Ryanverse fans might know James Greer fondly who has been an ally to Jack Ryan and John Clark over the course of many of Tom Clancy’s novels. However, the upcoming movie, Without Remorse is all set to change up and modernize certain aspects from the books. In a much-welcomed change, the movie is set to feature Lt. Commander Karen Greer, the niece of James Greer instead of himself.
Alana Mayo the executive director shared, “Focusing on Karen Greer was a great idea that I wish I could take credit for, but it was actually Taylor Sheridan’s suggestion. Making our Greer a female Navy SEAL commander allowed for some bold casting choices.”
Alana and her team were more than happy when they learned about the fact that a certain actor was willing to challenge themselves, try something new and was up for learning and adapting to the role and undergo rigorous training to get into the character. She continued “Luckily we found Jodie Turner-Smith, who is, quite simply, spectacular in the movie.”
Turner-Smith who plays the role of Lt. Commander Karen Greer was picked up for the role even before her debut in Queen and Slim in 2019. Even the director of the movie made his feelings clear about the casting call when he said, “Not the predictable choice. Jodie had an extensive background as a model and had worked in television, but she didn’t have a lot of feature experience when she was cast in the role.”
He continued, “What I liked, though, was that she really wanted to try something different, and that was absolutely perfect because her character in this movie is very unusual. Although our goal was always to make an ultra-realistic movie, a female SEAL doesn’t actually exist yet. But since there will probably be one soon, we decided to create one ourselves.”
Producer Goldsman believes that inventing a female Navy SEAL is the kind of thing that Clancy’s devoted readership will appreciate. It will also be exciting for the females who watch the movie who will welcome the call for role reversal with open arms. It will truly be inspiring for all the young women to see a female play a role of such high significance.
Co-star Bell thinks Turner-Smith’s portrayal of the world’s first female Navy SEAL is one of the most exciting elements of Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse. “Jodie really modernizes the film,” he says.
“She’s in nearly every action scene, and she’s fighting right alongside us, doing all the same stuff we’re doing. She went through exactly the same training we did, and in terms of representing the women who proudly serve in the military, she’s done a phenomenal job.”
Lastly, Turner Greer expresses her excitement about her role and hopes that it does end up inspiring women to go after their goals and to have that never say never attitude. She hopes that gender bias does not stop women from pursuing their dreams. She says, “I think it’s great that filmmakers today want to change the stories we’ve seen in the past and make them reflect our time now,” she says. “It’s all about giving people the opportunity to see themselves on screen, so I’d like for some little girls out there to watch this film one day and be like, oh yeah, I could do that too!”
Directed by Stefano Sollima, Without Remorse features Michael B. Jordan, Jamie Bell, Jodie Turner-Smith, Lauren London, Brett Gelman among others, and is all set to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video starting April 30.
