Kurt Russell on Working With Son Wyatt, Playing Same Role in ‘Monarch’ Series

Kurt Russell and his son, Wyatt Russell, spoke with Variety about (sort of) acting together for the first time—and playing the same character—on Apple TV+’s Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, a spin-off of the theatrical Godzilla vs. Kong franchise.

The bifurcated narrative follows U.S. Army colonel Shaw throughout two timelines. In the 1950s, Shaw (played by Wyatt) is tasked with escorting a young Monarch employee as she conducts research. In 2014, after the events of that year’s Godzilla movie, Shaw (played by Kurt) must deal with the fallout of his work decades earlier.

Monarch marked the first time Kurt and Wyatt Russell have acted in the same project, though due to the nature of the role they don’t share any scenes together. Still, playing the same character required the two of them to commiserate about Shaw’s every last quirk and detail.

When it came time to shoot, Kurt would often show up to set to watch Wyatt film his scenes. It was a keen way to gauge the progression of the performance, but Kurt found himself surprised with his son’s interpretation.

“What was really funny was I would watch the scene, and it was 95 percent what I would expect and five percent what I would have never thought of,” Kurt recalled. “But what was more fun for me was to watch him after and in between takes. That was fascinating because we are almost identical in the way we work. I couldn’t believe that.”

Kurt continued: “I’d watch his concentration turn on and turn off, and watch him be inside himself thinking after something, and then watch what he did next. I would assume what he was thinking and then watch what he would do with it. In that regard, that was pretty spooky. It was like looking in a mirror.”

Wyatt contended that skill was “osmotically learned,” Wyatt adds. “I saw that on sets growing up. It’s not necessarily genetics. You just have a good teacher in my dad.”

While readily admitting all he learned from his father, Wyatt revealed a reluctance to watch his old man at work. “I’ll be honest—for me, I needed a break,” Wyatt said of his days off. “You want to talk about method acting. That’s my process. Sometimes, you just need a fucking break.”

Monarch has been a substantial success with both critics and audiences, with a second season on the way. Wyatt is hoping, for the next go-around, he’ll get to do some acting alongside his father. “I didn’t really get to work with my dad,” he said of the first season. “I would still like to do that. This wets the whistle. It would be so much fun to be in a scene together.”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is streaming on Apple TV+.