After breaking out for her roles in Normal People, Where the Crawdads Sing and Fresh, Daisy Edgar-Jones is taking on her first big summer blockbuster with Twisters — and her first foray into the stunt world, though seemingly not her last.
The film, not technically connected to 1996’s Twister but serving as a standalone sequel, stars Edgar-Jones as a one-time tornado chaser and meteorologist who is persuaded to return to Oklahoma to test a new tracking system. There she crosses paths with Tyler Owens (played by Glen Powell), a social media star who posts his storm-chasing adventures, as they encounter multiple storm systems converging over the state.
“It was so stunt heavy and I’d never done really proper stunts, so I was so curious to see how they were going to achieve a lot of the action sequences but I’m a bit addicted now, I’ve got the bug,” Edgar-Jones told The Hollywood Reporter at the film’s Los Angeles premiere on Thursday. “It was so much fun. I mean we had a phenomenal stunt department who really just helped to immerse us in it, also keep us safe. Most of the stunts were sort of being battered by wind, rain and debris so it was definitely an interesting filming experience.”
The cast also includes Anthony Ramos and Nope star Brandon Perea, both of whom have plans to return to Oklahoma and do some real storm-chasing now that the movie has wrapped. Sean Waugh, the film’s tornado consultant, was present at the premiere and Ramos confirmed that he just spoke to him and “we’re going to go out,” while Perea echoed, “Next season I’ll probably go out, honestly, on my own dime and just go chase.”
Walking the red carpet was also James Paxton, son of original Twister star Bill Paxton, who has a cameo role in the new film. When he heard a second film was being made, Paxton said, “I just couldn’t help but think about Dad and what he would say, what he would think. He wanted to be a part of a sequel and he saw how special this franchise is and can be just in terms of making something eventful for people to go see in the theaters — something topical and important as well but also fun, a real return to classic blockbusters.”
Of appearing in a small role, Paxton added, “I thought about it and I wanted to do something that was just representative of Dad’s spirit and be a conduit for that because I just want to honor him and the fans. This one is for him; I’ve been acting for 10 years professionally and I’ve a lead role in a western coming out later this year, but this one was for him.”
Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, hits theaters on July 19.
