Jason Bateman on Playing a Villain in Netflix Film ‘Carry-On’: “I’m Not Some Hardened Criminal-Looking Kind of Guy”
The stars of Netflix’s airport action-thriller Carry-On arrived at the Egyptian Theater on Thursday night where they watched their new film take flight at the red carpet premiere.
At the event, Jason Bateman — who plays as a mysterious man attempting to blackmail a TSA agent into allowing a dangerous package on a Christmas Eve flight — spoke about the unique take on his character. “I’m not some hardened criminal-looking kind of guy, so I’m glad they didn’t want me to play him like that,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “They let me do it as just a guy and this is just his job. He wants to blow this plane up, move on to the next thing, and get home for the holidays too.”
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Taron Egerton, who plays the dedicated TSA agent trying to thwart Bateman’s character, agreed that the film’s villain was an unexpected departure from the norm. “It’s unusual because he presents as someone quite safe but actually underneath it, he’s awful,” said Egerton, adding that sharing the screen with Bateman was a dream come true. “Knowing Jason for all his film work and Arrested Development and Ozark, it’s surreal to be working with him.”
The evening was a reunion for the film’s ensemble, which included Danielle Deadwyler, Dean Norris, Sinqua Walls, Theo Rossi and Sofia Carson.
Carson, who arrived in a black Dolce & Gabbana couture gown, said she was particularly drawn to her role as Nora — the girlfriend of Egerton’s character, who also works at the airport — because it offered a refreshing take on a strong female character. “I was so happy to be offered the role of a woman in an action movie that was never once a damsel in distress,” she said. “I was proud to bring that to life, and to do so with Jason Bateman, Taron Egerton and Danielle Deadwyler, and to be produced by Mr. Steven Spielberg — that was a dream.”
Filming Carry-On came with its own set of challenges, particularly in transforming an old airport in New Orleans to stand in for LAX. Producer Dylan Clark reflected on the team’s ability to make it work. “It was an incredible place to shoot, but to make it work you need a great director and a great crew,” Clark said of the film, which is directed by Jaume Collet-Serra and written by T.J. Fixman.
As the film is released amid the holiday season, Rossi expressed his hope that it would offer a new perspective on the demanding and often misunderstood work of TSA agents. “The film gives you a sense of an insider where you can then learn empathy for what they actually go through and how hard it is,” Rossi said. “I think that if we did that with a lot of things, we’d have a better understanding of what people do.”
Bateman, whose mother worked as a flight attendant, also reflected on how airport security has evolved over the years. “It’s pretty streamlined now. I mean, let’s put it this way, it’s much harder to do what my character tries to pull off nowadays than it was back when I was flying around with my mom. The security is pretty awesome these days.”
As for the comparisons to another beloved holiday action-thriller, Die Hard, Egerton welcomed the parallels. “This film made me feel very Christmassy — that’s what I would love for it to do. Die Hard is a Christmas movie. This is a Christmas movie. I hope audiences love it.”
Carry-On starts streaming on Netflix on Dec. 13.
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