A London native, Daisy Edgar-Jones didn't have much Oklahoma experience before she traveled to the American Heartland to film the new event movie "Twisters."
Once she set foot on Oklahoma red dirt, though, the Golden Globe-nominated actress quickly embraced the Sooner State culture, from storm chasing to line dancing.
"I was so excited to be here. ... My character is from here, she grew up here, she grew up loving chasing, she grew up being very aware of the weather and understanding it. And, obviously, (there's) the accent and the line dancing," Edgar-Jones told The Oklahoman Monday night at the Oklahoma City premiere of "Twisters."
The long-awaited follow-up to the 1996 blockbuster "Twister " stars Edgar-Jones as Kate Carter, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her college years who now studies storm patterns on screens safely in New York City . The Sapulpa native is lured back into storm season on the open Plains by her friend, Javi ( Anthony Ramos ) to test a groundbreaking new tracking system.
Out in the field in the midst of record tornadic conditions, they cross paths with Tyler Owens ( Glen Powell ), a charming and reckless social-media superstar who thrives on posting his storm-chasing adventures with his rowdy crew.
Which famous OKC dance club did British star Daisy Edgar-Jones become a fan of while making 'Twisters?'
A proud Texan, Powell said his British co-star soon became a big fan of Cowboys OKC , the famously down-home Oklahoma City club known for its line-dancing lessons and live indoor bull riding with a real-life bovine.
"The Brit of the cast became obsessed with line dancing. One of the best line dancers I've ever seen in my whole life, and I grew up around a lot of 'em," Powell told The Oklahoman on the red carpet. "She really took us to Cowboys, and we went out to a bunch of different places. But she made it entertaining all the whole time."
A new, contemporary chapter for the 1990s smash "Twister," which also filmed in Oklahoma, is opening in theaters Friday, July 19 . Along with Edgar-Jones and Powell, Ramos, director Lee Isaac Chung , executive producer Ashley Jay Sandberg and storm consultant Kevin Kelleher celebrated the impending release of the summer tentpole movie Monday night by walking the red carpet at the special invitation-only screening at Harkins Bricktown 16 theater in downtown OKC.
Other attendees at the event included U.S. Sen. James Lankford, Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell , OKC Mayor David Holt, "Reservation Dogs" star Lane Factor and frontman Max Rainer of the acclaimed Tulsa-based folk-rock band Wilderado , who has a cameo in the film and a song on the soundtrack .
How was 'Twisters' star Daisy Edgar-Jones' real-life storm-chasing experience?
On the OKC red carpet, Edgar-Jones chatted with The Oklahoman about her line-dancing addiction, her Oklahoma accent and her real-life storm-chasing experience:
Q: As a Londoner, how was it coming to Oklahoma to make this movie?
When Isaac said we were gonna film here, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, that is so phenomenal' ... and I really embraced being here. I just loved it.
Q: Glen told me you became obsessed with line dancing here. Is this true?
I'm addicted. (chuckles) It's so much fun. It's so communal as well. I just love anything where you're dancing with people. When I went on nights out, I'd watch people do it.
I don't know, I just think it's really good for you to be dancing with people. I'm going to try and bring it on to London. I think there's clubs there; I'm going to try and join them.
Q: Did you go to Cowboys OKC? And did they run the bull through for you?
Yes, which I didn't expect. (chuckles)
Q: And how was that?
Well, I definitely was like, 'I'm in Oklahoma.' (laughs)
Q: What's the core Oklahoma memory that you made during your time here that you're going to take with you?
It's just so hard to say because there's so many. The whole cast were so wonderful. Being here, being out in the big sky, experiencing extreme weather. We had one day where an entire massive mesocyclone cloud formed behind us, and it looked like a spaceship. Just seeing that cloud and being like, 'Wow, that's our natural world,' it's so amazing.
Q: Are you a weather junkie now? Are you somebody who wants to be following the forecast or try storm chasing?
I've been chasing. Yeah, we've become really good friends with a bunch of chasers, and Glen and Brandon (Perea) from the cast and I, we went chasing a couple months ago.
We followed a storm all the way to Kansas, but we didn't see any tornadoes, though. I'm definitely gonna come back and try again — from a very safe distance. ...
I do love weather. Being a Brit, we talk about the weather all the time, so now I know a little bit more about what I'm talking about, which is good.
Q: Congratulations on your Oklahoma accent. It got my Oklahoma seal of approval, and that's hard to get. So, how did you do that?
Well, that means a lot. Thank you. To be honest, I mostly work in accents. I think I'd be deeply embarrassed if I had to act in my own voice at this point.
But to me, being here and filming here and meeting people and listening and tuning my ear in was really helpful. So, I would say to anyone doing it, come here and really listen.
Q: How did you like doing the action for this film? By the time you get to the end of this movie, you and your castmates look a bit bedraggled.
(Laughs) Yeah, but the action was so much fun. I've never done anything like this before, and I was so curious to see how they were gonna recreate and represent the storms onscreen. And I was surprised by how much of it was (practical) special effects, not (digital) visual effects.
We had amazing visual effects, of course. But we were out there really under the big sky, with big fans throwing debris at us. So, I really enjoyed it.
Of course, I hysterically laughed at the end of every scene, really, because you can't not when you've just been blasted by a jet engine.
Q: Did you have a favorite tornado from 'Twisters?'
My favorite scene — or the scene I'm most proud of — is the sequence from the motel into the pool and out again. It's all done in a oner (a long, uninterrupted camera shot). It makes it feel like it's just relentless, and it really gets the adrenaline going. I think it's such impressive filmmaking and a great idea from Isaac.
We also filmed it in December. So, when you're in a tank top and shorts with rain and a wind machine (and it's) below zero, it's a challenge. I'm just glad I looked alive, so it was great.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: From line dancing to storm chasing, 'Twisters' star Daisy Edgar-Jones embraces Oklahoma
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