'Sin City 2' Director Confirms Casting Details

Robert Rodriguez tells MTV News that Rosario Dawson and Mickey Rourke are 'pumped' for 'A Dame to Kill For.'
By Kevin P. Sullivan

Robert Rodriguez
Photo: Anna Webber/ WireImage

After years of waiting, fans of Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller's "Sin City" finally got confirmation that their dreams would be answered.

Last week, Rodriguez announced he would begin production on the long-awaited sequel this summer and that casting would begin soon. The official title will be "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," taking its name from Miller's second story in the series.

MTV News spoke with Robert Rodriguez for the Blu-ray release of "Roadracers," an early film of his, and he opened up about the sequel and returning to Miller's world.

MTV: There was huge news last week with the green light for "Sin City 2." You're beginning casting now?

Robert Rodriguez: We still have to cast. I'm shooting "Machete" next month, and we go right into "Sin City." It might overlap, but we haven't done any casting yet, except for the people who we know are already in it and returning. "A Dame to Kill For," all those people come back. I just had lunch with Mickey [Rourke] this weekend. He's all excited to come back, but he's probably the first one. I saw Rosario [Dawson] too. I ran into her for something else, and she's pumped. They've always been excited about doing another one, so that will be fun.

MTV: Does casting responsibility fall primarily on you and Frank Miller?

Rodriguez: That will be the process. Frank and I go together to meet everybody, and I like seeing his reaction because he drew these characters so long and when they walk in the room, you see it on his face. He doesn't know who it's going to be until he sees them. Then he's like, "This is exactly like the character I created." It's pretty exciting.

MTV: You've said before that you wanted to use three acts again. Is that still the plan?

Rodriguez: Three is a good number. Dramatically, the three-act structure has lasted and is tried and true. I did an anthology before called "Four Rooms," and if you look it up, anthologies are never successful. That's the end of that, I thought. Then I said, "I bet I can do an anthology if it's the same director, and not four, not five, not eight stories. That's too many." Three is a good number. I think two is just weird. Three feels like a dramatic structure, even if they're separate stories. I feels like one, two, three acts and maybe a wrap around. It worked on "Sin City," and that's probably the first anthology that ever worked, that I can think of. So I'm going to stick with that template because, one, I invented it. I can claim it and go, "I'm going to do it again." If it doesn't work, then I'll know that "Sin City" was just a fluke.

MTV: Was a "Sin City" sequel always in the back of your mind? I know there have been plans for years.

Rodriguez: It was immediately [known] that we were going to do it. I think it was 2007, and I was already meeting with Angelina Jolie and people to do it. The Weinsteins had just started a new company. They just didn't have the money to do it at the time. It was like, "Go do another movie or two and come back. We'll be ready." I went off and did a couple movies. Frank went off and did some movies. Then it got harder and harder to come back and find the time to do it. We missed that moment when it was ready to go. Then it was so far afterwards that it might as well have been any time now, but people never lost their appetite for it. They still come up to us and say "When are you doing another 'Sin City'?" We thought we had to do it at some point. Now we're just making the time.

MTV: Are you still looking at casting Angelina Jolie?

Rodriguez: I haven't even gotten to meet with her yet about it or discuss with Frank about who we would want to go with or talk to first. That's a fun process, but that probably won't happen in the next month.

MTV: Several movies have imitated the style from "Sin City." Is there a desire at all to reinvent the wheel a bit?

Rodriguez: I probably thought that back then, but now, even people did green screen stuff, "Sin City" is very unique. It's not just the visuals. It's the story and how it's told and Frank's storytelling that works when you're looking at it in a book or in a film. It works in any way, shape or form. He's just a great writer and visualist and storyteller with pictures in a way that's different than what anyone else can think of. It's so unique, and I think that's why people keep asking for another "Sin City" in particular. In terms of just visuals and effects, yeah, it will evolve from the original, for sure.

Are you pumped for "Sin City 2: A Dame to Kill For"? Let us know in the comments!

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