Austin Butler on "solo dance sessions" & Zoë Kravitz gets "dumber" in glasses? | ‘Caught Stealing’

This is what happens when Zoey wears glasses. I get dumber somehow, it's crazy. To live it, to really do things on your own terms and live in your own lane and say, F the system is, you know, it's rarer and rarer, especially nowadays. First off, happy birthday, Austin. Thank you. Are you enjoying your day? Thank you. Are you having a fun one so far? This is, there's no way I'd rather spend it. I'm so into this movie, it's such a wild ride. Zoey, congratulations on your Emmy nom. Thank you. Yeah, right? Thank you. Right? Now, when we first meet Yvonne, she has such a strong chemistry with Hank. We're really rooting for this couple. So had you met Austin before Caught Stealing? And what went into crafting your back and forth banter? We had met a few times. We really can't pin down like where we met. It's weird that we can't remember. Yeah, I know. But we had met, but we hadn't really spent, you know, real time together. And yeah, I feel like we spent a lot of time with Darren talking about the characters and where they are in their relationship. I think it's a really interesting place to meet them. You know, I think it would have been so obvious and maybe easier to kind of, you know, say they're a couple. They've been together for a year. They're in love, you know. And but to be in this place where they're kind of, you know, been seeing each other, it's casual, but they can, you know, they're both, they've both caught feelings. Wow, clever. I have to go. This is what happens when Joey wears glasses. Yeah, I get dumber somehow, it's crazy. But yeah, this time where they're both kind of, you know, feeling like they want to take things to the next step. And that getting interrupted, that's like such a vulnerable time in a relationship. And for that to get interrupted by the chaos of the film is heartbreaking in a way. Well, you did it beautifully. Thank you. And truly convincingly, Austin, you do so many of your own stunts. The Chinatown chase scene is absolutely epic. But what prep went into Meredith Brooks' bitch performance on the pool table? And is that song still on your pump up playlist? You know, alongside Bad Bunny, of course. Of course, of course. Yeah, I think it will always be on my pump up playlist now. I went into that. I listened to it a lot in my apartment by myself, just seeing how it made me move. Yeah, a lot of solo dance sessions. We tried so many different things. We for a minute, it seemed like, you know, do we choreograph this and make it into something? And then that felt too choreographed. And so we ended up just just I mean, one, it was figuring out what the camera was going to be doing. And then and then sort of figuring out in the space, you know, once we found that, like, the lights moved and, you know, you could kind of figure out how the space was going to be. And then it was just going and having as much fun as I could. It's a believable moment. I mean, thank you. Thank you. At a bar, I feel like that would take place at a moment in time. Matt, Russ is giving SLC punk realness, but you said you loved this awesome chance to transform and rock a mohawk. So what was your favorite part of stretching your range, you know, for fans who may know you or recognize you from Doctor Who, House of the Dragon or The Crown? Yeah, well, I mean, it was just interesting to sort of play a punk and try and access the attitude of a punk. That felt like a very liberating space to sort of be exploring for a few months being in New York City, having a mohawk that was green and red. And, you know, I genuinely tried to sort of like adopt the identity of it a bit, you know, and I just tried to get into the thinking of a punk. And it's quite an interesting journey to what makes you a punk, I think. And then to actually live it, to live it, to really do things on your own terms and live in your own lane and say, F the system is, you know, it's rarer and rarer, especially nowadays. There's a lot more conformity. So it was cool, man. It was fun. It was fun to watch you in that role. It was unexpected, but so convincing. So great job. You said you wanted to make a really fun movie and that you met Austin Butler while he was promoting Elvis. You were promoting Whale. So when did you know that he could bring it as Hank? It's a good question. I remember after that first meeting that you talked about walking away going, what a sweet guy. And I remember looking on my shoulder and he was talking to someone else and 6'2 and beautiful and glowing. And I was like, you know what? He could probably play a baseball player. And I think that was the first thought of connecting the man to the material. But, you know, you never know when you're working with an actor until you really start rolling up your sleeves and getting into it. It was very clear, though. He was very, very qualified. What did you enjoy most about playing a wildly unpredictable badass who becomes stuck in a car with Bad Bunny and Austin Butler? I mean, in two Russian, hilarious, infectious personality type of men. I've got to tell you one thing that all four of these guys will probably be like, oh, no, she didn't. They are all such sensitive sweethearts. All four of them. It's true. They really are. And no, I would have never when you're reading these characters on page. What a delight to be with four other actors who could not be more different from their characters. That's good to know, because those Russians were very serious. Yes, they are. And they're the funniest guys. So funny. Well, they're funny in the movie, too. So I can only imagine off set. Total daddy's girl. Girl dads. All the best. Austin, the matzo ball soup scene is brilliant. When you first discovered Darren's movies at 12 or 13 years old with Requiem for a Dream, do you have imagined that working you would working this working experience, would you lead you to eating soup with Vincent and leave? No, no. And that they could be that funny, that they can both be scary guys. And then that hilarious. I mean, Vincent, the amount of time that he takes to sip that matzo ball soup and the slurping sound that he makes, it was so hard not to laugh. It was he just kept it going. And some takes you would get longer and longer. So, yeah, they were amazing. Now I'm speaking to you from Boulder, Colorado, my husband's hometown. So when I saw Benito as Colorado, I laughed out loud. Like you said, he was a fan of your film. So what stands out from your first meeting with Benito? And do you admire his performance more after seeing him on stage in Puerto Rico? I had heard that he was interested in acting and he was interested. And my casting director was saying I didn't quite believe her. So I was like, all right, let me do a zoom with the guy. And he's very serious, very respectful. And that was interesting and intriguing. The Lower East Side of New York and Puerto Rican culture is so deep that I was always thinking of like actually finding an actor with Puerto Rican descent, but then suddenly Bad Bunny maybe wants to do it. And he was great. We brought him in. He dug deep into New Yorican history. And we talked a lot about it. He even named the character because it turns out that the kind of redhead, that's the way they call redheads in Puerto Rico. And so he brought a lot to it, introduced me to a lot of period music from the time and was just a great collaborator. For me, the best compliment I got from him, he was very, he loved the movie, but he kind of felt it was the first time it wasn't Bad Bunny on the screen and he got to play a character. And that was great. I completely agree. I forgot for a moment. Yeah, absolutely. Those first scenes I was like, oh, right, that's Bad Bunny. It's so good. I love, love, love him in this. You put Hank in his place and say sports talk, especially Giants talk is just not sexy. So true or false, is sports talk sexy? It depends on who you're talking to. I'm sure for some people, it's like, yeah, I'm sure it's a major turn on. For me, it's like, it's like, I just don't, I don't know anything about sports. So it doesn't really do it for me. Me neither. So Hank is a baseball player, but Austin did not grow up playing baseball. You said you sent him baseball butt photos. So how did you two kind of craft together the physicality of his performance? And are you still sharing these photos with Austin? No more. That was more, he was pretty slim when he was promoting Elvis, because I think it's pretty nerve wracking. And I was, that was the only thing I was concerned about was like, could he get the muscle, the body of a baseball player? And those guys are just, they're incredibly powerful. So I started showing him pictures, be like, all right, this is where we got to get to. He did get there. I got to say, but, um, the, uh, the, and it was amazing. I actually didn't know that he had, he didn't play baseball as a kid because he really took to it naturally. His swing is great. So maybe he's just like one of those guys. That's a great athlete. It was important to see him as a great athlete because that he's basically a normal guy, except he's a normal guy who was a really good athlete in high school, which we know a lot of those people, but they are, they're not people with capes. They're not people that know Kung Fu. They're basically just, uh, someone who can, you know, maybe take a punch, but not much else. Regina, you've directed great TV work on TV. And of course your film, um, one night in Miami. So what did you absorb from seeing Darren in action and having been a fan of Black Swan and Requiem for a dream? Well, just his, you know, commitment and, uh, his attention to detail and just the, that is your job as a director, but Darren just, um, it's even, what did you say? Like a forensic, a forensic sense of detail. Yeah. He really appreciated that. I, um, really appreciated that he would, as I learn all directors, we have moments within the process where you change your mind. You have a really specific direction that you may be going with the scene or, um, with the storyline in general, and you change your mind. And I always feel so much guilt whenever I do, because that usually requires more work for your crew. And, um, I have a hard time letting go of that guilt and to see Darren do it and not be rude or anything like that, but not hold on to that guilt and, and, and know that the reason that you're doing it is because it's the story is first. And you know that, but I still always feel that guilt. And so I'm excited about the next thing that I direct. I'm not going to hold onto that guilt when I change my mind. I'm just going to make sure I continue to take care of the crew. Good for you. Such is life. We change our minds and we have to go with the flow sometimes and pivot. So awesome. Kudos to you. I am so excited. Both of you are so much fun and so unpredictable in this, uh, these roles. So congrats on the movie and we will see you soon.