Carry-On’s Taron Egerton on Messy Fight Scenes and the extreme ending

SPOILER ALERT: The following story and Q&A contains descriptions of several scenes and plot lines in “Carry-On.”

In Netflix’s new action thriller “Carry-On,” Oscar nominee Taron Egerton plays Ethan, a hapless TSA agent who is blackmailed by a mysterious traveler (Jason Bateman) into bringing down a plane bound for LAX to JFK by allowing a bag full of chemicals. weapon bombs to get through security.

When Ethan tries to save the day, Bateman threatens to kill his pregnant girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson), who of course also works at the airport.

The film’s cast is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and also includes Danielle Deadwyler, Dean Norris, Theo Rossi, Tonatiuh, Logan Marshall-Green and Sinqua Walls.

I caught up with Egerton for a spoiler-filled conversation about why “Carry-On” is a Christmas movie if he’s ready for a sequel and Bateman’s gnarly death scene.

I love this movie, Taron.

I heard you loved it. I was told you loved it and that was music to my ears.

I think I was invited to the premiere and I thought, “Let me see it.” I went in not knowing anything about it. I had no idea what it was, and I thought, “I’m obsessed with it.” It’s so ridiculous in the best way.

It’s fantastic. It’s bombastic and it’s larger than life and hopefully it’s kind of a great Christmas event for people to sit down and have two hours of pure escapism.

Let’s talk about it. Is this a Christmas movie?

Marc, I can’t believe you are engaging me in this debate. Of course it’s a Christmas movie. Couldn’t you see the Christmas trees at the airport?

I did that.

Didn’t hear the Christmas score for the movie?

Should people watch this movie before taking their vacation flight home?

Now that’s an interesting question. Should people watch the film before they travel this Christmas? Yes. I feel like I might even be contractually obligated to say yes because it comes out on December 13th. It’s a movie, and I think for that reason it certainly shouldn’t be something that makes people feel existentially scared at Christmas. Rather, it’s just a way to imagine how ugly things could get in a worst-case scenario, but it’s important to remember that it’s only a movie and I think you’re very, very safe to travel this Christmas .

How was the film presented to you?

I don’t remember what the log line was, but I know I read it in one sitting and I thought, “This is a movie I want to see.” For me personally, in my creative life, I’ve been blessed to do a real mix of different things, but finding projects where you think it’s bombastic and larger than life, but also smart (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, really wide audience. I think this movie has that scope, so aside from I thought it was a great fun story, I also thought it was a really good opportunity for me.

It’s the ultimate what-you-want movie.

That’s it. I think it obviously got inspiration from “Die Hard”, a movie made in homage and in the spirit of the movie. I hope that in the same way that “Twisters” felt like a loving return in many ways, that “Carry-On” finds the same place in the hearts of audiences.

When Jason Bateman’s character talks to you on the phone, did someone read those lines to you? How did it work?

The first few days it was Jason. He was fantastic. He read some of the early scenes with me, I think the first handful of scenes, and then after that, it was a working earworm. We had an actor stand in for him and read those lines and it was amazing. It was obviously so strange and unlike anything I had done before, but a real challenge. A challenge in terms of making it feel interesting and grounded, but I loved it. This film is unlike anything else I’ve ever made, and it’s exactly what I want out of my creative life.

I love the fact the first time you saved the day, I think you had two seconds left on the bomb.

Just in time. Right, Marc?

Literally. It starts at three minutes and then you use this bloody pen to stop the timer.

The pen has already been used for nefarious purposes.

Yeah, someone stabbed your boss (Dean Norris) in the neck with it.

It’s wild.

I guess you have to be careful not to look too silly like, “I have two seconds left.”

The thing about me is that I like a bit silly. I like the mess. I don’t think people look glamorous or sexy in stressful situations. I’m not the guy you call looking great and put together and hypersexy all the time. There are a number of actors who are very, very good at it. I think I’m the guy you call if you want it to feel like a guy you think is real. I’m a bit more of a everyman, so I think when I read the script I thought, “Yeah, I’m the right guy to do this.” I hope that I am someone you relate to as 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 looking silly. I think the reality and the grossness of it is that he looks panicked and terrified and completely ridiculous, because I think that’s how you would look in that situation.

At one point there is apparently the red light of a gun on Nora’s head. Did you see the light during the filming? If you did, how crazy was it?

We used a real laser pen. It’s a really horrible thing, but great in terms of playing the stakes and the drama of it in the scene because it’s immediately viscerally unsettling. But a lot of what we did in the film was done in camera. The airplanes taking off in the background, the shots and things, because we shot in a real airport, which is so rare, and it’s a pleasure to do something like that.

Your character’s name is Ethan. Is it an homage to “Mission: Impossible?”

You’ll have to ask the author, but the same thing occurred to me, and people have asked me about my running, which has been very flattering. But I don’t know. I think it’s probably a coincidence, but it could be. I have a feeling Tom Cruise won’t be shaking in his boots about me playing a different Ethan in an action movie, but I’m glad you draw the parallel.

Let’s talk about when you killed off Jason Bateman’s character. (Ethan locks Bateman’s character in a refrigerator in the plane’s hold with one of the bombs.)

I shot him in the fridge. It’s a very legitimate way to rule out a bad guy in a movie.

An airtight refrigerator. It must be really airtight.

It’s industrial strength airtight refrigerator, Marc. Didn’t you hear the seal when it closed?

Well, I saw you holding it.

Well, he is a very strong character. He is able to create a stronger airtight seal that saves everyone nearby.

What was it like to see Jason die like that?

It was some extreme makeup. He came on set with it and I was like, “Wow, we’re going for it.” But yeah, he was great. It was fun. At that point in the movie it’s so loud and it’s so camp and larger than life, but it was fun. It’s fun not to take yourself too seriously.

And you must fight with Tonatiuh on a conveyor belt. How much fun was that?

Aside from the fact that it was absolutely filthy and, I think, a prehistoric luggage belt from a decommissioned wing of the Louis Armstrong airport in New Orleans, it was amazing. I’ve done action before, but it was nice to do action that was messy and pedestrian, not larger than life in the sense that I’m not playing a spy or whatever. He’s just an ordinary guy rummaging through the luggage trying to save his girlfriend.

Were you hurt at all?

No, no. The thing about me, Marc, is that I’m so tough, honestly.

When I think of Taron, I say, “Hurt guy.”

That’s exactly it. Everyone does. It’s Jason Statham, it’s Dwayne Johnson, Taron Egerton. It’s the trio.

How about a sequel?

I mean, to be honest, until this morning I hadn’t really thought about it because the movie is so flashy in one place, but I guess that never stopped “Die Hard.” I think it turned out well 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 goes up, so I feel good.

Ethan on a boat, Ethan on a train.

You could have Ethan on a boat, you could have Ethan on a train. You could have Ethan underwater in a submarine.

What has been your worst flying experience?

When I was a child, I was separated from my mother on a plane. I remember they made us sit at opposite ends of the plane. I was so little and it was really stressful and traumatic. I remember it now, even 28 years later or whatever it was.

Did you cry? Were you a crier? Did you scream?

Yes. I mean, I’m a crier. I almost cried twice in this interview, Marc. I was definitely a crier in 1996.

You can listen to the full interview with Egerton on “Just for Variety” above, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.