A little magic and chosen family could save the world. At least that\u2019s at the heart of Now You See Me: Now You Don\u2019t, the third installment in the franchise about magicians who use prestidigitation to take down the wealthy and powerful. In this case, the original \u201cFour Horsemen\u201d team up with scrappy newcomers played by Justice Smith, Ariana Greenblatt, and Dominic Sessa to stop Rosamund Pike\u2019s deliciously craven diamond heiress, Veronika Vanderberg.<\/p>\n
The film is a \u201cRobin Hood\u201d story with the magicians holding the one percent accountable and giving back to the rest of the population; several cast members, including Jesse Eisenberg, Dave Franco, and Pike, tell Out. And Now You See Me: Now You Don\u2019t, from director Ruben Fleischer, refreshingly skewers Veronika\u2019s family legacy of exploiting workers and the planet while mining for baubles and posing as philanthropists.<\/p>\n
A heist that involves retrieving a precious stone from Veronika is the film\u2019s central plot, but the Horsemen, played by Eisenberg, Franco, Isla Fisher, and Woody Harrelson, create an extended family with young magicians Charlie (Smith), June (Greenblatt), and Bosco (Sessa), who\u2019ve already made a life together in a hidden apartment.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really like the theme of found family in this film,\u201d says Smith, the queer star of I Saw the TV Glow and Genera+ion.<\/p>\n
Ariana Greenblatt Justice Smith Dominic Sessa Jesse Eisenberg Now You See Me: Now You Don’t<\/p>\n
Ariana Greenblatt, Justice Smith, Dominic Sessa, Jesse Eisenberg in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’<\/small>Courtesy Lionsgate<\/small><\/p>\n
\u201cWe made a habit of making sure that the three of us \u2014 Ariana and Dom, whenever you saw our characters on screen, that we only had love for each other, we only supported each other,\u201d Smith says. \u201cBecause these three characters \u2014 they do not have to be together. They choose to be together and celebrate each other’s differences. And I do feel like there is a parallel to how we are in the [queer] community of\u2026just coming together and, like, taking care of each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though Greenblatt\u2019s June has a home with Charlie and Bosco, a sisterhood forms when she meets Fisher\u2019s escape artist Henley. A thread throughout Now You See Me points out the male-centric world of magic, where women have long been relegated to being props. June and Henley escape those chains.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s just exciting to be in an environment and play a character in a very male-dominated field. And I think she [June] really found her place, and she took up space, and she did what she does best. And she holds space. She actually holds space,\u201d Greenblatt (Barbie, In the Heights) says. \u201cIt’s really important for me to pick characters that if a young girl is watching at home or watching me, she feels empowered and inspired, no matter how cliche those words might get.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rosamund Pike Now You See Me<\/p>\n
Rosamund Pike in ‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’<\/small>Courtesy Lionsgate<\/small><\/p>\n
Throughout her career, Pike has played a few of film\u2019s great villains, including as the ultimate \u201ccool girl\u201d in Gone Girl and as a lesbian swindling the elderly in I Care a Lot. In Now You See Me, and with a diabolical South African accent, she adds Veronika to that list. The Pride & Prejudice star touches on the film\u2019s timely theme of the hypocrisy of white feminism.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo do justice to this brilliant franchise, you have to give them a villain who’s kind of worthy of it and complex enough. And it’s about magic. It’s about truth and illusion. And I think if you can present a villain who also deals in truth and illusion, then that’s interesting,\u201d Pike says. \u201cA woman who presents one face to the world, but in reality, is something different, then that sort of lends itself to the themes of the film. I quickly latched on to the fact that I wanted Veronica to be the kind of woman who thinks she’s a feminist, thinks she’s doing in good service for other women, and in fact, is doing none of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe film is a popcorn movie that makes people think, even if they\u2019re not aware of it,\u201d she adds. \u201cThere’s a fervor that ties in with something they intrinsically feel. And it’s a pleasure to watch these [wealthy, powerful] people fall. And I wanted to create a villain that would be a pleasure for people to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n