Action star Jai Courtney has begun to see more opportunities, in recent years, to flex his dramatic chops along with his muscles, utilizing his Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) theater education. Known for projects such as “Spartacus,” “A Good Day to Die Hard,” “Terminator Genisys,” and “Suicide Squad,” Courtney has recently expanded both genres as well as the depth in his choice of roles with “Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later,” “Storm Boy,” “Buffaloed,” and “Semper Fi,” his latest film directed by Henry Alex Rubin (“Murderball“).

A thrilling action-drama produced by Karina Miller (“To the Bone“), “Semper Fi” sees Courtney as a police officer and member of the United States Marine Corps Reserves struggling with an ethical conundrum when his younger brother, also a member of the Marine Corps Reserves, faces serious prison time.

Ahead of “Semper Fi’s” release, I spoke with Courtney about bridging his own close interpersonal friendships in his life with that of his character in the film, Rubin’s documentary background, his love for theater, his upcoming miniseries with Cate Blanchett, his to work with James Gunn in “The Suicide Squad,” and more.

What initially intrigued you about “Semper Fi?”

What intrigued me was the relationships, really, between these guys, and that’s the real hero. It’s a film about brotherhood and about loyalty on different platforms, on different levels, and wrestling with what that means within us what we stand for. It’s a world I understood, in that sense, so an emotional kind of responsibility that I understood. My best mates in the world are guys I’ve known for 25 years, and we really have that kind of bond, that history, that rich kind of love that’s thicker than blood, even. And so, I just was excited to get into that world and step into those shoes, and obviously, it’s always an honor to portray someone who’s in the armed services. It felt like something that was familiar but also a really great story and a great movie.

Read the rest of the interview at The Playlist.