Jai Courtney is a damaged man struggling to keep his relationship alive inCatching Dust. After his early roles in the likes ofSpartacus: Blood and Sand, Tom Cruise’sJack Reacherand as the son of Bruce Willis' John McClane inA Good Day To Die Hard, Courtney rose to popularity with his roles in the 2014 Australian crime thrillerFelonyand starring intheDivergentmovie franchise. He has since starred in both blockbuster and indie fare, including playing Captain Boomerang in the DC Extended Universe in both David Ayer’sSuicide Squadand James Gunn’sThe Suicide Squad.
Courtney stars inCatching Dustas Clyde, a man with a shady past involving some level of criminal activity, which has since resulted in him and his wife, Geena, moving to the middle of the Texas desert in an abandoned commune. Clyde’s past demons frequently boil into negatively affecting his and Geena’s marriage, with Clyde refusing to let her leave the commune and suppressing her creative ideals. When a couple from New York move their trailer to the commune amidst their own marriage issues, they all find themselves on a collision course for an emotional conclusion.
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Alongside Courtney, the ensembleCatching Dustcast includesThe Boysstar Erin Moriartyas Geena,Sting’s Ryan Corr andArchive 81alum Dina Shihabi. Maintaining a solid 71% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes following multiple festival premieres, the movie is a heart-wrenching and emotional story complete with powerful performances from its roster of actors and gorgeous visual direction from debuting filmmaker Stuart Gatt.
Following the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Jai Courtney to discussCatching Dust, how he captured the various layers of his “damaged” character, the joy of getting the opportunity to act in a movie different from his blockbuster action trend, collaborating with Gatt and Moriarty and his thoughts on a potential DC return as either Captain Boomerang or a new character following hisSuicide Squaddeath.
Playing Clyde Was Like Doing A “Dance Internally” For Courtney
Screen Rant:Catching Dustis such a fantastic film from start to finish. I think it’s one of my favorite performances of yours to date, and I’d love to hear what it was about Stuart’s script and this character that really spoke to you to want to be a part of the project?
Jai Courtney: Well, first, I appreciate that so much, thank you. I’m really proud of this performance and the film. I think, for me, it was the character Stuart wrote. He just had such complexity and there’s a subtle conflict going on with him the whole time. We don’t get to know too much about what it is that he’s trying to protect him and Geena from, and this kind of life that he’s committed to for them. But there’s a version of the truth that I think we start to gather, and it sort of turns out that that’s not quite accurate, either. I think there was just an opportunity there on screen to do a dance with it where there’s a character within the character.
I think he’s sort of committing to this minor deception all to sort of serve an idealistic view that he has about where he can kind of put them. It’s all about his fear of returning to the kind of life that the city, that the Big Smoke, sort of pulled him into. He’s a damaged guy, he’s got a lot of childhood trauma, he was abandoned as a young boy and taught to fend for himself. He became, at a certain point, someone who he wasn’t proud of, and he kind of has to commit to this idea that they’re just there for the time being, and they’re running away from imminent danger and all this stuff.
But really, the danger is in what he’s worried about going back to, and who it made him become. I think doing that dance internally, as opposed to exposing it all, was something that was really attractive to me in playing this role. I was really privileged that Stuart wanted me to be a part of it. It was very different from anything I’d ever tackled before, and just a wonderful collaborative experience. I’m stoked with where we got to and, yeah, it’s nice of you to say that it’s some of my better work, and I tend to agree. [Chuckles]
I think it’s, in part, being given the chance to do something with a character that is really detailed and multifaceted, and that’s also with Stuart guiding that process, and obviously, my wonderful cast. I’m so thrilled.
Gatt’sCatching DustScript Didn’t Leave Courtney With A Need To Do Homework
There are so many layers to Clyde that really do, like you say, make this a great game of figuring out who he is and whether we should empathize with him or not. You just laid out such a great framework of who this guy is, but what would you say was the key for you to get into his heart and be able to bring those layers to life?
Jai Courtney: I touched on him playing this character for her, and it’s about committing to that. But he’s damaged, and I think some of his shame is really the thing that stops him from being able to give us more information. And maybe that makes it more interesting from an audience perspective, because we’re trying to figure it out too. But really, what’s happening with him is turmoil and the hope that if he can keep her in the dark long enough that they will end up just kind of residing in this space where nothing can touch them.
There’s a moment where he breaks down, it’s a pretty intimate, intense scene between Clyde and Geena. And you see, probably, the most truth that we get in the film, which is he’s kind of weeping saying he just wants to go back to the nights when they were in the truck, and that’s all that mattered. I think that’s what’s going on for him inside, is this desire to be able to take them back to a place where things were pure and kind of innocent, and it was just their love keeping them alive. But the lifestyle he chose, and the person he became, I think he was probably a heavy drinker and into some other stuff, and it led to an abusive situation at one point, where he lost control of who he was, and he’s not proud of that at all.
I think when you have a great script, it really sort of eliminates a lot of the homework. I didn’t have to go digging super hard to find out who this guy was. There was enough detail in that for me to get a hold of it. But Stu is really great at collaborating and allowing his actors to find what it is they need to just sink their teeth in. I was just privileged to have such great material, I really was. And I think the production, as a whole, helped us all deliver on a much higher level. Aurélien Marra, who’s worked with the camera, really was, I think, elite, and the language of how the cinematography makes the audience feel is such a wonderful tool, and somewhat overlooked at times, you know, before you see the final image and mood of a film.
But I just think there was an alchemy happening with this thing, and we were all on the same page. And sometimes, it’s not all said, but it comes together with everyone’s input. So, yeah, I’m not a huge homework guy. I kind of run on instinct and start to figure out who someone is, and ensure that there’s a level of understanding of my filmmaker. But once it feels like we’re on the same page, you just kind of go with your gut.
Since we’re talking about Geena, I would love to hear what it was like working with Erin for this film to really create a safe space for each other to dive into these characters and their more vulnerable moments.
Jai Courtney: Yeah, we met up early on. Not too early, everything comes together pretty quickly on a film of this size. But we broke the ice in LA and then the tool we used to find who we were before you meet these couple on screen was an idea that one of us had, where we started writing letters to each other from kind of another Clyde and Geena that we don’t really get to meet, but is a couple that we’re somewhat introduced to through references of what the memory of them was like.
I think it helped us just create information that the audience don’t ever really get to know, but if it becomes a truth for us, then we get to carry that into the shoot. And we didn’t really continue to deploy that as a weapon, it just created a space where it wasn’t wrong, it wasn’t right, it didn’t have to all line up. She would tell me things about the memories they had, I would reference stuff we would talk about. It’s almost like extended scenes. There was just a dialogue between us in print that helped us see where each other were at, and what life might have been like for these two. That was the most valuable piece of prep, I think, in figuring out who we were, and where we’d come from. We were bouncing a lot of music between us.
I think anything that sets the mood can just help you get an understanding. You’re sure as f–k gonna find out at that point if you’re miles off, and you’re about to appear in two different films. [Laughs] But fortunately for us, that wasn’t the case, and Erin was great. I love working with her, it was a very supportive environment. We were really in a bubble on this one, and not just with the two of us, with the four of us. Sickeningly so, in fact, we all kind of fell in love, and it was one of those ones where it was hard to break the seal and actually decompress, because it was such an immersive experience.
Courtney Hasn’t Talked With Jamess Gunn About His DC Future (But There’s “Unfinished Business”)
Before I let you go, I did want to ask. I’m still heartbroken overBoomer’s death inThe Suicide Squad, and I’d love to know, James has Nathan coming back, even though T.D.K. seemingly died, as a Green Lantern. Do you ever have talks with James about trying to come back, and how do you feel these years later, about Boomer’s death?
Jai Courtney: I don’t have talks with James. [Playing a new character is] a nice idea, but no, we’re cool. We haven’t caught up for some time. But, yeah, look, man, I would love to see that character get on screen again, and if I’m the guy to play it, then that’d be even better. I remember having a conversation with him before we shot that installment, and kind of feeling like it was such a bummer that he was killing him off, because I felt like it derailed any chance of any lateral movement within that world. And he was the one that was like, “You know that’s not true. Anything could happen, these things jump time, they go back and forth, and things.”
It sort of, actually, helped me chill out a little, because there was obviously an emotional attachment to that part, and I still feel like there’s unfinished business. So, who knows? If things continue to accelerate for me, and there’s a time where the right people want to get involved, and we can create something more with that character, then I would obviously love to. It was so much fun to play him, and take him into a space that wasn’t necessarily bound to what we came to know, or if people did get to know him from the comics, it sort of was a role that jumped all over the place and had different iterations over the years. So, I don’t see why there’s any reason we can’t continue to have that conversation. It’s just about the right people wanting to do it at the right time, and yeah, I certainly wouldn’t be closed off to it.
AboutCatching Dust
Geena finally decides to leave her criminal husband, Clyde, and their isolated Texas hideout when a couple from New York suddenly arrives, in search of respite from the city. Ignoring the risks their presence may bring, Geena convinces Clyde to let them stay, a decision with dangerous consequences.
Catching Dustis now in select theaters and on VOD.
Catching Dust
Cast
Erin Moriarty stars in Catching Dust, a drama film from writer-director Stuart Gatt. Geena (Moriarty) is an artist looking to make it big, hoping to leave behind her desert home and controlling/abusive partner, Clyde. Before she’s able to leave, a new couple from New York City move in next door, hoping to escape exactly what Geena wants to head towards. What starts off as a friendly meeting of neighbors devolves into a clash of egos - with disasterous results.
