When actors channel their inner Tom Cruise, it usually means completing a death-defying stunt that mirrors something Ethan Hunt would attempt in Mission: Impossible. While Jai Courtney doesn’t jump off a cliff or scale the Burj Khalifa in Dangerous Animals, he does pull off a memorable dance that channels the spirit of Cruise’s character from Risky Business.
In Dangerous Animals, Courtney plays Tucker, a flamboyant boat captain who runs a shark cage diving enterprise. Yet Tucker has no interest in showing these people a good time. In reality, Tucker is a serial killer who uses his business to lure tourists out to sea. He then lowers his victims into the water and films their bodies being torn to shreds by the sharks.
While preparing for his next kill, the sociopathic Tucker has an impromptu dance session to the Australian anthem, Evie. Sporting only a robe and underwear, Tucker uses the boat’s kitchen as his stage as he sways and spins to the beat. Director Sean Byrne wanted Courtney to channel his inner “teenager” for the dance, hence the comparisons to Joel in Risky Business.
“He [Jai] didn’t want to practice too much,” Byrne tells Digital Trends about the dance scene. “You don’t want to be rehearsing that because it needs to be this teenager dancing in his bedroom. A lack of inhibition. You don’t want to do it too much. To me, it’s like the serial killer version of Tom Cruise’s dance in Risky Business.”
It’s a ridiculous scene, but a necessary one to illustrate Tucker’s insane nature. Courtney revealed that he might have had a “couple of little whiskeys” to get loose. The 39-year-old had to be fearless because the more unhinged he went, the better it was for the movie.
“We didn’t know what it was going to be. We had an idea like, OK, it’s about this celebration for Tucker,” Courtney says. “Sean wanted me to let loose. We pumped that track up that he [Tucker] danced to, which is an Aussie classic, Evie. I didn’t know it was going to happen either, but I had to get myself into a mindset of stepping outside my comfort zone. Don’t be afraid to look ridiculous.”
Besides the dance, Courtney’s eccentric performance included a chilling monologue about the animal kingdom, a violent altercation with his neighbor, and a hilarious rendition of the children’s song Baby Shark. Courtney’s commitment to the bit even spilled over to a wild interaction with a canine.
“There’s a moment in the film where Jai actually barks at a dog, and it is so unhinged,” Byrne explains. “At the end of the take, he goes, ‘This is getting way out there, and I’m there for it.'” [Laughs]
Dangerous Animals is not a typical shark movie. Yes, it’s a survival horror, but the serial killer plotline adds aspects of a psychological thriller. Most movies depict sharks as the villains, but Byrne uses the creatures sparingly, as the real monster lives above the surface.
“The sharks only turn up because they’re at the manipulation of man. He [Tucker] chums the waters when he wants them to arrive,” Byrne says. “I always thought of sharks as weapons. It’s not that much different to Freddy [Krueger] and his knifed gloves or Michael Myers and his knife. It’s his weapon. The sharks aren’t the baddies. Even when there’s shark carnage, it’s because he designed it.”
Every cinematic serial killer needs an adversary. In Dangerous Animals, that role belongs to Zephyr (Yellowstone‘s Hassie Harrison), a rebellious surfer held captive on Tucker’s boat. Byrne liked Harrison’s combination of Texas toughness and Sandra Bullock’s tenderness to play Tucker’s foil. This physicality was required to handle the Australian winter and cold nights.
“This was not an easy film to shoot,” Byrne says. “We shot on the water for real, and it was physically and extremely demanding. She gave it everything. There’s a scene involving a thumb where she was fainting by the end.”
Dangerous Animals fittingly releases a few weeks before the 50th anniversary of Jaws, the landmark horror that provided the blueprint for summer blockbusters. Byrne believes his shark adventure, like Jaws, is tailor-made for the season.
“This is not a horror film that’s releasing in the summer. This is a summer horror film,” Byrne adds. “It will push you to the edge, but you’re going to have the greatest time.”
Dangerous Animals is now in theaters.
