[INTERVIEW] Tim Blake Nelson Steps into the Ring: Vincent Grashaw’s 'BANG BANG' Swings with Soul!

Vincent Grashaw isn’t here to give you another rags-to-riches boxing story. With his latest film Bang Bang, the director leans all the way into the aftermath—the bruises, the bitterness, and the silence that follows once the cheers fade. What happens to the man after the fight is over? That’s the heart of this story. Rooted in personal history—Grashaw’s grandfather was a boxer in the 1940s—this film hits on something deeper than just muscle and mitts. It’s a character study drenched in heartache, humor, and the grit of real life.

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Originally written by Will Janowitz, the script stood out to Grashaw for its emotional weight and honesty. But don’t get it twisted—Bang Bang isn’t some heavy-handed melodrama. Grashaw calls it an “anti-boxing movie,” laced with surprising levity. “I appreciated the humor that was embedded in the character,” he says of Bernard “Bang Bang” Rozyski. “It wasn’t all pain and gloom.” That tonal balance is what makes this story resonate—it’s not about glory, it’s about what’s left after you’ve given everything.

Now here’s where it gets interesting: the original plan was to cast none other than Andrew Dice Clay as Bang Bang. That’s right—Dice was in talks, interested, and totally down for the role. But his heavy touring schedule meant production would have to wait six to eight months to shoot. For an indie project with limited financial breathing room, that just wasn’t possible. “It would’ve been a different movie,” Grashaw admits. And honestly? He’s probably right.

When Clay had to step out, Grashaw pivoted to someone he’d admired for years—Tim Blake Nelson. While Nelson wasn’t the first offer, he’d been on Grashaw’s radar since a prior horror script. That one didn’t work out, but this time? It stuck. Nelson, who reads his offers personally, connected with the letter Grashaw sent and saw the challenge in Rozyski. “He wasn’t written for a guy like Tim,” Grashaw explains. “But that’s what made it exciting.” Nelson’s smaller stature brought an unexpected vulnerability to the character, and once he committed, he went all in.

Six weeks of training, physical transformation, voice coaching—Nelson didn’t just play Bang Bang, he became him. That quiet, crabby energy? That lived-in Detroit grit? That’s all Nelson disappearing into the role. “He gets lost in the character,” Grashaw says. And the Detroit setting, while technically shot in Covington, Kentucky, felt right. The Polish-American boxing culture, the raw aesthetic—it all ties back to Grashaw’s own roots in Michigan and the spirit of the script. "Covington just had that gritty, lived-in vibe that worked," he says.

Alongside Nelson, the film also stars Andrew Liner and Glenn Plamer, who trained up to match the physical demands of the story. The result is a film not just about boxing, but about legacy, regret, and generational trauma. It’s a raw, soulful story that shows the measure of a man after the spotlight fades. Bang Bang lands in select theaters and digital platforms on September 12th—don’t sleep on this one.