Callum Turner On ‘Eternity,’ Time-Frozen Romance & Classic Rom-Com Obsessions [Interview]

In “Eternity,” the afterlife looks less like heaven and more like the world’s busiest airport crossed with a shopping mall: fluorescent lights, endless queues, and a surprisingly polite bureaucracy asking where you’d like to spend forever. New arrivals get one week to decide, which sounds simple until it isn’t. For Joan, played by Elizabeth Olsen, that turns into a very rom-com kind of cosmic dilemma: spend eternity with the man she actually grew old with, played by Miles Teller, or with Luke, her first love, played by Callum Turner, who died young and has been waiting around this celestial concourse for decades. Directed by David Freyne (the Irish filmmaker behind “Dating Amber”) and released by A24, it’s a metaphysical romantic comedy that stays whimsical and light on its feet even as it nudges at the biggest “what if” in her life.

READ MORE: ‘Eternity’ Review: Elizabeth Olsen, Miles Teller & Callum Turner Star In A Heavenly Twist On The Love Triangle

Over the last few years, Turner has quietly become one of the go-to faces for period storytelling — from series like “Masters of the Air” to films like “The Boys in the Boat” — and in “Eternity,” he folds that classic-movie aura into something looser and funnier. Playing opposite Elizabeth Olsen and Miles Teller, with support from Da’Vine Joy Randolph, John Early, and Olga Merediz, he gets to be both matinee idol and emotional wreck: the young first love who’s been locked in place for decades, still behaving like a 27-year-old who never got to grow up. Behind the camera, producers Tim White and Trevor White back Freyne’s old-school, high-concept romance about what it actually means to move on.

In the conversation below, Turner discusses being a “director-first” actor, finding the right comic rhythm in a slightly old-fashioned register, and why his hair might be the key to landing those period roles. He also gets into the emotional architecture of playing someone stuck in the past, his dream of doing “Guys and Dolls,” and a very on-brand story about missing a bus because he couldn’t tear himself away from “Notting Hill.”

This is an entertaining movie, and something we don’t often see in theaters anymore. What was the big draw for you?
It’s always the director first and foremost. I’d seen David’s first film, “Dating Amber,” because Fionn O’Shea from “Masters of the Air” told me, “You should watch this,” and I really enjoyed it — there were moments in that that were pretty spectacular. Then the script: Pat had written something brilliant, wholesome, fun, and hilarious. There were moments that, every time I got to them, I would laugh out loud — the Dean Martin moment, for instance, and the Blue Bulls joke — and it felt embedded in a specific moment in time but very contemporary at the same time. And then, of course, Divine and John and Miles and Lizzie and Tim and Trevor… it was a great team. It was a no-brainer all around.

You’ve done comedy before, but this has a high-concept, slightly throwback feel. How did that tone land for you?
Totally. It’s got that, and it’s got a really nice clip to it, which was part of what attracted me — entering into that world and figuring out how to do the comedy inside that rhythm. You’ve got Miles and Divine and John and Lizzie, who’ve really got that tone down, and I wanted to see if I could test myself with those guys. I had a lot of fun doing it.

There are many great people in this film. What was it like working opposite Lizzie and Miles in particular?
Honestly, fantastic. Lizzie and I rehearsed for a couple of weeks, got to know each other, and built a bond. With Miles, as soon as we came in and David said “action,” there was a real spark between us and a lovely cadence we found instantly. Those guys are two of the best around, so it was a pleasure working with them.

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Did you ever feel even a little competitive with Miles over Lizzie, or was it all just a matter of teamwork?
No, no, no, no — it’s a team game. We’re all in it together, and the aim is to entertain other people. We were a really lovely team; it was a great time in Vancouver, and when the source material is so brilliant, you ride that.