Kevin Hart has a complicated history with aeroplanes. In his 2004 film Soul Plane, his character suffers a horrible experience on a plane, after which he sues the airline and uses the money to start his own airline. In the 2016 American buddy action comedy Central Intelligence, he helps Dwayne Johnson’s character steal a plane. In 2019’s Jumanji: The Next Level, he is thrown off a light aircraft over a desert. His stand-up special Kevin Hart: Reality Check features a hilarious bit about being questioned about drugs by Mexican airport authorities. In 2018, appearing in Jimmy Kimmel Live, Kevin put a humourous spin on the time his plane blew a tire after landing in Boston ahead of the NBA game between the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers. And now, in his upcoming Netflix film Lift, Kevin stars as the leader of a group of misfits who use a jet to steal half a billion dollars worth of gold from a jet airliner that is hijacked by some bad men.
So, what’s the deal between Kevin Hart and airplanes? “(laughs) I love that. I didn’t think about that, but when you put it like that, maybe I am sick and there’s a problem here!” Kevin tells us over Zoom.
An avid traveller, Kevin says that air travel has become a big part of his life and that he meets people more often while flying. “And I have been able to have a lot of fun with it. From Soul Plane to the stories I have shared from my experiences, all of them are great moments, but the progression to telling a story like Lift is a game changer,” he says, adding that he hopes people take this movieas the best memory of him attached to a plane.
For his co-stars in Lift, Úrsula Corberó and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, everything about this film is a departure from what they are used to. After her famous turn as Tokyo in Money Heist, we now might get to see Úrsula smile more often while pulling off a heist. So, was choosing a heist comedy after Money Heist her way of proving that she can do different things within the same genre? “Yeah, I think so,” Úrsula agrees. “I read the script that Netflix sent and I enjoyed it. This is an entirely different character from what I played in Money Heist. I feel lucky to have played such powerful characters…characters who are powerful but are also sensitive and show their human side. This was one such cool character.”
Úrsula Corberó, Kevin Hart and Gugu Mbatha-Raw in stills from ‘Lift’ | Photo Credit: Netflix
Lift is Gugu’s first run at an American comedy. Except for the British comedy Misbehaviour, most of her feature roles have been intense and serious. “It was a chance to be more light-hearted and it was fun to mix it up. I don’t want to do the same genre all the time. And, it was really fun to travel to places like Venice, Cortina d’Ampezzo and Trieste,” she says.
Working with Kevin and this incredible cast made the offer a no-brainer but what really captivated her was all the action the role demanded. Whether it’s an action comedy or a serious thriller, action is action. In Lift, non-American actors like Gugu, Ursula and Kim Yoon-ji have to not only perform in different languages and accents, but they must also perform while imagining being inside a real aircraft flying high in the sky. “That was a fun challenge. My character Abby has some great fight scenes and she goes through a big journey in the movie after she joins this motley crew and learns to fit in,” says Gugu.
Speaking of fitting in, actor Vincent D’Onofrio has a fascinating role to play in Lift — as Denton, who likes to hide under a new skin with the help of make-up, props and costumes. Denton’s character design seems the coolest of the lot, and it makes you wonder how much those props do to help a prolific actor like Vincent get into his character. Or is it the craft that helps the appearance seem more authentic? “Both, to be honest. Some of those things are written and some of it is thought of later. With Lift, it was just fun to imagine a guy like this. Sometimes you are not sure why he’s dressed the way he’s dressed. Those things made the character more fully rounded,” says Vincent.
Waiting patiently for Vincent to end his sentence is his cheerleader throughout this interview — actor Billy Magnussen, whose upbeat energy almost matches that of his character in the film. “It was so good working with you [Vincent] because you didn’t know what was coming in. But again that’s why you are so good,” he says before turning to me to add, “You are talking to one of the best actors in this generation.” We know, Billy. “He should have gotten an Oscar for his role in Men In Black,” he adds.
Contrary to what you expect from a Kevin Hart film, Lift has Billy doing all the heavy-lifting when it comes to comedy. He plays a safecracker who has to pull off a meticulously skilled job inside an aeroplane that at times might go through some turbulence. You’d expect him to say that it was difficult to pull off the action while also focusing on hitting those comedy beats. “I was just making s*** up (laughs). So, you have to be grounded always and play the truth of the story, but again working with actors like Vincent, you have the freedom to play around, discover and figure it out. For comedy, you have to play it so seriously by creating a character that lives in that absurdist world.”
Vincent pitches in with his two cents: “Most of those moments were either something that was discussed by all of us or it was something that we knew we were supposed to play in the moment and just hope it came out okay. We just try to make it exciting and if it needs to be funny, it will be funny.”
Vincent D’Onofrio, Billy Magnussen and Kim Yoon-ji in stills from ‘Lift’ | Photo Credit: Netflix
Lift marks the debut American feature film for Korean-American actor-singer Kim Yoon-ji. Having now worked in an American production of this scale, she wishes that the Korean film industry back home took a cue from Hollywood in giving freedom to actors to perform a role. “Whenever we had a different scene to pull off, we were given the chance to talk about it as a group and we were able to stage it beforehand; that’s something I don’t get to do as much back home.” Having the freedom to be in character and to do whatever she wanted enabled her to express the character better, she adds.
In the movie, before this group chances upon a once-in-a-lifetime mission, they are just a group of skilled professional thieves who like to steal art. That made me think of a quote that goes, “Good artists copy but great artists steal,” and I wonder if these artists remember ‘stealing’ a piece of advice or a technique from another actor that has worked well for them over the years.
Before I complete my question, our very own Vincent D’Onofrio fan, Billy, is eager to answer. Any guesses? “Vincent D’Onofrio! He inspires me every day to be a better actor. It is about having the courage to fail and still go for wild, crazy choices.” Vincent returns the kindness and calls Billy an excellent actor. “He likes taking these enormous chances in every single take and it’s so great to watch. Coming back to the question, When I was a kid, it was mostly the British actors who I took a liking for; like Peter O’Toole, Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers. And there have been countless performances from some male and female actors that I still think about and consider inspiring,” says Vincent.
You realise the camaraderie between this lovely set of actors is off the charts when Kim calls Billy her inspiration. “He was very brave in a way that I would never see myself doing. He rooted for me during the shoot and said that it was okay to go out of your way and do something random or stupid as long as you are in that character. That has changed me as an actor.”
One has to wait till January 12 to see how this camaraderie translates to screen as they pull off a mid-air heist like no other.
