Kevin Hart and Gugu Mbatha-Raw on ‘Lift’ film: ‘It’s all about the ensemble’
The brand-new heist film premieres this month on Netflix.
Kevin Hart and Gugu Mbatha-Raw have taken the heist film by storm. The two star in “Lift,” Netflix’s brand-new film, and theGrio caught up with the actors ahead of the film’s premiere, breaking down their approach to the material and more.
“Lift,” which premieres later this month on the streaming service, follows an international heist crew. Filled with all you’ve come to know and love from heist films (jet-setting adventures, action-packed sequences and nail-biting close calls), the film takes the genre 40,000 feet in the air. That’s right: the main goal of the crew is to lift $500 million in gold from a passenger plane while actively in flight.
Before diving into the film, the actors opened up to us about their own personal relationships to flying. “I live on the airplane,” Hart explained. “I’ve never struggled with any type of comfort on airplanes. I can go to sleep in two seconds … I’m talking runway!”
While not a nervous flyer, Mbatha-Raw chimed in about the phenomenon some experience of crying more easily on planes. “You feel more emotional when you’re watching a movie on the plane,” she said. “I don’t know why!”
Diving into the film, both actors pressed the importance of the project’s strong ensemble. “Everybody brings such a different vibe,” Mbatha-Raw explained. “It’s such an international cast and all the characters have their unique eccentricities and their different dynamics and different histories which I think really lifts the movie.”
“It’s based in character and it’s not just action, action, action,” she added.
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“It’s all about the ensemble,” Hart said. “It’s all about caring about the characters, understanding the characters and being engaged with the story.” He also shouted out the film’s director, F. Gary Gray (“Straight Outta Compton,” “The Fate of the Furious”).
“He’s done such a good job of grabbing ahold of many and making sure that everybody has moments that you care about,” he continued. “In this case, tracking our stories was extremely important. It’s how you get to the heist … it’s all about the build!”
“Lift” premieres Jan. 12 on Netflix.
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