Josh Duhamel is a washed-up hit man training a LARPing teen in ‘unapologetic’ action-comedy

From LARPing to action-comedy gags, London Calling brought one of the movie’s stars, Jeremy Ray Taylor, back to comedies of the 2000s, like Napoleon Dynamite, with its dedication to humour. Also starring Josh Duhamel and Rick Hoffman, directed by Allan Ungar, the film maintains it’s level of outrageousness, while also exploring the emotions of father-son dynamics.

In London Calling we meet Tommy (Duhamel), a hit man who’s gotten a bit rusty at his job as he’s gotten older, accidentally killing the relative of London’s biggest crime boss. That results in Tommy having to flee to Los Angeles, but his goal is to get back to London so that he can be reunited with his son he had to leave behind.

Tommy makes a deal with local crime boss Benson (Rick Hoffman). If Tommy can teach Benson’s son Julian (Taylor) how to have the confidence and fight to take over the family business, Benson will make sure Tommy can get back to his son in London. Julian is more interested in video games and LARPing (Live Action Role-Playing) than being the kind of “man” Benson expects him to be.

‘It could be a little bit taboo, but to me it’s funny’

While much of London Calling is this sort of buddy action story between Tommy and Julian, it also explores relationships between a parent and their child, but approached with a comedic eye.

“It’s unapologetic, and we sort of push what’s socially acceptable in a lot of ways,” Duhamel told Yahoo. “But I love that. I love to make it a little bit edgy.”

“Whether it’s the eye gouging scene or me beating the crap out of the kids at the LARPing, not realizing that it’s all fake. Some of that stuff, it could be a little bit taboo, but to me it’s funny.”

As Ungar explained, the commitment to comedy in London Calling all happens as it maintains the emotional core of a father wanting to be reunited with his son.

“One of the things that we talked about very early on was that we can’t forget what [Tommy’s] purpose is in the movie, which is to get back to his son,” Ungar said. “And so that kind of always exists in the background. And I find that if you have a great anchor point, and there’s something that grounds the character in the film, you can push the envelope with action and with comedy.”

“There’s definitely a lot of stuff we cut out that was more absurd than what as in the movie, … but for me it was always to focus first and foremost on the characters, and what we’re trying to say and where they’re trying to go.”

In a separate interview, Taylor said some of the hardest moments to film were the ones that did get more serious, and then there’s that sharp switch to a funny line. But he also highlighted how unique it is to be part of a film that aims to keep the comedy level at a high.

“I think that’s just kind of rare that movies will really just lean into the comedy,” Taylor said. “We don’t really have [Napoleon Dynamite] anymore, and things that just don’t take itself so seriously.”

[L-R] Jeremy Ray Taylor as “Julian” and Josh Duhamel as “Tommy Ward” in the action comedy LONDON CALLING, a Quiver Distribution release (Quiver Distribution)

One of the funnier moments in the film is this LARPing moment we get at the end of the film. But it’s really a satisfying moment for Julian where we see how Tommy impacted his life, and Tommy gets to play in Julian’s world, while he’s misinformed about what LARPing really is.

“The first time I got the script the LARPing elements were there. But I was trying to find ways to expand upon it, because it sort of becomes everything about Jeremy’s character and his arc, fulfilling that moment and giving the audience what they want,” Ungar said. “I always like to say to people that it’s like in Bad Santa, if Thurman Merman never stands up to his bully. Would the audience feel gratified?”

“Julian has been in Tommy’s world this entire time, learning the ropes, and so for him to bring Tommy into his world is a nice role reversal, which you want to see in these buddy cop genres. And for me, it was really about creating a moment where the audience can just sort of not help but clap and be like, yes, he finally did it. He learned something, and he stood up to all in front of his mentor, in a way.”

While Taylor wasn’t particularly familiar with LARPing before he read the script, he did try to include a few Easter eggs related to popular LARPing videos.

“There are some old LARPing YouTube videos that went super viral. [I tried] to throw some references in there with that,” Taylor said. “So I hope somebody picks up on that.”

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 15: Josh Duhamel, Jeremy Ray Taylor and Allan Ungar attend the Los Angeles Premiere of “London Calling” at Harmony Gold on September 15, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

Why Josh Duhamel, Jeremy Ray Taylor wanted to be in ‘London Calling’

But within all the laughs, London Calling really resonated with its stars Duhamel and Taylor. For Duhamel, he related to how Tommy, as he’s gotten older, isn’t the hitman he used to be.

“I love the idea, and I think that I relate to that in some ways … that at a certain point in everybody’s life … they have to realize they don’t quite have the fastball anymore,” Duhamel said. “I think that I can relate to that in a lot of ways, desperately trying to hang on.”

“It’s so much more fun to play a guy who doesn’t have it figured out, who does make a lot of mistakes, who doesn’t have bad intentions, but just hasn’t quite been able to put it all together. And he’s definitely at that point in his life, and I think he’s reflecting a lot. … I think that when he meets [Julian] that’s kind of a mirror in a lot of ways. Realizing that this kid’s got a terrible father, but maybe I haven’t quite measured up as a father myself, and sees a lot of his kid in Julian, and it’s a big impetus for him to get back and try to make it right for his son in London.”

For Taylor, who grew up acting as a child and teen in projects like It and Goosebumps 2: Haunted Halloween, London Calling was his way to make his mark as a actor in a more adult movie.

“My dream is to become the Idris Elba action star at some point,” Taylor said. “Obviously that’s much further down the road, but me and Josh had some conversations early on about what we wanted this to do for our careers.”

“I wanted to go away from being like the funny fat kid and trying to kind of move into the comedy and being taken a little bit more seriously as an adult actor, because it’s a very strange thing to to navigate,” Taylor said. “So this is a full rated R action, and that was so much fun.”