“Perfect cast.”
This was how director Paul Feig described the casting of actress and Golden Globe winner Awkwafina, and actors John Cena and Simu Liu for the action comedy film “Jackpot!,” coming to Prime Video on Aug. 15.
“Jackpot” is an action comedy set in the near future. A Grandy Lottery has been established in California but with a fatal twist: kill the winner before sundown to legally claim the multi-billion jackpot.
Awkwafina and John Cena star in "Jackpot!" premiering on Prime Video on Aug. 15 (Prime Video)
Awkwafina in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video)
Awkwafina and John Cena star in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video)
Simu Liu in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video
Johnny Grand (Murray Hill) and Tala (Dolly de Leon) in 'Jackpot!' (Prime Video)
Awkwafina is Katie Kim, an actress who moves to California who finds herself winning the lottery. Amid the hordes of people trying to get her winning ticket, she joins forces with Noel Cassidy (John Cena), a lottery protection agent who will do everything to protect her and get her to sundown in exchange for a cut in the prize.
But Noel will face his rival, Louis Lewis (Simu Liu), who also seeks to get Katie’s commission.
Written by Rob Yescombe, “Jackpot!” also stars Ayden Mayeri and Donald Elise Watkins. Also in the cast are Filipino actress Dolly de Leon, Seann William Scott and MGK.
In an interview with Manila Bulletin, Awkwafina (real name Nora Lum) and Feig talked about the movie and working with Cena and Liu.
In “Jackpot!,” the action scenes show Awkwafina get thrown and hit a lot but she said it was fun doing it.
“Oh man, it was really fun shooting the action scenes. I think we did a lot of stuff that was, you know ,like actually practical. So all the car stuff, you know, like we were really in a car and that we, you know, that first opening shot we had rehearsed for so like for so many weeks so that that felt like that first sequence was great. Felt great,” said Awkwafina whose credits include “Crazy Rich Asians” and “The Farewell” for which she won Best Actress in a Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy at the Golden Globe Awards.
Feig, whose directing credits include “Bridesmaids” and “The Heat,” agreed.
“She's great at it. She was in there and learning how to fight and awesome,” he said of Awkwafina.
Feig said “Jackpot!” has a perfect cast.
“I mean the perfect cast. Let's just say that, you know, when I came on board actually Nora and and John were already attached and what I loved was that the script had been kind of reformulated for Nora's voice,” he said
He added, “And so it was really fun to then take that and then we just started working more with it and playing around and onset we would play around and so it was great and then Simu came in we're trying to figure out who the villain was going to be and I got a call from his team saying that he was be interested in playing our bad guy which was great. And so I didn't even think that it was going to be a complete reunion from ‘Shang-Chi’ but then there was so nothing wrong with that.”
Liu and Awkwafina both starred in “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.”
Awkwafina said she also enjoyed working with Cena and Liu in “Jackpot!.”
“Oh man, I love working with both of them. I think they were, as Paul said, a perfect cast and John Cena, I mean such a great scene made and collaborator. He's so cool and Simu, obviously, loved reuniting with him again in a definitely different role but, you know, it was great,” she said.
Feig explained one unique feature of “Jackpot!”: those who are hunting to kill the lottery winner are barred from using guns.
“I mean that was in the original script but I think that's one of the main reasons other than the fact that I love the script and wanted to work with Nora, who I've known for a long time, was that if it it was gun-based, I don't think I'd want to do it because then it's it's too mean-spirited and too violent for my taste,” he said.
He said, “I'm not a fan of guns in movies. They've been in my movies. I'm always trying to figure out, like, how do we get them away from people so coz I just like the physical act of people in motion and fighting. I mean Jackie Chan's one of my heroes and when I read this script, I was like, ‘oh this is the Jackie Chan movie I always wanted to make.’”
Awkwafina said her favorite action scene in “Jackpot!” is the first scene.
“I think my favorite action scene is the first scene like when you get thrown through a yoga studio and then through like the dojo [place of training] and whatnot. That was really fun to shoot and it felt like really collaborative. We had an amazing stunt team so they all felt like family at that point,” she said.
Feig said, “I love that scene too because that's the first time she has no idea she's in danger and suddenly everybody's trying to kill her. That to me is the most Jacky Chan of all of it. like completely in over your head what's happening and how she's defending herself and it just really makes me laugh. Yeah I love it.”
Awkwafina and John Cena star in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video)
MGK in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video)
Awkwafina and John Cena star in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video)
Simu Liu, Awkwafina and John Cena star in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video)
Awkwafina and John Cena star in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video)
Ayden Mayeri and Donald Elise Watkins in "Jackpot!" (Prime Video)
Awkwafina said she underwent training for the action scenes in the movie.
“I, well, definitely trained for like a couple weeks that so that was fun and then you, just you know, you can kind of jump, you can go shadow box by yourself in your dressing room, you know, you go out and beat up people at night just to …I try to get beat up you know,” she said.
Feig said he wants viewers to have fun while watching “Jackpot!.”
“I just want them to have fun, fun, fun. I mean this is a movie that has to be nuts, fun, emotional and it's, you know, the friendship between John Cena and Nora’s characters is so sweet to me and I think it's got a very sweet ending. I mean, I know people say they choke up at the end and I know I do but I just want people to have a good time,” he said.
Catch “Jackpot!” on Prime Video on Aug. 15.