Austin Butler and Callum Turner are preparing to take flight as Majors Gale “Buck” Cleven and John “Bucky” Egan in Apple TV+‘s Masters of the Air.
A follow-up to the Steven Spielberg–Tom Hanks-produced wartime hits Band of Brothers and The Pacific, the show follows the 100th Bomb Group as they conduct bombing raids over Nazi Germany and cope with the terrifying combat being conducted 25,000 feet in the air. Chatting with Turner and Egan, TV Insider learned a bit more about their characters and onscreen bond, which serves as a beating heart to the story.
(Credit: Apple TV+)
“He’s an extrovert, to say the least,” Turner teases of his character who, he says, “joined up before Pearl Harbor and wanted to fight the good fight in the way that he knew how.” That way was flying. Something that both Buck and Bucky have in common is a shared love of the sky. Additionally, Turner says, Bucky, “wanted to protect his future and our futures.”
And while Bucky may be an extrovert, Butler explains, “Cleven is more of a man of few words, an introvert, but they’re best friends.”
“And so they’re yin and yang, and they were both talked about as being the two best pilots in the 100th Bomb Group,” Butler elaborates, calling the men, “leaders amongst their squadron.” Similar to Bucky, Buck also joined up before Pearl Harbor, and as the actor puts it, they both “had these hearts of gold.”
Ultimately, it’s their bond, Butler says, that interested him in the project. “Their friendship is really the thing that drew me to this so much, seeing how much they cared for each other even though they were so different,” he muses.
Turner echoes his sentiment, adding, “We really were best buds, loved each other.” See the duo in the video, above, and don’t miss them as they take to the air when the series kicks off on Apple TV+.
Masters of the Air, Series Premiere, Friday, January 26, Apple TV+
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
