Jai Courtney should be feeling pretty good at the moment. His latest film, “Terminator Genysis,” looks like it's going to have a strong opening over the Fourth of July holiday and “should” be the fourth $100 million grosser of his career. Not bad considering he's only made 10 films over the course of his short career. Still, as we began to talk about “Genysis,” where he takes over the role of Kyle Reese, the 29-year-old Aussie could not stop touching his strangely shaven beard.
Actually, what Courtney has on his face at the moment technically isn't a beard. It's more like a set of misshapen mutton chops with a mustache added for good measure. And, again, Courtney can't stop playing with it. From an outsider's perspective it seems like it's annoying the crap out of him.
“Liking it? I'm alright with it,” Courtney says when I inquire about the beard style. “I'm ready for it to go.”
A few moments later he adds, “It could be worse.”
It turns out Courtney had grown out his facial hair to have different options before portraying Captain Boomerang (really, that's the character's name) in Warner Bros.'s adaptation of the DC comic book “Suicide Squad.” As Courtney tells it, he was just sitting in the makeup chair before filming began when director David Ayer just started “attacking” him with a trimmer. The result was the current misshapen monstrosity he can't wait to get rid of.
That's just part of the story, however. To really get the low down on what really happened hear Courtney recall what Ayer was thinking in the video embedded at the top of this post.
“Terminator Genysis” is now playing nationwide. “Suicide Squad” will arrive in theaters August 5, 2016.
For more movie industry insight follow @HitFixGregory.