Westerns can do it all, folks. Celebrated actressHeather Grahamcan as well, by the way. Dating back to the days ofTwin PeaksandDrugstore Cowboy, Graham has graced the screen via a vast array of projects, dabbling in virtually every film genre. That includes the Western genre, both in 2024 whenMovieWeb spoke with Graham aboutPlace of Bones, and now as the female lead in yet another Western,Gunslingers. The new film also stars Nicolas Cage and Stephen Dorff — the latter of whom plays her romantic interest of sorts.
Gunslingerslays out a complex backstory involving Graham’s character Val and Dorff’s gunman persona, Thomas — who has a criminal brother in the mix named Robert (Jeremy Kent Jackson). Adding fuel to the fire, Robert also has love ties to Val. So, why not have them all reunite in a bloodthirsty Kentucky town, which sets the stage for the bullet-laced events of the film? “There’s a love triangle… between the two brothers and my character,” Graham explained to MovieWeb. She broke it down for us:
“Jeremy’s character has always felt a bit jealous and possibly inferior to Stephen Dorff’s character. And I think that, given that I was originally with [Thomas], and then he was in trouble and ran off, and then I ended up with [Robert], that there’s this kind of tension between them. And unfortunately, I think [Robert] became more and more abusive as he got older, and my character — I really want to get away from him to protect my daughter and to protect myself, but I’m really trying to reconnect with [Thomas] because I think in the story, he’s the love of my life. And I think I was told that he was dead. And then when I discover that he’s really alive, I’m just doing everything I can to try to find him.”
Related:‘Twin Peaks’ Star Heather Graham Shares David Lynch’s Advice She Still Follows Daily
On That Billion-Dollar Verdict Against Director James Toback
Gunslingers
When the most wanted man in America surfaces in a small Kentucky town, his violent history – and a blood-thirsty mob seeking vengeance and a king’s ransom – soon follow. As brothers face off against one another and bullets tear the town to shreds, this lightning-fast gunslinger makes his enemies pay the ultimate price for their greed.
Graham’s acting career stretches back decades, having worked with a variety of big-name directors. One such director, James Toback, has been in the news recently, as a jury reached a verdict thatToback must pay out $1.68 billionafter 40 women came forward alleging sexual assault. Graham starred in his 1997 filmTwo Guys and a Guyalongside Robert Downey Jr.
“It’s nice seeing people that do things wrong get in trouble. I like that. It makes me feel good as a woman,” said Graham in reacting to the Toback news. “I had an agent… and he had a lot of sexual harassment charges. And I think he got off, which is upsetting, but it’s nice to see these people get in trouble, because when I came up in the business, there were very few people getting in trouble. It’s nice to see some of these people actually get in trouble… Good for all the people that came forward. It’s hard for women to come forward in situations like that, so I admire any woman who’s willing to come forward with those kind of stories.”
Catch Graham in her latest standout role as a powerful female in an otherwise male-dominated western. From Lionsgate,Gunslingersis now available in theaters, on demand and on digital.
