A group of thieves face their biggest and most dangerous job yet in Lift. After being caught dead to rights by Interpol, Cyrus and his team are offered the chance to have their records expunged, giving them a chance at a new life, though have to find a way to steal $500 million in gold from a passenger plane during a flight that belongs to one of the world’s most dangerous crime lords.
Kevin Hart leads the ensemble cast of Lift includes Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Vincent D’Onofrio, Úrsula Corberó, Billy Magnussen, Jacob Batalon, Jean Reno, Sam Worthington, Viveik Kalra, Yun Jee Kim, Burn Gorman, Paul Anderson. Combining stylish direction from action genre vet F. Gary Gray with charming humor from its unique roster of cast and characters, the movie is an entertaining step in the right direction for Netflix’s big-budget movies.
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Ahead of the movie’s premiere, Screen Rant interviewed stars Billy Magnussen, Vincent D’Onofrio, and Yun Jee Kim to talk Lift, developing their characters from loose descriptions on the page, and the fun of their group chemistry.
Billy Magnussen, Vincent D’Onofrio & Yun Jee Kim Talk Lift
Screen Rant: I’m very excited to chat with the three of you for Lift. Billy, I’ve been a big fan of your work since Game Night. I’ve loved seeing you expand with everything from Aladdin to No Time to Die, and this feels like a great middle ground where you still get to be goofy, but also sort of competent in your work. What is it like for you to walk that fine line with this role?
Billy Magnussen: You know, that’s the fun part. When F asked me to be on this project, there wasn’t anything really on the page. Working with actors like this, I got a lot of runway to explore and build the character on set. So, like, I can only say thank you to the filmmaker and my fellow actors to create Magnus through this story, and stuff like that. So I give all the credit to my coworkers, actually.
Vincent, as the master of disguise in this movie, you play a lot of really fun characters throughout the different jobs. Which would you say you had the most fun getting to help put together for this?
Vincent D’Onofrio: Actually, the one that’s on screen the least amount, Oliver. He’s kind of a redhead, his whole body is red. Or orange, I think. [Laughs] But yeah, he was the most fun.
Yun Jee Kim: Aww, Oliver.
Vincent D’Onofrio: Yeah, they still have a place in their heart for Oliver.
Yun Jee Kim: [Quoting Lift] “Oliver!”
Yun Jee, congratulations on your American film debut. You bring so much charisma and heart to your role. What was this experience like for you, making the leap to Western filmmaking?
Yun Jee Kim: To be honest, I was kind of anxious and nervous coming into this project, because I’ve never been away from home for that long. This was my first project, and the environment is very different from back home. But I got very lucky with these gentlemen, and also Gugu, Kevin, Viveik and Úrsula. We just had such great chemistry, and the atmosphere was just so comfortable, we were just out to have fun every day. As soon as I met them, I think my nervousness just went away completely, and I was just going to work to have fun with my people.
There is obviously a lot of room for ad-lib in this kind of comedy. How much did you guys actually get to ad-lib with one another throughout the movie?
Yun Jee Kim & Billy Magnussen: The whole movie! [Laughs]
Billy Magnussen: No. But yes, the whole movie.
Yun Jee Kim: Yeah, actually, a lot of them made it.
Vincent D’Onofrio: In the process of film, rehearsals and discussions can bring ad-libs forward, and then get scripted. And then on set, there’s ad-libs that are done, and either make it in the movie or not. I think in this case, there was a lot of both.
About Lift
An international heist crew, led by Cyrus Whitaker (Kevin Hart), races to lift $500 million in gold from a passenger plane at 40,000 feet.
Check out our other interview with Kevin Hart, Úrsula Corberó, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
Lift
From F. Gary Gray, the director of Friday and The Italian Job comes Lift – an action-heist movie starring Kevin Hart and Gugu Mbatha-Raw. In the film, an international crew with several heists under their belts is recruited to stop a terrorist attack from happening. To do that, the team will have to conduct a high-stakes heist on a plane mid-flight.
- Release Date
- January 12, 2024
- Director
- F. Gary Gray
- Cast
- Kevin Hart , Gugu Mbatha-Raw , Sam Worthington , Vincent D’Onofrio , Úrsula Corberó , Billy Magnussen , Jacob Batalon , Jean Reno
- Rating
- Not Yet Rated
- Main Genre
- Action
- Genres
- Action , Crime , Drama
- Writers
- Daniel Kunka , Emerald Fennell , Simon Kinberg
- Cinematographer
- Bernhard Jasper
- Producer
- Audrey Chon, Kevin Hart, Adam Kassan, Simon Kinberg, Matt Reeves, Bryan Smiley
- Production Company
- 6th & Idaho Productions, Genre Pictures, Hartbeat Productions
- Sfx Supervisor
- Tez Palmer
