Taron Egerton Doubts Carry-On 2 Will Get Made

Right before he reteamed with Dennis Lehane for the miniseries Smoke, Taron Egerton produced an independent passion project known as She Rides Shotgun. 

Adapted from Jordan Harper’s book of the same name, Egerton also stars in the Nick Rowland-directed crime drama as an ex-con named Nate McClusky. Fresh out of prison, Nate — who’s been absent for the majority of his 10-year-old daughter Polly’s life — catches her off guard when he arrives at her school to pick her up in place of her mom. In a revelatory performance by Ana Sophia Heger, Polly quickly deduces that something has gone terribly wrong, forcing the estranged father and daughter to hit the road and fend off danger at every turn.

To prepare for the modern-day tale — albeit one with shades of Westerns and thrillers from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s — Egerton opened up his Rolodex and asked a few decorated actors for film recommendations that might aid or inspire his character work in She Rides Shotgun. Gary Oldman suggested he watch Dustin Hoffman’s Straight Time (1978) and Gene Hackman in The Conversation (1974), while Adolescence star Stephen Graham urged him to check out Oldman’s turn in State of Grace (1990). Joaquin Phoenix then sent the Welsh actor a list of 20 titles that fit the bill. 

“[She Rides Shotgun] is a very old-school movie. I wanted to imbibe the brilliance of some actors that are older than I am. So I picked those guys because they’re actors who I really admire, and they’re actors who I’ve met and have some contact with,” Egerton tells The Hollywood Reporter in support of She Rides Shotgun’s Aug. 1 theatrical release.

When the trailer for the Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski-written film premiered, a glimpse of Egerton’s muscular physique reignited the yearslong fancasting campaign for him to take over the role of Wolverine from his Eddie the Eagle co-star Hugh Jackman, in the event that Jackman does not want to play the role till he’s 90. However, Egerton continues to throw cold water on such a notion.

“The Wolverine thing is almost like a joke at this point. Every time I have a project come out, there’s a moment where people talk about it, and I’m the one person who is not qualified to talk about it,” Egerton says. “It’s quite strange, but it’s flattering. It’s always lovely to think that anybody would want you to play a beloved role, but I also think no one is ever going to accept anyone in that role other than Hugh Jackman. He’s completely synonymous with it.”

Last year, Egerton played heroic TSA agent Ethan Kopek in Jaume Collet-Serra’s Carry-On, which is now Netflix’s second-most popular film of all time. Naturally, there’s been questions about whether a sequel is in order, and while he’d love to reteam with Collet-Serra again, Egerton has doubts about the believability of a second chapter.

“Carry-On 2 is really hard. It’s a celebration of Christmas and a celebration of people who work at Christmas. It then needs to have this huge plot that needs to be foiled and maybe the earwig component,” Egerton shares. “All of that is quite hard to achieve in a sequel without it feeling contrived and to the point of defying credulity. So I have not heard anything, but who knows, stranger things have happened.”

Below, during a recent conversation with THR, Egerton also discusses the decision to root She Rides Shotgun in the perspective of Heger’s 10-year-old character, before addressing the manner in which TSA agents now receive him at airports.

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When I was watching Smoke a few months ago, I wondered if Dave Gudsen was a response to all the twisted “fun” that Paul Walter Hauser got to have opposite you on Black Bird. And I heard you say that it was in fact a factor in your decision-making. Thus, when you committed to She Rides Shotgun, was that a response to anything you’d recently done at the time? 

Not really. I’m just out here trying to make things that mean something to me, and I’m not really trying to second-guess the perception of them too much. It’s funny, when you have these brief interludes where you speak with [reporters], you have to confront a perception of you. And it’s a weird thing because you don’t really think in those terms. You just follow the thing that you’re inclined towards creatively. So I try as far as possible to separate myself from the perception of why I’m doing what I’m doing and just do what I’m doing. 

You asked Gary Oldman, Stephen Graham and Joaquin Phoenix for movie recommendations that had a similar spirit to She Rides Shotgun, and out of all three, I never would’ve guessed that Joaquin would offer a list of 20-some-odd films. Did you expect him to be that much of a cinephile? I’m not sure I did.

Yeah, absolutely. He’s such a master of his craft. He’s clearly somebody who has such honed instincts, and he’s worked with so many incredible filmmakers. I am more surprised that you think he wouldn’t be such a cinephile. 

I suppose I’m basing it on one of his contemporaries, Christian Bale. He’s not a cinephile whatsoever, and while it’s easy to assume he would be, you just never really know.

I didn’t know that about [Bale]. But there was something about the timelessness of [She Rides Shotgun] and the fact that, in some respects, it felt like a story from 30, 40, 50 years ago. It’s a very old-school movie. It’s got a strong Western leaning to it, and I wanted to imbibe the brilliance of some actors that are older than I am. So I picked those guys because they’re actors who I really admire, and they’re actors who I’ve met and have some contact with.

Like the book, She Rides Shotgun begins with Polly (Ana Sophia Heger) being picked up at school, and she and the audience have to catch up to speed as the movie goes along. Was there ever a discussion about showing the violent domino effect that set this story in motion?

Yes, it was in a previous iteration of the script, but the more we went along in the process, the more it became apparent that our resources were limited. So we had to make decisions, and Nick [Rowland] was very committed to the idea that we’d be inside the perspective of Polly until her and Nate part ways [for a period of time]. That decision freed us the most, and it meant that we were able to reconfigure the storytelling in ways that were both more focused and economical. 

If Nate hadn’t put a target on his and Polly’s backs, do you think he still would’ve put the same effort toward being her dad upon his release from prison? 

He probably would have never reappeared otherwise, not because he’s not interested in his daughter, but because he thinks, “Why would I impose myself on her? I’m not worthy of being her father.” That is the thought that plagues him. But he doesn’t have time to really revel in that thought because if he doesn’t act [under the movie’s actual circumstances], she’s going to die. So he’d be there if he knew she was in jeopardy, but if he had no reason to believe that, I don’t think he would’ve shown up.

Taron, I hate to say it, but you made a huge mistake in this film. You got in such good shape that the Wolverine talk has started up again. Has this renewed clamor reached your doorstep yet? 

No, but I feel like it happens every time I take my shirt off in a film. The truth of the matter is I don’t look like that when I take my shirt off, unless it’s in a film where the part needs me to look that way. (Laughs.) The Wolverine thing is almost like a joke at this point. Every time I have a project come out, there’s a moment where people talk about it, and I’m the one person who is not qualified to talk about it. It’s quite strange, but it’s flattering. It’s always lovely to think that anybody would want you to play a beloved role, but I also think no one is ever going to accept anyone in that role other than Hugh Jackman. He’s completely synonymous with it. 

I had such a great experience watching Carry-On last year. When you make your way through airports now, do TSA agents salute you and give you the royal treatment? 

(Laughs.) Not really. I took a photo with a TSA agent at the Dallas airport a couple days ago when I was traveling here to New York, and that was a really nice bit of symmetry. But it’s not like it’s made travel impossible or anything. Generally, I get by pretty unnoticed. So I certainly don’t feel that, but I also try not to think about it. If someone comes up and asks for a photo, that’s a nice thing, and if I’m able to, I’ll do it. But I am so proud of that movie, and I’m really glad you liked it. It’s a nice way to celebrate an otherwise slightly thankless role.

Yeah, they’re not used to seeing themselves as heroes on screen; they’re usually a source of aggravation for main characters. 

Yeah, exactly. That’s what made the movie cool in many respects, and it was a fun thing to be a part of. 

Jaume Collet-Serra just signed a new deal with Netflix. Is there a reality where you’d consider Carry-On 2?

Jaume and I definitely want to do more together. I love Jaume. It’s so about the journey as well as the movies you make, and I really like being with Jaume. I saw him last week in L.A., and we had a nice dinner together. Carry-On 2 is really hard. It’s a celebration of Christmas and a celebration of people who work at Christmas. It then needs to have this huge plot that needs to be foiled and maybe the earwig component. All of that is quite hard to achieve in a sequel without it feeling contrived and to the point of defying credulity. So I have not heard anything, but who knows, stranger things have happened. 

As I referenced earlier, I devoured all ten episodes of Smoke a few months ago, and I especially love the title. You initially think it’s just some generic reference to fire, but it really stands for smoke and mirrors, doesn’t it?

Yeah, like most things with [creator] Dennis [Lehane], he’s thinking on a number of different levels. He’s such an incredible person to work with in terms of his ingenuity and his imagination and the things he’s trying to say and the uncomfortable space he occupies. His stuff is dark. It’s challenging, it’s uncomfortable and I love that stuff. But I just hope he keeps my number in his phonebook and we keep at it, because the roles of Dave Gudsen in Smoke and Jimmy Keene in Black Bird are two of the best roles I’ve played.

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She Rides Shotgun opens in movie theaters on August 1.