Julie Hagerty and Robert Hays, the stars of the 1980 comedy classic Airplane! (released as Flying High in Australia), are reuniting for Airplane! Live, a touring event combining a full screening of the film with an on-stage conversation and audience Q&A. The tour revisits one of cinema’s most influential parody comedies, with new behind-the-scenes reflections from its principal cast members.
by Paul Cashmere
Julie Hagerty and Robert Hays, the on-screen duo behind the enduring comedy classic Airplane!, are on the road in the USA for a live touring event that pairs a full screening of the film with an in-person discussion and audience Q&A, offering new insight into the making of one of the most quoted comedies in modern film history.
The Airplane! Live tour, which also connects back to the film’s Australian identity as Flying High, brings together Hays, who played reluctant pilot Ted Striker, and Hagerty, who portrayed flight attendant Elaine Dickinson. Each event features a complete screening of the film followed by a moderated discussion in which the pair revisit production stories, casting memories and the unconventional comedic approach that defined the project.
Hays and Hagerty revisits a film that reshaped parody comedy through deadpan delivery and tightly structured visual gags. The touring conversations also highlight how the film’s tone was carefully constructed, often by deliberately avoiding traditional comedic performances in favour of straight-faced realism.
One of the most frequently discussed elements in recent appearances has been how seriously the cast played the absurd material. As Hays recalled in a Podcast with Phil Rosen, the script itself landed immediately as something unusual. “Every single page had something that made me laugh,” she said, describing her first reading experience while travelling on a plane, appropriately enough.
Hays has often echoed that sentiment, noting that the humour worked because it was played without irony. “That’s what they wanted. They wanted us to be serious,” he said, referencing directors Jim Abrahams, David Zucker and Jerry Zucker, who built the film’s comedic rhythm through contrast between dialogue and delivery.
The touring conversation also revisits now-legendary casting anecdotes. Hays recounted how the production attracted unexpected interest from performers not typically associated with comedy. Among them was Sigourney Weaver, who reportedly auditioned for a role but objected to one of the script’s more provocative lines.
According to Hays, Weaver made it clear she would not deliver the line as written, “sit on your face and wriggle”, prompting a polite but decisive response from the filmmakers, who ultimately moved on without revising the material. “I didn’t know what it meant so it was fine,” Hagerty said.
Another recurring story involves Robert Stack, who appeared in the film as the steely air traffic control authority figure. Hays and Hagerty have both noted that Stack, known for his dramatic screen persona, initially struggled to interpret the film’s tone. The humour, built on understatement and parody of disaster films, did not immediately register in the way it did for other cast members. Over time, however, he adapted to the style, contributing one of the film’s most recognisable straight-faced performances.
The production’s ensemble also included performers such as Leslie Nielsen and Lloyd Bridges, many of whom transitioned from dramatic roles into comedic territory through the film’s influence. Hays has described the set as a space where traditional acting instincts were often intentionally disrupted. One anecdote frequently retold involves actors delivering lines with such seriousness that even crew members were unable to maintain composure during takes, occasionally forcing resets.
Contextually, Airplane! emerged during a period of rapid evolution in American screen comedy, following films like Animal House and The Kentucky Fried Movie. Its structured parody approach drew heavily from earlier disaster films, particularly Zero Hour!, which provided the narrative framework. The result was a tightly constructed comedic system that relied on precise timing rather than improvisation.
In retrospective discussions, Hays has described the experience of watching audiences discover the film in real time as central to its legacy. He has also noted that seeing new generations engage with the film continues to surprise him, particularly given its dense layering of visual and verbal gags.
The touring format reflects that continued interest. Rather than simply screening the film, Airplane! Live positions its stars as guides through its construction, offering commentary on casting decisions, on-set dynamics and the evolving reception of the film over more than four decades.
The event series also revisits the broader impact of the film on parody filmmaking. Its influence can be traced through later genre entries that adopted its structural discipline and rapid-fire joke density, though few have replicated its exact tone.
Looking ahead, Hays and Hagerty continue to present the tour as an evolving conversation rather than a fixed retrospective. Each appearance adds new reflections, shaped by audience interaction and the enduring curiosity around how such a precisely chaotic comedy was assembled.
Tour Dates
June 19, 2026, San Francisco, CA, Curran Theatre
October 8, 2026, Syracuse, NY, The Oncenter
October 9, 2026, Red Bank, NJ, Count Basie Center For The Arts
October 10, 2026, Worcester, MA, Hanover Theatre
https://www.airplanelivetour.com
Watch Julie Hagerty and Robert Hays with Phil Rosenthal and David Wild:
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