Austin Abrams on Staying with Weapons Despite Recastings

Weapons’ Austin Abrams explains why he stayed on the horror project despite significant recasting. The second horror feature from Zach Cregger, Weapons has been in production for a while. It finally came out in theaters this past weekend, and has been a huge hit, well surpassing Cregger’s first film, Barbarian, in only three days.

Abrams steps in to play James in the film. James is a supporting character, playing a drug-addicted young man who has run-ins with the police and gets wrapped up in the local mystery surrounding the disappearance of 17 school children. He joins a cast that also includes Julia Garner, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Alden Ehrenreich, and Cary Christopher.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Abrams explains why he held on to doing Weapons even during the casting changes. The actor was asked if he was just “lucky to not have any other conflicts,” but Abrams responded that he “just wanted to do Weapons.” He had fallen in love with Cregger’s work with Barbarian.

He had walked out of the theater feeling like “I need to figure out how to meet this guy and work with this guy.” When it actually worked out, he held on to his opportunity to work on Weapons. Check out the full quote from Abrams below:

You were part of the Weapons cast when it was a completely different ensemble. The strike then affected Pedro Pascal’s schedule, and Zach had to start over except for you. Did you just get lucky to not have any other conflicts?

No, not necessarily. I just wanted to do Weapons. When I first saw Barbarian in the theaters, I didn’t really know what I was walking into. I didn’t know about Zach. I didn’t know about the movie at all. I just thought it was going to be a regular horror movie, and I wasn’t super excited going into it. But my friend wanted to go, and I was like, “Sure, I’ll go.”

So I knew nothing about the movie, and when I saw the first shot, I was like, “Okay, that’s kind of sick.” The camera went through the main character’s [Georgina Campbell’s Tess] car window. And when it cut to Justin Long [to begin its second act], I immediately thought, “Whoever the fuck made this movie, I fucking love this person.” I then looked over at my friend and was like, “Holy shit.” We couldn’t even sit next to each other because the theater was so packed.

So when I got out of the theater, I was like, “I need to figure out how to meet this guy and work with this guy.” And it’s so rare that it actually happens. But I just thought he was so gutsy, and it was so refreshing to experience. Weapons then came together, and I only want to work on things that I want to work on.

What This Means For Weapons

As referenced in the interview, the cast of Weapons was at one point going to look incredibly different. Instead of Brolin, the male lead was at one point going to be played by Pedro Pascal. Similarly, Garner’s character would have been The Worst Person in the World’s Renate Reinsve. Others cast included Brian Tyree Henry and Tom Burke.

This was initially announced in January 2023. Later that year, actor and writers’ strikes would rock Hollywood, and Weapons was among the many films put on hold. Pascal dropped out to work on The Fantastic Four: The First Steps, and pretty soon Weapons was left having to recast every person except for Abrams.

It makes sense to hear Abrams reasoning for staying. Though it did not reach the same level of box office clout as Weapons already has, Barbarian took the horror world by storm when it was released in 2022. Audiences were enamored by Cregger’s work, so it makes sense that Abrams, too, would find it appealing enough to prioritize the project.

Our Take On Abrams Staying In Weapons

I could not be happier that Abrams stayed on for Weapons. While the film is well-cast as a whole, Abrams’ James is one of the big highlights. The character provides comedic levity to the film, and is so expertly played by Abrams that it allows the movie to nail the tone.

Watching Abrams in Weapons made me feel how I felt when I first saw Alex Wolff in Hereditary. While both had been in other projects beforehand, here, we were watching stars be born. Wolff has gone on to solidify his acting career with movies like Pig, and I can only hope that Weapons leads Abrams on a similarly fruitful journey.