| Emil Stenz | |
|---|---|
| |
| Stenz threatening Emily | |
| Name: | Emil Stenz |
| Status: | Deceased |
| Age: | 46 |
| Date of birth: | 1968 |
| Date of death: | October 4th, 2014 |
| Cause of death: | Killed when grenade belt wrapped around his neck by John Cale detonated |
| Nationality: |  American
|
| Alias(es): | Stenz |
| Affiliation: | United States Armed Forces: 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta United States Intelligence Community: Central Intelligence Agency |
| Profession: | Leader of the mercenary group Delta Force: Soldier (formerly) Terrorist Mercenary CIA: Field Operative (formerly) |
| Played by: | Jason Clarke |
| Appears in: | 1 film |
- "When they come for us, you're gonna die first. Understand me?"
- ―Emil Stenz to the eleven year-old Emily Cale.
Emil Stenz was the tertiary antagonist of the 2013 thriller film White House Down. He was the crazed, revenge-driven leader of the mercenary group who took over the White House. Stenz held a violent grudge against John Cale, whom he fought to his death and lost.
History[]
Early Life[]
Emil Stenz was born in 1968 and is a former member of the Delta Force. When Emily Cale recorded a video of Stenz and his men, General Caulfield revealed that they knew Stenz for those things, but the information was classified, prompting Eli Raphelson to declassify it. Thus, Caulfield explained that Stenz served off-the-books wetwork for the military in Pakistan as part of a CIA black-bag operation. Once James Sawyer was sworn in as President, however, the new Secretary of Defense shut down the operation and disavowed its assets. This compromised Stenz's identity, leaving him held captive by the Taliban for two years. After his release, Stenz suffered a psychotic breakdown and blamed Sawyer for his misfortunes, swearing revenge on the United States Government. This would eventually lead him to take over the White House with his group of domestic and foreign mercenaries, which included Motts, Bobby, Carl Killick, Conrad Cern, Skip Tyler, Ritter, Vadim, Chen and Mulcahy.
White House Down[]
Stenz and his people first appear in the White House as they disguised themselves as video technicians. After Cern detonates an explosive in the Capital Dome, a guard orders them to stop what they were doing, but Stenz ignores him and turns up the volume to lure the guard closer. He then kills the guard with a nail gun and silence their pistols with suppressors disguised as microphones shortly before leaving, and started shooting several other guards during the initial takeover, and even shoots a portrait of George Washington, showing the extent of the hatred he instigates towards the United States. When Walker secures Sawyer in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center, Cale; who was looking for his daughter, rushed in to protect the President so he can get to the terrorists.
After getting a broken nose from Cale, the latter seizes Motts' gun and shoots Stenz's best friend, Bobby, before running off. He was devastated and infuriated at Bobby's death and violently vows revenge, even rowing with Walker, his partner in the scheme, about it.
When they take the Secretaries hostages, Stenz shoots the Secretary of Defense (presumably as payback for the compromised black ops mission) in the head with relish and says that it was because he "wasn't doing a good job". He furiously tries to kill John Cale repeatedly, and after learning his young daughter Emily recorded them, he angrily slaps her and threatens to kill her (twice) with no reservation, and shoots commentator Roger Skinner in the knee with disdain after he tried to defend her.
He finally confronts Cale in the press room, stripping Vadim's gear off him and taunts him, declaring that Emily said he was going to put him in jail (after Stenz shot Roger Skinner).
Death[]
He was killed after a long brutal hand-to-hand combat with John Cale, when the latter wrapped a grenade belt around his neck and Cale shouted in anger towards his hateful enemy; "No jail for you, you little bitch!", before pulling the pins on the grenades. Stenz screams for mercy while desperately attempting to remove the grenade belt, but to no avail; and the grenades detonate, destroying his body in a massive explosion while Cale takes cover behind a podium.
Personality[]
Stenz was the most sadistic and unstable of all the mercenaries and he is frequently shown to be violent and bloodthirsty as he killed many innocent people and White House personnel. When the bombing of the Capitol Dome started, he and his mercenaries sent the local police and the Secret Service into a massive confusion during their brutal assault on the White House.
Stenz is also one of the people who actually knew the true agenda behind the terrorist attack in Washington, D.C.; destroying Iran with U.S. nuclear warheads rather than getting $400 million from the Federal Reserve. Stenz became very malicious towards John Cale after the latter killed one of his fellow mercenaries and a best friend, Bobby. He tried to kill Cale numerous times throughout the film and, after learning that Emily was his daughter, used her to get his revenge.
Behind the Scenes[]
- Emil Stenz was portrayed by Jason Clarke in White House Down.
- Emil Stenz killed 22 people in White House Down.
- Stenz is probably best friends with Bobby.
- Stenz knows Russian and uses it to communicate with Vadim.
- Stenz is diabetic.
- Stenz may have been named after the British "Sten" sub-machine gun.
Quotes[]
- (To Martin Walker, when he offers some cake) "No, I don't want cake. I'm diabetic."
- (Threatening Emily) "You and I have a date, sweetheart."
- "I'm gonna carve my name on your chest!"
- "Your little bitch says you're gonna put me in jail!"
- (After shooting the Secretary of Defense) "Well, he wasn't doing a very good job."
- (Character's final words while trying to get the grenade belt off him) "No! No! Get it off! Get it off! Get it off! NO!" (Grenades detonate, killing Stenz)
Gallery[]
| White House Down Characters | |
|---|---|
| Heroes | John Cale - James Sawyer - Emily Cale |
| Villains | Eli Raphelson - Martin Walker - Emil Stenz |
| Allies | Carol Finnerty - Donnie Donaldson - Caulfield |
| Henchmen | Skip Tyler - Carl Killick - Conrad Cern - Motts - Vadim - Chen - Ritter - Bobby - Mulcahy |
| Other characters | Melanie Cale - Muriel Walker - Alison Sawyer - Amber Sawyer |