ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to Twisters star Sasha Lane about the blockbuster action movie. Lane discussed her role in the film, becoming familiar with drones, and working with Glen Powell. It is now available to own digitally.
“Twisters brings back the blockbuster disaster epic with a whirlwind of heart-stopping action and exhilarating thrills. Ever since a devastating tornado encounter, Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) gave up chasing storms across the Oklahoma prairie to safely study them on screens in New York City. Lured back to the field by her friend Javi (Anthony Ramos) and a once-in-a-lifetime scientific opportunity, Kate crosses paths with Tyler (Glen Powell), a charming daredevil and self-proclaimed tornado wrangler whose thirst for tornado-tracking adventures made him a social media sensation. As storm season intensifies with terrifying phenomena unlike anything seen before, Kate and Tyler realize they may need to work together if they are to have any chance of taming, and surviving, an unprecedented outbreak of destructive tornados,” says the synopsis.
I love hearing about prep and I know it’s not always necessary, but did you learn to actually operate some drones? How was it kind of looking into that aspect of the character?
Sasha Lane: Oh, yeah. Because I kind of wanted to semi-know what I was doing at least. So I started Googling how to operate drones and like, “Okay, this is up-down, like right, whatever.” Like, is it a big video game controller vibes or is it very subtle? So I kind of got into the downward spiral of YouTube.
The props on set, they were in the location. They were really good at also tapping in and helping me out. Alex, the guy who actually flew my drone. I would watch him and ask him questions and stuff. It’s super neat to me now. I used to be terrified of them, but I think it’s a really sick what you can do with the drone. I think it’s great.
You have such a fun role in this film. What do you like most about being this really fun sidekick? You get to show a lot of character with Lily.
I think just that there’s nothing better than kind of stripping away the seriousness of something and just kind of being able to find your own element within it. I knew I had a purpose. I did what I did and it is just nice not having to even worry about like my twang coming out when I get excited or kind of spacing out somewhere. You just kind of get to be more present and that was really a nice change.
There’s such a fun group that you get to interact with. So how was it kind of just bonding with them? Especially when you’re doing these shots in the car, which there’s not a lot of space there. You’re kind of just stuck together.
That is the best way to bond some people in a limited amount of time, very quickly is to put them in a hot vehicle. It is you because it’s just, you start to lose your mind a little bit with the hours, the heat, the just repeating of lines, the fact that we’re screaming into the void, trying to envision there being a tornado going from one o’clock to three o’clock back to 11 o’clock, and you’re like, what is going on? So it was just fun. I love, I’m really into that kind of version of forced, uh, bonding. ’cause that’s the only way I’ll hang out is just like, we can’t really go anywhere and only way you can go is right out on the dirt road. So it was cool, it was easy, it was fun. Like those guys were great to be and hairy, like all of them were great.
That bond really shows through the film too. You all seem like a group that’s been together for a long time, so it really worked.
I was so curious about the scenes in the truck and the driving scenes because they look incredible. But when you’re actually filming, how much of that are you actually riding around, or is it mostly just stationary? What’s the movie magic there?
I feel like we really were doing essentially everything they were doing. Glen drove a lot. I got to drive my van because I was begging. Sometimes we had someone on top driving us, but we were still going through all the roads. They were shoveling ice cubes at us, throwing sticks at the car. It was actually raining sometimes, and they were putting the big fans and stuff, and we were trying to get from seat to seat. Pretty much what you had there was what we had going on and just a lot of screaming and yelling and trying to be hype, which I’m not really that hype of a person. So that was hilarious trying to make me be excited. So I had to really amplify myself there.
You got to share a lot of scenes with Glen, and obviously, he’s very charismatic, but he seems to really care about the process and takes it very seriously. So, what stood out about him as a scene partner?
He’s very confident but like calm, and he makes it all look kind of just with effort but effortless. You know what I mean? It’s like, he cares. It’s not like he’s just like, “Eh, it’s fine.” He has a lot of care in him, but he also just has such a relaxed energy that it just puts you at ease. It doesn’t feel super intense or like he’s trying to prove something. It just feels like he really genuinely wants to be there, and he wants it to be the best, and he wants everyone to actually feel comfortable and good and solid, just like he wants himself to feel solid. I genuinely think he’s a great guy and a great actor. So it makes me really excited for everything that’s happening for him.
This isn’t a remake, but I was just curious what your relationship was with the original Twister. Did you see that growing up? Were you a fan?
Yeah, I loved it. I used to watch it all the time. I absolutely loved that film. So this is great to be a part of kind of our own stand-alone version in the times that we’re in now. So it just feels like the best of both worlds growing up with that film and then getting to be a part of a new generational Twisters.
I apologize for putting you on the spot, but it’s the big hot debate: Twister ends with a kiss. Twisters did not end with a kiss. Where do you fall on the debate?
I love that it didn’t end with a kiss. I think that was the perfect decision, I think. Team No Kiss.
I absolutely loved your performance in How to Blow Up a Pipeline, and that was one of my favorite films last year. I wish more people had seen that wonderful movie. So I would love to just let you pitch to everybody checking out Twisters why they should check that out too.
I think I loved doing How to Blow Up a Pipeline. I think it was a pretty gnarly experience, but I think we had this own internal pressure behind it because of what we were doing, and there really was a big message part of it. But I think How to Blow Up a Pipeline, like Twisters, sometimes you have this big stakes thing. You need the explosion, you need a heist, you need gnarly tornadoes and fun car rides and all of that to really then hone people into a deeper message.
I think that’s what I liked about both of them. And I think Pipeline gave people this level of like, “Oh, like this is some weird heist, kind of save the world kind of thing, but like, whatever, we’ll check it out.” And I think once you tap in, you really start to go a bit deeper into everything — I’m the worst at explaining films and why you should watch them –, but I just think it hits. They both hit.
I think you’re far from the worst. That was a wonderful sell on it.
Thanks to Sasha Lane for taking the time to discuss Twisters.
