Ericson Core's remake to the classic film "Point Break" is out Christmas Day. The new film is one of the most impressive productions of the year as it was shot in 10 locations and also stars a number of up and coming actors. The production also used a number of practical effects that have never been done before. 

Latin Post was able to speak to Luke Bracey, the lead in the film, who spoke about his love for extreme sports, the challenges of the production and what he hopes audiences will take away from the film.  

Latin Post: How did you get involved with the project?

Luke Bracey: I got an email at the end of January last year saying that they were considering me and maybe a handful of other guys to play Johnny Utah in the new "Point Break" movie and immediately I kind of freaked out and told my friends. We kind of just watched "Point Break" and quoted lines from the original just three days before I flew to America and met with the directors and the producers and did an audition. It was pretty exciting. I remember when I got it I said "I have to do this movie. This is a movie I have to do." And I feel really fortunate that I got to do it. So the truth is I'm pretty lucky guy.

LP: Being familiar with the original, was it a daunting task to play this iconic role?

LB: Yeah, of course. But I find every movie and character that I do daunting in their own right. The movie I did before "Point Break," I was playing a character that was based on a book and it had huge, massive fans so I felt the pressure to try and live up to their expectations. But with this movie being a huge fan I definitely felt some pressure.

But when I spoke to Ericson [Core] and the producers, the way they were making this film, the script, all the stuff we were doing, the pressure was kind of relieved in a way because I didn't think we were making the same movie. We were making a 2015 version and we just wanted to take the heart, the soul, every detail that we loved about the original and bring it to 2015. So, I felt all the ingredients were there and once I signed up I was 100 percent on board. Once they started telling me about the real athletes doing all these stunts, catching the biggest waves, it was the only way you could make this movie.

LP: Extreme sports a huge part of this film. Are you a fan of extreme sports and did you grow up doing any of these types of sports?

LB: Yeah, I'm a massive fan of extreme sports. I think they're one of the most interesting and crazy things people do these days. To see it more and more is great. I think seeing extreme athletes as exactly that -- athletes, not just crazy guys -- is really great. I grew up in the north beaches of Sydney. So my father put me on a surfboard before I could stand up. I grew up surfing and it's very close to me. I used to surf every single day so I've got salt water running through my veins. That's another reason why I love "Point Break" so much because we'd watch and then we'd go surfing. We'd come home from a surf and we'd watch it.

LP: In the film, your character Utah, Bodhi, and Samsara have tattoos, which makes up part of the character of these athletes. Can you tell me a little about the tattoos and if you got to choose the ones that you used for the film?

LB: I think the tattoos are very different for each of the characters. Like everyone's tattoos, they all mean different things to different people. Some people love every tattoo they've got. Some people regret some of the tattoos they've gotten. For Utah, he's a guy whose really searching for himself, really searching for his path in life, he's searching for that balance that he has never found between order and chaos. Between that nature to go and push himself and also that need to have some stability and structure in his life. And so Utah's tattoos are contradictory. I really saw his tattoos as some of them he regrets and some of them are very close to heart and some of them he doesn't think about anymore. I see him as a young man in his naive thinking that this is what is going to define him and I think it takes this experience he has in the movie to realize that the tattoos are not what defines him. It's who he is that defines him. I think the tattoos are a search and an answer to who he was and where he is going.

LP: Can you talk a little about the physical preparations you needed for this film?

LB: It's a long shoot. We had principle photography for about six months so I had to really make sure I was in the right amount of shape so I could get through the six months. I had to be healthy and fit and without injuring myself. So I had to make sure I was strong and in good shape and eating well so I could handle the changes in climate and the time zones because we were jumping around in ten different countries. And also to have that strength the character that kind of permeates through his actions. During filming I did a lot of rock climbing and I became fairly proficient. That is something I really enjoyed. If I wasn't in the shape I was, I wouldn't have made it through the six months.

LP: Having been in the 10 countries, which one was your favorite and which one provided the biggest challenges?

LB: For me, I felt very lucky to go to Tahiti and we managed to get those waves. That was a special day for me. But for me the one that stands out above all the rest purely through the majesty, the scale of it, the remoteness of it, would have to be Angel Falls. I feel very privileged and very lucky that I got to go and camp underneath there for two weeks. And also to hang off it, to climb and be there in such a wondrous location truly takes your breath away. That was very special and logistically that was an extreme case for a movie. I mean we had to take everything in and take it all out. That's a national park and we treated it as such. We were very careful.

LP: What was the experience of making a film with Ericson Core, who wanted to make everything as real as possible?

LB: With Ericson, if you get to know him, he's actually one of the most connected people to the environment and to the outdoors. And he is a qualified mountain guy and he's been doing things like this his whole life. It's an absolute love letter to the earth and all these locations and all these places are truly characters in this film. To have someone committed to that vision, I mean for me as an actor I wanted to be so committed to the role and to making this the right movie. I think the way he planned and the way he shot it and the way we executed it is the only way that was true to "Point Break."

LP: What was the experience of working with co-stars Edgar Ramirez and Teresa Palmer?

LB: Working with Edgar and Teresa, we were all so committed to this movie and we felt privileged to take on these challenges. That's what it was, a challenge. So from the start, everyone involved in the film was 100 percent committed to it that it really just made it a pleasure and a joy at the end of the day. We all had the experience of a lifetime and I am finding hard to see what is going to top that experience.

LP: What do you hope audiences take away from this film when they finish seeing it?

LB: I hope they take away a good time. That's important. We make movies so people enjoy them and can have a couple of hours to escape somewhere else.