Kevin Hart assembles a star-studded team of thieves in Lift. The heist thriller centers on Cyrus, the leader of a group of international thieves, who is caught in a corner by Interpol and left with only two choices: he and his crew go to jail, or they help steal $500 million of gold from one of the world’s most renowned crime lords and have their records expunged.
Alongside Hart, the ensemble Lift cast 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. Helmed by F. Gary Gray, well-known for The Italian Job remake and The Fate of The Furious, the Netflix thriller proves to be a breezy and entertaining ride thanks in large part to the chemistry between its central stars.
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In anticipation of the movie’s Netflix debut, Screen Rant interviewed stars Kevin Hart (who also produces the thriller), Úrsula Corberó, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw to discuss Lift, wanting to branch out into bigger-scale projects and getting to explore powerful female characters.
Kevin Hart, Úrsula Corberó & Gugu Mbatha-Raw Talk Lift
Screen Rant: I am very excited to chat with you. Lift is so much fun; a great entry into the heist genre. Kevin, you are on board as both a producer and a star. What about this project really spoke to you to wear both hats?
Kevin Hart: It was the scale of it, a different opportunity to attach myself to a bigger project. I think they’ve been getting bigger, especially within like the last 5–7 years of my career. So, how do you keep the conversation going in the direction of up? You need projects that are aligned with the idea, and the idea of leading man, the idea of action, the idea of thrills, you need the projects, the correct projects, to help make that factual. This checked all those boxes, this definitely was a big idea, big concept that I feel we really delivered on. All the hands on deck played a very valuable piece, too.
They all did a phenomenal job, including Gugu and Úrsula right here. I love the layers to this character, the motherhood that she has, and also the action that she brings. What was it like for you to get to the heart of your character?
Úrsula Corberó: It was fun, let me say, when I read the script, and I saw Camila was a pilot, I was like, “Okay, a real woman, I need to do that.” Also, I have the feeling — I was talking about it before — I feel very grateful, because I’ve been able to play these super powerful women in the last years of my career, and also, I think it’s very important for me at least to share with people that you can be powerful, but you can be human, sensitive, or vulnerable at the same time. So yeah, I feel like Camila is just human, she’s powerful, but she’s always very sensitive, and she’s a bada–.
Gugu, you are incredible in the movie, and you have been on a nice streak of similarly powerful women, whether it be Loki or this. What was it like for you to explore your character in this movie in comparison to some of your other similarly powerful women?
Gugu Mbatha-Raw: It’s been really fun. I think that the tone of this has been a shift for me. I think the fact that it’s a heist genre, that it’s action, but also there’s a light-hearted playfulness to the gang, and the energy is fast-paced has been different for me. I think the fun thing for Abby, she is very much the straight woman, and I think, like you said, coming from playing the sort of tougher characters in Loki or more psychological thrillers with a darker energy, this has been a nice balance. Because it feels like it’s buoyant, and it’s an ensemble, and I think Abby goes from being the straight woman to also being part of the team, which has just been a really nice journey.
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 back soon for our interview with Billy Magnussen, Vincent D’Onofrio & Yun Jee Kim.
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
