Kellan Lutz On ‘Extraction,’ Working With Bruce Willis [VIDEO EXCLUSIVE]

Kellan Lutz stars opposite legendary action star Bruce Willis in the 2015 thriller Extraction, directed by Steven C. Miller.

Kellan Lutz On Extraction

Extraction follows Lutz’s Harry Turner, who, as a little boy, saw his mother killed by a man who was after his CIA operative father Leonard Turner (Willis). The encounter with the home intruder shaped his life. While it inspired him to follow in his dad’s footsteps, it convinced his dad that becoming a CIA operative was the last thing he wanted for his son.

“[Bruce’s character] saw what happened with the loss of his wife, with my mother, and he has so much regret for it that he does not want his son to be in that same position one day,” Lutz explained in an exclusive video interview with uInterview. “So, he thinks by being a fatherly, protective man and Dad, that if he can be a roadblock and not allow his son Harry to be in the field and keep him just at the desk job, that he’ll be safe from harm and danger.”

Unaware that his father is leveraging his power to keep him from becoming a CIA in-field operative, Harry remains undeterred – even after he’s inexplicably been denied multiple times. Fit for the field and at the top of his class, Harry puts his skills to good use when his father gets kidnapped.

“There’s a lot of bull-in-the-china-shop sort of action in there because he’s ‘act first and think last,’ so to speak. He’s very calculative,” Lutz said. In the effort to find his father, Harry partners with CIA agent Victoria (Gina Carano). “He’s smart, top of class analytics, but as far as him and his teammate… She’s more of the straight shooter – like we have to do it by the books,” said Lutz, who describes his character as “rogue.”

Lutz, who loves working on action movies, grew up with six brothers, which he thinks prepared him for the grueling training that comes along with his physical roles. “It was just constant fighting for your life – for food, for bathroom time, for the toothbrush, for a pillow to sleep with and yeah they gave me a thick skin,” he said of his childhood. “That’s why I love action movies.”

In adulthood, Lutz describes himself as “an adventurer, action junkie,” and he likes pushing himself to new limits on the sets of action flicks.

“You’re always working with a new team or a new script that allows you to drive cars faster, flip cars different, fly with a motorcycle, fight in a helicopter, fight with swords or guns or knives or horses,” said Lutz, who was especially excited about a fight sequence in a bathroom in Extraction. “[In] the bathroom scene, I felt very much like Matt Damon in Jason Bourne, like working with the knife fights and the fluid snaps and breaks. I was impressed when I watched the movie.”

In addition to the stunt choreography, Lutz also had the pleasure of working alongside Willis in Extraction – after suffering the disappointment of learning that the Die Hard star wouldn’t be sticking around for Expendables 3.

“When Extraction came around, I just really jumped at that opportunity to work with Bruce,” said Lutz. “So, Extraction is kinda my Die Hard. I felt like I was a McClane and Bruce was awesome on set. He’s so easy to work with. He and I had such amazing conversations about the characters and his thoughts of it and just life in general.”

Extraction will be available on DVD Tuesday, Feb. 23. Get it here!