By: Lynn Barker
What could be more gratifying than robbing from the criminal rich and giving the cash to the deserving poor? Maybe being a cool magician and using your skills for the ultimate rip-off. Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network, Rio, Zombieland), Isla Fisher (Rise of the Guardians, Rango, The Great Gatsby) and Dave Franco (Warm Bodies, 21 Jump Street, Fright Night) join forces to pull off the most magical bank heists in history.
The gang got together recently in Las Vegas (magician central) to talk about their cool characters, fun on set and why you’ll enjoy the movie. Check it out….
Isla pulling an escape
Q: Tell us about your cool character in Now You See Me.
- Jesse: My character is like the best sleight of hand magician in the world. He’s a guy that, at 5 years old, realized he didn’t have any friends and wasn’t good at making them so he stayed in his bedroom and, eight hours a day, worked on the same tricks and now, 20 years later, he’s the best sleight of hand guy in the world with the same social life. He’s really arrogant because he has earned it.
- Isla: She is an ‘escapeologist’ who gets brought into this magic troupe of Woody Harellson, a mentalist and Dave (Franco) and Jesse (Eisenberg) who do illusions and sleight of hand and we are magic Robin Hoods and we get pulled into a cat and mouse chase. It’s an action thriller headed by Mark Ruffalo’s (FBI guy) character.
- Dave: Jack starts out as this street kid who pickpockets people. Not the most morally sound thing in the world to do but he has to do it to get by. He has no other way. He then has this opportunity to be part of something much bigger. He becomes part of the group of magicians. He has looked up to the other members for a long time and they have no idea who he is so he’s trying to earn their respect and prove to them that he’s an equal. It’s kind of like me coming on set. I’m around these brilliant actors whom I’ve looked up to and they have no idea who I am and I’m trying to show them that I belong here. So there’s that parallel.
Dave performing an illusion
Q: Who are these magicians called The Four Horsemen and how did they come together?
- Jesse: The Horsemen are four magicians who each have different skills; I’m the sleight of hand magician, Isla Fisher is the escape artist, Woody Harellson is a mentalist, mind-reader and hypnotist and Dave Franco is a pick pocket. So, the four of us are recruited to join this group to pull off these bank heists. We steal money from corrupt businessmen and distribute it to people who have been stolen from. We each use our own skills to pull off these incredible feats.
- Isla: Our motives are revealed slowly over time so you don’t really know what we’re doing or why (at first). And we don’t know much about this all-seeing eye who has brought us all together. But we do these incredible heists and return the money back to the people who really need it. It’s a cool, original take on a heist/magic thriller.
The 4 Horsemen magicians
Q: Why is Now You See Me a cool movie?
- Jesse: When you see this movie, you’re watching these things that seem impossible. In the first show we do, we rob a bank in Paris…from a stage in Las Vegas. In the next scene, the FBI are trying to figure out how we did it and you realize oh, not only is it a possible thing to do but it’s less complicated than expected. What I like about it is that the characters are all unique and my guy is fun to play because he thinks he’s the best at something so it gives him carte blanche to act like an awful person to everyone else in the room.
- Dave: Kind of a cool heist movie with magic and when it works it feels original. People get excited to see something original this summer with all the sequels coming out. I think it can have a wide audience. The guys might gravitate toward the heist action of it all but I hear women are really liking it because they love that there is a real story there.
Jesse doing sleight of hand trick
Q: For you, what was the most magical day on set while filming?
- Jesse: We had been shooting some of the more intimate scenes then we got to perform this first show in an arena at like the MGM Grand in Vegas before thousands of people. It was thrilling to perform for a large group of people.
- Isla: Any day that Sir Michael Caine was on set. He’s such a treasure.
- Dave: Somewhere during the fight sequence with Mark Ruffalo. I realized I was kicking the c**p out of The Hulk which no one else can say. That action sequence was one of the most challenging sequences in the movie for me but also the most gratifying. I’ve played sports all my life so I was able to use some of those skills. It was a ton of fun for me. It made me realize that I’m not that personally drawn to a lot of action movies, I would love to be in as many action movies as possible. I love the physicality of it all. I love that this was my first real fight in a movie or in real life. I’m not a bruiser. It was technically fake but it’s getting physical rolling around on the ground getting bruised up.
Mark Ruffalo tries to bust the gang
Q: Anything you learned or took away from the film?
- Dave: Now I know that I would love to be in more action movies.
Masterminds: Morgan Freeman and Sir Michael Caine
Q: Who is going to have fun seeing this film?
- Isla: I think everybody is gonna get something from the movie. I loved it. My brother loved it, my mom loved it. People like a really good plot that surprises them. Watching the movie is like being at one really great magic show. There are so few real surprises in life and this has got a couple of amazing surprises.
Now You See Me is in theaters May 31st!
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