LOS ANGELES, May 9 (UPI) -- Josh Hartnett says his new movie Fight or Flight, in theaters Friday, represents the direction he wants to take in his career. The actor plays Lucas Reyes, a mercenary called back into action to locate a target on a plane.
Unlike the usual stoic action heroes, Reyes is retired and off his game, and further compromised when he's drugged on the plane. In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Hartnett, 46, said he's looking for roles where the character experiences varied states of mind.
"This has all been a progression in my career that I've wanted to play wilder and wilder characters," Hartnett said. "The fact that people are allowing me to do that now is very exciting."
Fight or Flight filmed before last year's Trap, which cast Hartnett as a serial killer accompanying his daughter to a pop star's concert. Like his Trap character faking normalcy, Reyes also makes odd facial expressions as his mission intensifies.
"I don't really develop facial expressions in my work," Hartnett said. "I guess I put myself in the position of the character and try to imagine what he's going through. Then whatever happens happens. It's all about being loose and reactive."
Early in his career, Hartnett played a pilot in Pearl Harbor and real-life soldier Matthew Eversmann in Black Hawk Down, as well as partnering with Harrison Ford in the action comedy Hollywood Homicide. Hartnett said he has no interest in playing infallible heroes.
"Someone who can't lose doesn't create jeopardy," he said. "It's more fun to play when you have a character that's going through a lot of different emotional states and mental states over the course of the film and then having to get through the fights while addled."
Reyes receives his mission from Katherine Brunt (Katee Sackoff), his former boss with whom he parted on bad terms. Katherine monitors Reyes' mission from the ground, allowing the film to take breaks from the action and absurdity.
"Katherine really just allows people to breathe," Sackhoff, 45, said. "From the moment this movie starts, it is just such an adrenaline rush. It is just bonkers. You can't look away or you're going to miss something insane."
Hartnett previously learned fight choreography for 2010's martial arts movie Bunraku, but said Fight or Flight was inherently more challenging 15 years later.
"I was 29 when I did Bunraku and I was 45 when we shot this," Hartnett said. "The difference is just me. My body has aged so I didn't recover quite as quickly but I had to because we shot this in something like 26 days."
As the handler in the control room, Sackhoff got a reprieve from the film's physical load. As Battlestar Galactica's Lt. Starbuck and as The Mandalorian's Bo-Katan Kryze, Sackhoff has frequently played the action heroine.
"It's not every day that I get to play the straight character that doesn't throw punches, do stunts and get hit in the face," she said. "My body appreciated it but I do love some good action. Maybe in the sequel."
Reyes and the villains destroy the plane through the course of the flight. Hartnett said they had to finish filming in each section before it was totally ruined.
"There was blood splatter everywhere," he said. "A lot of seats got ripped out, broken. Half of the fuselage broke off at one point. We could only shoot in specific areas and then move to another area. There was no going back."
Hartnett also changes into pajamas provided by the airline when Reyes' original clothes get bloodied. That was the actor's idea.
"There's nothing more revealing and there's nowhere to hide in something like that," he said. "It's not tough. There's nothing tough about it and I didn't want the character to come across as a tough guy."
In contrast, Katherine wears power suits, turtlenecks and eyeglasses. Sackhoff appreciated the modern wardrobe after a career of sci-fi uniforms.
"It's a step up to not be in a one piece flight suit that's made of latex," she joked, adding, "I don't even know if she needs the glasses. They might just be a mask for her."
