Jai Courtney Once Shared That He Cringed After Being Cast as Captain Boomerang in ‘Suicide Squad’
Actor Jai Courtney raised his profile even higher after being cast in David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. But when he learned he’d be playing the role of Captain Boomerang, he couldn’t help cringe a little.
Jai Courtney wanted to be a part of ‘Suicide Squad’ because of David Ayer
Courtney once opened up that he had no knowledge of Captain Boomerang prior to joining Suicide Squad. The Good Day to Die Hard actor wasn’t into the comic book genre prior to doing the film, and only learned about Boomerang after being cast.
“You know what, I didn’t, and that may upset some hardcore fans of this franchise. But I just wasn’t into ‘em, you know? And that’s why I stepped in somewhat naively to this,” he once said in an interview with Coming Soon.
Despite this, he was eager to work on the film thanks to Ayer directing the movie.
“There was no question, it was an absolute no-brainer. When I got on the phone with [David Ayer] and he talked about this role and this film, it didn’t really matter – I didn’t care if plans were otherwise earlier it was just about not losing the opportunity to work with him,” he said.
Jay Courtney cringed when he was cast in ‘Suicide Squad’
After Courtney dived into research for his Captain Boomerang role, he discovered he wasn’t comfortable with certain elements of the character.
“There’s a lot of this character that I wanted to leave where it was, you know what I mean? Not in a kind of dismissive way, there are just some characteristics to him that weren’t going to translate to a movie being made in 2016,” he said.
The actor wanted to play the part in a way that he wouldn’t be ashamed of.
“I just wanted to know that it was handled in a way that I could be proud of it back home, as an Aussie as well–there are just some delicacies around that. The character in the comic books can be a little more stereotypical, and I was a little apprehensive to play into those clichés as an Aussie,” he said.
Even when the Hard times director first cast Courtney in the role, Courtney had reservations.
“And, to be honest, when [David Ayer] told me that the role of Captain Boomerang was what he was thinking, I kind of cringed. ‘Cause I wasn’t a comic book kid. I wasn’t familiar with the DC universe and the history of that. So I knew nothing about it. And I was, like, ‘Oh, god, Captain Boomerang…really?…I really don’t know how Australians will react to this,” he once told Spotlight Report.
Jai Courtney felt James Gunn’s ‘The Suicide Squad’ was more adult than David Ayer’s
Courtney would later reprise his role as Captain Boomerang for the 2020 movie The Suicide Squad directed by James Gunn. The film was a loose sequel to the 2016 movie that was different than Ayer’s version in more ways than one. Speaking to Comic Book, Courtney explained what he felt separated the first film with the second one.
“Well, weirdly, there’s probably less nudity on the set of this film than there was on the last one. But what was captured on camera was certainly a little more adult. [James Gunn] was really able to push the envelope with the violence and the humor, but also the heart and the soul. And I think that’s what he’s done so well with this,” Courtney said.
