Since making his debut in the hit musical “Hamilton” in 2015, Anthony Ramos has transitioned from Broadway to the big screen, starring alongside Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born” and earning a Golden Globe nomination for his starring role in “In the Heights” as Usnavi.
He faced titans in “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” and teamed up with the Autobots in “Transformers.”: “Rise of the Beasts,” but last summer, while filming “Twisters,” Ramos says, “things got serious.”
A standalone sequel to the 1996 disaster film “Twisters,” it follows Kate (Daisy Edgar-Jones) and Javi (Ramos), two former storm chasers who reunite after becoming estranged in the aftermath of a devastating tornado. Back in Oklahoma, they set out to test new methods of storm tracking, while occasionally clashing with the brash but charming “tornado wrangler” and internet personality, Tyler Owens (Glen Powell). Directed by “Minari” director Lee Isaac Chung, it’s a crowd-pleasing whirlwind with heart and plenty of epic action sequences.
Filmed in the middle of tornado season, Ramos says it was an experience like no other, one that quickly taught him and his co-stars how unpredictable and powerful a tornado can be.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
What drew you to Twisters? Were you a fan of the original?
It's an amazing franchise and the first movie was really iconic. But I think the main reason I signed on was [director] Lee Isaac Chung. I wanted to work with him because he's one of the best at the moment. I wanted to have the opportunity to spend a few months with him, learn from him and make a great film.
What was it about his approach to a “disaster movie” that attracted you?
I felt like he was able to focus on the characters and the story. He made a big movie feel small and personal. Overall, it felt like we were filming an independent movie, except when we were getting blown away by the fans and the rain. [Laughs] But other than that, it was pretty intimate.
I'm sure you experienced a lot of firsts on this set, especially when filming the storm sequences.
Yeah, “Transformers” had a lot of special effects, but this was something different. I mean, they had a jet engine from an airplane that they used to generate wind. It was so powerful that we would come to film in our van, and I would open the door and think, “Hey, this is going to fly.” Even filming the final scene, where Glen [Powell] He got trapped and I tried to help him, they were throwing gallons of water at us. I'm talking about two containers full of water that were coming at us like a cannon. It was like a ride at Universal Studios. It was a wild experience.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
What was it like filming in the middle of tornado season in Oklahoma?
We had a whole special effects team, but a lot of the… [weather] It was real. I'm talking about the sky being blue and we were like, “Wow, it's a beautiful day.” All of a sudden, within minutes, it was cloudy and the wind started blowing. We were like, “Wait, where did this come from?” Every once in a while, a tornado would touch down near us, especially as we started rolling further out of Oklahoma City. It got pretty chaotic.
Were there any near misses?
We had to end early a couple of times. There was one scene where David Corenswet and I were shooting in the car and behind us was this massive storm cloud. We were told we had to stop because it was going to turn into something, and sure enough it did. It turned into a real tornado and our director went to chase it with one of our storm chasing consultants, Sean.
What did you learn from the storm chasers who were with you on set?
Oh, we asked them everything from what music they play while they're chasing other animals to what they do when they're out in the field. I noticed that a lot of the chases involve waiting for something to happen. We also got to see all the cool stuff they do with their cars. They equip them with all this technology to detect wind speed and humidity, but they also have a ton of stuff prepared for any situation. Sean had an axe in his car and when I asked him about it, he said he kept it there because when he was chasing other animals, a tree could fall on his car. He has to be prepared for anything.
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Anthony Ramos, center, and Glen Powell in “Twisters.”
(Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures, Warner Bros. Pictures and Amblin Entertainment)
You mentioned that executive producer Steven Spielberg wanted you to use your real accent for the film. Did that influence the kind of backstory you developed for Javi?
Yeah, I thought of him as someone who grew up in Miami, who went to [Oklahoma University] to study storms and became a storm chaser. It made sense to me that he would want to study storms, because he probably grew up around hurricanes, and I learned from Sean that they chase hurricanes, too. He's literally been in the eye of a hurricane.
What does it mean to you to play a character in a major blockbuster with your real accent?
It's very important to me to be able to talk the way I talk in a movie like this. I've never heard a scientist talk the way I do. Never. When you grow up in a low-income neighborhood or in a slum, being a meteorologist isn't exactly at the top of your list. When I was growing up, not just me, but my friends, we never thought about being a news anchor or a scientist or a storm chaser. We didn't even know that was an option. But now that I've seen it on the big screen, I'm like, “Oh yeah, a guy from Brooklyn could do this if he wanted to. Why not?” Javi seems to know what he's talking about. I don't know what he was saying, but I sounded smart. [Laughs]
Javi raises these kinds of moral questions in the film about people trying to profit from disaster-prone areas. Is this something you've learned to understand after returning to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria?
After Maria, a lot of people saw an opportunity on the island. Unfortunately, that hurricane devastated the island so much that a lot of people left for New York or Florida or wherever they could go. So people who had money took advantage of that. They bought land and now you can see that they have turned it into a tourist attraction. But what I took away from that experience was the resilience of the people. It was very inspiring.
(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)
What do you remember most from that time?
I was there working with Defend Puerto Rico, an organization that my friend Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi started. We were there evicting a man’s house that had been totally destroyed and they were going to tear it down to try to rebuild it. I was devastated, but there was one woman who kept saying, “Who says you can’t do it?” We don’t have to wait for anyone, we can do it ourselves, we’ll figure it out. To experience total devastation and have the courage, the heart, and the faith in other people is something special.
That's a dynamic that's also evident in both films. In rural or remote communities where these storms are a reality, people can feel a little abandoned, so they learn to rely on others and take charge of the situation.
Exactly. It's very powerful to see people coming together for their own interests. There was an attitude of “We're going to solve this.” People were protesting and fighting for what was theirs, because that's their land and they love it like no one else.
Now that you've had a chance to decompress from tornado warnings and sudden storms, what's next on the horizon?
I can’t wait for my new music to come out. I’ve been working on it for a while now. I’m also producing, so I’m excited about the Bob the Builder movie, working with Mattel. I like being able to see an idea through from start to finish. It takes a long time, but it’s exciting to build something. I’m also writing a musical. I’ve been working on that with my son Will Wells, who I met on Hamilton on Broadway. We have 14 songs already. It’s been an amazing experience.
On the set of “Twisters” are Stephen Oyoung, from left, Alex Kingi, David Corenswet, Anthony Ramos and Daisy Edgar-Jones.
(Melinda Sue Gordon/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment)
