SPOILER ALERT: The following story and Q&A contain descriptions of several scenes and plot lines in “Carry-On.”
In Netflix’s new action thriller Carry-On, Academy Award nominee Taron Egerton stars as Ethan, a down-on-his-luck TSA agent who is blackmailed by a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) into shooting down a flight from Los Angeles. To JFK Airport by letting a suitcase full of chemicals. Weapon bombs to bypass security.
While Ethan tries to save the day, Bateman threatens to kill his pregnant girlfriend, Nora (Sofia Carson), who also works at the airport.
Directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, the film’s cast also includes Daniel Deadwyler, Dean Norris, Theo Rossi, Tonatiu, Logan Marshall-Green, and Cinqua Walls.
I spoke with Egerton for a spoiler-filled conversation about why “Carry-On” should be a Christmas movie, if he’s up for a sequel and Bateman’s sinister death scene.
I love this movie, Tarun.
I heard you liked it. I was told you loved it, and it was music to my ears.
I think I got invited to the premiere and I said, “Let me watch it.” I walked in not knowing anything about it. I had no idea what it was, and I said, “I’m obsessed with it.” It’s absolutely ridiculous in the best way.
This is great. It’s bombastic, it’s larger than life, and we hope it will be a great Christmas event where people will sit down and enjoy a couple of hours of total escapism.
Let’s talk about that. Is this a Christmas movie?
Mark, I can’t believe you’re including me in this discussion. Of course, it’s a Christmas movie. Can you not see Christmas trees at the airport?
I did.
Haven’t you heard the Christmas recording of the movie?
Should people watch this movie before they board their holiday flight home?
Now, that’s an interesting question. Should people watch the movie before they travel for Christmas? Yes. I feel like I might be contractually obligated to say yes, because it’s coming out on December 13th. It’s a movie, and I think, for that reason, it definitely shouldn’t be something that makes people feel existential dread at Christmas. Instead, it’s just a way to cathartically imagine how bad things could get in a worst-case scenario, but it’s important to remember that it’s just a movie and I think you’re very safe to travel at Christmas.
How was the film shown to you?
I can’t remember what the tagline was, but I know I read it in one sitting and thought: “This is the movie I want to see.” For me, personally, in my creative life, I’ve been lucky to do a real mix of different things, but finding projects that think are stylized and larger than life but are also clever (is rare). I felt like it was a rare opportunity for me as an actor to be involved in something that could reach a really wide audience. I think this movie has that scope, so aside from the fact that I thought it was a very interesting story, I thought it was a really cool opportunity for me as well.
It’s the ultimate movie of what you’re going to do.
that it. I think it’s clearly inspired by “Die Hard,” a movie made in homage and spirit of that movie. I hope in the same way that “Twisters” felt like an affectionate throwback in many ways, “Carry-On” will find the same place in viewers’ hearts.
When Jason Bateman’s character is talking to you on the phone, was there someone reading those lines to you? How did that work?
For the first two days, it was Jason. It was great. He read some of the early scenes with me, I think the first set of scenes, and after that, he was the working earwig. We had an actor stand in for him and read those lines, and he was great. Obviously it was very strange and unlike anything I’d done before, but it was a real challenge. The challenge was making it look interesting and grounded, but I loved it. This film is unlike anything else I’ve ever done, and it’s exactly what I want from my creative life.
I love the fact that the first time you saved the day, I think you had two seconds left on the bomb.
Just in time. Isn’t it, Mark?
literally. It starts at three minutes and then you use that bloody pen to stop the timer.
The pen has already been used for nefarious purposes.
Yes, someone stabbed your boss, Dean Norris, in the neck.
It’s wild.
I think you have to be careful not to look like a goofy like, “I have two seconds to go.”
The thing about me is that I like a little goof. I love chaos. I don’t think people look glamorous or sexy in stressful situations. I’m not the guy you call someone who looks cool, put together, and super sexy all the time. There are a number of actors who are very good at this. I think I’m the guy you can call if you want to feel like a guy you think is real. I’m more of a regular guy, so I think when I read the script, I said, “Yes, I’m the guy to do this.” I hope to be someone you relate to like a normal person. For that reason, it felt like a great role for me. But to answer your question, I would never try to avoid sounding like an idiot. I think the reality and resolve is that he looks terrified and terrified and absolutely ridiculous, because I think that’s what you would look like in that situation.
At some point, there’s clearly a red light from a gun on Nora’s head. Did you see the light while filming? If I did, how terrible would that have been?
We used a real laser pen. It’s really terrible but it’s amazing in terms of playing up the stakes and drama of the scene because it’s so immediately disturbing. But a lot of what we did in the film was done in camera. Planes taking off in the background, shots and stuff, because we shot in a real airport, which is very rare and it’s fun to do stuff like that practically.
Your character’s name is Ethan. Is this a tribute to the movie “Mission: Impossible”?
You’d have to ask the writer, but the same thing happened to me, and people asked me about my running, which was very interesting. But I don’t know. I think it’s probably a coincidence, but it could be. I have a feeling Tom Cruise wouldn’t shudder at me playing another Ethan in an action movie, but I’m glad you drew that parallel.
Let’s talk about the time you killed off Jason Bateman’s character. (Ethan locks the Batman figure in the refrigerator in the plane’s cargo hold with a bomb.)
I shoved it in the fridge. It’s a very legitimate way to get a bad guy out in a movie.
Airtight refrigerator. It should be really airtight.
It’s an industrial-strength sealed refrigerator, Mark. Didn’t you hear the seal when it closed?
Well, I saw you were carrying it.
Well, he’s a very strong character. He is able to create a stronger hermetic seal that saves everyone in the vicinity.
What was it like to see Jason die like that?
This was some extreme makeup. He came up with it and I said, “Cool, we’ll do it.” But yeah, it was great. It was fun. At that point in the movie, it was very loud and very campy and larger than life, but it was fun. It’s fun not to take yourself too seriously.
And you have to fight with Tonatiuh On the conveyor belt. How much fun was that?
Aside from the fact that it was absolutely filthy and I thought it was a prehistoric luggage belt from a decommissioned wing at Louis Armstrong Airport in New Orleans, it was great. I’ve done action before, but it was nice to do action that was chaotic and pedestrian, and not larger than life in the sense that I’m not playing a spy or anything. He’s just a regular guy stumbling through luggage trying to save his girlfriend.
Are you hurt at all?
No no. The thing about me, Mark, is that I’m pretty strong, honestly.
When I think of Tarun, I say ‘tough guy’.
This is exactly it. Everyone does. It’s Jason Statham, it’s Dwayne Johnson, it’s Taron Egerton. This is a trio.
What about a sequel?
I mean, to be honest, until this morning, I hadn’t really thought about it, because the movie is so overwhelming in one place, but I guess that never stopped “Die Hard.” I think it’s turned out great, and I’m open to anything and everything. I’m still the guy who thinks every job is his last. You say sequel and my tail wags, so I’m fine.
Ethan is on a boat, and Ethan is on a train.
You could take Ethan on a boat, or you could take Ethan on a train. You could have Ethan underwater in a submarine.
What is your worst flying experience?
When I was a child, I was separated from my mother on an airplane. I remember they made us sit on opposite sides of the plane. I was very young and it was really stressful and traumatic. I remember that now, even after 28 years or whatever.
Did you cry? Were you an advocate? Were you screaming?
Yes. I mean I’m crying. I almost cried twice in this interview, Mark. I was definitely a crier in 1996.
You can listen to the entire interview with Egerton on “Just for Variety” above or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.
