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The new Jaume Collet-Serra movie Carry-On, starring Taron Egerton (Kingsman) and Jason Bateman, is on Netflix now. One of its greatest strengths is its airport setting.
ClutchPoints spoke to seasoned stunt coordinator Dave Macomber (Avengers: Endgame), who credited production designer Diane Lederman for making it happen.
While Netflix's Carry-On takes place at LAX, they actually shot it at a partially abandoned airport in New Orleans, Louisiana. A couple of years ago, a nasty storm hit and caused a portion of the airport to be vacated.
“Diane came in and turned it into a functioning airport,” Macomber praised.
Having the set built helped people like Macomber with their work. It gave the crew access to parts of the airport they generally wouldn't.
“Since 9/11, you can't get into the baggage processing areas,” Macomber gave as an example.
Once he got his assignment, Macomber did a lot of research on airports and how these areas work. Macomber worked closely with the storyboard artists to develop these scenes. Given that the Netflix thriller takes place in an airport, it didn't require elaborate set pieces.
“It became coordination between various departments between the art department, stunts, special effects, and visual effects to determine which pieces we needed to have built in order for us to accomplish the bits of the fight that were going on, and then where it was going to be augmented in post[-production],” he explained.
Ultimately, Macomber had a pretty simple job: “Most of my stuff, in terms of the airport, was just a whole lot of running for Taron and making sure he didn't crash into anybody.”
Dave Macomber on Carry-On stars Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman
Carry-On features a great cat-and-mouse-like relationship between Egerton and Bateman's characters. While Egerton gained notoriety for his action-filled roles in the Kingsman franchise, Bateman is not necessarily an action star.
According to Macomber, “Both of them are incredibly handy guys.” That helped them play their parts. Although, in Egerton's case, he may be known for playing Eggsy in the Kingsman franchise, he “made a very conscious decision that he didn't want to be Eggsy.”
So, when you see him awkwardly run through LAX, that is Egerton's doing. To Macomber, these “deliberate” choices enhanced the performance.
But not all of the action was just Egerton running. Egerton and Bateman's characters do have a fight on the carousel that Macomber described as “involved.” He praised both of his actors and “really enjoyed working with both of them.”
Going from Avengers movies to Carry-On
If you look through Macomber's impressive filmography, you'll notice that he has done everything. He has worked on blockbusters like Avengers: Endgame and then smaller movies like Netflix's Carry-On. He compared the jump between the two to an actor's preparation.
“You've got somebody like Brad Pitt, who has kind of spanned the gamut in terms of his performances. He's going to modulate depending on the environment that he's in and the kind of project that he's doing,” Macomber explained.
With a movie like Carry-On specifically, Macomber knew that it was going to feature more “grounded” action.
“There's a vocabulary that you're going to bring that may be different than something you're going to do for Daredevil or any of the Marvel shows.”
The Fall Guy and stuntmen
Earlier this year, The Fall Guy was released. Ryan Gosling played a stuntman in the movie who has to save a movie production. Say what you want about the movie; it gave the spotlight to one of the most under-appreciated aspects of filmmaking: the stuntmen.
Granted, experienced stuntman David Leitch directed it. But Macomber did feel well represented with The Fall Guy, specifically citing the scene where Gosling is shaking glass out of his jacket for days after filming a scene.
One misconception about being a stuntman and the “pseudoscience” of stunts that Macomber wants to set the record straight on is how reckless they are. While there are some stuntmen who are “action-oriented people,” they are also “very calculated.”
“That's maybe the thing that people miss is that when it comes to doing — particularly big action sequences — there's a lot of planning that goes into it,” he said. “There's a lot of rehearsal that goes into it. A huge part of my job is thinking about what's going to be the coolest thing; what's going to be the most interesting thing for the viewer to watch, but at the same time, I'm thinking, What could go wrong? How do I plan for that?”
Will Dave Macomber return to Marvel anytime soon?
Previously, Macomber has worked on Marvel projects like Iron Man 3, Thor: Ragnarok, Infinity War, and Endgame. As he noted, he also worked on Ms. Marvel.
However, he is not seemingly set to return in Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars. The self-professed “comic book fiend” with over 4,000 comic books to his name has “nothing with Avengers.”
He did reveal that he “did some work” for Daredevil: Born Again. So, perhaps there is still time for him to onboard Avengers: Doomsday.
Carry-On is streaming on Netflix now.
