Caught Stealing star Austin Butler didn't just do his own stunts for Darren Aronofsky's new violent, funny crime thriller – he was doing them in the streets of New York City to an audience of totally unbothered locals.
"We had an amazing stunt team who took really good care of me, and I had a lot of fun with it, to be honest. I definitely was bruised and whatnot, but I love doing all that stuff," Butler told GamesRadar+ when we asked about taking (and doling out) punches in the movie.
"It's cool when you can actually do it as well. Sometimes you end up on a green screen, but they actually just hung me out of a window six stories up in the East Village," he continued. "It's funny though. I'm, like, hanging out of a window of a real building in the East Village, and I look across at one point, and – it's so New York – there's an old man across the way, just smoking a cigarette on the balcony, not even caring that I'm out there. He's just smoking a cigarette. And then I watched him for a while, and then eventually he just goes back in. He didn't care. It's amazing."
In the movie, Butler plays Hank, a former baseball prodigy whose dreams were scuppered by a life-changing injury. His current quiet life as a New York bartender is also thrown for a loop when a cat-sitting job for his neighbor Russ (Matt Smith) goes off the rails and he finds himself knee-deep in the city's organized crime scene.
Caught Stealing is as humorous as it is brutal, however, thanks in part to a darkly comedic ensemble cast including Vincent D'Onofrio, Liev Schreiber, and Regina King. It's something a little different for Aronofsky, who's previously directed psychological dramas like Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, and Mother!.
"[Aronofsky's] films are usually more serious, which I think was exciting to see," Butler's co-star Zoë Kravitz, who plays his love interest Yvonne, tells us of the director's switch-up in tone. "And then what's been so interesting is getting to know him. He is such a funny, playful person, so I'm really glad he's getting to kind of let that beast out of the cave."
Caught Stealing arrives in theaters on August 29. For more, check out our guide to the rest of this year's biggest upcoming movies.
