Interview: Co-Star Jake Johnson Talks THE MUMMY (2017)

Arriving in theaters this weekend is Alex Kurtzman’s The Mummy, kicking off Universal’s upcoming Dark Universe that hopes to resurrect all of the studio's classic monsters for modern audiences. During the press day earlier this week, Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with Jake Johnson (Jurassic World, New Girl) about taking on his most action-oriented role to date, collaborating with Tom Cruise as well as Kurtzman, and more.

Look for The Mummy in theaters, beginning tonight, courtesy of Universal Studios.

I absolutely loved your character in this and there's a lot I want to talk about, but obviously there are some spoilers, so I have to figure out a way to work around that.

Jake Johnson: Welcome to my world of doing press for this one [laughs].

Right? I guess we'll start off in terms of coming into this project, how excited were you to come into this world that a lot of genre fans are already very familiar with and be able to bring it to a new audience in a very different way than we've seen before?

Jake Johnson: Yeah, I was excited. I was really excited to work with the people involved more than anything. I got to know Alex through the process and I was excited to see what he was like as a director, and I was really excited to act with Tom Cruise, too. Then, when I heard I got to do scenes with Courtney B. Vance, I'm a big fan of his. His work on the O.J. show [American Crime Story] was so incredible and I think that was my favorite show of last year. I felt really excited, and I loved Annabelle Wallis on Peaky Blinders as well, so it felt like such a good group of people to go out and make a movie with.

Did you enjoy the fact that Alex took you guys over to these really exotic locales in order to make it feel like this big, sweeping epic? Did that enhance your performance in being able to be over there as opposed to shooting on a soundstage here is Los Angeles where you could go home at the end of the night and shake it off?

Jake Johnson: Yeah, in a way, it did help the performance, but more than anything it helped the experience. I am a believer that on a soundstage, you can do just as good of work, because the audience at home doesn't know. But it made for a way more unique experience to be able to be out in Africa and see these unbelievably beautiful dunes. We shot out where there were these old ruins and it was a beautiful experience. It was a really great chance to see different parts of the world.

I'm also curious, too, because especially with the opening scenes, you and Tom have quite a predicament that you have to work your way out of. Did you have to do any specialized training to be able to work through those action-based moments?

Jake Johnson: We trained for about four months together. When I got the job in March, we did all of that stunt work in August. We spent March through August preparing for it and doing different training things. Tom's got the best trainers in the world working with him. He opened up his gym for me and I got to work out with him and learn his techniques, and by the time August came, I felt very ready and I was excited to do it.

One thing that I thought was really fun—and I'm going to figure out the best way to phrase this so we don't ruin anything for fans—but your character has a really interesting purpose in this film. In terms of, you're not only Tom's friend, but you also become his guide at certain points, too. Can you discuss building up that dynamic between the two of you?

Jake Johnson: That was something when Alex casted me that he said that he wanted to be really important. He wanted the Vail and Nick [Tom’s character] relationship to seem very real and to make them seem like they were old friends and that they've been doing these adventures together for years. I think Tom and I, when we first met, got along, and then by training together and by working out together, it really formed that connection between us. I think all the training from the stunts that we did in real life really helped us on screen.

How was it working with Alex on this? I know he's been producing stuff for many years now, in terms of these really big franchises, but him directing is a relatively new avenue in his career.

Jake Johnson: Working with Alex was great. Alex is a really collaborative guy and a really fun guy, but this wasn't the job where I was part of the creation process. With Tom and with Alex, those two guys combined had given it a lot of thought and this wasn't a small movie that we were all funding together. My job was to find a way to give them as many options so that they were happy in post-production. The idea wasn’t to find a way where all three of us are happy. It was, let's find a way where you guys are happy with what I’m doing, and then I was happy doing what they needed me to do. 

You were also part of Jurassic World last summer, too, so I’m curious as to how cool is it now for you to have been a part of two really big Universal movies that have rebooted these franchises for the fans out there?

Jake Johnson: Yeah, it's been really cool to be in these films, and that they happen to be these huge movies. But for me, it's less about what the product is and obviously more about who the people are and what we get to do. Because I love working on the indies as much as I love working on the studio projects. It’s all been really cool, honestly.

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Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more interviews with the cast and crew of The Mummy, and in case you missed it, read Heather's review of the film.