Guns Up Movie Stars Kevin James and Christina Ricci on John Wick Comparisons & the Jobs They Hated

Kevin James and Christina Ricci star in a new action comedy, Guns Up, which certainly has plenty of John Wick DNA in it. The film, directed by Edward Drake, follows James' Ray Hayes, a family man who hates his job working for the mob but does it to provide for his loved ones. When it finally comes time to leave, getting out of the game isn't as easy as Ray was led to believe.

Ricci plays Alice, Ray's supportive wife, who also shares a dream with him of one day opening their own diner together—something that can't happen with Ray in the mob.

The Direct's Russ Milheim sat down with Guns Up star Kevin James and Christina Ricci to discuss a wide range of topics, not least among them being the John Wick comparisons (a franchise fresh on everyone's minds thanks to Ballerina) that many will be quick to make.

Ricci admitted that there are definitely "similarities to be found and comparisons to be drawn," though she feels "this film is more comedic" and "warmer at its core," with "a lot of heart."

James noted that the movie is "obviously a wink to John Wick and those types of movies," but its added "element of family life" and "a sitcom quality" help it stick out.

In the discussion, Ricci also gave a production update on Yellowjackets Season 4, while James offered up hope for fans holding out for Grown Ups 3. The full interview can be read below, which includes James and Ricci talking about previous jobs they've hated, their characters in the movie, and how family is central to Guns Up.

Kevin James & Christina Ricci On John Wick Similarities & Differences

While Guns Up Is "A Wink to John Wick," It Has Its Own Beat to Play

• The Direct: "A character in this film at one point asks, 'Are you John Wick?' Which I think is a perfectly valid comparison, especially for audiences to make, you know, because the film is about a man who wants to get out of the business, which leads to some crazy action sequences and consequences. How would you both say that this is both similar yet different from those films?"

Christina Ricci: There are similarities to be found and comparisons to be drawn. I do think that this film is more comedic and has a little, maybe [it's] warmer at its core, it's about family and about two parents that are really trying to pull their kids and themselves into a better life. And I just think it's got a lot of heart. So, yeah, I guess that's how I would say it's different.

Kevin James: It's obviously a wink to John Wick and those types of movies. But it is the element of family life, and it almost has, like a sitcom quality to some of the family life and raising the kids, and then you're going into this crazy mob world as well. So, yeah, that's what it really was.

The Jobs That Kevin James & Christina Ricci Hated

From Painting to Babysitting, They've Had Their Fair Share of Bad Jobs

• The Direct: "I have a fun question for you both, kind of thematic, with how Ray is fed up with his job. He just doesn't love it. What is the job that you guys have both had, outside of acting, that you previously really hated with a passion, yet you needed to get it done anyway?"

Kevin James: I've got a few of them. I've done everything. When I was first looking for work, I mean, this is going back. I was a house painter with a buddy of mine, only because he was doing it, and he had it, set it up, and I needed something to do for the summer.

So, we would, you know, it was just basically a means to go out that night, like, get make some money. So you had beer money to go out and hang out with your buddies. So I started painting houses with them. And his business started to grow. And I wasn't into it as much as he was.

So, things like, you know, where you tape the edges and stuff like that. I wouldn't bother with that so much. I would just kind of wing it. And he could see, you know, we were a team, but my side of the, I guess the professionalism, was dipping a little bit, and we literally, we ended up, in one, we had a massive paint fight, which was like the one of the last houses I did, where we just went all out, and in person's—on the outside of his house, wasn't inside. But we were throwing buckets of paint at each other, and that's when I think I was let go, and rightly so. I think.

Christina Ricci: I actually did work in the summertime at the snack bar at the Montclair Beach Club as soon as I became old enough, when I was 13. I got to be a snack bar girl, and then I also would babysit. But I was not trustworthy, and no one should have left their children with me. And my babysitting career ended one night when I almost got me and the kids arrested for egging a house down the street.

Guns Up Stars Talk About the Importance of Family in Guns Up

Family is a Central Theme to the Action-Packed Movie.

• The Direct: "Family is so important to the film and to the story being told. Can you both talk about how that topic is both so central to the narrative and then also how you worked to create the family dynamic between yourselves and your co-stars on set?"

Kevin James: It's definitely central to this, because it's really an exaggerated, hopefully exaggerated in some way, example of a lot of people's lives. As a family, you see the struggles you go through and trying to provide for your kids. And in this day and age, it feels like it becomes more and more, and they need more and more, and you've got to go out and do more and more as parents, you know.

I mean, whether it's running them to soccer games and football games and practice and going back in this and getting them in this school to be the best and this and that, sometimes we chase that at an incredible pace. In this movie, we do ridiculous stuff to try to accomplish that. And that is the center of this movie, the family.

But to act as a family and to be that really comes down to working with people who are that way, like they feel that way, and you can connect with right away. And that is the danger. I don't care how good you know it's like, if you don't have that element of, kind of getting along, and we hit it off right away. And if you don't have that, you may have a successful movie, or it may work, but it's never the same.

Like, to me, there are just scenes you can't fake. I don't know, I just felt like, and it's the little scenes, the connective tissue in a lot, you know, when she's making the salad in the beginning, and you come up behind her and you're talking, and it's a little stuff you're throwing back and forth, and talking about your dreams and things like that, there's a shorthand that you know just happens with people when you work with someone that you truly love and work with and have a great time with them, it shows, and that's it. It's basically that.

So, it's a long-winded way of saying, when you work with great people, portraying family becomes effortless.

Christina Ricci: Yeah, we got really lucky. All of us really loved working together and being together, and felt comfortable and at ease. And, you know, Keana [Marie] and Leo [Easton Kelly] were so great, and just everything really fell into place.

Kevin James on How His Character Ray Is Just Over It

Ray's Old Job Isn't Paying the Bills, But He Doesn't Like His New One Either

• The Direct: "Kevin, Ray is just—he's done with his job. In fact, he's never really liked it. Can you further paint a picture for audiences of Ray's mindset as this movie starts, and how that's going to evolve as the story unfolds?"

Kevin James: He provided a service for his family and for the community long enough that he can see the end line that it's just not going to make ends meet, like that's, you know, retirement from the police force is just, is not going to do it as this world moves and people need more, and we've got to, you know, you want to do the best for your kids.

I just feel like there's no way it's going to happen that way. I can kind of see the end, and I have to take on different means to do this. And we do it together. [Ray's wife] knows about it, and we try to keep it from the kids, yes, which, again, may be wrong, but it's also, we always hide little things from the kids until they're able to deal with it. And that's what we do in this.

It's maybe warped, maybe not, but [it's] our way of trying to provide the best for our family. And we may not pick the best means to do it, but we do it together. And the real goal is this diner too that has been a dream of ours really, so we're trying to get to these goals in this family way, and just about how we go about it is a little different...

Christina Ricci Reveals the Secret to Alice & Ray's Relationship

"They Are Honest With Each Other."

The Direct: "Christina, Alice is an extremely supportive person in Ray's life. What is the secret to their relationship? And what do you think makes Alice so receptive to her husband's line of work?"

Christina Ricci: I think they genuinely love each other, and they are honest with each other. Yes, they lie to the children, but they're not lying to each other, really, and I think that they both just really trust and believe and know that the other is a good person. They have a good relationship.

The full video interview can be seen below: