'Turbulence' Exclusive Interview: Kelsey Grammer

Moviefone speaks with Kelsey Grammer about 'Turbulence' and 'Avengers: Doomsday'. "Flaming cars were flying right by us,' Grammer said of shooting 'Doomsday'.

Kelsey Grammer as “Harry” in the action thriller 'Turbulence', a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

Opening in theaters, On Demand and Digital December 12th is the new thriller 'Turbulence', which was directed by Claudio Fäh (‘No Way Up’), and stars Hera Hilmar (‘Mortal Engines’), Jeremy Irvine (‘War Horse’), Kelsey Grammer (‘The Marvels’), and Olga Kurylenko (‘Thunderbolts*’).

Turbulence

"Fear takes flight."

RAction Thriller

Audience
Score

100

Release Date: Dec 12, 2025

Starring: Hera Hilmar, Jeremy Irvine, Kelsey Grammer

Watch Turbulence Online

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Kelsey Grammer about his work on 'Turbulence', his first reaction to the screenplay, shooting the balloon scenes, his character, and working with the cast and the director, as well as telling us about his experience shooting the upcoming ‘Avengers: Doomsday’.

Related Article: Kelsey Grammer Talks 'Murder Company' and Playing Beast in 'The Marvels'

Kelsey Grammer stars in 'Turbulence'.

Moviefone: To begin with, can you talk about your first reaction to the screenplay?

Kelsey Grammer: Well, I liked it because it's a classic exercise to say, "Okay, let's take an action movie and make everybody sit in a box and see what happens." So, it's a perfect overlay on what's an emotional situation anyway. Because of the cramped space, emotions tend to get a little higher, a little quicker, a little more frenzied. There's a sense of claustrophobia about it. So yeah, it's a good device and I think it bore fruit. You're sitting there going with one person's a liar, one person's an absolute scoundrel, and one guy's a complete innocent, and the other's just a nice person who got taken for a bit of a ride and is innocent. It's cool to see how that plays out.

MF: Can you talk about how you shot the balloon scenes?

KG: Yeah, it's very confined. Honestly, the whole thing was shot in a basket. It really was. Everything I did was just in a basket. It was on a green screen, on a soundstage. We did one thing outside, like the very first scene where I'd say, "Oh, hi, here's somebody else coming." Then they just hoisted the basket up with a crane, I think. I said something like, "Here we go." But it was mostly in that basket. It was fun. I had a cast on my foot at the time. I'd just had surgery on my foot, so I was limited in movement. So that was one of the things that made it appealing to do the film as well, because we weren't going to be moving very far. It was just the weirdest little place in Hampstead Park. But it was cool. It was nice to be out there for just that one scene, and then we were inside the rest of the time.

(L to R) Director Claudio Fäh, Hera Hilmar and Jeremy Irvine behind the scenes of the action thriller 'Turbulence', a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: Can you talk about how you approached playing Harry?

KG: So, he's like an avuncular character. He's got a bit of wisdom. I haven't seen the whole film, but when the truth starts to come out about the guy and all that, there's a couple of eye rolls that an older gentleman knows, “Why be such an idiot? Why be so stupid as a young man? If you love this person, what possess you to do such a thing?” But of course, it's the stuff the history books are filled with. It's an old story, but my character is a gentleman, and he likes the young wife. I love that about it. He just says, "You're going to be okay." I think that's great.

MF: Can you talk about working with the rest of the cast?

KG: Yeah, they were all pros. Wonderful. Everybody kind of knew what they were doing. We'd talk a little bit and rehearse a little bit and figure out what we thought was the right move, because there was a choreography involved with the cameras inside the gondola as well and where the camera operator was going to be with the lens. There was a little bit of stuff to figure out traffic-wise. But mostly, everybody showed up ready to work and they all have their note to play. So, it wasn't hugely challenging. We got Olga then the husband, the scoundrel, Hera the hero. It was lovely. Yeah, it was a good group and we got along well, so that was nice.

(L to R) Jeremy Irvine as “Zach” and Hera Hilmar as “Emmy” in the action thriller 'Turbulence', a Lionsgate release. Photo courtesy of Lionsgate.

MF: What was your experience like collaborating with director Claudio Fäh on set?

KG: He knew what he was looking for. So, it was easy to say, "Yeah, okay, cool." The only thing they were worried about was when I said I want to sing this Schubert Corral piece, the one, "Not quite his age". I sang it back at Julliard, my first year at Julliard we would sit around in choir and sing. It's such a beautiful piece of music, I thought. They said, "We're nervous about paying for the rights." I said, "It's got to be eminent domain. Schubert died a long time ago. You're going to be okay." So, we kept it, and I was really excited about that.

MF: Finally, rumor is that the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ trailer will be dropping soon. You’ve been on some big sets throughout your career, but was this the biggest and what was it like working with the Russo brothers and the rest of the cast?

KG: Very interesting. Yeah, it probably is, except I think maybe ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’, where I did Beast, that was amazing. I was picked up by a cab driver at the airport my first day, the night I flew in, and he said, "You want me to drive you by the set?" I replied, "Yeah, sure. Why not?" So, we start driving and then I see this on the horizon behind a silhouetted ridge line, I see lights, lights everywhere. It seemed like the whole horizon was lit up. Then he said, "Do you know there's not a crane left in all of Canada because they're all here?" Then we came up and over the rise and there was a blue screen version of the famous prison, and then right next to it was the actual prison, Alcatraz, over like three football fields. That just blew me away. When we were shooting, they would take cars, light them on fire, hoist them up on a crane and have the crane just swing them and then release them. Flaming cars were flying right by us, and you could feel the heat. So, it was an extraordinary experience.

Editorial Note: Krisily Fernstrom conducted this interview and contributed to this article.

What is the plot of ‘Turbulence’?

Zach (Jeremy Irvine) and Emmy’s (Hera Hilmar) romantic retreat aboard a hot air balloon takes a terrifying turn when they are hijacked by a sinister third passenger (Olga Kurylenko) with a link to Zach’s past. As the mystery of their secret relationship is revealed, their spectacular ride becomes a brutal mental chess match and a lethal battle high in the sky.