Screenwriter Lars Jacobson has always loved unique characters who can take something that can be perceived as a disability and turn it into their superpower and that was exactly what he created with the character of Nathan Caine in Novocaine. “We have this great everyman character who’s never been in a fight and he throws caution to the wind and risks all to save the love of his life,” he says.
When the girl of his dreams (Amber Midthunder) is kidnapped in Novocaine, everyman Nate (Jack Quaid) turns his inability to feel pain into an unexpected strength in his fight to get her back.
“Thematically it’s about what we are willing to risk for love and this was the perfect story of a guy willing to risk everything,” says Jacobson. “He can’t feel anything but once he feels something for Shelley, he wants to make sure he can feel it again. This was a unique story with a complex, diverse, dynamic character at its center. It is a genre film, but it’s really a love story.” Jacobson was also an admirer of bank heist films like Dog Day Afternoon and Killing Zoe and as he developed the scenario to place this character in, he loved the idea of a fast-paced action movie within the walls of a bank.
“When you can take something familiar and add a unique twist, that’s a fun thing to do in storytelling,” Jacobson says. “I wanted to stay true to the genre, but add layers that would hopefully elevate and augment. There is also a superhero element, but it’s about Nate outlasting and outsmarting his opponent because he knows he can’t overpower them. So when he’s faced with guys with military training, his only ability is to be crafty and to persevere. I equated it to Bruce Willis’ t-shirt in Die Hard. It starts white and crisp, and by the end, he’s bare-chested and bloody. Nate is not always winning these fights, he’s surviving these fights, but he’s coming out ahead and overcoming insurmountable odds by applying his smarts and ingenuity. This was such a great writing experience for me because you could have fun with many of the set pieces as well the high-concept element of it.”
Jacobson’s manager, Julian Rosenberg, who also serves as a producer on Novocaine, pitched Safehouse Pictures’ Matt Schwartz with the writer’s idea for the film.
“I read it that night and immediately fell in love,” recalls Schwartz. “Novocaine was the type of film that Safehouse and producers Tory Tunnell, Joby Harold, and myself have always gravitated towards. It was unique and had an awesome high concept but with a relatable, lovely, and sympathetic hero at the center of it. There were also great universal themes. On the one hand, it’s about all the crazy things you’ll do for love. But what struck me about it was that it forces us to think about how we can change the way we see our insecurities and things that make us different, and turn those into positives, spinning them into things that make us special and unique. That felt like such a lovely thing that would resonate with everyone so we immediately leaned into the project.”
“It took a little while to find the right home for the script,” says producer Harold, who knew a little bit about high concept action from his work within the world of John Wick, “but I couldn’t shake the concept of the movie. The idea of this character was really stuck in my teeth – it felt like such an amazing casting opportunity – and I just kept saying “what’s happening with Novocaine? What can we be doing that we aren’t doing?” I just had a real instinct that Nate was going to be a character that audiences would fall in love with. All we had to do was find the right partner who saw what we saw.”
Fellow producer Drew Simon had recently established Infrared Pictures and as one of Schwartz’s closest friends, it felt like the perfect project to collaborate on. “Drew and I have incredibly similar tastes,” notes Schwartz. “And when we reached out to him, he loved it and we were off to the races.”
“Getting the chance to work with one of your best friends on a movie like this is a special experience that we didn’t take for granted,” says Simon. “Novocaine got me from the very beginning because we watch this man who doesn’t feel pain have to find his identity and break out of the bubble that his life has created for him while falling in love and going through an obstacle course of action. He’s an incredibly relatable protagonist and this special condition allows for set pieces done in inventive, creative ways you haven’t seen before on screen. It felt like a fresh take on a genre that people love.”
The Safehouse Pictures team had an existing relationship with directing partners Dan Berk & Robert Olsen and instantly felt they would be the perfect filmmakers for the project.
“And after our first meeting, I knew these were the directors for the movie,” says Simon. “They had passion, vision, and a style they wanted to bring to it that felt fresh, unique, and special. They wanted to subvert the genre. This was a great script to begin with and then they took it up several notches and made it into something that will stand the test of time as an action movie. The biggest challenge was finding the right balance of action, heart, and humor because we were not trying to make just another action movie. We were trying to make something fun, different and that stands out.”
Though Berk and Olsen have traditionally written and originated the films they direct, when they read Jacobson’s script, they were immediately hooked. “It had a very sticky concept at the core of it,” says Berk. “A guy who can’t feel pain being thrust into this action movie is a protagonist you don’t expect in that situation. We also saw that it had a lot of potential for an infusion of our signature tone so we jumped at it.”
Adds Olsen, “The mix of humor and violence is also what makes this movie special because everybody’s seen an action movie that has a ton of gore in it and a more dour tone. But the image of somebody being punched in the face and smiling right after is the heart of this movie.”
Jacobson, too, was thrilled with the choice of Berk and Olsen to bring his script to the screen. “As a writer, you’re always hoping that the directors will elevate your material, bring something new, and open it up further,” says Jacobson. “Dan and Bobby did a great job of establishing a tone with Nate by balancing the action with the comedy while also giving it a strong engine. Once the movie gets started, it doesn’t stop.”
After helming five features together, the directing duo is a well-oiled machine when it comes to their communication, something that was noticed by every member of the cast and creative team.
“We’ve learned to get on the same page before even stepping onto the set so no one has to come and get the check mark from both of us,” shares Olsen. “What makes our partnership work, is that we were best friends way before we ever started to work together so we have that foundation of brotherhood.” Adds Berk, “It’s taken a long time to perfect our process. We spend months and months and months before we ever get to the sound stages mapping out every single possible eventuality so that when something comes up on set, we already have the answer. It may seem effortless from the outside, but we spend a lot of time on it.”
Casting Novocaine
As Berk and Olsen further developed the film and began their directors’ pass at the shooting script, they found themselves writing with one actor in particular in their thoughts. “It was months before we brought up Jack Quaid to anyone else but we always had his voice in mind,” recalls Berk. “Jack was our dream casting for this role. We were huge fans of his from The Boys and felt he was an actor with massive potential. We pitched the idea to our producers and the studio, and they were into it. Jack is an atomic bomb of charisma and there’s nobody as likable as him. In our first Zoom meeting with him, it felt like we had known him for 20 years.”
“And it wasn’t easy to find the right person for this role,” adds Olsen. “It’s hard to find somebody who has that nerdy quality to them to play the introverted parts of the role, but then still has the oomph to go in there when it turns into an action movie and to sell it and be a movie star. Jack’s ability to shift into those different roles is something you can’t find easily.”
For Jacobson, Quaid couldn’t have been more perfect to portray the anti-action hero, Nathan Caine. “With Nate, you want someone who is inherently sympathetic, likable, and an everyman and someone you don’t necessarily think would win a fight,” he says. “Jack played it to a T. He understood the anxiety, the neuroses of this character and also that he was willing to risk it all to save the woman he loved.”
As for Quaid, the actor counts himself as a huge fan of action movies, “especially the fun ones of the 1980s and ‘90s,” which was a large reason he leaped at the chance to play Nathan Caine. “I find these movies so impressive when they’re done right, especially if they can make you feel something or elicit a reaction,” he says. “So what I loved about this movie is that it’s very much inspired by older action movies where the focus is on the fun of it all.”
In preparing the actor for the role, the directors provided Quaid with a list of movies to view. “Firstly, Dan and Bobby are two of my favorite people I’ve ever worked with,” says Quaid. “Their passion and joy about this entire experience was so infectious, and it created an amazing environment on set. They recommended films like Lethal Weapon 1 and 2, Die Hard, and Hard Boiled, which is an incredible movie. I also watched romance movies like Before Sunrise. Hopefully, if we did our jobs right, Novocaine will fit into the pantheon of both genres in such a fun and unique way.”
Quaid also says he thoroughly enjoyed bringing his character’s hero’s journey to life over the course of the film. “At his core, Nate is a really big sweetheart, an extremely nice guy, and a big nerd, which I loved about him,” he says. “He’s also quite lonely as he hasn’t ever connected with anyone romantically in his life. And now that he’s turned 30, he’s realizing that he’s living on borrowed time. It’s been hard to go out there and meet people when you’re a balloon in a world of pins.”
“Amber Midthunder was ideal casting for Sherry,” raves Jacobson. “And the chemistry between Jack and Amber is perfect. Sherry is a very complex character. At first, she’s this object of affection and admiration for Nate, but once he gets to know her, she’s very upfront, honest, and direct. They form a deep and fast connection.”
Midthunder says she was captivated by the beautiful complexity of their relationship given that Sherry initially doesn’t expect to form such genuine feelings for Nate. “I think what makes their relationship so special is that they bring out this true version of the other person,” she shares. “Dan, Bobby, and I talked a lot about how Nate sees Sherry in a way she’s never been seen before. To Sherry, that is both alarming and disarming and that’s what makes her feel so drawn to him and feel safe with him, especially so quickly. She’s affected by that because she’s never felt that kind of safety before in her life.”
Creating the visually arresting, action-packed world of Novocaine
To land the perfect visual aesthetic for Novocaine, the filmmakers spent considerable time discussing the possibilities with the film’s cinematographer, Jacques Jouffret. Novocaine marks the first action film for Berk and Olsen after helming several thrillers and horror films, so they were set on finding a director of photography who had experience in the genre and Jouffret’s previous credits include Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, Gran Turismo, and American Primeval.
The impressive and imaginative non-stop stunts, fights, and gags in Novocaine were brought to the screen by Bulgarian-born Stanimir ‘Stani’ Stamatov who served as the film’s stunt coordinator, alongside co-stunt coordinator Kerry Gregg, and their team. “Stani and Kerry have done an incredible job and their team was so professional,” raves Simon. “We don’t know how they pulled it off. There were so many stunts with these bone-crunching hits.” Stamatov’s specialty has been producing brawler-type fights in projects including The Expendables and Game of Thrones, making him the natural fit for developing the specific style of fighting in Novocaine.
Like many filmmakers, Berk and Olsen have always strived to do things practically as much as they could, without relying too heavily on visual effects. “It looks more authentic and it’s also more authentic for the actors when there’s something tangible there to touch and perform with,” shares Berk. “So this movie is very prosthetics-heavy. There’s so much violence, gore, wounds, breaks, and all this wild stuff. We were really lucky to find Clinton, who has a great resume including Guardians of the Galaxy and Resident Evil. What he does is very scientific. The prep process is massive and there is so much technology behind it. He had to break Nate’s journey into the 52 different steps of physical degradation and have a plan for every one of those. He would look at the 3D scans of Jack at various times and be able to say, ‘It looks a little too messed up there’ or ‘That’s a little too scary.’
Recreating San Diego In South Africa
When Novocaine’s creative team was searching for a shooting location that could believably stand in for San Diego, California, they were drawn to the similar landscape and climate found in Cape Town, South Africa. “As we started getting into the logistics of how we were going to create the biggest feeling, most event-worthy and cinematic movie possible for our budget, we started looking all over the world,” recalls Simon. “Our story takes place over the Christmas season, but we set it in San Diego which opens the movie up in such a great way. Cape Town is a near-perfect replica of San Diego. But more than that, it also provided so much more scale to the movie. Our climactic set piece which was once set in a tunnel, became a scene at a shipping port with giant shipping crates and boats everywhere. Cape Town provided so much scope, in addition to having some of the best crews in the world. Every department, every crew, every person who worked on this movie was better than the next. It was a pleasure.”
As Novocaine explodes onto cinema screens, audiences can look forward to experiencing dynamic characters in a high-concept story that blends a variety of genres with a wildly specific action language, separating it from anything ever seen on screen before.
“This movie delivers incredible action, tons of humor, and great heart,” says Simon. “It’s a nonstop action thrill ride that will have audiences on the edge of their seats. They’re going to be laughing and crying, and in a really fun way, they’re going to be looking away from the screen at times. It’s a movie that belongs in the theaters as it feels like such a cinematic experience. When you watch a movie like this with an audience, it’s going to feel like an event and that is what movies are all about.”
Agrees Berk, “There are certain scenes you shoot and based on the reactions of those around you, you know this is what makes a theatrical experience. Novocaine will still be fun to watch on your couch, but it will be nowhere near as much fun as watching it in a dark theater with several hundred other people.”
Quaid says he’s most excited for people to experience the film’s singular tone and the journey Nathan Caine goes on over the course of the movie. “I love that Nate is ultimately a very positive character and he’s happy-go-lucky despite all of the horrific stuff that happens to him,” says the actor. “This film blends all these genres in a cool, unique way that I’ve never seen before. I hope audiences will enjoy that. It’s going to be a wild ride, and I’ll be so excited to hear the reactions inside the theater.”
Novocaine’s screenwriter agrees, adding that in addition to the non-stop action and comedy, he hopes audiences also find this to be a compelling and unique love story. “That’s how I always looked at it,” concludes Jacobson. “It’s about two very broken characters who come from different sides of the spectrum of pain. Nate can’t feel pain and feels disconnected from humanity because of it. Sherry uses pain as a way to feel connected to life and to remind herself that she’s alive. When these two characters meet, they have instant chemistry, but then they’re torn apart until they ultimately sacrifice for one another. That’s what this story is about at the end. Nate’s not just saving Sherry. Sherry is saving Nate.”
DAN BERK & ROBERT OLSEN
After meeting as roommates during their freshman year at NYU, Dan Berk and Robert Olsen quickly bonded over their mutual love for genre films. They began honing their craft in commercial work, music videos, and comedy sketches, developing a distinct visual style and a knack for blending suspense with dark humor.
Their feature filmmaking journey began with BODY (2015), a minimalist psychological thriller that gained attention on the festival circuit before securing a limited theatrical release through Oscilloscope. This was followed by The Stakelander (2017), a sequel to Jim Mickle’s cult vampire film Stake Land, which further solidified their ability to work within established genre frameworks while injecting their own voice.
In 2018, they wrote and directed VILLAINS, a darkly comedic thriller starring Bill Skarsgård, Maika Monroe, Jeffrey Donovan, and Kyra Sedgwick. The film premiered at the 2019 South by Southwest Film Festival to strong reviews and was later released theatrically by Gunpowder & Sky, earning praise for its sharp writing and unpredictable twists.
Continuing their momentum, Berk and Olsen directed Significant Other (2022), a sci-fi thriller starring Maika Monroe and Jake Lacy. Released by Paramount+ to critical acclaim, the film showcased their ability to blend intimate character drama with high-concept storytelling.
Most recently, they directed the action-comedy Novocaine starring Jack Quaid and Amber Midthunder, set for a Spring 2025 theatrical release by Paramount Pictures.
Throughout their careers, Berk and Olsen have demonstrated a keen ability to subvert genre conventions while maintaining a deep appreciation for classic horror, thriller, and sci-fi storytelling. Their films are marked by tension, sharp dialogue, and an ever-present sense of unpredictability, positioning them as two of the most exciting voices in modern genre filmmaking.
LARS JACOBSEN
Lars Jacobson is the Writer and an Executive Producer of the upcoming Paramount movie NOVOCAINE, as well as the Executive Producer of the current Peacock series FIGHT NIGHT, starring Kevin Hart and produced by Will Packer. Lars has also written and produced several podcasts under and overall at iHeart Media, including WHEEL WOMAN and FODOR’s GUIDE TO ESPIONAGE, and recently had his first graphic novel THE HORROR published by Dark Horse Entertainment.
