Aaron Taylor-Johnson Gets Candid About Fatherhood, Fear, And Fighting The Infected In "28 Years Later"
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland have reunited for the horror movie we've all been waiting for; 28 Years Later is finally here. Almost three decades since the rage virus escaped a biological weapons laboratory, Britain is still under a strict quarantine, though some have found ways to survive among the infected. One of these communities is the secluded Holy Island, protected by a causeway and its dedicated residents. When one young member of the group leaves the island and ventures onto the mainland, he discovers the secrets and horrors of the virus, its mutations, and the impact it's had on the world in the decades since it spawned.
Sony Pictures
Starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Jamie – a pivotal member of a remote island community, husband, and father to a curious young son named Spike (played by breakout star Alfie Williams) – 28 Years Later isn't just a return to the rage-infected chaos that defined the franchise. It's a raw, emotionally charged exploration of fatherhood, fear, and the fragile line between protection and control. We sat down with Aaron to talk about playing a morally complex dad, mentoring a young co-star, and why this long-awaited sequel might be the most human chapter yet in the iconic horror saga.
28 Days Later holds such a strong place in the landscape of great British cinema. How much did you know about the premise of the sequel when you signed onto the project?
I remember watching the movies, both 28 Days and 28 Weeks, but 28 Days Later was such a groundbreaking movie, and it definitely made an impact on me, seeing Cillian Murphy walking through the deserted streets of London. I somehow got a copy of Alex Garland's script for 28 Years Later, and then I had to track Danny (Boyle) down because I was just like, 'that's an amazing character. I really want to be a part of this.' So I found Danny and we started the conversations, which was amazing because it's very rare that that happens.
Jamie's such a complex, layered character – how did you work with Danny to convey his internal conflict when it comes to being a father, husband, and important member of the community?
It's great to play a father because I'm a father of four daughters, and it lends a lot to your imagination when you start to think about how you would parent and raise a child in this post-apocalyptic world. So there were a ton of conversations about that, and also about how my character has come from this trauma as a kid, carried that fear, and then maybe found solace and purpose in this community. And that's with his physicality – his skill of being able to be either a protector, or a warrior, or a hunter, and go out to the mainland to a dangerous place. So he's sort of almost become a bit of a role model or a hero in his community, and it's come to the time where he's got to take his son out, and he kind of wants his son to go through that, become a bit of a man, the sort of rites of passage thing. So he's putting a lot of pressure on his son, and that's where you can see where he's kind of flawed in a way. You know, is he projecting too much of his fear onto his son while his son is asking for the truth and trying to find the light in the dark time, you know?
Sony Pictures
Yeah, he's got that kind of protective nature, but then his son's growing up in a world that's completely different.
Yeah, he's protective and he loves his son, obviously, but it's tough love because it just feels like this is how you've got to survive, whereas this is the only world Spike's ever known. So he's just like, well, 'okay, but how do you just live in this environment? And is it us and them?' Because we've been teaching this whole way of being that dehumanises the infected, whereas a child is innocent – Spike's moral compass is kind of questioning that way of thinking.
It's a coming-of-age story for sure. While working alongside Alfie Williams, who's such a young actor, did you feel like yourself taking on that fatherly role on set and behind the scenes?
Yeah, of course, yeah. My youngest is the same age as Alfie so yeah, I felt very protective and paternal over Alfie whilst making the movie, but also in a whole other way; I was a child actor and worked in these kinds of environments so I wanted to sort of mentor him through these moments because it's tough. It's tough just being in your first film, but it's also tough just being a child actor on set when you're expected to be like an adult at all these times. But yeah, he was amazing.
I can't believe it's his first huge role!
Yeah, he's terrific in his movie. Stole the show.
You mentioned those masculine traits when it comes to the father-son relationship, and the example Jamie is trying to set for Spike. Over the course of the film, we see Spike taking on those qualities, but I feel like his protectiveness and bravery manifest differently from Jamie's – can you speak to how that will develop in the next film?
My character is in denial of a couple of things – he's very much in denial of his wife's condition, and he hasn't got answers for. I think he's coming from a fear-based trauma, whereas his son has to sort of face adversity, and he's gone on a quest to find answers for these things, and in that, has grown emotionally, far more emotionally intellectual than his dad. So, yeah, it's life, it's death, it's rebirth, and in that, he's had to have acceptance for those things, whereas my character isn't strong enough emotionally to handle those things. It's different sides of strength.
This is one of the most anticipated films of the year, with such a dedicated fanbase. What are you most looking forward to the fans seeing?
The anticipation for this movie is huge, and it's always exciting when you've got a built-in audience like this and they're just biting at the bit to get through the doors and see it! It's very unpredictable. I don't think you can have any expectations, you know, you're going to expect something, and Danny Boyle's going to take you on a journey of something else. I don't think they're going to be expecting a coming-of-age story amid this post-apocalyptic world, but it's got heart and soul, and that is one thing that 28 Days had and 28 Weeks had – that's the through line. It's a bit of a family drama; a very grounded, intimate story within this big landscape.
You filmed 28 Years Later a nd the trilogy's final instalment back to back. Can you tell us anything about 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple?
All I can tell you is when you get to the end of this movie, you're going to want to see the second one. Spike goes on such a journey, and you're going to want to see how he interacts with the characters that you'll see coming.
I'm so nervous about Jimmy! We'll end on a fun question – If you were part of this post-apocalyptic Holy Island community, what do you think your role would be?
I feel like my role would be something outdoorsy and practical. It feels like it's very much like a fisherman village sort of thing, but I would be someone who'd be willing to go to the mainland – I think I'd get island fever! I think something resourceful like hunting or collecting wood, something very hands-on and in nature. I don't think I'd be very good at the fishing, so I'd definitely put my hands up for being out on the mainland. It seems like a very idyllic life, but maybe their ideals are a little gone a bit backwards. I feel like it's very much like it's very much looking back on the good old days, taking on these stereotypical roles and stuff like that, so it's more of an outlook on Great Britain being isolated away from the rest of the world.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘28 Years Later' Review: Danny Boyle Delivers Severed Heads And Broken Hearts In His Gory Zombie-Horror Threequel
Now/then, now/then… The past and the present exist in perpetual tension in the gory second sequel to Danny Boyle's zombie horror franchise. 'Time didn't heal anything,' goes the tagline, and as we learned from the recent pandemic, mankind isn't always prepared for the worst. By far the most political of the three films, 28 Years Later is particularly scathing about Brexit Britain and its little-islander mentality. But it does have global relevance at a time of rising tensions across the world, bringing to mind the possibly apocryphal quote attributed to famed German physicist Albert Einstein: 'I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.' More from Deadline '28 Years Later' Walking To $56M+ WW Opening, 'Elio' Orbiting $50M+ WW As 'Dragon' Looks To Lord U.S. Box Office – Preview '28 Years Later': Sony's Danny Boyle Pic Is Biggest Advance Ticket Seller For Horror Pic YTD, Eyes $34M+ Opening '28 Years Later' $5.8M, 'Elio' $3M Previews - Friday AM Box Office It's a moot point whether the film is set precisely in the present day, since the original 28 Days Later was made in 2002, which makes this two years early. Intriguingly, it begins with a roomful of children watching Teletubbies, the BBC kids show that first broadcast in 1997, 28 years ago. The peace is shattered by an agitated woman who begs the eldest, a young boy called Jimmy, not to open the door. Nevertheless, the walking dead break in anyway and the boy runs for his life, hiding out in a church where his father is the priest. But sanctuary is short-lived; his father is an end-times Christian who welcomes in his ravenous flock and hands his horrified son a crucifix, telling him to 'have faith.' This opening scene seems more like an overture and, indeed, has very little to do with what follows for most of the film's near-two-hour running time. We then jump forward 28 years to an island community off the northeast coast. By this time, we learn, the Rage virus has been contained to Britain, while European armies patrol the coast to prevent any of its inhabitants from leaving. The island itself is cut off from the mainland via a path that only appears at low tide, and its citizens keep a constant vigil at the ramshackle but heavily fortified entrance. The island is home to 12-year-old Spike (Alfie Williams), who lives with his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and mother Isla (Jodie Comer). Confined to her bed, Isla is given to violent fits and delusional behavior, slipping in and out of rational consciousness. It is during one of these rare moments of clarity that she learns of Jamie's plans to take Spike over to the mainland, which does not go down well. Indeed, the islanders also warn Jamie that Spike is a little on the young side ('14 or 15 is more in keeping'), but off they set anyway, man and boy each armed with a bow and a quiver's supply of arrows. The trip is filmed like a father-son safari, with Spike in awe at the sheer expanse of the mainland. 'It's so big,' he marvels. 'You can go for days and weeks without seeing the coast,' Jamie tells him. The zombie hordes, meanwhile, exist for Spike to make his first kill, starting with the fat, bloated ones that writhe around on the forest floor and seem to survive on worms. 'Head and heart,' his old man reminds him as he lines up the shot. Things have changed a bit since Jamie was last there, however, and the undead have mutated; a new strain has appeared — stronger, faster, more intelligent, more alpha. Back at the island, Spike is welcomed as the returning hero, with Jamie significantly, and drunkenly, embellishing his son's bravery. It also becomes clear that Jamie is cheating on Isla, a betrayal that Spike takes personally. Believing that Jamie is simply waiting for Isla to die so that he can move on with his life and be with his mistress, Spike takes his mother on a perilous journey to the mainland, where he believes a mysterious doctor (Ralph Fiennes), the last physician still alive in the area, will be able to cure her. The first film always seemed a little far-fetched, given the speed with which seemingly rational people took up cross-dressing and cannibalism in the space of less than a month. But nearly 30 years does the trick, and Alex Garland's script makes great play of how life in Britain has become stunted. Flirting with folk horror, he makes the islanders little better than the infected, inviting comparisons with The Wicker Man as they carouse in the community center while a faded portrait of Her Majesty the Queen looks down. Spike, meanwhile, has never heard of smartphones or the internet — both of which are flourishing in the real world beyond Britain's borders — and, ever playful, Boyle often drops the ancient sound of a dial-up modem into the ominous score by Young Fathers. Good horror, though, should always be about something else, and while it takes awhile to emerge, the zombies come to represent mortality, channeling the spirit of Damien Hirst's 1991 shark piece The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. As Spike goes further upstream in search of the strikingly Colonel Kurtz-like Dr. Kelson, he learns a lot about life and death, witnessing the birth of a baby and seeing a man's head and spine ripped from his shoulders. It's a very violent film in that respect, but the emotion is more affecting than the blood, most of it generated during Fiennes' powerful 30-minute screen time. Most threequels tend to go bigger, but 28 Years Later bucks that trend by going smaller, eventually becoming a chamber piece about a boy trying to hold onto his mother. It still delivers shocks, even if the sometimes over-zealous editing distracts from Anthony Dod Mantle's painterly cinematography, but the biggest of them all is the jaw-dropping final scene, a clapback to the film's beginning and an indication of how crazy Britain has become in its lonely isolation. It's a very specific cultural reference, and seemingly comes from nowhere, but Brits in particular are likely to have a very, very visceral reaction, as it happens. Title: 28 Years LaterDistributor: SonyRelease date: June 20, 2025Director: Danny BoyleScreenwriter: Alex GarlandCast: Alfie Williams, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Edvin Ryding, Ralph FiennesRating: RRunning time: 1 hr 55 mins Best of Deadline Broadway's 2024-2025 Season: All Of Deadline's Reviews Venice Film Festival 2024: All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews Telluride Film Festival 2024: All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
‘28 Years Later' $5.8M, ‘Elio' $3M Previews – Friday AM Box Office
UPDATED FRIDAY AM AFTER EXCLUSIVE: Sony's 28 Years Later gobbled up $5.8M in previews Thursday night. That's an excellent preview number for a horror movie, especially in these times, besting the Thursday nights of Final Destination Bloodlines ($5.5M), Sinners ($4.7M), pre-Covid's A Quiet Place ($4.3M) and even post-Covid's Scream VI ($5.7M). The question is whether moviegoers, like the undead themselves, will continue to run to 28 Years Later. More from Deadline '28 Years Later' Review: Danny Boyle Delivers Severed Heads And Broken Hearts In His Gory Zombie-Horror Threequel What Are The Critics Saying About '28 Years Later'? Deadline On The Red Carpet: Aaron Taylor-Johnson On '28 Years Later's Brexit Nod, Danny Boyle Talks "The Growth" Of Horror, Jodie Comer On "Manifesting" A Movie Musical & Tom Rothman With An Actor Tip As we saw with the Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 68% last night, PostTrak audiences were also a hard crowd for this Danny Boyle movie giving it 3 stars and a 54% definite recommend. Men over 25 showed up at 52% and gave the zombie third chapter its best grades at 75%. Women over 25 were next at 27% (72% grade), followed by women under 25 at 13% (65%) and men under 25 at 9% (74%). Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar's Elio in total Wednesday and Thursday previews did $3M. The animated feature is booked in 3,750 theatres including 725 premium large format screens, 2,500+ 3D Screens and 175 D-Box/Motion screens. Elio, 28 Years Later and How to Train Your Dragon are sharing the PLFs, while Imax auditoriums will be held by the latter title. Those who watched Elio, are loving it with a 60% definite recommend from the general audience and 4 1/2 stars. Kids under 12, a near even split between boys and girls at 51%/49%, also think it's 4 1/2 stars. Parents, mostly Dads yesterday at 56%, gave it 4 stars. With yesterday being Juneteenth, a young federal holiday, distribution sources are always mixed on whether it's a big moviegoing day or not. Kids are already off from school. Yeah, but adults are off from work. While not massive, the day did have a pulse, check it out: Eight of the movies in the top 10 saw spikes in their daily grosses over Wednesday including How to Train Your Dragon (+15%), Materialists (+7%), Lilo & Stitch (+16%), Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (+22%), Ballerina (+10%), Phoenician Scheme (+6%), and The Life of Chuck (+3%). Top 5 from yesterday: 1.) How to Train Your Dragon (Uni) 4,356 theaters, Thu $9.7M, Wk $123.4M/Wk 1 2.) Lilo & Stitch (Dis) 3,675 (-510) theaters, Thu $2.7M Wk $26M (-45%), Total $376.8M/Wk 4 3.) Materialists (A24) 2,844 theaters, Thu $1.6M, Wk $17.5M/Wk 1 4.) Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (Par) 2,942 theaters, Thu $1.5M, Wk $15.8M (-27%), Total $171.8M/Wk 4 5.) Ballerina (LG) 3,409 theaters, Thu $1.1M, $14.1M (-56%), Total $46.5M/Wk 2 EXCLUSIVE: Sony's 28 Years Later is coming in with a preview gross tonight that's well north of $5M, we are hearing from sources. But don't start comping it yet to New Line's box office surprise sequel, Final Destination: Bloodlines which did $5.5M in previews for a franchise best opening of $51.6M. Horror films are frontloaded, duh. Rotten Tomatoes audiences are being pretty hard on this Danny Boyle zombie movie at 67% despite critics giving the installment the best reviews the 23-year old franchise has ever seen at 92%. Final Destination: Bloodlines earned both great reviews and audience exits on Rotten Tomatoes respectively with 92% and 87%. Previews began at noon for 28 Years Later. Tracking spotted this viral infected undead post-apocalyptic movie at an opening between $28M-$30M. The movie reps a return for Boyle as director and Alex Garland as screenwriter after 2002's 28 Days Later. That movie opened to $10M back in the day at 1,261 theaters, while 28 Weeks Later, which was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, opened to $9.8M back in 2007 at 2,303 theaters. Meanwhile, Disney/Pixar's Elio after two nights of previews is looking to be around $2.5M-$3M. That's the amount of preview cash that Pixar's summer 2023 movie, Elemental, banked before an $11.7M Friday and $29.6M opening. Elio is hoping to clear a 3-day between $20M-$25M. No RT audience scores yet, but critics enjoyed it at 86% certified fresh. Those reviews are stronger than Elemental at 73% fresh which wind up with an audience score of 93% and a solid A CinemaScore. As we mentioned, the best advertisement for Elio is the movie itself. In a marketplace where it's hard to launch original animation, the hope is that the Adrian Molina-Madeline Sharafian-Domee Shi directed movie pulls an Elemental and posts some wild multiple of 5x or more (that pic ended its stateside run at $154.4M). As we reported previously, Universal/DreamWorks Animation's How to Train Your Dragon is expected to hold the fort at No. 1 with a second weekend of $40M-plus. Through Wednesday, the Dean DeBlois directed live action take of his animated movie is up to $113.7M. Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series 'Stick' Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out?
Yahoo
27 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Starz Sets British Boxing Drama ‘Fightland' From Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson
Starz has greenlit the drama project Fightland, a high-octane scripted series set in the cutthroat, high-stakes, cash-rich world of British boxing. Executive produced by Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson through his G-Unit Film & Television, the series delivers a gripping story of redemption, betrayal, and brutal ambition in and out of the ring. Starz has ordered eight episodes of the crime drama, with production slated to begin this fall in London. More from Deadline Sean 'Diddy' Combs Docuseries Produced by 50 Cent Officially Set At Netflix In Da Anti-Clemency Club: No Sean 'Diddy' Combs Pardon From Trump, 50 Cent Vows 'Power': Starz Opening Writers Room On New Spinoff As 'Origins' Development Progresses According to the show's logline, Fightland follows a disgraced, formerly incarcerated boxing champion who returns to London to seek vengeance against the crime family he thinks betrayed him. With edge-of-seat action and populated by dangerous characters, this is a world of money and power never seen before. 'Fightland marks my first internationally produced show through my G-Unit Film & Television. I am excited to bring that global energy to the screen,' said Jackson. 'I anticipate this to be more successful than anything I've done before—boxing's raw stakes are gonna take it to another level.' Fightland joined Jackson's multiple other successful series at Starz, including the 'Power' franchise crime dramas: Power (2014), Power Book II: Ghost (2020), Power Book III: Raising Kanan, and Power Book IV: Force, with two more titles currently in development, Power: Origins and, as Deadline just revealed exclusively this week, Power: Legacy (w/t), which is expected to star Joseph Sikora and Michael Rainey Jr. Jackson will executive produce through his G-Unit Film & Television, along with Francis Hopkinson (Wallander, Bancroft) and Kate Leadbetter (Woman in White, Catherine the Great) of Expanded Media, who will also produce. The series also reunites Starz with Damione Macedon (Power, BMF) and Raphael Jackson Jr. (Power, BMF), who will serve as showrunners, executive producers, and writers. Daniel Fajemisin-Duncan and Marlon Smith will serve as executive producers and writers. RELATED: Jackson is repped by IAG and attorney Stephen Savva. Best of Deadline 2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More 'Stick' Release Guide: When Do New Episodes Come Out? 'Stick' Soundtrack: All The Songs You'll Hear In The Apple TV+ Golf Series
