With the new thriller Crime 101 debuting in theaters today, we got an exclusive opportunity to sit down with director Bart Layton (American Animals; The Imposter) to talk about the critically acclaimed crime drama starring Chris Hemsworth (Avengers: Doomsday; Thor: Love and Thunder) in the lead role as an elusive jewel thief named Mike Davis.
He walks me through casting the God of Thunder in a different kind of role than we've been accustomed to and how it allowed Hemsworth to showcase a new side of himself as a performer. Plus, we talk about that stunning green 1968 Chevrolet Camaro that plays a critical role in the movie and what challenges this new directorial venture presented compared to his past true crime films.
The cast features Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh with Nick Nolte and Halle Berry.
Crime 101 is now playing in theaters!
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ROHAN: Bart, your previous work essentially invented a new way to tell 'true' stories. Crime 101 is your first fully narrative feature. What challenges did that present for you? As well as the added challenge of adapting a Don Winslow novella?
BART: The challenge, I think, is one of confidence. You know, it's hard if you don't have that experience to draw on, and you're doing something big and bigger than you've done before, you don't have that kind of innate confidence to go, oh, I'm way in my comfort zone. This is going to be fine. So, really, it's sort of overcoming a sense of nervousness, imposter syndrome, whatever you want to call it, but the fear of that, I think, can push you to do really good work, you know, like it pushes you to do a huge amount of research, a huge amount of prep. And so, I actually ended up almost, kind of having shot, listed, storyboarded, previsualized the whole movie before I got there, and that served me very well. I had a very clear plan by the time I got to the set. So, yeah, I guess those are the challenges. And then, of course, there's technical stuff, which, you know, I hadn't done, like I wanted to do a really balls out, pretty visceral car chase. And so, yeah, I guess the nervousness of not having done it before makes you go an extra mile to make sure that you do something special.
ROHAN: Chris drives this stunning green car in the movie, what did you want that car and his character’s relationship to the car to represent in the movie? Especially with what he ultimately decides to do with the car at the end of the movie?
BART: In LA, cars are not just like vehicles to get you around, a car is like a whole extension of your personality, right? And it's a way of demonstrating who you are and demonstrating your status and all the rest of it. So, there are a bunch of different cars that Hemsworth's character drives. They all have a different significance. In the end, you know, I don't want to give too much away, but it becomes kind of a symbol of something that they share together, you know, and there's this kind of act of generosity, which is quite emotional at the end. And so, I guess, you know, like, the whole thing about cars in the movie is that they are, yeah, in LA, a car is like an extension of your sort of identity, and so, you kind of, like, I never think twice about hiring a crappy car if I'm going anywhere and I need to rent a car, but in LA, I'll definitely think quite hard about the kind of car that I want to represent who I am.
ROHAN: Chris Hemsworth is your lead and I’d say this is a very different kind of role than the ones we’ve become accustomed to seeing him in. He’s not exactly the God of Thunder here, he gets to be very vulnerable and insecure. What went behind casting him in this part?
BART: I wanted a movie star who could be iconic, but I also knew that Chris had layers and abilities that we had never seen before. And I think that'll be one of the things that people will be blown away by in the movie. I think there's a lot of things that audiences seem to be really excited about, but I think one of the things is how phenomenally good an actor Chris Hemsworth is, because, you know, I think he makes his Thor role look easier than it is, and I think people think, oh, he's actually like that because of the way he looks. But he's not. He's a very, very sensitive, thoughtful, interesting person who comes from a modest background, you know, his parents were social workers, things like that. He has more to draw on than maybe we realize, and so, in this movie, you see layers and vulnerabilities that maybe we haven't seen before.
Set against the sun-bleached grit of Los Angeles, Crime 101 weaves the tale of an elusive jewel thief (Chris Hemsworth) whose string of heists along the 101 freeway have mystified police. When he eyes the score of a lifetime, his path crosses that of a disillusioned insurance broker (Halle Berry) who is facing her own crossroads. Convinced he has found a pattern, a relentless detective (Mark Ruffalo) is closing in, raising the stakes even higher. As the heist approaches, the line between hunter and hunted begins to blur, and all three are faced with life-defining choices–and the realization that there can be no turning back.
Adapted from Don Winslow’s acclaimed novella of the same name, the film is written and directed by Bart Layton (AmeBARTan Animals, The Imposter). Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Nick Nolte round out the cast.