Ledgers and Lethal Force: Gavin O’Connor on Directing Ben Affleck in “The Accountant 2”
Almost a decade after they first worked together, the action sequel The Accountant 2 reunites director Gavin O’Connor and star Ben Affleck for a third time. First announced seven years ago, the journey to bring the follow-up to the screen has been challenging, but it’s one the Warrior filmmaker is grateful for.
Set and filmed in Los Angeles, Affleck returns as Christian Wolff, the titular number-crunching hero with a brilliant mind and a talent for solving complex problems, some of which are a far cry from the usual role of maintaining and analyzing financial records, preparing tax returns, and providing financial advice. Christian can also kick serious butt, and once again, he’s compelled to eschew his pocket protector for items a little more lethal when a friend is murdered and he has no choice but to unleash that other side of him. It’s not long before he uncovers a conspiracy: a ruthless network of killers that wants to stay hidden but has now fun afoul of Christian’s very hands-on style of bookkeeping. The Accountant 2, which also stars Jon Bernthal as Christian’s no less lethal brother, Braxton, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson as ally Marybeth Medina, lands exclusively in theaters on Friday, April 25, 2025.
Here, O’Connor, who also directed Affleck in The Way Back, discusses how the long-awaited film benefited from the delays, refusing to use locations seen in other movies, and why shooting the film in LA and nearby Santa Clarita was so important.
The Accountant 2 was first announced seven years ago. How did you use that to your advantage?
If you told me it would take seven or eight years, I would have been banging my head against the wall more than I did. I wouldn’t have been as patient. The truth is we did benefit from the time because we were able to be really thoughtful and meticulous with the script, and especially for Ben, the things going on in his personal life informed his performance, his empathy for the character, and his understanding of Christian on a much deeper level. It became a blessing.
The Accountant 2 is the third time you’ve worked with Ben. He’s a filmmaker, actor, and producer. It must make a huge difference to have someone who understands how the cinematic sausage is made.
Ben is such a talented filmmaker and storyteller, but with The Accountant 2, he was just there to act. I didn’t know that other side of him, at least not in the first two movies we made. Ben and Matt Damon started a studio called Artists Equity, and because of Ben’s deal with his investors, we had to make this movie there. As a filmmaker, the benefit of working with Ben is that he understands what it’s like. He said to me, ‘Go and make the movie. You don’t have to answer to anybody. I’ll see you on set.’ I’m so grateful to him for that, and that is all generated by his experience working in the studio system. I remember making a movie where I felt like I was getting rope-a-doped every day, and I was fighting back because I was trying to protect the film from what I thought were people trying to burn it down.
Let’s talk about filming in LA. A lot of films fake it and shoot in other cities. California has had a tough time with production in the last few years, so why did you choose to film here?
It was going to cost more money to shoot it here because the tax breaks are different than those in Atlanta. We both said we were not going to Atlanta or New Mexico. I was willing to go to a couple of places where I could at least get home and see my family, because that’s the most important thing, but Ben said, ‘No, we’re going to do this in LA.’ I was like, ‘That would be my dream.’ All credit goes to Ben for pushing, and he can make that decision because he’s running a studio.
You avoid many of LA’s tropes and landmarks. As fun as those are to see, for me, a great movie made in LA showcases the city’s unique character.
I can tell you what I didn’t look at, and that was any location that’s been used before. My marching orders to Wes Hagan, my location manager, were, ‘Don’t show me anything that’s been in a movie before. If it’s been in a movie, I’m not going to use it.’ That was where we started.
To find those unique locations, you need someone with local knowledge. Did you also do a lot of scouting with them to find those?
It was Wes and my production designer, Jade Healy. She is so talented and smart and has great ideas. There were a couple of locations I had ideas for that I was sending them to, and then she would come back and go, ‘I think there’s something better.’ It would be entirely different, and I’d go there and say, ‘You’re right.’ There were several instances like that. She has a great eye and always comes from character and story. Because we hadn’t worked together before, I needed to develop trust with her. Once I started to trust her taste and artistry, it opened up a lot for me.
The line dancing bar is particularly memorable. Was that a real location, or something you built?
That was a real location we scouted. I remember going up to The Cowboy Palace Saloon with cinematographer Seamus McGarvey and Jade. We all just went up there one night to hang out. We met the owner and went, ‘Can we move this and do this?’ and he was accommodating to everything. I had my camera, and I was shooting stuff. We were like, ‘I think this is the way to do it.’
You use Santa Clarita a lot, too. There have been quite a lot of productions that use that location to double for everything from Mexico to Afghanistan.
It was about researching Juarez and what it really looks like. It was about getting all those photos; they go up on the wall, and you’re trying to replicate that. It always starts with the authenticity of the real locations. Santa Clarita, shockingly, offered a lot to us.
How grateful do you think many local businesses are? So many rely on the film and TV industry.
We’re generating money, and we’re helping the economy. Also, we are all foodies, so all our scouts were built around where we could eat. That was always a critical conversation. We were like, ‘What are we having today?’ and we’d go through the restaurants. Wes is a big foodie. It’s great to be able to give back to the city. If you give the love, they give it back.
The Accountant 2 was one of the biggest productions in LA in 2024, after several years of limited activity. Was everybody wanting to open their doors and offer you their services?
It blossomed into many areas because of that, but also, our crew was the best of the best. The idea that the people who are great at what they do can actually be home and not have to travel helps. You also get great actors here, so even with day players, I’m getting some really wonderful actors. There are many benefits to shooting in Los Angeles, and we took advantage of them all.
What about the talent pool in LA that is unique?
Many people come here to be actors, but they don’t reach the level they wanted to. They’re willing to take a smaller role because it doesn’t require them to travel. It’s a really talented pool of actors, and I discovered that because I’d have a lot of people auditioning. If you look at the scene where they’re at the motel, and you have a guy who’s just going to make a phone call for them, the number of people I saw just for that role was crazy, and so many were excellent actors.
Cinematographer Seamus returns for The Accountant 2.
I brought back a lot of people who had worked on the first film. Spiritually, it was the right thing to do. There are a lot of actors in the movie who are friends of mine, but I’m meticulous about that. There are a lot of friends of mine that aren’t in the film because they weren’t right for the part. If I can work with my friends and think they’re right for the part, it’s much better.
Many people are eager for actors to return and shoot on location in the city, not just on back lots and sound stages, but to actually use the city itself. Has this made you want to make more movies in LA?
We mainly used real locations, but when we had to cheat on certain things, I had another movie I would probably do next that we wrote for California, because I really want to be here. Selfishly, I want to be home with my wife and kid.
The Accountant 2 is in theaters now.
Featured image: Ben Affleck (Christian Wolff), Cynthia Addai-Robinson (Marybeth Medina), Director Gavin O’Connor, and Jon Bernthal (Brax) in ACCOUNTANT 2 Photo Credit: Warrick Page/Prime © Amazon Content Services LLC
