Hassie Harrison and Josh Heuston Talk ‘Dangerous Animals’ And Passion For Surfing

Zephyr (Hassie Harrison) is a nomadic surfer whose journey to Australia turns horrific thanks a life threatening encounter with serial killer Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney). Bruce feeds his victims to the hungry sharks that surround his boat, and Zephyr and her new love interest Moses (Josh Heuston) might be their next meal! Ella Newton, Liam Greinke, and Michael Goldman round out the ensemble.

As I mentioned in the interview, “Dangerous Animals” is a recommended watch at your local theater. The movie debuts June 6th in theaters, and I’d love to hear your thoughts on the movie!

Check out my interview with Harrison and Heuston below:

Question: Hi guys. I’m Greg Srisavasdi with Deepest Dream. Pleasure to meet you both. 

Hassie Harrison: You too. Nice to meet you. 

Question: It must be an amazing experience to be promoting “Dangerous Animals” at the Cannes Film Festival.

Hassie Harrison: Yeah, I think it’s been so surreal. I’m on a high from it all, To go to Cannes and to be so well received is just . . . the night it premiered, I think I couldn’t stop crying. It was so meaningful to me. Like you said, just a dream come true.

Josh Heuston: It’s one of the most, yeah, prestigious film festivals in the world, so especially to get a standing ovation. It was nuts. I didn’t know where to put my hands while it was going on. I tried every single position in my pocket.

Hassie Harrison: Australians don’t like compliments and they don’t really like attention, and so they were like, “Alright, all right, thank you. Let’s go, let’s leave.” And I was like, “Alright guys!” 

Josh Heuston: I’d already hugged everyone like four times. I didn’t know what else to do! 

***Podcast version of the full interview:

Question: This movie has to be seen on the big screen, in my opinion, at least for the first time. What was it like seeing it with a crowd on the big screen?

Josh Heuston: I think that . . . yeah, go ahead. 

Hassie Harrison: Sorry. I was just gonna say thank you for saying that. Absolutely. It’s definitely a movie that you want to go see in the theaters and It was so surprising and interesting to watch the movie through other people’s perspectives and where you hear some laughs that I wasn’t expecting. It was the coolest thing ever. 

Josh Heuston: Yeah. The audience reaction was insane. Everyone’s laughing, screaming, crying, and (watching this movie in theaters) is definitely a group activity.

 

 

 

 

 

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Question: I’m sure you guys have been asked a lot of shark film questions the first time you saw “Jaws,” but what was the first film that really scared you from the jump when you were a kid and getting into cinema? For me it was “Jaws” and “The Exorcist.”But what about for you guys?

Josh Heuston: Oh, I think well, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” always freaked me out. As a kid, but yeah, “Jaws” is another one of them. In Australia, you always hear about sharks and whatnot, so that makes it feel a lot more real.

But I also get really freaked out about things like “Paranormal Activity.” The way that was filmed just really freaks me out. 

Hassie Harrison: I remember “The Blair Witch Project.” 

Josh Heuston: Yeah. 

Hassie Harrison: That was like, so like raw. I’m so easily scared though. There’s a scene in “City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold,” which is a comedy, but there’s a lightning storm outside. They’re inside at night and the lightning strikes and then all of a sudden some dude’s face is right there! I still think about that every time there’s a storm outside. 

Question: I’m assuming both of you are passionate about surfing. Is that movie magic or are both of you really into surfing as well? And if so, what is it about the culture and surfing that draws you both in? 

Hassie Harrison: Yeah, he’s a great surfer and we got to surf while we were shooting this movie, which was really fun.

And I think for me it’s just there’s no bad days in the water. It’s just good to get in the ocean even. If the waves aren’t there, it’s just to paddle around and just connect. It’s so cool. 

Josh Heuston: Yeah, we lived across the road from the beach, so for me it was a dream come true. I surfed sometimes before set and after set.

So it was like a holiday at the same time really. 

Hassie Harrison: It really was. 

We review “Oldboy,” “Mickey 17,” and “Ghost Trail” on CinemAddicts Episode 296: 

Question: Hassie, without giving too much away, how much swimming did you have to do and what’s the challenge of doing your screams in the film? They were really believable.

Hassie Harrison: Thank you for saying that. One of the prerequisites to this movie was being a strong swimmer. That was super important to Sean. And luckily I am a strong swimmer and, yeah, the screams came from a real place. It’s super guttural. I can’t tell you how many times I lost my voice and, but yeah, (I’m a) full on Scream Queen.

 

 

 

 

 

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Question: And for you, Josh again, without getting too much weight, you have some really great physical moments, and then there are moments where you’re in a very uncomfortable place as well. How much physicality was that, because it may not seem as much, but it seems like a lot when you really break it down to the science of it, I’m assuming.

Josh Heuston: Yeah, it was quite a physical role actually, a bit. For me I always like a challenge and I had Jai for most of those bigger physical scenes, and he’s done stunt work and fight scenes and all that stuff for a massive part of his career. So I took a lot from him and learned a lot along the way.

But yeah, it was definitely a kind of physically demanding in that harness. 

Hassie Harrison: You guys killed it though. Like y’all’s chemistry is its own other thing. You know what I mean? Yeah. It was just. So sweet to see. 

Josh Heuston: I love him like a brother, so it’s it’s was such an easy.

Hassie Harrison: I got two brothers out of this, so it’s great. You guys are stuck with me! 

Question: Absolutely. Is there something that surprised both of you when you first saw “Dangerous Animals?” Because this is a thriller that really has a lot of layers to it. So you guys knew the layers because you read the script, but what did, what surprised you both when you first saw the complete cut?

Josh Heuston: I think for me it was Jai’s performance. When you read the script I didn’t think like Tucker’s such a charismatic, but also menacing character. And then I think that’s a big testament to that is what Jai was able to bring to Tucker.

Hassie Harrison: it could have been dark and heavier. And he found a way to create this levity with the character and almost like comedic relief that I think makes this genre film fun, There’s like a rewatchability to this movie that I’m really proud of, I can’t wait to go watch it in the theater. I’m just gonna hide in there with a hoodie. It’s it’s such a fun, cool movie. And just to have that experience of, watching it with other people is so unbelievable. 

Question: My final question to both of you, just a quick two-parter. Can he give you, name one of your all-time favorite films? And the second part of that question, after watching this film, where should our audience go next regarding a film or TV project that you both feel is really underrated in your resume? 

Josh Heuston: “Blue Valentine” is one of my all time favorites and I think it’s just, it’s next to a perfect film. Yeah. That’s one of my favorite things to watch. And I guess in my resume. Yeah, just “Dangerous Animals” is probably the one that you should watch again.

Hassie Harrison: Favorite movie of all time. There’s so much pressure there. I always say “Legends of the Fall” or something like that, but recently I saw a movie called “Old Henry” that is an incredible movie that is one of those movies I tell people like, “Don’t read anything about it – just put it on.” And yeah, that was one of the cooler movies I’ve seen in a while. 

Question: Thank you guys so much for your time. We really appreciate it.

Catch “Dangerous Animals” in theaters June 6th!

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