Go Away With … Max Irons

By Jae-Ha Kim
Los Angeles Times
June 19, 2018

As CIA analyst Joe Turner in the new AT&T AUDIENCE Network series, “Condor,” Max Irons plays the role made famous by Robert Redford in “Three Days of the Condor.” The actor says that filming in Toronto reminds him a bit of home. “I used to live in New York and I live in London now and you can see elements of both cities in Toronto,” says Irons, who’s the son of actor Jeremy Irons. “It’s a wonderful place to film, because you’ve got skyscrapers and smaller neighborhoods that have a Brooklyn feel. You’ve also got beautiful nature surrounding you.”

Q. How much time do you have to explore Toronto?

A. We shoot for six months at a time, so there’s a good amount of time to get to know the place. We also shot a bit in Washington, D.C., but there was no time to go sightseeing, unfortunately.

Q. Are you ever tempted to pick a job because of where the project will be filmed?

A. (Laughs) Are you kidding me? Absolutely! It’s not the governing decision, but it’s certainly an ingredient in the mix. The one that jumps out is one where you’re probably not going to want to invite your readers to go. I have a real interest in Cold War history. I shot a film in Ukraine, which was super interesting for me. I kind of loved it and the people were lovely. It’s not much of a holiday destination, but that’s what was nice about it. It was a whole different world with a whole different culture that was pretty mysterious. I liked it there a lot. I would go back. I actually think about it quite often.

Q. What’s on your travel bucket list?

A. Where I really want to go is the Middle East, particularly Iran, which I’m assured, is one of the most beautiful countries in the world. Also one where the people are so welcoming, constantly having to refuse people inviting you into their homes to give you full three-course meals. It sounds wonderful.

Q. In the U.S., they’d slam the door in your face.
A. It’s like that in England, too. No one’s going to invite you in. Maybe if you went in and asked for some milk for you cup of coffee, maybe they’d give you, that but that’s about it.

Q. What was the first trip you took as a child?

A. The first trip I can really remember was to Antigua and I remember it because I had a Puff the Magic Dragon hand puppet that I left there and it broke my heart. I was just devastated. And somehow, my father — and I don’t know how he did it — got it back. When we got back home to London, there was Puff the Magic Dragon waiting for me on the stairs. (Laughs) That was my first memory of a holiday.

Q. Max, I’m a Mom and I know how he did it …
A. [Laughs.] See, the weird thing is I’m a 31-year-old man and I might imagine that now. But as a three year old, it was the same damned Puff the Magic Dragon. And we were best buddies and he knew all my secrets. Life was good. But my family also took me to India when I was about 11. We traveled for about a month by train and boat and it was magical. That was one of the best moments.

Q. You’ve been to South Asia. Have you traveled to Eastern Asian countries like Japan or Korea?

A. Dude, I would love to go to South Korea! I have never been that far east and have not had a reason to go yet, but I would love to work there. I really enjoy visiting countries with a strong sense of history and it would be so nice to experience the culture and meet the people. Listen, I’m going to leave this with you and you can talk to whoever you need to and tell them I prefer to be paid than not, but make it happen and I’ll be there ASAP. (Laughs.) I’ll be disappointed if I don’t hear from you. I don’t like empty promises.

Q. What do you like to do when you’re away on vacation?

A. My two favorite things in life are hiking and cycling. Two weeks ago, I went on holiday to Mallorca to ride my bike. It’s one of the best places in the world to go riding your bike. It gave me such joy in that one week that I’m set on going to all the great places to ride my bike: Italy, Norway, so much of France, Canada, North America.

Q. What are your five favorite cities?

A. New York has to be the top. I’ll skip London, because I live there. Paris. Florence. I like Rome. Helsinki.

Q. When you go away, what are some of your must-have items?

A. My bicycle and headache pills. That’s about it.

© 2018 JAE-HA KIM
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