The director behind Crime 101 explained how Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth's MCU history had a surprising impact on shooting the upcoming flick. Crime 101 may be an original new heist flick that connects only to the 2020 novella by Don Winslow on which it is based, but the MCU has become a hot topic at its press junket due to a superheroic connection among its stars. The Bart Layton-directed crime thriller brings together four Marvel actors in Thor's Chris Hemsworth, Hulk's Mark Ruffalo, Storm's Halle Berry, and Druig's Barry Keoghan.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Direct, Crime 101 writer and director Bart Layton discussed the Thor and Hulk actors' "long history" together in the MCU and how it affected his crime thriller. In Crime 101, Hemsworth stars as notorious thief Mike Davis, who is hunted by Ruffalo's Det. Lou Lubesnick, placing them on opposite sides of the ultimate heist.
Layton explained that it was clear from the get-go that the two MCU actors "love each other a lot," but it was tough to see how "useful that was going to be:"
The Direct: "A lot of people know Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo from Marvel, in which they have a long history of sharing the screen together. How much of that history do you think played into their performance, and, more importantly, how much of that did you feel behind the scenes when they were just hanging out and figuring out how scenes work together?"
Layton: "Yeah, it was interesting. Because, actually, I think at the beginning they were like--I didn't know how well they knew each other, but then immediately I could see that they were very close, that they were good mates, and they love each other a lot, and I wasn't sure how useful that was going to be to me, other than the fact that they obviously were going to have a nice rapport and going to get on well."
Almost seven years have passed since Ruffalo and Hemsworth last shared an MCU screen in Avengers: Endgame, but Thor and Hulk recently rematched in animation in Marvel Zombies with some crazy new powers and a clear winner.
Despite Hemsworth and Ruffalo's 15-year history in the MCU that began with The Avengers' production in 2011, Layton noted they shot their scenes for Crime 101 with an unexpected "level of nervousness:"
"But actually, this was a scenario where I wanted them not to be cozy with each other at all. And what was really interesting was, even though they had that history together, when we got to shoot the scenes between the two of them, they showed up, and there was a level of nervousness that was not what I had expected."
Having hoped to avoid the MCU familiars getting too comfortable, the Crime 101 director felt he "benefited" from a sense of intimidation in Hemsworth:
"But I benefited from that, because I think Chris showed up and he's suddenly confronted with not Mark Ruffalo the Hulk, but Mark Ruffalo the very serious screen actor who's done everything from 'Zodiac' to 'Collateral' to, you know, you name it. And he was intimidated."
As Ruffalo and Hemsworth saw new sides of each other as actors, Layton felt it was "great" that the longtime friends found the situation so unfamiliar, especially in shooting a "very, very tense scene:"
"And then I think when Mark saw Chris in his, I'm not going to say new, but in the capacity of a very on-the-money actor who'd done his homework and was in character, I think both of them suddenly were like, 'Oh, this is not familiar to me at all.' And that was great. And I wanted to make sure that they brought that into what became a very, very tense scene, which people seem to absolutely love."
Crime 101 is playing in theaters starting on February 13 and also stars Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Nick Nolte, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
Crime 101's Cast Could Reunite in Avengers: Secret Wars (Minus One Actor)
It's safe to say that Crime 101's press circuit has been flooded with Marvel talk, with Chris Hemsworth even inviting Halle Berry to return in Avengers: Secret Wars as the Storm actress will be one of the few OG X-Men missing out on Doomsday.
Unfortunately, Berry won't be the only one skipping this year's Avengers 5, as Mark Ruffalo confirmed Hulk is also missing out on the Multiversal chaos, likely due to his role in July's other upcoming MCU blockbuster, Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Most are expecting Bruce Banner will re-enter the Avengers franchise in 2027 with Secret Wars, in which Hemsworth will also reprise Thor. If the Asgardian actor can fulfill his promise and land Berry a role in Avengers 6, the December 2027 blockbuster could be something of a Crime 101 reunion for all but one star.
Sadly, while the Eternals will reportedly return in the MCU's next saga, there are no signs that any of the immortal roster, including Barry Keoghan's Druig, will appear in Secret Wars after their 2021 debut flopped at the box office.
