From his imposing turn in Jack Reacher to the Suicide Squad, Jai Courtney is no stranger to playing villains and anti-heroes on screen. But his latest role in cult filmmaker Sean Byrne’s Dangerous Animals, the actor may be embodying his most unhinged yet, as Tucker, a shark-obsessed serial killer with a penchant for showing tourists the great white underbelly of the Australian seas.
Following its premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Dangerous Animals is sizing up the big screen competition as it unleashes in the US on June 6th, before opening in Australia on the 12th, and to coincide Peter Gray spoke with the actor about finding the human within his killer character, if he crafted his presence after the sharks themselves, and why he was suspicious about being offered the role in the first place.
This movie is insane! I saw the trailer and I was immediately in! It’s a serial killer horror movie with sharks. I’m all for it. But there’s such a unique menace to your character, Tucker. He intellectualizes his violence. Did you see this character operating from trauma, ideology, or just pure instinct? What was your entry point into understanding him?
I think it stems from trauma that has built into an ideology that he believes is operating from instinct. There’s a real damaged kid inside of Tucker, and there’s those wounds he hasn’t healed. I feel like there’s a hole inside him, but how he filled that was through this kind of connection that he decided he’d drawn with the shark itself. I think there’s something kind of mythical about that for him. Almost like he was chosen, and that he’s kind of been touched by that force. I think that sort of created this world for him wherein he sees himself as a predator, but not one that it’s necessarily out to cause harm. It’s just that he plays a role in the restoration of order in this kind of ecosystem. Obviously, that’s a little questionable, but that’s what I think he believes. It’s stemmed from that, and obviously we don’t explore a lot of it, but Sean and I got pretty clear on his backstory, if you will, and where some of that pain stems from, and what that can look like if it’s left unaddressed.
Looking at Tucker and the sharks. They’re these misunderstood creatures. They’re efficient and instinctive. Did you borrow behaviour from them in crafting your physical presence and your movement in the role?
Ooh, it’s a good question. I mean, there’s an idea of it, but it wasn’t something I fed too much into. I think those things kind of come in a way where it’s good to play with and then you set it and forget. It’s not the type of thing where I’m hammering myself with influence to try and put that on display. But it’s certainly on the page in the way he operates and, you know, how he likes to carry these things out. It would have been cool to have a few more killings in the film (laughs) so we could see a bit more of that. But I think that just kind of feeds into the way he works, and he really does believe in that. For me, honestly, that’s where I had to have some empathy for him in building my approach to it. Like, he’s a dude that really believes in this crusade. There’s this kind of underlying conservation theme in there, and also this real attachment to the animal himself that he believes he has, and that he’s one of them. Also Zephyr (Hassie Harrison’s character), I think that sort of feeds an obsession there with her, that he feels they’re kindred in some way. Obviously it’s all a little misguided isn’t it?
In playing someone who’s terrifying, but, as you said, you have to have some empathy for him, and he believes in what he’s doing. He doesn’t really see himself as the villain. Or maybe he does? But because of how terrifying he is and potentially symbolic he is, do you ever find yourself drawn to his way of thinking?
You live in that space, for sure. You do get poisoned by it a little bit, you know? I remember making this film and coming home, and there was a moment where my wife just couldn’t wait until we wash this character off. It’s not like I’m walking through the door as Tucker, but when you sit in that for 12, 13, 14 hours a day, there’s always going to be some stuff that you kind of drag around with you. I remember years ago I played Macbeth at the MTC, and I got into this space of really not trusting anything anyone was saying. I was second guessing. There was a lot of paranoia, and it’s just because you’re living in the world and you have to find the tools to shed it.
Fortunately, on this, we had a fun, social environment. Hassie and Josh (Heuston) and I are all really good friends now, and we got to know each other’s families and all that. So we were able to break the spell pretty readily, which is good, because, you know, Tucker, man, I had nights on this job where I literally needed a time out. There’s a scene early on where a character is strung up in a harness, hanging off the back of the boat, and when you’re shooting in the middle of the night and this young woman is screaming for her life, and doing a phenomenal job, because she’s a gifted actress, it’s all your hand. Man, the crew was squirming. So you definitely find your boundaries with it. And I think you have to be careful not to get the lines too blurred. Some actors aren’t that good at it, and they need to really, really, really believe in it in order to feel real for themselves. I think that can be a dangerous place to operate when you’re dealing with someone like (Tucker).
Take it as a compliment that you did incredibly well. I’m terrified of Tucker, but you know, when he’s dancing around in his underwear…
Who wouldn’t want to have a beer with Tucker, right? (Laughs)
Take away the fact that he wants to kill everybody, he’s just a larrikin!
He’s your cringy, crazy uncle, you know what I mean? He’s good for a story. He knows a lot about sharks. He’ll take you on an adventure.
Were there any physical demands that previous roles hadn’t tapped into that you experienced here?
I mean, it was the first time I was allowed to just drink beer as preparation (laughs). I wanted to feel like a real salty old dog that lives on the marina. And I knew just how to do that. Repairing all the damage I did to myself is another story. I don’t know, I just wanted to kind of look like shit and be sun beaten, and that was fun, physically. It’s a physical role, but it doesn’t really touch stuff that I haven’t danced with before. I was stoked we got to shoot a fight. Me and Joshie really went for it, and a lot of the special effects are practical. It was fun working in a space where we’re out on the water for real, for a start. That in itself is something you’re not usually afforded the opportunity to do. You look at a script like this and you think it’s going to be done in a tank and under very controlled circumstances, and for us, we weren’t. I think tanks actually became really cost prohibitive, and it was easier to find a solution on the water.
The truth of a film like this is there’s such a human story at the centre of it. And when you can peel back the layers and just imagine less, honestly it sounds so silly, but it permeates the work. It feels so real. The tugboat we used, it’s all there. It’s you in that environment, kicking your toes on the shit that is welded onto the deck. The safety hazards are real. That water was bloody cold. Like we, the guys, stepped up and rose to the challenge. I guess I had a little bit of an easier task than them. I wasn’t strapped to the harness for weeks on end, and that shit is not comfortable. But yeah, proud of my teammates in that department, for sure.
And looking at Dangerous Animals, we know you can play these sort of roles, but I don’t think people would immediately think of Jai Courtney as a shark enthused serial killer. How were you thought of for this?
It’s funny, I was convinced someone had fallen out (of production), because it was all coming together so quick. I was like, “Who’d you lose? What am I dealing with here? Just give me the framework.” I still wanted the gig, but Sean told me that he came straight to me. He even wrote the dance in just for me, because one of the producers felt like it was an enticing addition. It was really about a character that had a lot of colour to them, and a lot of light and shade. The fact that he’s a shark obsessed serial killer is the logline, but really it was about the human that was there as well.
I saw it as a chance to tap into his vulnerability a little, to be able to tap into the performer. He’s really passionate about being the boat captain as well. Like, that’s his very existence. It’s his shadow that’s taking care of all the murdering, and that’s where we meet this guy. But it’s got to stem from a place where he’s really built a world that doesn’t necessarily revolve around that. And that was all on the page. I knew I had to swing for the fences with it and do something big and bold. I just wanted to make sure Sean was going to let me pitch it that way. When I read (the script) and spoke to him, I knew (Tucker) had to feel unhinged and that we’re enjoying him as much as we’re scared of him. I wanted to really push the boundaries of that and find the moments where it’s quiet and stealth and kind of demonic. But then find that affable, Australian, cringy dad vibe to him as well. And if you can figure out how to balance that all, then we should be able to come up with something that people can have fun with.
Dangerous Animals is screening in Australian theatres from June 12th, 2025. It will open in the United States on June 6th.
