At a time when no one can get enough of whodunits, director Tom George delivers the new comedy mystery See How They Run. Set in London’s West End back in the '50s, the film tells the story of Inspector Stoppard (Oscar winner Sam Rockwell) and his rookie partner, Constable Stalker (four-time Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan), who must work together to solve the murder of an American director (Oscar winner Adrien Brody) while trying to turn a successful play into a movie.Now, Ronan and Rockwell may have never worked together before, but their chemistry is just as amusing as their banter. Behind the scenes, it seems the two co-stars have become as close as can be too.

Once Saoirse Ronan Was Onboard, She Started A ‘Domino Effect’ That Saw Sam Rockwell Join The Cast

Sure, the resurgence of whodunits is due, in a large part, to Rian Johnson’s highly successful film Knives Out. Since then, studios have been keen to greenlight other whodunits, including George’s. That said, casting can still be a little tricky. Fortunately for the director, Ronan signed on and everyone pretty much followed, including Rockwell.

“Saoirse was the first person that we thought of for Constable Stalker. It was one of those situations where you have a list of one, and so we took it out to Saoirse. And she loved the script. We had one conversation, much like this, and then she came on board,” George recalled.

“So it was definitely a domino effect. Quite soon afterwards, we had David Oyelowo and Sam Rockwell on board, and that’s when we felt we were really on to something. It helped communicate what we were hoping to do with the film.”

At the same time, Rockwell also shared that the project was easy yes for him because of the studio involved and George.

“It came through Fox/Searchlight, and I have a long relationship with them, and then I saw some of Tom George’s show, This Country, and talked to him, and it just seemed like, with the cast, and the script, a no-brainer,” he explained during an interview with The Playlist.

Saoirse Ronan And Sam Rockwell Became ‘A Weird Set Of Twins’ On Set

After working together a lot on the film, Ronan said that she and Rockwell “became very close.”

“We did everything together. We had scenes where we would have to finish each other's sentences,” the actress explained. “We became almost like a weird set of twins, I love him.”

Meanwhile, Rockwell also had nothing but praise for his co-star. “Saoirse is a great actress, and she has a great deal of screen presence,” the actor said. “And she's also a really wonderful person to be around really funny and charming.”

As for the film itself, bringing Ronan and Rockwell together onscreen as an unlikely duo also paved the way for some of the film’s most amusing moments, such as the scene where Stalker interrupts Stoppard. As it turns out, this was something that was only added later on.

“In actually quite late drafts, maybe even as we first got to set, Sam basically got to say his piece. And that just felt wrong, because in lots of ways there’s at least a thread in this film, I hope, about undermining those male know-it-alls that you get in these sort of mystery stories, whether it be the chief of police or the experienced inspector,” George explained.

“What we come to see through the film is that Saoirse’s character is the most competent person involved in this investigation. So it felt wrong to then give some sort of authorial voice back to Sam’s character.”

And as for their incredible onscreen chemistry, that was the result of taking the to work on scenes together before filming them.

“We had this 10-day rehearsal period, which is really useful to mine a lot of stuff with that,” Rockwell explained. “That builds a lot of trust.”

See How They Run Sequel Is Unlikely

Meanwhile, following See How They Run, Ronan will appear next in three upcoming films, including Steve McQueen’s World War II film for Apple TV+ Blitz.

As for Rockwell, he also has several films in the works including the spy action Argylle where he is joined by Henry Cavill, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ariana DeBose, Samuel L. Jackson, Dua Lipa, Bryan Cranston, and John Cena.

As for a sequel to See How They Run, that seems to be unlikely (even following the release of Johnsons’ Knives Out 2). “If we’ve done a good job, then you should get to the end of the film and feel like I want to go on more adventures with Sam Rockwell on Saoirse Ronan,” George told Far Out magazine.

“Whether those happen or not, I think often it’s best to leave things where they are and get out on a high.”

That said, the director did admit that he’s open to reteaming with the stars again for another project.

“We always liked shows that got out when they were still good, and they left you wanting more,” Goerge continued. “But in terms of working together as a group again, that’s certainly something that we’d love to do in the future.”