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Jai Courtney wanted 'Dangerous Animals' killer to be fun
1 of 7 | Jai Courtney, seen at the 2021 premiere of "The Suicide Squad" in Los Angeles, stars in "Dangerous Animals." File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
LOS ANGELES, June 3 (UPI) -- Jai Courtney says he had two goals with his character in Dangerous Animals -- to be terrifying while also retaining a sense of fun. The actor plays Tucker, a boat captain who kidnaps tourists and feeds them to sharks as he films their deaths.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Courtney, 39, said Tucker is as entertaining as he is scary.
"I wanted to create something that people could have a lot of fun with as well as hopefully be terrified by," Courtney said. "He's a very colorful character but there's a lot of elements to him that aren't about his dedication to killing."
Courtney said he focused on Tucker's talkative nature, which is one way he lures victims onto his boat.
"He feels like that guy you've run into in the pub that won't shut up," Courtney said. "He's the cab driver that knows too much about politics and wants to talk your ear off."
The audience sees Tucker's unhinged side before his victims do. When alone, Tucker dances in his cabin and barks at the dog living on a neighboring boat.
"It was always my intention to go big with him and keep him larger than life," Courtney said. "Milo the dog is kind of the one person who's really not too flash on Tucker himself. He kind of sees through the bull[expletive] and figures there might be a threat in there. When that role's reversed all of a sudden and Tucker gives it back to him, it's kind of cool."
For the dancing scene, Courtney danced to Stevie Wright's "Evie (Part One)" twice and improvised after discussion with director Sean Byrne about how the dance should feel.
"We didn't really know what was going to happen with the dance," Courtney said. "It just came out of me."
Hassie Harrison also stars as Zephyr, an American surfer traveling alone, who proves more formidable than Tucker's usual victims. Harrison played a ranch hand on Yellowstone, but said nothing compared to surfing and dodging sharks.
"This is by far and away one of the most physically demanding roles I've taken on," Harrison, 35, said, although she did acknowledge on Yellowstone "you'll be sore the next day when you're on a horse for eight hours."
Zephyr stands up to Tucker and insults his inadequacies for preying upon women. Courtney said this confrontation rattles Tucker.
"There's a few times where I think Zephyr sees through the mask that Tucker's presenting and cuts to the core of the wound that's within him," Courtney said. "He's a person who's isolated himself into a world where he can believe he's this apex predator, but really within that there's a lot of vulnerability."
Harrison did not believe Zephyr had any master plan to provoke her captor.
"I think she's just authentically being herself and holding up a mirror to a monster which is a really scary thing to do sometimes," she said.
Though set during the prime surfing season in Queensland, Dangerous Animals filmed during Australia's winter. This made it challenging for Harrison to perform in her bathing suit.
"It was freezing when we filmed the movie," she said. "I feel like the last 15 minutes of it, you can see my breath the whole time."
Before encountering Tucker, Zephyr meets local surfer Moses (Josh Heuston), who comes looking for her after she goes missing. Heuston agreed both the water and the wind on the deck of Tucker's boat were frigid.
"We're up against the elements there," he said.
To Courtney, a Sydney native, even Australian winter is postcard-worthy, warm and sunny.
"Australian winter, particularly in Queensland, is kind of a pretend winter," Courtney said. "I certainly wouldn't be able to sit here and complain."
