Derek Kage & Paul Wagner Thrust Their Careers Into ‘Overdrive’

LOS ANGELES—If Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive and Mary Harron’s American Psycho were blended into a movie mashup, it might look something like Raging Stallion’s Overdrive—a twisting erotic thriller that slowly edges the audience with a dark blend of tension and arousal, a sensory-heightened experience enhanced by dark yet bold colors and sounds. The project from co-directors Ben Rush (who also wrote) and Steve Cruz follows an unhinged rideshare driver as he aims to get even with a customer who got him fired. Yet this vehicle is about far more, giving life to the fears gay men face every day—whether through anonymous hookups or anonymous car rides. It dares to play the horror elements (ahem) straight, eschewing any comedic relief and instead going for the jugular (literally). Overdrive successfully straddles a tricky line that keeps viewers terrified yet turned on at the same time, establishing a tone of unease from the opening frames—one that grows increasingly uncomfortable with each passing minute. That is due in large part to the two main protagonists, who embody good and evil: In a career-defining performance, Derek Kage is almost too convincingly scary as the driver; while industry veteran Paul Wagner, returning to the studio for the first time in over a decade, gives the viewer someone to empathize with. It should come as no surprise then that yes, Rush had Kage in mind for the role from the very beginning. “I’ve been friends with Ben Rush pretty much since I started my studio porn career. We met through Isaac X, and me and Ben immediately struck up a friendship. We both have similar outlooks on the porn industry and how we want our careers to go. Whenever I find myself in front of a camera—in whatever capacity—I want to give the best possible performance. And Ben wants to create the best possible films that come up in his mind—and he can write a script like nobody’s business,” Kage says. “We were talking and I said, ‘You’ve had me do roles surrounding my voice and in specific scenes, but what about a full-fledged movie where I’m the main guy? I will commit to it, and I will act my ass off, whatever you decide to put me in.’ We talked for well over a year about a role specifically made for me—and about four months ago, he was like, ‘Alright, I’ve got the idea…’” Enter Overdrive, which fits perfectly as a lead-in to October viewing. The project also features Falcon | NakedSword exclusive Beau Butler along with Lawson James, Timothy Chance, Brogan, Danny Starr and Sean Xavier. “It was the perfect timing for fall season—he wanted like a horror/slasher-type thriller, and we also agreed that I’ve never really played a psychotic role before. So Ben definitely wanted to push a narrative of me being unhinged, just completely off my rocker,” laughs Kage. “I’m a big movie buff, so when Ben and I were discussing inspirations for the film, we both immediately landed on Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. And Steve Cruz as well really directed me to not really show emotion: ‘You are pissed off, you are unhinged, and you’re about to kill somebody.’ So that was kind of the inspiration—but not so over the top. Another inspiration we had was the movie Jagged Edge with Glenn Close and Jeff Bridges.” Kage has two sex scenes in the film, including an anonymous encounter with Starr—but has a presence throughout the feature. “Especially with this movie, we didn’t want to incorporate anything fetishy—we didn’t want to have any ropes or gags or anything like that, we just wanted to make the sex very intense," Kage says. "So when I filmed that scene with Danny, I just wanted to keep within my character—I knew I was going to be the bottom, but how about I be the bossy power bottom? Because my mindset throughout the whole film was, ‘I’m going to be the one that’s in control, I’m going to be the one that’s calling the shots.’ So we didn’t run into any difficulties incorporating darkness into the film.” Also intense is the opener, which pairs Kage with Wagner—a duo that excited them as much as it does the fans. “We were there pretty much the entire time together. As soon as I met him—it was just before filming started—there was instant chemistry, and it was kind of like that whirlwind intense chemistry where we could not keep our hands off each other. Even before our scene, we were like going down on each other in the green room, we were kissing, we were playing around with each other. And then to have to turn that off and go into psychopathic killer mode where my wrath is guided at Paul, that was a difficult thing to do,” Kage laughs. “We knew of each other beforehand—we had talked and shown interest in each other, but we had never been able to make it happen. So when we found out we were going to be in Overdrive together, we were both so excited. He was a consummate professional—and personal wise, he is one of the most relaxed, chill guys you’ll ever meet. And when I found out it was going to be a flip, I got even more excited—to be able to experience all of him was amazing. ‘Wow’ is really the best word…I’m getting flustered thinking about it.” For Wagner, it was his first appearance at the studio since the Cowboys project in 2011 and 2012 (he also appeared at sister company Falcon in 2014). “I filmed for them a long, long time ago, and more recently I was on a trip with Beau Butler—we were doing a collab trip in Brazil. We were talking, and he mentioned that Ben wanted to work together. Some time had passed by and I had reached out to (director) Tony Dimarco. I asked if they had anything coming up that maybe I could do, and Ben soon reached out. It just seemed like a fun project, and I wanted to see what it was like back at that studio. I felt like they valued me in this project.” And even with more than 15 years of experience in the industry, Wagner said this was something new for him. “I’ve never really done a ton of ‘big movies’ that require a ton of acting—anything at Men.com is definitely more on the comical side, a bit over-the-top dramatics stuff," Wagner explains. "I had filmed for MenAtPlay back in the day, and they had a lot of scripted work. Since a lot of their performers don’t speak much English, I’d end up having to take a lot of the lines—so I had that experience. Once we all got together for this project, we talked about how the scenes were going to go and what the mood was, and we ran through it a couple times to make sure we got the best shot. I really enjoy the creative aspect to it—I like it when it’s sort of serious and real versus the comedic aspects.” The only touch of comedy came in the form of Wagner’s t-shirt in the opening scene, emblazoned with the phrase “Expensive & Difficult” (a retail version now available for sale by the studio)—a creation of Rush’s making. “That was fun," Wagner continues. "Ben is great. This was my first time working with him—he’s super easy to work with, great personality. He just made the whole experience really good. We connected off camera too and talked, shot the shit. And Steve (Cruz) I’ve known forever—I hadn’t seen him in a long, long time, but it was nice seeing everybody back around. The project feels like it has some importance to it, because of all the work that went into it with the storyline and all aspects of production. I don’t do tons of stuff like this, so I enjoy the fact that it’s something now under my belt.” And working with Kage—including their passionate flip against and in a car—was the highlight. “It was on the side and then inside the trunk. On the side was a lot easier than in the trunk—to be honest, that trunk was tight quarters, and you’ve got two big guys in there,” laughs Wagner. “I love Derek. I had been trying to do something with him for OnlyFans for a while, and I just think he’s super sexy. And he’s even more sexy in real life—he’s got that crazy deep voice, and his eyes…I have a major thing for guys with blue eyes. He was such a sweetheart. It’s nice to work with people that are also into doing the actual project and not just there for a paycheck, who just want to get through it. Everybody that was working on it really cared about making sure it looked good at the end. Derek’s great.” Wagner also appears in the finale with Xavier and Kage, which involved some challenging choreography. “That was a bit more involved because we had a bunch of fighting going on,” Wagner adds with a laugh. “Sean’s great too, he’s such a sweetheart—great personality, he really gets into it. There was one part that was a little hard to keep serious with him because he was acting out this thing that kind of made me laugh, when Derek stormed through the window. When the cameras weren’t rolling, we all just had a good time; then once everything starts going, we get into work mode. The sex part was easy—it’s hard to not be super into having sex with Derek and Sean.” Both Kage and Wagner hope the project leads to more work with Rush and the Falcon | NakedSword family of studios. “My favorite memory is when we wrapped it all up. We had all watched every part of the movie, we had been through every single scene, and at the very end we all had a moment where we were like, ‘This is going to be fucking amazing.’ And that kind of elation with all of us in the room, it was definitely a high point,” Kage says. “I’m still kind of in disbelief. It hasn’t quite hit me yet that this entire movie and everything we’re putting out on it all surrounds me. It’s very flattering. But at the same time, this is what we wanted—we were going to make this into a big deal. So when I started seeing stuff come out about this, like with my face literally on the main advertisement, I’m like, ‘Oh, this is really fucking cool!’ The word I use is giddy—I just get kind of giddy. I’m like, ‘Oh shit, it’s finally happening!’”