Killer thriller: Jai Courtney sinks teeth into 'Dangerous Animals'

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A serial killer and the hardened survivalist he aims to murder head out into shark-infested waters with not another soul in sight for miles. It sounds like the movie remix of the year. But to actor Jai Courtney, putting together serial killers and sharks in the same movie “is the genre mashup of our dreams.”

In Dangerous Animals, opening Friday, Courtney, 39, plays Tucker a deranged serial killer who uses sharks to sadistically dispatch his unsuspecting victims. He takes tourists visiting Australia out to sea for an up-close encounter with the deadly animals — with an emphasis on up close. 

“It’s a lot of fun,” the Aussie actor says with a chuckle via Zoom following the premiere of the horror thriller at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this month. “It mangles those two — sharks and serial killers — together, but at the centre of it, it’s a survival thriller.”

Courtney’s psychotic boatman gets his kicks kidnapping unsuspecting visitors and feeding them to hungry sharks as he films the proceedings for his very own snuff movie collection. When we meet him, it seems that Tucker has been feeding live bait to the hungry predators for quite some time.

Like the sharks he’s so fond of, Tucker has become adept at seeking out his prey, targeting backpackers and vagabonds. After one gruesome kill, he celebrates by dancing around the main cabin in his underwear and a robe to Stevie Wright’s 1974 classic, Evie (Let Your Hair Hang Down).

But he meets his match when he abducts a tough loner named Zephyr (played by Yellowstone star Hassie Harrison) who threatens to end his savage streak.

At the first sign of resistance, Tucker seems to relish the challenge Zephyr presents. “Makes for a better show,” he says, sneering.

“This was such a different and unique world,” Courtney says of playing the madman. “There’s a menace to him and a maniacal obsessiveness that’s like fodder for an actor to grab hold of and chew on … He’s an enthusiast and someone with a deranged philosophy about how he fits into the ecosystem as an apex predator.”

Director Sean Byrne, who made his mark as a horror auteur with his debut The Loved Ones, which won the Midnight Madness audience prize at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, ratchets up the tension as Zephyr tries to save herself.

Playing the foil to Harrison’s determined heroine allowed Courtney to add to a roster of villains that includes an antagonist opposite Tom Cruise in 2012’s Jack Reacher and the DC antihero Captain Boomerang in Suicide Squad.

After landing his breakout role alongside Cruise right out of the gate, Courtney joined a list of Australian actors, including Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe and the late Heath Ledger, who became sought after quickly making their mark on Hollywood. Working with Cruise, he says, offered him an early education on professionalism and career longevity.

“Having Tom Cruise as the lead in the first big film I ever did was a true gift,” Courtney says. “No one is as hard a worker as he is. It’s an inspiration to see that kind of ethic and see someone care so much about (their work). To see him still killing it at 60-something … he’s still making some of the most exciting films out there. He continues to be an inspiration for me.”

Joining forces with Cruise led to work with Bruce Willis in 2013’s A Good Day to Die Hard, the fifth and final entry in the long-running action series. He also booked a role as future resistance soldier Kyle Reese in 2015’s Terminator: Genisys.

A year later, he partnered with fellow Aussie Margot Robbie in Suicide Squad (a part he reprised in a 2021 sequel).

“I had a chance to share the screen with some real icons and that was a real privilege and an honour,” he says looking back on his meteoric rise. “I’ve been part of some really cool classic action-franchise stuff.”

Other notable roles followed, including a part in The Divergent Series. More recently, after welcoming a daughter with his partner, Saudi actress Dina Shihabi, he has appeared alongside Chris Pratt in Amazon’s The Terminal List. Next up, he’ll co-star in Netflix’s forthcoming sci-fi thriller War Machine with Reacher star Alan Ritchson.

But when his agent calls with the offer of another villain, he’ll be all ears.

“There’s just a lot of colour in there that you get to play with when you play those guys,” Courtney says. “I’m no stranger to playing a bad guy. I’ll probably continue that trend for years to come … hopefully.”

Dangerous Animals opens in theatres Friday, June 6.

mdaniell@postmedia.com