Good individuals could do dangerous issues, however that doesn’t make them dangerous individuals. Or does it? That’s the philosophical crux on the middle of the film Hit Man, now taking part in in choose theaters and streaming on Netflix June 7.
Half neo-noir, half horny thriller, half riotous comedy, the movie follows Gary Johnson (Glen Powell), a sq., straight-laced professor who stumbles into an surprising facet gig: pretend hit man. As his double life deepens, he turns into entangled with a pretty, alluring lady named Madison (Adria Arjona) who’s in search of to rent one in every of Gary’s murderer alter egos — the ruggedly mysterious Ron — to kill her abusive husband.
“What drew me [to Madison] was she’s so thrilling, and I couldn’t inform whereas studying [the script] what she was going to do subsequent,” Arjona, 32, tells Refinery29 Somos. “I used to be confused on the place it was going along with her. I like that factor as a result of I used to be like, ‘I’m going to have a lot enjoyable taking part in this.’”
Born in Puerto Rico and raised in Mexico Metropolis and Miami, from an early age Arjona was accustomed to the lifetime of an entertainer. Her mom, Leslie Torres, is Puerto Rican, and her father is the acclaimed Guatemalan singer-songwriter Ricardo Arjona. As a baby, she traveled usually to affix him on his excursions.
“What drew me [to Madison] was she’s so thrilling, and I couldn’t inform whereas studying [the script] what she was going to do subsequent.”
Adria Arjona
“My dad’s a musician, so I kind of grew up throughout Latin America,” Arjona says. “I lived in Mexico Metropolis for a really very long time and my father’s Guatemalan, so I jumped from nation to nation. [My upbringing was] like an enormous melting pot of those three international locations, and I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
Rising up in a big household throughout varied locales meant “numerous combined traditions,” however one which stands out is having an enormous vacation meal with out a lot as a single spoon in sight.
“Oh, with my father as a child, we might don’t have any cutlery on New Yr’s, and it was my favourite,” Arjona says. “It nonetheless is my favourite. You employ your palms, you’re consuming the turkey — like ripping the turkey — and it simply makes it so enjoyable as a result of it’s such a flowery dinner, but you’re utilizing your palms. It’s very a lot my household.”
By 18, Arjona moved to New York Metropolis to review performing, ultimately touchdown roles on reveals like Narcos, True Detective, and Emerald Metropolis. In 2022, she starred within the HBO Max remake of Father of the Bride alongside Andy Garcia, Gloria Estefan, and Isabela Merced.
“I kind of grew up throughout Latin America.”
ADRIA ARJONA
Hit Man marks Arjona’s foray into main woman territory, and there was an prompt connection to the fabric, she explains. “The primary time I learn it, I simply knew I needed to be part of it.”
Attending to know Powell — who co-wrote the movie alongside director Richard Linklater — helped solidify her curiosity within the undertaking.
“Then assembly Glen and assembly Rick, I used to be like, man, I need to spend a month or two with these individuals,” she says. “And so they allowed me to be a part of the artistic course of.”
As Powell recollects, Arjona dove into the position not simply when it comes to her on-screen efficiency, however behind the scenes, too. She was concerned in such a approach that helped deliver a sure heft, honesty, and dimensionality to the character of Madison.
“Look, she’s clearly a expertise in entrance of the digicam, however I believe what was actually spectacular is how effortlessly she grew to become such an important a part of the author’s room,” Powell, 35, says. “It’s such a loss when filmmakers don’t take heed to nice minds and actors. These individuals are going to must play these roles, and it was so clear that Adria was coming in with such a robust perspective and one which was going to make this film prepare dinner differently.”
“She’s clearly a expertise in entrance of the digicam, however I believe what was actually spectacular is how effortlessly she grew to become such an important a part of the author’s room.”
Glen Powell
Certainly, Madison and Ron/Gary make for a brand new type of compelling on-screen couple. Whereas their relationship is initially primarily based on criminality and deceit — and as such, audiences most likely shouldn’t essentially root for them — because the film transpires, it turns into more and more troublesome to not.
And that’s thanks largely to a large serving of scorching chemistry between the 2 leads. Regardless of the questionable morals and motives of Madison and Ron/Gary, they’ve an undeniably magnetic connection. It simply so occurs to flourish within the wildest (and most unlawful) of circumstances doable.
In spite of everything, the guts desires what it desires.
“I felt just like the chemistry was at all times there, [and] we at all times knew she was a multidimensional actress,” Powell says. “However [she’s also] being a kind of author, producerial mind, one that basically understood movie and what was going to work on digicam and make this character, which is the linchpin for the entire film. I imply, Rick and I in a short time checked out one another and had been similar to, ‘let her present us the place this factor goes,’ and I’m actually glad we did.”
“We had been in a position to create Madison, make her three dimensional, and make her very me, in sure methods.”
Adria arjona
Arjona’s imaginative and prescient for the character is rooted in her inherent complexity. She’s not only a lady who’s been harm and scorned — she’s additionally a girl who’s had sufficient. Nevertheless misguided Madison’s seek for so-called options or a approach out could also be, it’s evident that she’s downright determined and in a hopelessly untenable scenario.
“We had been in a position to create Madison, make her three dimensional, and make her very me, in sure methods,” Arjona says. “We actually had enjoyable with that character. It was at all times mental challenges that we might have between three brains, however even that was a lot enjoyable and it’s one thing I miss dearly.”
Like what you see? How about some extra R29 goodness, proper right here?
