Josh Duhamel stars in a new movie called London Calling, which follows his character, Tommy Ward, a legendary hitman in London who accidently kills the wrong target—forcing him to flee to Los Angeles. Now, the only way back to his home and kid is to train his new employer's teenage son, Julian (Jeremy Ray Taylor), in his dangerous line of work.
The Direct spoke with star Josh Duhamel (who is known for his work in the Transformers franchise) in an interview where the actor spoke about how they were able to pay ode to both London and Los Angeles in the film—despite not actually filming at either location.
Josh Duhamel admitted that the movie "is a bit of a love letter to both, both good and bad," adding that his "character is not so fond of coming [to Los Angeles], mostly because he has to flee his life in London."
Funny enough, Duhamel revealed that the production "didn't shoot either of those locations at those locations," and instead "shot in Cape Town" to double both London and Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to shoot Los Angeles for Los Angeles, but you would never know by watching this movie, but you're right. It is a bit of a love letter to both, both good and bad. I think that my character is not so fond of coming here, mostly because he has to flee his life in London
Director Allan Ungar, who also spoke with The Direct, revealed that they "talked about the different looks and how we would sort of give each city its own identity, make them feel like characters." For London, it's always "sort of lurking in the background," alongside having "a bit more sense of dread." On the flipside, California "was more vivacious, lively, and vibrant."
The entire interview can be read below. London Calling hits theaters on September 19, 2025.
How London Calling Is an Ode to London and Los Angeles
"It Is a Bit of a Love Letter to Both."
- The Direct: "There's a lot of love for both London and Los Angeles in this movie, and both of those cities and those personalities that come from them. How did you both work to bring that out for both of them throughout your respective parts in this film?"
Josh Duhamel: It's funny, you ask that question, because we didn't shoot either of those locations at those locations. We shot in Cape Town, which looks like London, and then we found that Cape Town actually doubles beautifully for Malibu in Los Angeles. So, I would have much rather shot here. Although I loved Cape Town. I love the crew there.
Unfortunately, we didn't get to shoot Los Angeles for Los Angeles, but you would never know by watching this movie, but you're right. It is a bit of a love letter to both, both good and bad. I think that my character is not so fond of coming here, mostly because he has to flee his life in London, but I think that he learns along the way to appreciate it more than he thought he would, and starts to appreciate things that he never thought he should appreciate, things that he should have been paying more attention to.
Allan Ungar: There's this obvious sense that London is sort of lurking in the background. And really, it kind of was this approach tonally and visually. So when we were mapping out this film, Alex Chinnici, my cinematographer, we talked about the different looks and how we would sort of give each city its own identity, make them feel like characters, in a way, and so we just wanted there to be this contrast between them. London had a bit more sense of dread, whereas California was more vivacious, lively, and vibrant.
Josh Duhamel and Allan Ungar on Their Mission Statements Going Into London Calling
"I Wanted to Create a Film That Allowed for Some Form of Escapism That Had Resonance."
- The Direct: "What would you say was your personal mission statement in what you ultimately wanted to bring to the final product, whether it be via directing or through your performance?"3
Josh Duhamel: For me, I really did enjoy working with Allan the first time around on 'Bandit,' and I knew that we were going to—This one felt like a bigger sort of popcorn movie, and I knew that he was down to deliver. So for me, I love the idea of this guy who's having to face his you know, this guy who was just past his prime. I think that maybe I relate to that personally.
But it was one of those things that I just, you know, in your mind, I think that most men or women will agree that it's hard to come to terms with that. And this guy is at that point in his life where he doesn't—he's lost his step, doesn't quite have the same vision he used to have, not quite the shot he used to be, and learns the hard way has to flee London after shooting the wrong person at this party.
And [he] goes to Los Angeles, starts working for a low rent mob boss, played by Rick Hoffman, and just everything is—this guy is just constantly trying to find his way out of this low point, and he sees in his kid, his own kid back in London, and starts to realize what's actually important. I think that he's missed out on a lot of that.
Allan Ungar: I wanted to create a film that allowed for some form of escapism that had resonance at the same time. I think a lot of movies now are lacking a lot of heart and soul, and sort of as a product of the 90s, and those films that really spent time on character development and allowing you to embrace levity and sort of all this fun that encompasses the action genre, I really wanted to create something that people could go sit in for two hours and just sort of have a smile on their face and forget about all the crazy stuff happening in our world.
The full interview can be seen here:
The Direct also interviewed The Cut star Caitríona Balfe about her recent boxing film, where she worked to flesh out quite the backstory for her character.
