Meet Bull. He seems friendly and loyal enough. And he loves his son. He’s also a ferocious mob enforcer who seeks revenge on the gang that double-crossed him ten years ago. He hasn’t been seen in a decade, so when he comes back without warning, ready to burn bridges and take out his enemies, he leaves a lot of people worried.

From BAFTA-winning writer-director Paul Andrew Williams, Bull stars Neil Maskell, David Hayman, and Tamzin Outhwaite, and is the kind of thriller that pulls no punches — the type of vengeance film you could see Liam Neeson starring in with more blood and less sympathy.

What makes Bull such a compelling piece is seeing how evil the title character can be, yet the viewer still cheers for him. Bull is the anti-hero, like a Tony Soprano or Walter White, whose viciousness doesn’t seem as horrible when compared to those he’s up against.

“I always have the idea that characters are never one thing — they’re many things,” Williams shares as he explains how he creates his powerful characters. “The person who can be the kindest, loving soul can also have complete rage and be psychotic."

Williams often pulls his character ideas from people he’s seen or bumped into, or looked at and tried to imagine what their life is like.

“I looked at the idea of not wanting to judge the people you’re making a film about. For example, with Neil (Maskell), I don’t need to paint any picture, I just show the character as is. I think it’s very easy to go ‘bad is bad’ or ‘strong is strong’ but nobody is like that,” Williams says.

Whenever Williams is writing, he wants to show how his characters in one particular moment are not going to be the same in the next moment. “They’re just like us, we’ve all got bad, good, etc.”

The Williams writing process

Okay. Take everything you ever learned about writing and throw it out the window. Williams tackles projects in ways that would make screenwriting teachers cringe. Nonetheless, his method has been successful for him and he recognizes that his way isn't by far the right or only way.

“I tend to have very few ideas about what the overall script will be and what the structure will be,” he admits. “I tend to start on page one and go from there.”

That’s right. No outlines or beat sheets. He moves through the screenplay and creates ways for his characters to go bit by bit.

Regarding dialogue, he says: “If you can picture your characters then don’t try to think of the most clever thing to say next, go with what would be the natural thing to say.”

He also writes few stage directions because he thinks they can kill a script. He also prefers to describe mood as minimally as possible: he is sad, he is happy.

With his process, Williams can write five pages in ten minutes or ten pages in two months. His biggest motivation is if it’s pressing. “’You took our money, where’s my script?’ That’s always a good incentive,” he says with a laugh.

Surely, he must know how his script ends, though?

“I did for this. It wasn’t the whole ending but a rough idea. Sometimes I will, other times no. I’ll just love the beginning.”

He also never reads back what he’s written, even when he finishes it. He prefers to send it to people he trusts, warts and all, and ask them, “Is this s*** or is this okay?” because he knows that he can improve on whatever he has written.

If he gets stuck on an idea, he pops his earphones in and listens to some music or soundscapes and thinks. For Bull, Williams wanted to be honest about how the script evolved from that first draft through what is seen on-screen.

“I’d say what you saw was 95% of the first draft,” he admits. “There were a few scenes where things were added to make things clearer. The most critically successful things I’ve done had just no development.”

While that sounds impossibly amazing, Williams points out the good that development can do to turn projects into great films. But, he believes, it could also just butcher it. It’s imperative to keep development on track without taking what was originally what you wanted to do and losing your love for it.

“I’ve definitely written some absolute toilet scripts. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. It worked for this with a true first draft,” Williams says.

The best way is your own way. “Everyone has different ways and there are lots of books written about how you should do it. What works for one doesn’t always work for others. For me, it’s always about, ‘If it’s not there don’t force it. Just wait until the next day.’”

What makes a great thriller?

The thing Williams suggests makes a great thriller is what makes any movie good: the characters. You could have the most thrilling plot ever, but if the audience doesn’t care about the character or who’s involved in the story, then they’re not going to watch it.

“In terms of a thriller or any kind of movie, I think character and believability are essential. If you get that, you can follow a character you’re interested in on any journey. If you have the dullest person then he could be flying to the moon and you’re not interested in it.”

Bull is in theaters April 1, 2022, and on-demand and digital on April 5, 2022.