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I\u2019m Richard Linklater, director and co-writer of \u2018Hit Man.\u2019 So in this scene, Glen Powell, who\u2019s playing Gary Johnson, the undercover hit man, is under threat from Jasper, played by Austin Amelio, the New Orleans police officer who he works with undercover, who\u2019s totally on to him. Gary has been dating Madison, whose husband has turned up dead. We know Gary didn\u2019t do it and the audience knows she did it. But the police force doesn\u2019t know. But Jasper sure has a hunch what happened, and he\u2019s kind of created this entrapment scene where Gary goes in and records their conversation, and he hopes to catch him there. \u201cGreat. Remember, audio only. Got to get a good recording.\u201d \u201cGot it.\u201d So if it was a chess match, it\u2019s check. It\u2019s not checkmate, but boy, you better come up with a good move. So he inputs into his phone kind of a script that he\u2019ll have to, in an impromptu way, get with Madison and just weasel their way out of because it\u2019s audio only. They have to say all the right words while he\u2019s sort of directing her. \u201c\u2014 time. I\u2019m catching heat for the death of your husband. They\u2019re thinking one of us did it.\u201d \u201cWell, it wasn\u2019t me.\u201d \u201cLook, I know you did it. It\u2019s [MUTED]: obvious, and I don\u2019t blame you.\u201d \u201cI didn\u2019t kill him. Wait, wait, wait. Who\u2019s accusing me of this? This is bull -[MUTED]:, and you, out of all people, should know that I was incapable of this.\u201d \u201cO.K., then who did? What the hell happened?\u201d It\u2019s a tall order for anyone to be on your feet, thinking that quickly and acting another way. And it\u2019s pretty much the apex of the movie in the intensity of what\u2019s at stake for them, what could happen to their relationship. And also, it\u2019s kind of a make-up scene. They\u2019ve broken up the scene just earlier, when he found out she did actually kill the guy. And he could have run. But this is also \u2014 in the romantic side of the movie, this is kind of a make-up declaration of commitment to each other. \u201c\u2014 protect me, he pulls out a gun out of nowhere and sticks it in Ray\u2019s face.\u201d \u201cFind out more about the guy with the gun.\u201d \u201cRay freaks out. He leaves. I run away. And that was the last time I saw him.\u201d \u201cSo who\u2019s this guy, the one who pulled the gun? What\u2019s his name?\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Although Glen and I worked on the script together, when Adria Arjona came in as Madison, that really took the whole thing to another level. This film doesn\u2019t work without her. And she was just our creative partner, and this scene is a really good example of that. The three of us worked on it together so much. And just sitting around a table, asking questions and refining it, then rehearsing it, then rehearsing it on location, then ultimately then performing it. \u201cI\u2019m a grown woman. I am single. And he wasn\u2019t random. He was a [MUTED]: good dancer.\u201d \u201cWell, I\u2019m happy for you, because your mystery man, he\u2019s a suspect. I\u2019m hearing they\u2019re looking for him.\u201d It was just a joy. We had a good time. But it\u2019s, you know, it\u2019s an intense scene, and it was pretty intense. Pretty intense thing to shoot, too. \u201c\u2014 did me. So you know what? If they find him, you let me know.\u201d \u201cYou know, that first time we met at the Please You, your motive didn\u2019t seem financial.\u201d This scene becomes kind of a performance within a performance within a performance, kind of. And for it to work at all, he has to direct the scene. He\u2019s kind of writing and directing it. She\u2019s acting in it. And once she realized what he\u2019s doing, she has to go along with it. So they\u2019re both playing their part, but it makes it a very multilayered undertaking for sure. And it\u2019s fun to see your hero, the guy you\u2019re invested in, kind of figure his way out of a really sticky, tight situation that I don\u2019t think any of us would be quick enough to find a way out of this. But somehow, he does with her. And, you know, it\u2019s the couple getting back together, too, at the same time. So to me, it\u2019s a screwball comedy scene with really, really \u2014 I mean, if you don\u2019t pull it off, you\u2019re going to jail, you know? So the stakes couldn\u2019t be higher in a legal sense. But it is kind of a culmination of their own relationship to date. \u201cHey, I am on your side. That is why I\u2019m here. I am trying to help you get away with this, not because I\u2019m some great guy or anything, but as soon as the heat\u2019s off of you, it\u2019s off of me, too. We can dig our way out of this mess together.\u201d \u201cThere is no together.\u201d \u201cI can push this whole thing off on someone else. But before I do that, you have to tell me the truth so I can get this right.\u201d \u201cYou know what, I\u2019m done. I\u2019m done.\u201d The physicality of the scene is fun because actors are usually never \u2014 their body motions and expressions usually match what you\u2019re saying. In this thing, it\u2019s very different. They\u2019re having to say everything right, but actually, like a game of charades, they\u2019re indicating to each other what they\u2019re doing and communicating on a physical level, nonverbal level, while their verbal rhetoric has to be kind of perfect. So it\u2019s a dance, and it\u2019s just fun to see them figure it out as they go. \u201cGreat.\u201d \u201cYou know, if you see me publicly, don\u2019t say hi. Nothing personal. I just got to keep this clean.\u201d \u201cFine by me.\u201d [DOOR SLAMS]<\/p>\n<\/div>\n