How Filming in El Paso Gave ‘One Battle After Another’ a Timely Authenticity | How I Did It Presented by Warner Bros. Pictures

“One Battle After Another” contains multiple sequences that make audience members wonder, “How did they even do that?” One of the biggest is a lengthy set piece, placed halfway through the film, in which Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Sergio (Benicio del Toro) traverse the fictional downtown Baktan Cross as Col. Lockjaw (Sean Penn) closes in, with protests raging in the background.

“It’s f–kin’ World War III out there, yo!” one skateboarder shouts.

Gilberto Martinez Jr. plays the skateboarder, named BeeGee, in the lengthy sequence shot in El Paso. Martinez is one of many El Paso natives to appear in the film, bringing life and urgency to Paul Thomas Anderson’s story of rebellion and parenthood.

“Send me to a small town, and I will pretty much know everybody by day two,” Oscar-nominated casting director Cassandra Kulukundis told TheWrap in a new installment of How I Did It, presented by Warner Bros. Pictures.

El Paso became an integral aspect of “One Battle After Another,” far from a simple setting for some of the story’s action. Producer Sara Murphy, along with Kulukundis, cinematographer Michael Bauman and editor Andy Jurgensen — all of whom are nominated for Academy Awards for their work on the film — spoke about the importance of working with real-life residents to craft the unforgettable sequences in the middle of the film, in a real-life border town.

“It was just the generosity of the community, really welcoming us and wanting us there, that motivated us,” Murphy told TheWrap. “It was lovely. It was a sort of family affair, and we incorporated the entirety of their community into the film, and it, I feel like, felt the authenticity of that community because of that sort of ingratiation.”

Filming in El Paso helped the “One Battle After Another” crew pull one of the story’s biggest sequences together. As they began interacting with locals and fleshing out Sergio’s apartment, Murphy said that this stretch of the film started clicking into place, giving them a better understanding of what del Toro’s character’s story would be.

“I think when Benicio got there and sort of started to absorb the El Paso community around him, because of Paul’s process with his actors, I think it started to develop,” she said. “The storyline started to develop.”

And the production’s ability to move throughout certain areas of the city added a degree of tension to the finished film, without having to splice together footage from different locations.

“There was like a sandbox where we had downtown El Paso that was controlled,” Jurgensen explained. “The cameras could be attached to the cars and Benicio and Leo could be driving around and we could get out of the car with them and go into the perfume shop and go up those stairs and into the apartment, and it created such good energy and momentum. When you have footage with such good momentum, it’s just so much easier to keep the tension high.”

Kulukundis said that the massive Hollywood production brought excitement to El Paso, with people (even children) waiting outside all the way into 4 a.m. just to catch a glimpse of DiCaprio and del Toro driving by. El Paso brought greater depth to “One Battle” in turn.

“It was really the origin of the community’s embracing us that really allowed for the story to then incorporate them in kind,” Murphy said.

Watch the full How I Did It to learn more about how Bauman, Jurgensen, Kulukundis and Murphy built the El Paso sequence in “One Battle After Another.”

“One Battle After Another” is now streaming on HBO Max.

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