The Big Picture

Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sits down with Retta and Sanjay Rao to discuss Richard Linklater’s
Hit Man
.
Retta and Rao talk about sharing scenes together, working with Linklater, and the importance of a good improv partner.
Retta also shares how her (former) fascination with true crime influenced a scene in collaboration with Glen Powell.

There’s a special element Richard Linklater’s films have in common, whether it’s a coming-of-age drama like Boyhood or a comedy like Dazed and Confused, and that’s the ensemble cast who bring his scripts to life onscreen. In his latest, Netflix’s Hit Man, stars Glen Powell and Adria Arjona are joined by a talented supporting cast to flesh out this screwball comedy inspired by an unbelievable true story. Two of those standouts are Good Girls’ Retta and stand-up comedian and actor Sanjay Rao, who team up as two New Orleans detectives.

In Hit Man, Powell plays Gary Johnson, an amiable professor with a part-time job as a techie for the police department. When a strange opportunity is thrust upon him, Gary begins to shine while posing as a hitman, adopting various personas in order to turn clients over to law enforcement. He’s surprisingly good at transforming into these roles, but when he meets Madison (Arjona), a woman looking to escape her current relationship, things take an unexpected, sizzling turn.

After the film’s premiere in Austin, Texas, Collider’s Perri Nemiroff sat down with Retta and Rao to discuss what it was like sharing scenes on a Linklater set. Retta is best known for shows like Parks and Recreation and her reality series Ugliest House in America, and Rao is a regular on the LA comedy circuit and an actor in series like The Flight Attendant and Truth Be Told. Check out their full conversation in the video above or the transcript below to find out which scene Retta collaborated with Powell on, utilizing her true crime expertise (and a healthy dose of fear), how the duo’s improv on set made them ideal scene partners, and tons more.

Hit Man A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services.Release Date June 7, 2024 Director Richard Linklater Runtime 113 minutes Main Genre Romantic Comedy Studio(s) Aggregate Films , AGC Studios , BarnStorm Productions , Detour Filmproduction Distributor(s) Netflix Expand

Retta’s True Crime Expertise Inspired This Jaw-Dropping ‘Hit Man’ Beat

PERRI NEMIROFF: There was a quote from Glen in our press notes that caught my eye. He said, “An interesting fact about Retta is she’s also incredibly well-versed in crime stories.” Are there any particular crime stories out there that you found influencing your approach to the role?

RETTA: Honestly, I don’t like true crime because it scares me. I did used to listen to podcasts, and then I had to stop. I’m now at a place where I’m like, “Enough,” because I’m seeing that stuff in my sleep. I actively avoid it.

The other part of that quote was that he said that because of your expertise in that area, you would call people out when they were doing something wrong in terms of what police would be looking for in those situations.

RETTA: It wasn’t so much crime service, it was like the basics. It was the kind of thing where I was like, “Well, remember in that scene he did this? I feel like you would react like this.” It was that kind of thing. So it wasn’t so much crime as I was, like, “Let’s base it in the reality of this script.” So I would bring up responses to something that happened, and I was like, “Well, he did meet her.” That kind of thing.

Can you give us an example of a time when that happened that everyone can now see in the finished film?

RETTA: In the scene where Jasper calls out Gary, and he’s like, “I mean, have you seen her? Have you seen Madison since you let her go?” Originally, he says he did, and I said to Glen, “And so did he. You can call him out and put him in a position to be like, ‘He didn’t say anything having seen her after you had met with her.’” Glen was really excited. He was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah!” I go, “Just remember, at the end of the movie,” at the end of the script at the time, “they never noted that. They had never said anything, so that’s kind of going to screw up the end a little bit.” He was like, “We’ll figure it out.” They left that night and rewrote.

That is a great beat. Job very well done.

RETTA: Literally, when it happened, I was like, “Oh, that was good!” [Laughs]

You should be very proud of that.

SANJAY RAO: That was inspiring during rehearsal to see you just read the script and have that kind of read on the entire thing. I was like, “Ah, I need to read more scripts.”

RETTA: Only because if somebody were backing me in a corner like that, I would be like, “Listen, you were there too.” You know what I mean? That would be my response. “You didn’t say anything!”

Retta and Sanjay Rao Spoke With Real New Orleans Detectives

I also read that you two followed some detectives to prepare for this, or at least spoke to them. Is there anything about that line of work that you learned that surprised you?

RETTA: The surprising thing for me was that these New Orleans former detectives said that a lot of murders go unsolved, and that was really scary. I was like, “Really?” He was like, “Yeah, we got a lot of swamp land.”

That’s why the podcast business is flourishing.

RAO: I think for me, it was just realizing that these people sit in that van for a long time, and so that creates a certain dynamic. We’re very comfortable with each other. Then also, the sense of humor tends to get dark and tends to get a little rowdy just because you’re in these close quarters and the stuff that you’re dealing with is dark. So in order to deal with that, it just naturally tends to be that way. That was kind of interesting.

That tees up some scene partner questions I have because your back-and-forth, your chemistry, your cadence is spot-on. Can you each tell me something about the other as a scene partner that you appreciated and helped bring the best out of you as an actor in this movie?

RETTA: I like to say I know how to improv. I’m very fearful of improv. I like to have the script and put my spin on it, but it took me a while to get comfortable with improv, so I like to be around people who know how to improv. Sanjay knows how to improv. That helps you. It eases me in knowing that the other person is gonna come up with good stuff. A lot of times, you’ll just sit there and be like, “What should I say? What should I say?” But sometimes, if you have to flow, you have to flow. If the other person really knows what they’re doing, it makes it a little bit easier for me, so I’m happy that he’s capable of improv.

RAO: For me, I was trying to keep up, honestly. Your energy, intelligence, and your confidence on set were all really inspiring to me.

RETTA: I’ve been doing it for a minute.

RAO: It was just like, “Oh, that’s how you handle business.” It was just nice to see.

Who is Phil, According to Sanjay Rao?
Image via Netflix

One very specific improv question for you, Sanjay. The shorts — how much of that is scripted and how much of that is you on the spot?

RAO: We have kind of this wide shot. I think the shot itself, Rick and the team just kind of figured out on the day. He was like, “Yeah, be physical. Use your space.” Hence the squats, the kick. It’s actually pretty comfortable!

The kick and then the perfectly timed cut, it’s the recipe for an A+ laugh.

RAO: It’s like we’re kicking him out into the field. When I first saw that, I was like, “That’s wonderful!” That’s why he’s Rick Linklater.

I don’t know if you thought about this, but I get obsessed with backstory and there is a mention that, at one point, he became a fake hitman himself. What went wrong in that situation?

RAO: In my mind, I had created this situation where I went in and I tried to be tough, but Phil is not a tough guy. Then you just end up in this situation where you don’t know what to say, and people immediately know something’s wrong. You’re not real. What’s going on? Things get a little pear-shaped, as I say in the film, and I didn’t want to experience that again.

That’s pretty much how I would picture that going down.

You both mentioned last night that Rick is a very chill director, and sets that kind of vibe on set. It made me wonder, does he have a monitor dance? Is there something he does behind the monitor that signals to you, he’s really loving a take?

RETTA: We can’t see it if he does. [Laughs] Video village is not visible from where we are, so I would never know.

RAO: He’s so chill because for a good take, he’ll just be like, “Do you like it? Yeah, me too.” And that’s it.

Hit Man is in theaters now. If you’re looking for more from Richard Linklater, check out Perri’s interview with the director below.

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