"It was my Grand Theft Auto sandbox": Gareth Evans on doubling Wales in 'Havoc'

There’s one very good reason why Gareth Evans’ America-set Havoc shot in Cardiff: “On a very selfish level, I live in Wales,” Evans laughs.

“There was a definite desire for the idea of being able to wrap at the end of the day and then be able to drive home and hopefully be in time to tell [my family] a bedtime story or two."  

Set in a fictional and unnamed city on America’s east coast, Havoc, the latest in director-producer Evans’ oeuvre of crunchy action films, following The Raid and its sequel and Apostle, stars Tom Hardy as a damaged detective who fights his way through a criminal underworld to rescue a politician's estranged son while untangling his city's dark web of conspiracy and corruption. Hardy also produced, alongside Evans, Ed Talfan, and Aram Tertzakian.

There were other practical implications, too. Production took place in summer 2021 while Covid protocols were still in place. “We were in uncertain times, so I wanted to be close to home,” Evans admits.  

The choice to shoot in Wales wasn’t just informed by sentiment, however. “I had such an amazing experience making Apostle, and then also bringing episode five of Gangs of London [the Sky series created by Evans] to Wales. The crew I worked with was so incredibly hard working. I knew off the back of doing episode five that we could achieve the kind of action filmmaking I wanted within Havoc.”

Tom Hardy as Walker in Havoc; Source: Netflix

Making everywhere-America  

Evans also knew that using Wales as a double for fictional urban America would offer him a level of creative and practical freedom. "It was sort of my Grand Theft Auto sandbox," Evans says.

Filming took place across Wales in areas like Swansea, Port Talbot, Baglan, and Cardiff. “We location scouted with an eye on what parts of this we could turn into a heightened version of America's East Coast cities,” the director explains, a vision he may not have been able to achieve had he filmed on location in a singular American city.

Production designer Tom Pearce, who worked with Evans on Gangs of London, built the films’ Chinatown at Cardiff’s Great Point Studio. Instead of looking to London or San Francisco for inspiration, he looked at Hong Kong and Kowloon; a visual choice that might have been incongruous in a film clearly set in, say, Boston. 
 
In addition, they built an entire nightclub and a highway flyover from scratch at the studios. “All I can take credit for is being a self-indulgent filmmaker and imposing upon [the crew] a lot of engineering headaches,” Evans admits. “Having that level of control over the whole build was really important, and also fun to play with.”

Local support

On top of that creative freedom, Wales also offered the production a host of logistical benefits including financial incentives, skilled crew and a dedicated infrastructure and support.

The entirety of the nightclub Medusa was built at Great Points Studio; Source: Netflix

Evans accessed Welsh Government support via the Economy Futures Fund, packaged as Production Funding Creative Wales, offered in return for a guarantee from the production of Welsh spend that will be directed back to the Welsh economy, in addition to providing jobs for local crew and several trainees.

They also received UK tax credits for film and HETV and also some assistance from Creative Wales, now in its fifth year which supports the creative industries by investing in productions, skills development and economic growth.

“The level of support that we had from the Welsh Government was incredible, not just in terms of [financing],” says Evans, noting that there were several complicated shots in difficult locations which were made possible thanks to local council support. They were able to shut down many main roads, and film inside the police precinct in Cardiff’s Pierhead building.

One particular scene which may have caused consternation for locals took place during half term. "Our schedule landed in that space and so, unpopularly, we closed the fair for two days while we filmed. So apologies to any parents and kids that wanted a nice that day if we ruined it for you!" Evans jokes.

For Evans, filming on home turf is always rewarding. “[Wales has] always been a warm place and a welcoming place for us to set up productions, and we hope this is the first of many projects of this scale to film in Wales.

“We’re seeing more of an acknowledgement of what’s always been there [in Wales], in terms of its openness and willingness to help facilitate productions,” says Evans of industry recognition of what the country has to offer. “We all want to see more thing produced [in Wales]. The crews are there, the locations are there, the support is there. It’s just a question of getting more done.”