Square on January 20, 2026 in London, England. Photo: StillMoving.Net for Black Bear.