“Twisters” may only be Brandon Perea’s second summer blockbuster after also co-starring in Jordan Peele’s 2022 sci-fi horror film “Nope,” but it would seem like he’s getting the hang of it pretty quickly. Taking on the supporting role of Boone, right-hand man to Glen Powell’s tornado wrangler Tyler Owens, Perea delivers a full-throttle, often comedic performance that echoes Philip Seymour Hoffman’s work in the original “Twister” as storm-chaser and food-lover Dusty. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter for a recent interview, Perea shared how he immediately recognized Boone as the Dusty character of the sequel, but didn’t realize he’d be the one to take it on.
“When I first got the script, I didn’t know which character I was actually reading for. I just got the script to see if I was into it. And then we had the roles mixed up,” Perea said. He went on to explain how his agency had given him the wrong role to read for, but that the character of Boone stood out to him. He later added, “In the middle of reading the script, I told my partner, ‘Oh man, there’s this funny guy, Boone. He is kind of the Philip Seymour Hoffman type. Shout out to the poor bastard who plays him because that’s going to be so much weight on your shoulders.’ And I ultimately ended up being that poor bastard.”
Rather than fall under the weight of stepping in his shoes, Perea embraced the ethos the late Oscar-winning character actor did throughout his career.
“Of course, I was terrified, but I was also grateful to be able to play a part that you can make stand out in a sense. That’s what Phil Hoffman did his entire career,” said Perea to THR. “He stood out in these great supporting roles, and he just brought so much fun to the first film. So I just wanted to bring a pinky-nail amount of fun that he brought to it, and I hope I did.”
Ultimately, Perea found a great deal of comfort in letting his freak flag fly in the role. He was happy to feel allowed to considering that’s how Boone lived his life.
“With Boone, it’s all out there, so it’s so much easier to commit to the bits and just throw things at the wall and see what works. So I call Boone the easiest acting performance I’ve ever had to do,” Perea said. “Just being able to run around and scream and have fun was the easiest gig, and I was so grateful that it just felt that easy. So, shout-out to the cast and crew who dealt with me running around and screaming the whole time.”
