Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh make an unlikely on-screen pair in Mayday, the Apple TV Cold War buddy comedy film that pits a stranded American fighter pilot against an Americana-obsessed ex-KGB agent. Speaking with exclusively with BLKCinema.com in a recent interview, both actors broke down how that dynamic came together, and why the mismatched chemistry ended up being the point.
How did Branagh balance humor and menace in the role?
Branagh said the key to playing Nikolai wasn’t choosing between comedic and threatening, but leaning fully into both at once. “It’s possible to have an enthusiasm for something that seems eccentric and yet still be, as it were, an ordinary person,” Branagh said, describing his character’s genuine love of Top Gun and American culture. He said that earnestness collides quickly with the plot’s stakes once Nikolai’s past comes into focus. “He carries a secret and he carries a burden, just like Troy does, and he has this dark past which will out,” Branagh said. “Instead of being bonded over what Nikolai hopes will be this waterfall of information about American culture, it becomes: we need each other.”
Branagh described the shift as central to the film’s structure, reshaping an initially one-sided fascination into mutual dependence. “Now we have to build a relationship from the ground up, with an all-star, all-American hero who’s impeded, injured, needy, dependent — that will start to breed a relationship,” Branagh said.
When does Troy start to trust Nikolai?
Reynolds said the film’s Cold War setting let the story explore a version of cross-cultural misunderstanding that feels different from the present day. “In the 80s, we look back at things in hindsight with the nostalgia, right? Nostalgia is like the greatest drug on earth,” Reynolds said. “The truth is it was a very hectic time and it was terrible back then. There was a lot of misunderstanding about different cultures.” He drew a contrast with today’s polarization, calling it more willful. “If you can kind of break through this incredible buttress of misunderstanding in this movie, in this era, you really found common ground with people,” Reynolds said.
Reynolds also placed Mayday alongside Daley and Goldstein’s earlier collaborations, agreeing when the pairing was raised: “They got bangers, those guys,” Reynolds said, referencing Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
Mayday is now streaming on Apple TV.
Featured image photo credit: Apple TV
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