Ben Affleck returns to crunch both numbers and bones in The Accountant 2, the sequel to the 2016 film The Accountant. In the Gavin O’ Connor directorial, Affleck plays forensic accountant Christian Wolff, who teams up with his estranged but highly lethal brother (Jon Bernthal’s Braxton) to track down mysterious assassins.

Released in cinemas on April 25, The Accountant 2 has been a box-office winner, grossing over $100 million, and finds its way to Amazon Prime Video today.

In the run-up to its release, t2 was part of select global media that engaged in a virtual interaction with Team The Accountant 2, led by Affleck. Excerpts.

Ben, why did you want to do one of your very rare sequels with The Accountant 2?

Ben Affleck: The first film was successful and I was proud of it. It has a longer life in terms of real-life feedback that I get, movies of mine people mention when they come up to me.... So I definitely was aware that: ‘Wow, that movie seems to still be watched!’ It is also a function of the fact that streaming really started to take off after The Accountant. Also, I love this character! Gavin (Gavin O’ Connor, director) and I were drawn to the idea of bringing Jon (Bernthal, who plays Braxton) back and expanding on that because the guy is fabulous. We both felt there was a lot more to do (in the second film).

Bill (Dubuque, writer) and Gavin spent a lot of time developing and putting The Accountant 2 together, with Gavin using his trademark meticulous, patient, detail-oriented, character-driven way. Both were mindful of not repeating things. They didn’t say: ‘Hey, they (the audience) liked the first one. Let’s just figure something out and do another one.’

Gavin, what aspects of the first film did you want to carry over and in what way did you change things up in the second instalment?

Gavin ‘O Connor: There was a certain DNA that was important to preserve, and after that, it was a lot of left turns trying to refill the tank in a very different way. It was a matter of how to start recreating the character (Christian Wolff, played by Affleck) in a way that puts him on a different journey. We wanted to integrate Brax (Braxton), we wanted to bring back Cynthia (Addai Robinson, who plays Marybeth Medina). We knew the key in the ignition was to kill Ray (Raymond King, played by J.K. Simmons) because we wanted it to be personal for both of these guys. Most importantly, I wanted to make a movie that was fun and entertaining and put people in the movie theatre where they come out and say: ‘Man, that was a f***ing ball. That was a great time at the movies.’

Jon, the dynamic between your character and that of Ben’s comprises a lot of comedy. What was that like for you, and when did they tell you that this was going to be much more of an odd-couple brotherly love but also an antagonistic version of it?

Jon Bernthal: Bill’s writing is so unbelievably strong and Gavin is known to always try to get to the truth of the character. It was a real thrill for me to get back. With Ben, it just kind of happened that way. It is there, but it was also supported by Gavin who let it linger and exist naturally and play the moments in between the beats. There are so many little moments of truth that you will love.
Gavin: I don’t think we ever said: ‘Oh, it has to be funny.’ Jon and I had many sit-downs dissecting the character and what the intention is in a scene, but once you put these guys together, they both have specific wants. Their characters are slightly bonkers and you let them do their thing. The reason it works is because they weren’t trying to be funny. No one was trying to be funny. It was ingrained in their characters.

Cynthia, even your character has changed so much from the first film. What about it did you get to explore this time around that you enjoyed?

Cynthia Addai-Robinson: I always viewed Marybeth as the entry point for the audience. She is observing and seeing all these things unfold around her and is reacting to them. While working on The Accountant, I was nervous. I was kind of out of depth in a way. But in the second film, Marybeth has evolved... she is in an elevated position within the Treasury Department, and for myself — as a person and an actor — I felt I had also grown. It was like: ‘I am going to be returning to a situation that is familiar. I feel a little bit more comfortable, a little more confident.’

Also, I got used to the dynamic with Ben and Jon’s characters... all of their shenanigans. Marybeth had to bear witness and be like: ‘All right, these guys are kind of crazy and they are also challenging my view of how to serve justice.’
Ben: The secret of this movie is that Cynthia is really its protagonist. She is the entrée for the audience, which means we get to play character parts. For me, there was a kind of relief from not having to carry a whole bunch of expectations that go with playing the lead in a movie because, as Cynthia says, the audience is projecting themselves onto you. We are like a dual-aggravant in some ways to her, and if you look at the math of the story, it is about her being brought into this, seeing this person be killed, trying to find out what it was, what she has to go through to get there and the resolution of her story.... That is something I find very artful and interesting, where this person is the lead of the movie and you have these dual character-actors in there. So that affords Jon and I the luxury of doing this sort of two-hander odd-couple thing.

The gentlemen are bringing back the action, but there is a heightened level of female action in this movie as well. Daniella, you are no stranger to action, but I don’t think you have done this much action on screen yet...

Daniella Pineda: It was definitely next level. There is something compelling about watching a predator do its thing. But there are more layers. She (her character Anais) is not just a stone-cold killer. It is the type of role that I would like to see more women get to play. I loved beating the shit out of Cynthia! But we were hugging in between takes....
Cynthia: When you hear an audience audibly gasp, then you know you are doing something right because it shows how invested people are in these characters. They are literally leaning forward, and with each blow, each hit, they gasp. It is a nice vote of confidence to hear those gasps.

What sets the action in The Accountant 2 apart?

Ben: Gavin’s approach is never about a shot looking cool because of X-Y-Z elements and then reverse-engineering it into a scene. His approach is always driven by what each character wants and why they are doing this. His gift is to take that and make it visually compelling.
Gavin: And not try to make it feel stunt-y. We knew what the stakes were and so, inside the action and the choreography, it was about the emotional line between the two brothers and how they are going to accomplish this together. Action is like dance. It is about doing it in beats.

Ben, in the film, you dance in a way that no one could have expected...

Ben: America doesn’t expect it, America wasn’t asking for it, but they are going to get it! Here is a guy who wants to have a relationship with a woman and he is trying to figure out how to do that, how to put himself out there. He is not comfortable extending himself, he doesn’t really know how to flirt. Like many of us, it is not easy for anyone to figure out relationships, particularly the very early part, where you are trying to gauge: ‘What does this signal mean? Is this person looking at me? Do they like me? Am I going to humiliate myself if I go over there?’

What Christian does is use something that he is comfortable with, which is the ability to recognise and identify the pattern of line dancing, because it is so structured and patterned, and stand next to this woman who he is attracted to and wants to connect with. It required a lot of me. I am probably not going to get a lot more demands for my line-dancing work! I don’t know. The phone hasn’t rung yet!