Speaking with Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to theatres from director Lee Isaac Chung and Universal Pictures comes the anticipated adventure when dealing with TWISTERS.

Meteorologist Kate Cooper (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is attempting to recover from a major blow to her storm chasing. Javi (Anthony Ramos) has been testing a new tracking system since then and wants Kate to jump back into the game. Hesitant, Kate agrees to come back briefly and see what Javi has going. Out in the field, she meets Tyler Owens (Glen Powell), a “tornado wrangler” who lives for the thrill of the storm.

As Kate and Javi begin chasing, it is clear that she is hesitant and is causes the team to wonder if she can handle it all. When they see what Tyler and his crew are capable of, Kate takes on the challenge and works with Javi to start chasing the outbreak of tornadoes in the infamous tornado alley. Not far behind is Tyler along with videographer Boone (Brandon Perea) and tag-along journalist Ben (Harry Hadden-Paston) who wants to write about storm chasers, drone operator Lilly

More and more storms are on the horizon but Kate learns that she might be chasing with the wrong team. Tyler and Kate decide its time to take the chase to another level and its none too soon as the biggest tornado is about to test them all.

Powell as Tyler is the rough and rugged cowboy chaser who cranks up the music and shouts his way into storms. His character has a swagger that charms everyone, except perhaps for Kate, but that doesn’t stop him from trying. Taking on storm by storm, Powell gives his character depth with his look on those who suffer from the devastation of the tornadoes.

Edgar-Jones as Kate experienced what happens when you take on Mother Nature and it isn’t easy to shake. Getting back into the game, Edgar-Jones brings out the history of this character and what motivates her to accept tragedy and do everything possible to create a system that can prevent disasters.

Ramos as Javi is part of Kate’s original team but after the disaster he goes on his own way. That way is being part of a new storm chasing team but it causes a rift between he and Kate. Trying to make amends, Javi discovers that what he does and how he wants to do it are two very different things.

Shout out to Hadden-Paston as British journalist Ben and Maura Tierney as Kate’s mom Cathy.

Cast also includes: Daryl McCormack as Jeb, Kiernan Shipka as Addy, Nik Dodani as Praveen, David Corenswet as Scott, Tunde Adebimpe as Dexter, Katy O’Brian as Dani, David Born as Riggs, Laura Poe as Debra, Austin Bullock as Manny, and Stephen Oyoung as Mike.

The soundtrack TWISTERS: The Album features country music artists like Luke Combs with the lead single Ain’t No Love in Oklahoma, Miranda Lambert with Ain’t in Kansas Anymore and more. The music adds an element of fun to the film and I totally enjoyed it.

The story is a bit nostalgic with its twists and nods to the 1996 Bill Paxton-Helen Hunt film TWISTER. This includes an appearance by the late Paxton’s son Cody. I felt like there were a few Easter Eggs whether they were intentional or not. See if you can find them.

I also had the opportunity to speak with Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones and get their thoughts on the film.

Hi guys, thank you so much for taking the time today to talk with me. I want to tell you first off, fantastic; I love the movie so much. I’m a huge fan of the [1996] original film so I was really excited to see what you guys were going to do. So, jumping right in, Daisy, what brought you the most joy making the film?

Daisy: That’s a lovely question! It is so hard to choose. Making this film and then watching it brought me so much joy in every way. Meeting Glenn, meeting Anthony and the whole cast, it is such a great group of people. Also, honestly, just filming in Oklahoma, getting to meet real storm chasers and meteorologists. Glenn and I went chasing for real and thought it was so cool meeting these people and hope to chase with them again. Filming all the stunt sequences, it is really hard to highlight just one. It was honestly such a wonderful experience and I’m so glad I had it.

Glen, what brought you the most terror making the film?

Glen: It was so terrifying meeting Daisy Edgar-Jones, she is so intimidating and she never lets you forget she’s a superstar. I never really felt comfortable around her <laughing>. No, she in terms of joy, meeting her has been the joy of this entire experience. Obviously, when you are shooting a movie like this, in tornado alley, during tornado season, you are getting blasted with debris and dust and rain and wind and hay, your having farm equipment shot at you from across the street. There is a lot to battle and there was extreme weather while we shooting extreme weather. I think it really does come down to an amazing cast so no matter what kind of terrors we battling during this movie, we had an amazing group of people working on this.

That’s awesome. Did you feel like, while you were filming, there were moments where you thought ‘this actually happens to people!’, its harsh stuff.

Daisy: I think that was something our filmmaker Isaac was really sensitive to, he grew up in Arkansas so he had experiences with tornadoes and really knew how it impacted communities. Especially certain scenes, the production design was really remarkable and some of the sets we walked on were really a shock to see how devastating it could be. So, that was really important to us to represent the community. Isaac, one thing that he truly celebrates is how much a group of people come together after a disaster hits, how much we can help each other, pull together and pull through. This film is a real celebration of community in a beautiful way. It was definetly wild to film some of these scenes.

Again, I enjoyed the film so much and thank you for the talk!

Glen: Thank you.

Daisy: It was so nice to meet you!

TWISTERS is the action and adventure that the 1996 fans will be in the theatres to see. Knowing the basic history of that film brings a comfortability and familiarity that is going to be appreciated. The film is loud, fierce and everything you’d expect from a film that has massive tornados. The special effect and cinematography are very good and will draw everyone who sees the film into the action. Let’s face it, I think most of us would like to see a tornado in an open place (minus people being affected), it is a force of nature like no other.

My only encounter with a tornado was, as a kid, my parents, siblings and myself were going through Oklahoma in a station wagon (yes, a real station wagon) on our way to California. The sky became still and it was quite humid, it seemed out of nowhere my father veered off the road into a dip more than a ditch. He yelled for us to “get down!”. Out the back window, my brother and I saw a tornado meandering down the highway. My parents said it was a small one and all I could think was “THAT was small?”.

It was actually quite amazing that director Chung included a harsh look at the devastating effects of tornados. Taking into account that although the film is meant to entertain, there is an element of reality for the people who actually live and recover from devastation brought on by tornados, so kudos for that.

Powell, Edgar-Jones and Ramos lead the way into tornado alley and through the middle of the country with vast open spaces and small towns. Each character brings their own story and, of course, the biggest personality is that of Tyler Owens, his equally thrill-seeking crew with their music induced, Red Bull antics and an indestructible truck. Strap in because TWISTERS is going to take everyone for a ride!

In the end – chase, ride and survive!

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