The Old Guard 2 director reveals one of her favorite scenes from the movie, and it is not with Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron returns to play immortal mercenary Andy in The Old Guard 2, a sequel to the 2020 film that topped the Netflix charts upon its release. Victoria Mahoney took over the directorial duties for the second chapter, which showed Andy fighting the threat of Discord (Uma Thurman), the oldest immortal ever.

Andy enters the sequel without her healing and regenerative powers, after cutting ties with Booker (Matthias Schoenaerts) for betraying the Guard. By the end, she regains those powers as Booker willingly sacrifices himself to transfer them to her. The cliffhanger ending leaves us thinking about Andy and Quynh's eventual fate. Yet, it also leaves us on an emotional note as Booker loses his life for the greater good.

Director Victoria Mahoney calls the scene of Booker's tragic death one of her favourites from The Old Guard 2. In an interview with The Direct, she discussed in detail why it resonated so much with her.

"It's one of my favorite scenes... But what he did in that scene, what he's capable of doing as an actor, which each of them, you know, in their different scenes, respectively, just have the ability to hit these moments that are so solid and effortless.And I'm not saying they didn't go through a lot of labor to get to that release or expression or offering, but when you're watching it, it just flows out of them. And so that entire sequence, which we could probably, in the sweet tune of Mr. Joseph Campbell, say is the hero's death," she said.

Mahoney further spoke about this particular scene and how it all came about while making the film.

The Old Guard 2 director has nothing but praise for Matthias Schoenaerts's tragic performance.

During the conversation with The Direct, the director highlighted Booker's character arc throughout The Old Guard 2, which makes his death feel like an emotional sucker punch. Mahoney said,

"I believe every beat from the moment up to there to the scene in the house before with him and Andy is like that scene with the two of them on the bed. And that's his way, that's when he comes to say, you know, he's saying, I defer, and so I surrender. And then, so, when he goes down, true to Booker's form, it's such an exceptional expression of life. It looks like it's could be suicidal or passive suicide, in a way that he knows that he's walking into a room and he won't come out of that room, but what he does in that room is so filled with life and love, and I just find it quite moving and straight up to the end."

Mahoney also spoke about how Schoenaerts's committed performance in The Old Guard 2 makes his death feel as tragic as it does.

"When [Matthew Schoenaerts] was there, it was just him, and I with the—[cinematographer] Barry [Ackroyd] was there with the camera, and I'm standing off to the side, and I'm lying on the ground at Barry's feet, and Barry has the camera, and I'm asking him to hold his breath. Just hold your breath, his shoulder breath over. And you can hear it in the track where I'm holding for so long, trying to, like, you know, see his [breath] go, and then, but that moment when he just... Oh, it's terrible. It's terrible. It's so cinematically delicious."

With The Old Guard 2, Mahoney established another chapter in Andy and Quynh's story. However, Booker won't be with them in their continuing fight against Discord. Hopefully, we will learn more about the lovers' destiny in a potential third movie. Until then, The Old Guard 2 is available on Netflix.

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Also read: The Old Guard 2 ending explained: Andy's immortality, Qyunh's retaliation, and Discord's mission, explored

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