1 of 3 | Left to right, Josh Duhamel, Jeremy Ray Taylor and director Allan Ungar attend the LA premiere of’ “London Calling” at the Harmony Gold in Los Angeles on Monday. Photo by Chris Chew/UPI | License Photo
Transformers and Ransom Canyon actor Josh Duhamel says Tommy, the aging hit man he plays in London Calling, is not at his best at the beginning of the new action-comedy.
“This guy is a bit of mess,” Duhamel, 52, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.
“I really related to the guy,” he laughed. “Most guys my age — or any athlete who’s at the end of his career and doesn’t quite want to hang it up — I think will relate. Well, this guy still sees himself in his prime and, in his prime, he was one of the best out there, but his eyesight is not what it used to be. He can’t shoot like he did before. He’s lost a step.”
Now in theaters, the movie follows Tommy home to Los Angeles after a job goes awry in London, incurring the wrath of gangster Freddy Darby (Aidan Gillen).
Another assassin, Benson (Rick Hoffman), agrees to help Tommy straighten things out with Freddy, but only if he agrees to mentor Benson’s shy son Julian (Jeremy Ray Taylor), who would rather play medieval role-playing-games than apprentice for a life of crime.
Tommy reluctantly agrees to the arrangement and is surprised to find himself feeling paternal towards the teen.
Tommy has a son of his own back in England, but his job is dangerous and unreliable, so he doesn’t get to spend as much time with him as he’d like.
“He’s been close and he’s been sort of there, but is at that moment where, especially when he meets Jeremy Ray Taylor’s character, that it’s time to maybe do a little self-reflecting and maybe try to make things right in his life,” Duhamel said.
“We’re all flawed, but we all believe that we’re somehow the hero in this movie, when the truth is, [Julian] is probably the only one that really is.”
Allan Ungar, who directed and co-wrote the movie, said he worked hard to balance the story’s humor, action and emotion.
“I’m always looking for the heart and I think that’s something that we’re missing in a lot of films nowadays, especially in the action genre,” Ungar said.
“Growing up in the 1990s, I loved buddy-cop movies and I love The Midnight Runs and the Lethal Weapons and, so, I think that’s always been a big influence for me and I think that I’ve always gravitated towards finding ways to inject levity, especially in action,” he added. “The best comedy comes out of conflict and taking two people that have no business being in the same room together and forcing them into a situation that they both don’t want to be in.”
The action side of the movie shows Tommy running, jumping, fighting and shooting, but Duhamel revealed that an injury early on in the production meant a stunt man did most of that for him.
“This guy tried to emasculate me early on in the movie,” he joked, indicating Ungar.
“I had the sprinting scene where I’m chasing the guy with the horse mask out of the place and he’s like, ‘I need you to run a little bit more manly.’ I was like, ‘What’s that mean?’ and he’s just like: ‘A little more like Tom Cruise. Give me that.'”
Duhamel gave it his best shot and pulled his groin in the process.
“Most of the movie i was pretty debilitated,” the actor said. “I had to rely pretty heavily on my stunt guy, but it was a physically demanding movie, but I love that. That’s why I got into this business — to make movies like this.”
London Calling marks a reunion for Duhamel and Ungar, who previously collaborated on 2022’s Bandit.
“He trusted me and I really trusted him because he’s a workhorse, this dude,” Duhamel said.
“He just doesn’t leave a stone unturned. He’s very meticulous in his detail. You know that he’s coming to every single scene with a very specific idea on how to shoot it, so, within that, it gives us a lot of freedom as actors to find stuff,” he added. “I always felt very invested.”
Ungar said their artistic styles and work ethics complement each other well.
“There’s this very healthy form of push and pull where he might want to push something a little further in a direction and I go, ‘I’m not sure,'” Ungar explained.
“We end up with sort of the best take, performance or decision that sort of comes into the character, and having a shorthand that we established going into the second movie, we just had a lot more fun and a lot more room to play.”
Duhamel quipped, “And what Alan found out is that I’m usually right.”
Josh Duhamel attends ‘London Calling’ premiere
Star Josh Duhamel (L) and his wife Audra Mari attend the premiere of his film “London Calling” in Los Angeles on September 15, 2025. Photo by Chris Chew/UPI | License Photo
