Brian Tyree Henry has revealed new details about his Bullet Train character, Lemon, including the beloved childhood character that helps him carry out his missions. Aside from starring in the upcoming action film, Henry has become associated with his role as Paper Boi in Atlanta and his superheroic role as Phastos in Eternals.
Henry's Bullet Train character works as one half of a duo with Tangerine (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). The action-comedy will be directed by David Leitch, who previously directed Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, and Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs and Shaw. The newest addition to his resume, Bullet Train, is adapted from Kōtarō Isaka's novel, Maria Beetle.
Henry recently spoke with Empire for their upcoming Summer Review issue and discussed his Bullet Train character. Lemon has a vast knowledge of trains and in that, Henry revealed that some of Lemon's tactics can be traced back to Thomas the Tank Engine. "He knows how to tell his marks based on certain characteristics from Thomas the Tank Engine," Henry said. "He can tell if there's somebody that's reliable, something that needs to be killed right away, or somebody that is actually up to little schemes." The cutthroat environment of Bullet Train with the many assassins on board to recover the same briefcase will be the perfect place for Lemon to showcase his special skills.
To prepare for the role of Lemon, Henry immersed himself in the knowledge of locomotives, especially Thomas the Tank Engine. "I would find myself whistling the Thomas the Tank Engine tune in-between takes," Henry said. "One time, I pulled my phone out to check something and Aaron was like, 'What the hell are you doing?' I told him, 'I really need to understand the difference between a diesel and an autonomous engine.'" Thomas the Tank Engine would first appear in a book published in 1946 by Rev. W. Awdry and his son Christopher, titled after the character. He would make his first on-screen appearance in the 1984 television series from Britt Allcroft.
In addition to Henry's Lemon and Taylor-Johnson's Tangerine, there will be plenty of other unique assassins on board Bullet Train. Ladybug, the focal assassin, will be played by Brad Pitt. He'll receive orders from Maria Beetle (Sandra Bullock) to retrieve a briefcase while onboard a bullet train. Ladybug will quickly find out that he's not the only one with the task. Bullet Train's cast includes Andrew Koji, Joey King, Hiroyuki Sanada, Logan Lerman, Bad Bunny, Michael Shannon, and Zazie Beetz.
Henry has become accustomed to playing intelligent characters whose level of intelligence becomes a quirk. In Marvel Studios' Eternals, Phastos' vast knowledge of both Celestial and mundane existence created a unique and difficult atmosphere for him to make decisions in. Lemon's knowledge of trains will be useful in Bullet Train, though it may result in some equally troubling aspects for his character.
Bullet Train will release in theaters on August 5, 2022.
Source: Empire