Gun trainer Taran Butler teases Austin Butler’s Heat 2 audition training. Michael Mann’s Heat, which was released in 1995, has since become one of the director’s most beloved films. The director partnered with author Meg Gardiner to pen a follow-up novel that serves as both a prequel and a sequel, and Mann has expressed interested in making the Heat 2 movie his next project.
Official casting for the film hasn’t yet been revealed, but Butler has been reported to be a top choice for the role of a young Chris Shiherlis, Val Kilmer’s role in the original film. During a recent appearance on Corridor Crew’s “Stuntmen React” series, Taran, who runs the Taran Tactical weapons training facility in California, praises his recent training session with Butler, which he conducted as part of the actor’s training for the audition.
Over the last several years, Butler has become one of the most exciting young actors in Hollywood, and his star power is only rising. After a brief but memorable role in Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood, Butler played Elvis in Baz Luhurmann’s hit 2022 biopic of the same name. Following that, he appeared as part of the cast of Dune: Part Two, playing the villainous Feyd-Rautha, and he most recently starred in The Bikeriders. All four of these roles have proven that Butler is an actor with impressive range.
These past roles combined with Butler’s clear dedication to mastering his weapons skills certainly makes the actor a strong choice to play a young Shiherlis. During Heat’s memorable downtown shootout, Kilmer reloads his assault rifle in the heat of battle. The move was accomplished so proficiently and so quickly that Kilmer’s Heat reload was subsequently shown to Marines as a training example. The brief clip in the video above suggests that Butler has mastered this reload, and potentially even advanced beyond it.
On top of all that, Butler also does just look like a young Kilmer. It’s been reported that Adam Driver is a contender for the role of a young Neil McCauley, Robert De Niro’s role from the original, and having Driver and Butler on-screen together would undoubtedly make for a powerful combination. It remains to be seen who will end up starring in Heat 2, but Butler has evidently put in the time to make himself an obvious choice.
