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Owen Patrick Joyner is willing to do just about anything when it comes to delivering a killer good time.
Warning: Spoilers for Final Destination: Bloodlines.
Joyner, 24, stars as Bobby Campbell in Final Destination: Bloodlines, which hit theaters on Friday, May 15, and is already the No. 1 movie in the world. The actor is undoubtedly a standout in the latest installment of the beloved horror comedy franchise, but much like his costars and predecessors before him, he couldn’t escape being brutally killed off in one of the most off-the-wall ways possible.
Joyner is given the honor of death by anaphylaxis in the film, as his character is deathly allergic to nuts. It’s actually kind of a nut allergy and vending machine coil through the skull combo, but his demise begins when he decides to eat a peanut butter cup in a last ditch attempt to outsmart his family’s death curse.
Luckily for Joyner, he’s no stranger to food-related deaths — he famously died by a car engine-heated street hot dog in his critically acclaimed series Julie and the Phantoms. Nor is he, it turns out, a stranger to severe nut allergies.
“I brought my real EpiPen and we were doing the scene and [directors Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein] were like, ‘So do you know anything about [allergies]? Like, have you ever experienced something like that?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, actually I brought my EpiPen!’” Joyner told Us Weekly exclusively. “And I saw a little twinkle in their eye. I feel like that’s when I booked it.”
Joyner heard from a friend who was also auditioning for Bobby that there was a scene involving an EpiPen. His pal also shared insight into how keen Lipovsky and Stein were to take big swings. The directing duo rented out an entire set when pitching their concept to Warner Bros. in hopes of giving execs an immersive experience.
“During their director pitch, [Zach and Adam] had a conversation and they were talking to camera while the back of their fireplace caught on fire. And then it spread to the walls, the paintings went to the roof and the entire room was on fire,” Joyner explained. “And it turned out they were in a set and they had staged that whole thing because they were just such big fans.”
Joyner, of course, didn’t have “the money” to set up an entire stage, so he worked with his own real-life experiences — and the effort clearly paid off. His sitcom experience likely also swung the pendulum his way, as Final Destination is known for its unique comedy elements.
That comedy, however, felt particularly tricky with Bloodlines as so much of the plot revolves around a single family unit dying off one by one. Joyner told Us it was a “big conversation” between the cast and creatives to figure out tonally where to land with each big death.
“With the family dynamics, it was so different, because it almost felt like it was accepted that people moved on with the other movies because they were friends. But we have to keep pushing,” he said. “Like, how much do we commit if our sister dies or if this person dies within our family? How deep do we go?”
A huge focus, Joyner noted, was figuring out what the audience would want above all else — “If you lose them, you already lost on the first day,” he told Us — but ultimately, the film opted to lean on the humor. That’s where the improv came in.
“Kudos to the directors and the creative team because they totally let us go on our own,” Joyner said. “We would do two takes by the book and by the lines and then we would do two that were just kind of crazy improv or as many as they let us do. And they would come to us and [say], ‘Go crazy. Say whatever you want.’ So there’s some crazy footage out there of us saying stuff that does not work.”
As the rest of Us anxiously await the blooper reel, Joyner is celebrating what did make it to the final edit. Bloodlines — the sixth film in the franchise — follows a family who realize they are part of a decades-long death curse after their relative (Brec Bassinger) escaped a tragic accident years prior. Being part of such a hefty legacy is a responsibility that Joyner hasn’t taken lightly.
“It’s pretty intimidating, you know? Obviously, as an actor, it’s super exciting with a big piece of IP like this … and there’s millions of people that love it,” he confessed. “But at the same time, being 14 and a half years later, they were gonna have to — not reinvent the wheel — but maybe paint it a little bit, and change things up for the audience. Like, a little bit of a roll of the dice. So I was nervous.”
Joyner was put at ease after seeing the script from Jon Watts, Lori Evans Taylor and Guy Busick. “And then, of course, [producers] Craig [Perry] and Sheila [Hanahan Taylor], who created this entire universe, certainly gave me more confidence,” he added. “Obviously, I was gonna jump into it. I wasn’t gonna let something like this slide.”
Another weight on Joyner’s shoulders? Transitioning from family-friendly content to something with a little more bite. The actor made a name for himself on Nickelodeon shows like 100 Things to Do Before High School and Knight Squad before skyrocketing to success with the Netflix musical series Julie and the Phantoms in 2020.
“I loved every moment of [being on Nickelodeon], just getting to kind of do humor and comedy. And then I was lucky enough after that I was 19 and I went into the Julie and the Phantoms. That felt like a little step up,” Joyner explained. “As a young actor, you’re always nervous. Like, ‘Can I make it to a different step? Even if it’s lateral, can I do something that’s more mature and grown up?’ I wasn’t seeking horror, but I was excited to do something that was … a little riskier.”
While Joyner may be happy to be moving forward in his craft, he’s well aware — and endlessly grateful — for the love Julie and the Phantoms still receives five years after the one-season series first made waves.
“There’s still people that are excited and once in a while you’ll see a petition for season 2 and I wanna find those people and give them a hug,” he said. (The actor confirmed that despite hopes, a second season is “probably not gonna happen.”)
Joyner admitted that he didn’t know JATP would have the profound effect on audiences it has — rumors have swirled that Netflix wasn’t anticipating the series would resonate so deeply with older generations — but he felt “pretty confident” in being part of a project led by Kenny Ortega.
“You can kind of go, ‘You know what? I don’t think this has to be my greatest work for it to be successful,’” Joyer said. “Obviously, a lot of people have success [with] him. He’s the magic man. I don’t know how else to put it. So I wasn’t that surprised when it was an older group [who loved the show], because Kenny Ortega started High School Musical. Then I think he brought some of that fan base to us and they accepted us with open arms.”
The series, which dropped amid the coronavirus pandemic, followed 15-year-old Julie (Madison Reyes), who, in grieving the death of her mother, discovers an old CD that brings three teenage ghosts who died in the ‘90s into her life. Joyner portrayed Alex: the sensitive, often anxious drummer.
Like his EpiPen for Final Destination, Joyner tapped into his own experience when it came to bringing Alex to life. “I find that most of my characters just end up being anxious because I’m anxious. So they’re just like, ‘That works, push that side of you,’” he said with a laugh.
Portraying an openly queer character was slightly more “nerve wracking” for Joyner, who didn’t know Alex’s sexual identity when he landed the part and wanted to make sure he did the character justice.
“I remember getting all nervous and then Kenny called me and I said, ‘Kenny, if you give me the green light, then I know it’s OK.’ And he did, and I think it was important to him,” Joyner recalled. “He said, ‘Well, this isn’t about him. He’s a character with struggles, but he just happens to be queer. Take it and run with it, Owen.’ And I said, ‘OK Kenny, if you say so.’”
Joyner’s interpretation clearly paid off, as Alex quickly became a favorite among fans.
“Everyone was so loving and so accepting,” he told Us. “It meant a lot to a lot of people, which is something I wasn’t expecting or didn’t know I’d have the honor to be for some people, you know?”
Final Destination: Bloodlines is in theaters now.
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