Shooting Twisters In Oklahoma Was Especially Challenging Thanks To Real Tornadoes

"Twisters" may have plenty to prove as the sequel to a beloved '90s blockbuster, but the cast and crew behind the film certainly earned their tornado season bona fides while shooting the blustery project on location in Oklahoma. A new Vanity Fair interview with director Lee Isaac Chung reveals that the film's shoot was battered with multiple storms that forced stars and crew members to seek shelter, and even one that wrecked a set that was already due to be swept away by tornadoes on screen.

Chung, who grew up in Arkansas and says he endured tornadoes while living in a trailer home as a kid, made the conscious choice to film in the heart of the dangerous area known as Tornado Alley. In an impressively meta move, the movie's crew employed both a full-time meteorologist and an emergency planner, both of whom worked to make sure everyone working on the project was safe. Temporary shelters were often put in place, with special attention paid to the threat of lightning that could easily strike the metal equipment –- like tall light towers –- on set.

The filmmaker says getting ahead of the weather was key to the group's safety. "We're in fields very far away from the city, 200 of us out there who suddenly have to find a place to shelter," Chung explained. "It's very difficult. So we have to anticipate what the weather is going to do." More often than not, this drove him to take a quick in-and-out approach to shooting, one that allowed the film to stay on schedule even in such wild circumstances. "We were finding constantly that we would film wonderful skies, but then we'd get shut down as a result, maybe 30 minutes into it," he told the outlet. "The compromise was always just that we'd had a lot less time to do things."

There were also apparently upsides to the constant influx of tornadoes, as they allowed Chung to add a kinetic feeling to the film's cinematography that may not have been there otherwise. The storm timeline meant he had to "incorporate that fast speed that we were filming into the language of the film," which isn't a bad thing when you're making a fun, high-octane flick about adrenaline junkies who are, themselves, in a race against a storm. It's a gambit that worked for some critics who caught "Twisters" early, including /Film's Jeremy Mathai, who wrote that "the use of actual sets and stunning vistas packed full of wind-blown debris easily lends an air of verisimilitude" to the movie.

According to USA Today, a scene in the film involving a gathering of storm chasers also featured real gear and trucks used by the hobbyists. "Those extras were real storm chasers, in their own vehicles," star Glen Powell told the outlet. He apparently caught a bit of the storm chaser bug himself, as he noted that, "You just land in Oklahoma and everyone talks like an amateur meteorologist, just looking at the sky with excitement. It was infectious." Co-star Daisy Edgar-Jones, who reportedly joined Powell and actor Brandon Perea on some real tornado chases between shoots, said she "enjoyed the irony that we often had to shut down for actual weather only to then recreate it on camera afterward."

At one point, the storms lent a bit too much realism to a farmer's market set that was yet to be used. "One day we were filming the El Reno farmer's market that we had built," Chung told the outlet. "We had set it up to destroy it, and then this massive storm came through with 50 mile-per-hour winds, and it destroyed the set while we were hiding away." Unfortunately, they didn't get to film a planned storm scene there beforehand, but photos of the ruined set were taken as reference points to make the final version more realistic. Other notable moments include a day when the production had to move out to avoid a real tornado while filming a scene in which Kate (Jones) and Tyler (Powell) face off against one, and an EF-3 tornado that hit ground a town away from Chung and Anthony Ramos during their initial script meeting.

"I could not pinpoint a specific story about lightning because I felt like our entire shooting schedule was lightning delay after lightning delay," Chung told Vanity Fair. "It was just constantly happening." The wild filming conditions make for great stories and add authenticity to the film, and best of all, no one got hurt. The "Twisters" experience also continues a tradition of sorts, as the original film's shoot was plagued by terrible weather, too. In a Philadelphia Enquirer interview from 1996, "Twister" director Jan de Bont lamented the exact same scenario Chung endured, telling the paper: "We were pelted with rain and hail, and we had to stop shooting every time the lightning got close, because it was so dangerous. We had flooding, and we were stuck in the mud for days." Now that's what I call a legacy sequel.

"Twisters" is now in theaters.