Apple TV’s Monarch got Kurt and Wyatt Russell by giving them exactly what they were looking for

17.11.2023 - 20:11 / polygon.com / Wyatt Russell / Kurt Russell

Monarch: Legacy of Monstersis one of the year’s best surprises.

After years of mostly fun Monsterverse movies from Legendary Pictures that largely struggled when focusing on the human elements of Godzilla stories, Apple TV Plus’ series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters soars precisely because of its grounded approach to its characters and the strength of its cast. That all starts with the most tantalizing bit of casting in the show: Father-son duo Kurt Russell and Wyatt Russell both playing the same character, Army officer Lee Shaw.

With a story split across two very different eras (the 1950s and 2010s), it would be easy for Monarch to feel disjointed. Instead, it all feels seamlessly connected, in large part on the backs of the Russells’ performances, tying it all together through their combined portrayal of Shaw.

“It has an integrity to it, right?” director Matt Shakman told Polygon. “You’re gonna believe this is the same character. It allowed us to do it in a way that I thought was more persuasive.”

Casting the Russells was a dream come true. Director Matt Shakman and showrunners Chris Black and Matt Fraction all told Polygon they were big fans of both actors, and hoped they’d be able to pull off a casting coup by getting both in their show. They had a few things on their side: The father-son duo was looking to work together (but they weren’t interested in the father-son parts they had been offered) and saw the opportunity to both play the same role as an exciting challenge. Oh, and Kurt Russell is a huge fan of Godzilla. That helped.

The pair took the opportunity and ran with it, creating the character together from top to bottom. Both Russells were involved in “all conversations” about clothing, hair, and makeup, Shakman says, to maintain consistency for the character across eras. And when one was filming, the other was taking notes for his own performance.

“Kurt would hang out on set and watch Wyatt do scenes and be like, Oh, OK, I could do that. And then Wyatt would watch Kurt do scenes,” Shakman says. “They could create the character together, which was special, and bring what they each do well together.”

“They would run scenes together,” Fraction says. “It was really cool watching them build the character as actors as we were building the character as writers.”

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While the Russells have plenty in common, they’re very different actors. Kurt Russell made his bones in genre cinema, excelling as heroes in tough situations with rough edges (The Thing, Escape from New York). Wyatt Russell, whose star is still rising, is a former professional ice hockey player who has leaned on a more “sensitive idiot” character type (Lodge 49, 22 Jump Street) or even morally sinister roles (Under the Banner of