Daisy Edgar-Jones on the film "Twister 2"

Daisy Edgar-Jones has starred in one of the biggest movies of this summer, Twister 2. And although it has just hit the big screens, everything suggests that the box office will be big. The film is a new part of the Twister franchise, launched in 1996. Then, Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton played in the original film. The heroine Daisy Kate in the story is their daughter and a desperate tornado hunter, who inherited a love of science and fearlessness. Just four years ago, few people knew about Edgar-Jones until she played a breakthrough role in the Hulu series Normal People. Since then, two more films have followed - Fresh Meat (2022) and Where the Crawdads Sing (2022). In addition, she continued to work on television - in the mini-series Under the Banner of Heaven (2022). And now, "Twister 2" has become the British actress's first big-budget project, with $200 million in filming costs. Before the premiere, she met with the Star-Telegram in Dallas, USA, to talk about working on the disaster film.

S-T: Daisy, what do you think people will enjoy most about this movie?

E-D: I think it’s entertaining. It’s got plenty of adventure and the storytelling is pretty intense. I’m excited for the people who are going to see it. They’re going to have a great time. It’s a movie that you want to see on the big screen and in a group and talk about it afterwards. I’m just really excited for people to have that experience.

S-T: Twister in 1996 was a big deal for us living in Texas. I’m wondering, what does it mean to you?

E-D: It came out before I was born (laughs). I remember watching it when I was little, but I re-watched it around the same time I heard (Lee) Isaac Chung was making Twister 2. I think it’s just really good fun. It’s definitely a classic. It’s a great movie with great actors. Yes, I really like it.

S-T: In the 90s, Twister and Independence Day helped to reboot the disaster movie genre. However, since then, there haven’t been many bright examples, until now, with Twister 2. However, there has always been and still is this feeling that a person can endure all these disasters with fortitude. Do you like this genre?

E-D: Actually, as an actress, I hope to try myself in all genres. Twister 2 is very different from what I have done before. I like the disaster movie genre. Like you said, I like the humanity in such films. These are stories about friendship, fortitude and support. I was so intrigued by this that I perceived the filming as a challenge that I had never encountered before.

S-T: Your character Kate is a tornado chaser, an amateur meteorologist. Something terrible happens to her in the beginning and she quits the game. Then she comes back at the request of an old friend. I won’t give away any spoilers, but I love Kate’s journey. She has to face her fears and overcome a lot of obstacles. When you’re working on a project, reading a script, what aspects of the character resonate with you the most?

E-D: I’m glad you picked up on that. I think she has a really interesting arc. And a much more complicated relationship with “hunting” than most. At one point, she loved it and still loves it, she’s passionate and reverent, but at the same time, she’s really scared. Like, scared of where it might lead. I thought her arc and the whole story was so cool. Plus, Isaac does such a good job of exploring characters in his other films that I was really excited to see him handle it.

S-T: You mentioned Lee Isaac Chung, whose film Minari came out a couple of years ago and was great. What was it like working with him?

E-D: Yeah, he's kind of the main reason I really wanted to do it. Because I loved Minari so much. I also thought it was great that he was doing Twister 2 and why he wanted to do it. I think he grew up in Arkansas and he's always been a big fan of Spielberg. He loves this genre of epic disaster films. His enthusiasm and his involvement was so infectious that it made me want to get into it even more.

S-T: First Lee Isaac Chung, then you, and then Glen Powell and Anthony Ramos. I guess the names just kept coming. What was it like filming with such a great group of actors?

I think one of the great things about the original film was the number of young, talented actors who were making their first big film. Like Philip Seymour Hoffman, for example. It was so great to watch them, and our cast is similar in that way. Everyone is just amazing. All these weird characters you meet are so well thought out and brought to life by brilliant performers. It’s so great just to be in an ensemble cast. I love actors, I love watching them work. It was fun to be on set every day, I felt so lucky.