ComingSoon Editor-in-Chief Tyler Treese spoke to 1992 star Scott Eastwood about starring in the new heist movie. Eastwood discussed working with the late Ray Liotta, what drew him to the film, and more. Directed by Ariel Vromen, it is out in theaters on August 30, 2024.
“In 1992, Mercer (Tyrese Gibson) is desperately trying to rebuild his life and his relationship with his son (Christopher A’mmanuel) amidst the turbulent 1992 LA uprising following the Rodney King verdict. Across town, another father and son (Ray Liotta and Scott Eastwood) put their own strained relationship to the test as they plot a dangerous heist to steal catalytic converters, which contain valuable platinum, from the factory where Mercer works. As tensions rise in Los Angeles and chaos erupts, both families reach their boiling points when they collide in this tense crime-thriller,” says the synopsis.
Tyler Treese: I wanted to ask about your character of Riggin because he’s willing to take advantage of the chaos caused by the L.A. riots, but we also see a very human side of him as the film goes on. What did you like most about really having a character with layers and not just playing a one-dimensional villain here?
Scott Eastwood: Yeah, I actually would say he probably wasn’t quite the villain for the story. He was the conduit to both sides of the story, right? He took an opposing stance to a lot of his crew about the feelings about what was going on that day and what was right and what was wrong. Those complicated character elements are what makes a good movie, right? Conflict and layers, and that’s what this character had. That’s what I liked about him.
A lot of the conflict comes from your character’s father, who’s wonderfully played by Ray Liotta. He’s just being the nastiest individual. You can tell he was having a ball playing this. Obviously, he has passed, but what did it mean getting to work with him? Because he really puts on a great performance here.
Yeah, and Ray always has. Look, it was an incredible experience to get to work with him, to get to know him over a summer. We lost him too early and I thought, as per usual, he never turns in a bad performance. The guy is an electric actor, and getting to work opposite him was really special.
Another member of your heist gang is Oleg Taktarov. He’s a UFC legend. A real badass pioneer of mixed martial arts. How was it getting to work with him? Because I’m sure he had some stories.
Yeah, he was great. A little anecdote for you. We went on a hike with Oleg, which was climbing a mountain in Bulgaria. This guy charged the top of this mountain, drank a bottle of vodka at the top, and said, “Hey, you guys wanna do it again?” I mean, the guy’s a savage. He’s a great character in the film, and he’s a great character in real life.
You were in a very different type of heist movie with Overdrive a few years back. 1992 is much more grounded. So what enticed you to really do a different take on a heist movie here?
Yeah. I thought this was… look, everything’s script-dependent. You read a script, you go, “Hey, would I like to see this movie?” Then if you have a good director, then you go, “Hey, let’s go. Let’s try to make this thing great.” But yeah, I think this is a kind of a different take. It’s definitely a darker, more grounded, grittier heist movie, a la Den of Thieves or The Town, which were movies I really liked. So I was like, “Wow, let’s do it. Let’s see if we can make some magic here.”
