Wes Studi On Mending The Line, Fly Fishing, And Working With Brian Cox

Aug 19, 2023

Wes Studi reveals what he learned about fly fishing on the set of Mending The Line, and that he almost worked with costar Brian Cox on a a prior film.

Mending The Line follows an injured Marine, John Colter, who is reluctantly roped into learning to fly-fish alongside an older fisherman named Ike. His only goal is to get cleared for active duty again, and he is willing to do whatever it takes to get that okay. The more he spends time with Ike, the more he learns about finding something to live for.

When Ike (Brian Cox) is told he can no longer enjoy his favorite pastime alone, he enlists his friend Harrison (Wes Studi) to come fly-fishing with him. Wes and Brian have some great scenes together, as viewers learn what a hobby can do for the human spirit. This inspirational film is in theaters now.

Related: Brian Cox Teaches Sinqua Walls To Fish In Mending The Line

Screen Rant caught up with Wes Studi to talk about Mending The Line. He revealed all the things he learned about fly fishing while filming, and also shared that he almost worked with Brian Cox on one of his previous projects, The Last of the Mohicans. Studi even detailed what he hopes viewers take away from the story.

Screen Rant: When talking with Mending The Line director Joshua Caldwell, he mentioned that a review of Pixar's Soul said more movies need Wes Studi in them. Then he came to you for the role of Harrison in this film. How does that make you feel?

Wes Studi: It's exciting. It's nice. Anytime somebody says something about you, it's very nice.

Screen Rant: What was it about this film that made you want to be a part of it?

Wes Studi: I got to learn how to operate a fly rod. How to fly fish. Although, I've never caught a fish, so I can't say that I know how to fly fish. But I can operate a fly rod as opposed to a pull. That and then the opportunity to work with this great cast and director. It's a meaningful story. Something that I personally relate to. I think it's a story that needs to be told, and hopefully a lot of people see it.

Screen Rant: The story is so interesting. It's this Marine who just wants to go back to active duty, no matter what, even though he has been injured.

Wes Studi: I agree. There's a line in a film that I worked on once that said something to the idea that war might be held, but peace isn't such a great thing either, you know? The adjustment between the two for any individual is extremely rocky. I think this is something that our story deals with. Not a lot of people recognize the fact that there's a reason for the behaviors and thought processes of someone who has been in a conflict area. I think the public can open their eyes to over the years.

Screen Rant: How would you describe your character, Harrison?

Wes Studi: Oh, he's just a cranky old guy. He's been hanging out with another cranky old guy, and they enjoyed being cranky together. I think they probably always wanted to get old and cranky.

Screen Rant: Had you ever gone fly-fishing before filming Mending the Line?

Wes Studi: I had never fly fished. I was a pole fisherman before that. This is another breed of fishing.

Screen Rant: Have you revisited it since filming?

Wes Studi: I could have because they were generous enough to give me the fly rod that I used in the picture. That was very nice because it's an expensive sport, or activity. In answer to your question, no, but there is still that possibility.

Screen Rant: Did you have a fly-fishing lesson on set?

Wes Studi: We had an actual instructor teach us how to use a fly rod, essentially. With Brian's character, he showed him how to actually tie the flies because of his scene where they do that and talk about the flies. But, yeah, we learned how to do it. Our instructor is extremely passionate about it. He's made it his life in terms of instructing people how to do it. He's out on the river as much as he possibly can be.

One takeaway I took from his instructions was that men aren't as good as women. If you've seen the film, if you watch the film, check how well Perry's character is out there and the reach that she gets with her casts. He said that women are just more adept learning to relax, or something like that, about the whole process that makes women better at it than us.

Screen Rant: Can you talk about working with Brian Cox?

Wes Studi: I think he's absolutely an amazing actor from his storied career. I came to understand that we almost worked together in The Last of the Mohicans, but he had other commitments. He could have played the Grey Hair. It was great to get to know him on a personal level and then as a scene partner. He was great to work with. He would keep you on your toes, you know? You have to listen and know what's happening there and stay in the moment. Any actor can appreciate that.

Screen Rant: The scenery in this film is gorgeous. What was it like filming there?

Wes Studi: It's beautiful. It looks almost like it's tended. But that's wild country. Mountainous grasslands that just stretch on forever. There's something about that environment, that geography, that is breathtaking in its hugeness and its bigness. It's hard to put into words. It's at the North end of Yellowstone National Park. The huge rivers and the huge mountains, and the plains from afar. They actually, to me, look like the tended pastures of Ireland. It's amazing. Some of those wide, beautiful beauty shots that they included in the film definitely speak to the bigness of the country.

Screen Rant: Mending the Line has a lot of great messages sprinkled throughout it, but what do you hope audiences take away after watching?

Wes Studi: Throughout, yes, it does. I think the good takeaway, as far as I'm concerned, is that there are people in the world who are trying to address the trauma caused by warfare and trying to work with soldiers because they know what the situation is upon return from a war zone like Afghanistan or Iraq and Vietnam. It's needed for people who have lost limbs, lost eyesight, lost minds. It's a difficult situation and there are people out there who have come together in order to see what they can do to help people who are returning veterans that need that kind of help. And returning veterans hopefully see that this could be a way to deal with getting their life back on track as a productive person, or at least a happy person.

John Cotler (Sinqua Walls), a wounded veteran, returns to the States still carrying the demons of war, hauntingly disturbed by the everyday expectations of friendships and love interests. In Livingston, Montana, he meets Ike (Brian Cox), a surly, headstrong fly-fisherman more than twice his age, and Lucy (Perry Mattfeld), a talented photographer turned librarian who reads aloud to veterans, both damaged in their own way. While getting treatment for his wounds, both physical and psychological, Colter wants only to re-enlist, to have something to die for. But the real challenge is finding something to live for.

Check out our other Mending The Line Interview here:

Mending The Line premieres in theaters on June 9, 2023.