Last April, a group of fellow journalists and I visited the set of Edgar Wright‘s Baby Driver in Atlanta.  For those who are unfamiliar with the film, it follows Baby (Ansel Elgort), a young getaway driver who constantly plays music in order to drown out a hearing impairment he suffered as a child.  When he falls for a local waitress (Lily James), he must find a way to escape from crime kingpin Doc (Kevin Spacey) and his other criminal associates.  The film also stars Jon Bernthal, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, and Jamie Foxx.

During a break in filming, we got a chance to talk with Jamie Foxx (Bats), Eiza Gonzales (Darling), and Flea (Eddie) .  They talked about their specific characters, the unique wardrobes and tattoos they wore, acting in time with the music, what it's like working with Wright, and much more.

Check out the full interview below. Baby Driver opens June 28th.

What can you tell us about your character?

EIZA GONZALEZ: I think it's been very exciting for me to be part of this project in general because Tia is the only girl criminal with all of the guys, so it's pretty exciting for me, because Sky is in it as well, and then Lily and then me. But, Lily is like the good version and then I'm like the evil one. I always play the bad ones, which is pretty exciting. It's been such a pleasure for me because I've gotten to learn from so many great actors. I got to work with Kevin and John and Jamie, and Jon Bernthal as well. They're all people I admire and grew up looking up to, so it's been exciting. She's just such a badass guys. She's always glammed up. She looks real cool. She has such a cool style because she has this like ex-stripper thing to herself, but she turned to the criminal world.

She gets married to Buddy, which is played by Jon Hamm, and we have this dynamic duo Bonnie and Clyde thing going on for the characters. So, it's pretty exciting. It's also cute to see how they have each other's back no matter what. While you watch the movie, you'll see how they work together as a team always. They always compensate each other and they take care of each other. He'll have my back and I'll have his. It's just so fun. The character is brilliant. She has such a cool energy and she's such a badass, but she's kind of like a space cadet as well. She's like all smiles but she's just kookoo, so I like it. I like to be able to play a character that you can see have super sweet moments and wonder how she wandered into all these guys. Then you see it and you're like, "Oh, okay. That's why. She's a sociopath." And, she's kind of disconnected with reality. At the end of the day, I think all the characters are a bit, so it's been exciting.

Do you wear a lilac fur?

GONZALEZ: Yes, I do.

How badass is that to be dressed to the nines?

GONZALEZ: It's amazing. It's so cool because, when you guys get to see the movie you'll understand, but there's a lot of music involved with the whole movie. I don't know if you're familiar with the theme of it, but we did this whole big sequence based on the song "Tequila" with shooting guns, which was crazy. The song was going down and we're battling like crazy on set. It's just so funny to see all of the guys. You see Jamie and then you see this girl with like pink fur just going with like machine guns going (machine gun noises). So, it's really cool. It's such an iconic role. I think that this movie will really deliver what we love about movies.

As soon as I got this script, I was just so in love with the whole movie. It just reminded me of those old-time movies, like the Pulp Fiction world and that whole energy where characters were iconic. It just really gave me all these vibes of like Mia Wallace and all these cool female roles that you don't get to see as much now. But, she's still so like interesting-looking, the way that Courtney Hoffman — who's our head of costumes — did our costumes. It's just so iconic. Like, you'll notice certain things. Everything is thought of. Every character has one specific color. Mine is pink. Jamie's is red. So, it just visually creates such an impact on each character, and it was just so exciting for me to be able to do this cool looking character but still be a badass and still be independent and still be this powerful energy in an all male driven room.

So, no pressure guys. It was nerve wracking at the beginning for me. I was really nervous when I walked into the set for the first two to three times, but I also came from a job which was with Robert Rodriguez, which really just made me feel very comfortable in my own skin. I got to do certain things I never thought I would, so I sort of felt that was prep for this. This cast has just been amazingly nice and supportive.

What have you gotten to do on this movie that you haven't done in your other projects?

GONZALEZ: In From Dusk till Dawn, I get to be very bad, but it's more in like I get to transform into this creature and like eat people and rip off limbs and stuff like that. But, I really didn't get to shoot guns. It's been interesting because, for me, I had to prep a lot physically as well because I have a couple of scenes you'll see where I had to carry machine guns. I had to be very strong to look like I could carry them. I remember the first day we came in and they were like, "Well, you might have to shoot this, this, and these. We'll see if you can carry them." And I was like, "Oh hell no." I started training a lot and just lifting a lot to be able to seem like I was in shape to be doing this and make sense. So, that was very exciting.

I also get to play kind of crazy, which I hadn't done before. I played more of a dark kind of queen in Dusk, so for this it's more of a sociopath, loony woman that she's completely detached from reality. Like, I'll roll into a heist like drinking a slurpee or eating a popsicle. She's just like completely disconnected to reality, so it's kind of like this thing where you're like, "Oh, she might cut me any second, because she's just so weird." It's been really fun to work with Edgar. I'm such a fan of Edgar's work, so as I said, as soon as his script came around there were a lot of people fighting for this role, especially because it's just two strong, female roles in the movie. So, I remember every girl reading for it. And I was just like, "I really want this. I'll get this. I'll fight for this." And, I really prepped for it.

Being such a fan of Shaun of the Dead and all these movies, like Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, I was just really excited to see how Edgar worked on set and see how his mind transferred on set. Seeing him doing an action thriller that I think we saw slightly before but not as deep as it is right now. I was also very interested in seeing the whole choreographing movements, and seeing how it was going to work on screen. So, that has been challenging for sure, because you still have to do all the movements and seem like you're a natural and doing all these things. But, at the same time you have to choreograph everything and move to the beats and look cool and realistic at the same time. So, you're giving depth to your character by trying to peel off all of their layers while doing all of these things. So, it's been interesting.

I think the most challenging thing has been schedule, just going up and down. There's just so much in the movie. There's a lot of heists. We have a bunch of bank robberies, and they're all with different sorts of people, so it's been fun. It's cool to see how every time the gang changes with certain parts. Like, when Flea is with Jamie and Ansel, or when we are with Ansel, or when we're with Bernthal instead of Jamie, you get to see the whole scoop of it. It's really interesting to see how the dynamic between the people will change.

How was your dynamic with Jon Hamm? Are you both sociopaths or does he sort of balance you out?

GONZALEZ: It's cool. I think that we're kind of in this relationship that you don't see very often, which is a kind of codependent relationship. You definitely see this obsession over each other and how they shower each other with attention all the time. You can totally see how she's an attention-seeker for him, and she is a balance for him. She really balances him out, because you can see that he can go a little bit further with the crazy, but she can control it or she can trigger it. You can see how she has control over him and how he is her complete world. So, it's, in a dark way, very beautiful to see that relationship because there's a lot of love and passion in between them. They are always on top of each other, and he'll do anything for her.

It's been great. Jon has been such a pleasure to work with. Jon has been such a respectable, responsible person and a hard worker. He's been super kind with me and very open. Especially as a girl and coming to a world with this level of actors, you want to not be weird or make them uncomfortable and it's like, "How much can I do?" He's just so nice. He's like, "Whatever you feel comfortable with, there's nothing that can bother me. This is a team and we're working together." He's just been a wonder to work with, and so has everyone in general. I love everyone on set, and I've learned so much. And, it's so interesting to see how everyone has their own style of acting, and how they work, and how they prepare, and how they come into set, and the energy, and the attitude. It's just really mind-blowing to watch.

For you and Buddy, what sort of roles do you guys fit in on heists?

GONZALEZ: I think they're like the more organized kind of guys. You can totally see that they've been doing this for long. You can totally see how Jamie and Jon are the ones that are kookoo crazy and they're just into the rush and don't have knowledge about how to organize things. So, you can see how Darling and Buddy are the ones that have more of a feel for like, "Okay, we've done a thousand bank heists. This is how it works." They're good at their job. They do great, but they're a little bit more controlled. Then there's people like those characters that come into the gang and just destroy everything. So yeah, they kind of like break the energy they work always in a team. You'll understand why they change in the gangs, but definitely they're like the ones that have this down to the notch. They've mastered the bank heisting kind of thing. So, Kevin's character, Duck, always keeps on calling them because they're organized and they work and they do what they have to do.

Having done it yourself, what do you think about women doing action scenes in heels?

GONZALEZ: This is a thing. This sounds crazy, but I was born in the fashion industry. So, I probably wore heels by the age of two. When I was two I would steal my mom's heels. So, for me, being in heels and running around is the most normal thing I've ever done. I used to tour and jump off stage with heels. Like, that's how bad it is. So, for me, doing all of these heists has been really easy. But, I totally understand. There's moments where you're like, "This floor is not helpful."

[Jamie Foxx joins the interview]

Hello! This is my friend Jamie.

JAMIE FOXX: I met her mother.

GONZALEZ: Oh yeah, my mother and him are very good friends now. Yeah, so has it been really weird for me running around in heels, Jamie? No, right?

FOXX: Has it been weird for you? No.

GONZALEZ: Yeah, our costume designer has done a really great job with all of our costumes and she was just really conscious about what we're doing, and it's really realistic. It doesn't look off like, "Oh, what the fuck. She's running in thin heels?" No, it's really normal and it looks really cool. It just fits the character. I think it wouldn't fit it if she wasn't in heels at all.

Can you explain the meaning of some of your tattoos?

GONZALEZ: Yeah, Jon and I have his and hers (tattoos), which you can see like they have a bunch of tattoos together. We have our wedding date or like the his and hers ownership kind of thing. But yeah, we have a bunch of tattoos. Edgar really got into that world, which was exciting. It looks really cool and everyone has their own sort of tattoos going on. Yeah, we have a bunch. I mean, I have a heart with him as well. He has a key. We have a bunch of tattoos. It's a process, though.

What's the process for you Jamie, since you obviously have a lot more tattoos?

FOXX: It's about 25 minutes. It's just some stick-ons, like the character's name is Bat, so he's got bats and stuff. But I think it's sort of his way of stylizing this movie as well. It's sort of on the nose. They're trying to add some originality to it. I think we're in a time now where there's not a lot of original movies. I don't know if you could name an original. So, he tries to make his mark. Him and Quentin Tarantino are homies, so they share the same type of creative mind. There's not a lot out there. Did you tell them about the guy editing on the set?

GONZALEZ: Yeah, it's insane. There's a guy working there all day named Paul, who's an amazing editor, and while we're shooting he's already putting music on and having an idea of everything. So, they work so fast.

FOXX: Yeah, he's just sitting there watching a movie and eating popcorn. But, it's stylized with music but it's not a musical.

Does the movie have a constant soundtrack?

FOXX: I'm not sure. I don't think it's constant, but it's dope. It's original.

Can you describe Bats a little bit?

FOXX: She's (Darling) funny. Everyone on the set has a sense of humor, so I'll just try to throw something in to keep it alive and keep it moving. That's my background. I'm always trying to inch towards some type of comedic relief. Some of the greatest gangsters have said the funniest shit.

GONZALEZ: Edgar is strong with the comedic world. He knows how to write it. Reading the script the first time, I just got so into it because he had all these hints of comedy and it was just so entertaining and thrilling. The music, the choice of songs, it was just such a perfect combination. Then you bring people like Jamie, people like Jon, all these actors that have a very big background with comedy and understand it, so they keep on adding more to the script and things here and there. It's been amazing. It just really works. It's a thrilling movie, but you laugh and you enjoy it. The music is mind-blowing as well. I love our movie.

Has it been really challenging to keep on beat with the music when you're shooting scenes?

GONZALEZ: It's hard at six in the morning.

FOXX: I don't know if she told you about the dance offs in the trailer. But she comes in and she's got her rhythm she brings. She brings the light to it and she can sing. I'm like damn. So, it made it easier, because Ansel actually started in ballet. He was a ballet dancer. He just did a spin move the other day and I was like, "Whoa." That's some real shit. It's really cool to have some real people. Jon can sing.

GONZALEZ: Everybody has an ear, you know? So, it's not as hard as someone who has two left feet.

Do you keep time in your head when you're moving around the set?

FOXX: Yeah, the earwig in your ear.

GONZALEZ: We can hear the music and then we just have two amazing choreographers who come to set.

FOXX: They got swag.

GONZALEZ: They got so much swag, and they basically tell you that will make you understand. Like, the bullets got to certain beats, so you go one, two, and then three, four, and then five, six. So, everything is timed. So you already know that you're like five, eight. But, at the same time, you're just pulling out the whole scene. So, it looks amazing.

FOXX: Yeah, it's tight.

How excited are you to see the finished product?

FOXX: Like I said, they're cutting the movie as it goes and that's sort of fly. I think every actor and actresses has performance anxiety. We're like, "Damn, does this shit look right?" Then you're able to sit back and watch. She's the young hungry. She's ripping everything up, eating through the scenes. This is going to sound crazy, but I've worked with a gang of people, and when I first saw her I was like, "You got that thing." What's crazy is, she's able to do it and see it. She does the take. They did this thing where it's choreographed when you’re shooting. He cocks the gun. They've got their own Bonnie and Clyde thing going on. It's dope.

Can you talk about Bats' role?

FOXX: He's sort of like the angry dude. He's killing everybody. My 7-year-old daughter asked me what I was doing today and I’m like, "Killing some more people." She's cool with it. She was on the set of Django before, so she understands what it is. It's sort of a familiarity with the role. But, I think the difference is how the music is playing and how it's being set up.

GONZALEZ: The really cool thing is how all the characters work together. When Jamie comes in, you can definitely see that leadership energy. Even if the character wasn't written like that, Jamie just has that as a nature. You understand Jamie is Jamie and this is just for real. He just has that energy, that leading-pack kind of thing. So, it transferred to the scene and it transferred to his role. It's this angry dude, but he's clever and smart and quick and knows what he's doing and hungry, just like Jamie. So, it works perfectly with all of us together. And, we kind of like hate him but love him because he's really good at what he does.

[Flea joins the interview]

FOXX: Got a legend coming through.

GONZALEZ: We're going to hang out with Flea as well. You've gotta sit with us. We're talking about our characters.

FOXX: To be on set, walking into rehearsal and just look up and see a legend hanging out and don't say nothing. ... Just to be able to be next to people who are like your heroes, that's what's great about this business, man. you get a chance to do some shit that like, how fly is that? You get a chance to sit next to a legend, then go to the studio and he allows you to see him playing the bass to a track and everything. ....

GONZALEZ: Yeah, that's why it's been really cool. You get to work with Jamie. Flea is on set. Ansel is producing music. Jamie is singing. Flea is playing the bass. I'll go and sing with Jamie. It's crazy that this project got all of these talented people together. Paul Williams was here the other day. We were like, "Hi Paul, can you listen to our music?" We were all excited. It's just been such a whirlwind. I was, as I said, most excited about him than anyone. So, it's just been really like cool.

Can you tell us a little bit about your character?

FLEA: A dastardly nihilistic bank robber with no moral compass, who is very displeased with the state of the world, so wants to rob banks, and whoever gets in his way needs to be eliminated. But, I'm just playing a small part. Honestly, for me, obviously I like working with everybody. It's a real talented cast, but to see someone like Edgar who has such a unique and profound vision that works on so many dimensions and so many levels from like a real entertaining level to a real poetic poignant level as well — obviously, the comedic elements that he's known for as well. Just to be a part of someone realizing their vision, and that's doing it at a really high level, is cool, and that's why I'm doing it.

Interviewer: So you're playing like a nihilist again?

FLEA: No, only one one nihilist, but this guy actually is a nihilist, yeah, but he's not the nihilist. "I believe in nothing!"

What do you feel like when your cast mates fangirl or fanboy over you?

FLEA: They're just being sweet.

GONZALEZ: No we're not! I said it before you were here. I'm not kissing ass. I totally said it before you were here.

FLEA: They're really nice to me and sweet and stuff.

GONZALEZ: He's doing such a great job. I saw some stuff, because like we were saying, we get to see them edit some stuff. It's just looking so rad. They're so funny together. You and Jamie together are bomb.

FLEA: It's fun.

What's on your chin?

FLEA: Oh, I was going to go take it off. It's the police code for insane.

It's supposed to go all the way across?

FLEA: No, it's just numbers and a dash in between. 51-50? Is that what it is?

GONZALEZ: Yeah.

FLEA: 51-50 is the police card for insane, not to be trusted.

GONZALEZ: If you really pay attention throughout the movie, Edgar is such a brilliant mind that you'll see like he'll have references in every little thing, like in tattoos or in the names of the places that we're going to, or the (car) plates, or like our dates on our fingers mean something. Like, we can't really talk about it, but they're all a little homage to certain little things that Edgar admires. So, it's really cool because he's thinking about everything. Edgar is like full-on 360 right now. He works on set. He's creating. He's directing. He goes back to Paul, re-edits, goes back to the storyboards, figures it out. He listens to music, listens to the beat. Like, he's such a visionary man and just seeing that spread on set is just unbelievable to watch.

Do we learn if your characters have worked together before, or is this the first time they're all interacting in this way?

GONZALEZ: There's references with certain characters of when they worked before and how they met, but I never work with him. We never have a heist together, but there's a reason why. So, you'll get to see why it's all mixed up. It's part of the story of the movie.

How do your characters interact with and respond to Ansel throughout the heist?

GONZALEZ: Well, for my character, I think the cool thing about being the only woman around all these men, is that she still has this nurturing kind of energy towards him, because she still sees him as a kid. So, you'll see how my interaction with him is, but definitely the way that I see him or treat him is different than the way I treat everyone else. I feel like that human, woman side comes out and feels the need to protect him. So, for me that has been really interesting, because his character is all musically driven. You probably know why. He has his hearing impairment, so he listens to music constantly. So he's listening to us and music. So, that's the connection. Basically, he's always talking to us and we're trying to just get some words out of him and find a way to connect with him. But he's just different in his own way. The way that he's played has been amazing, and I think the ensemble around him really ups his character as well and makes it really powerful.

FLEA: My guy, Eddie, he just wants the job done right. He just wants to get his fucking money and get home. He wants to get paid. He doesn't want anybody screwing up the job, so he's very suspicious of Ansel being fit for the job. My character is a very single-minded guy, so I'm concerned about his lack of presence in the world because he's got headphones on and he seems kind of spacy. But, then of course, I'm very impressed by his prodigious driving skills.

Could you elaborate on that?

GONZALEZ: Yeah, so Baby has a hearing impairment and he listens to music.

FLEA: Which is a really cool element of the film because he relates to the world through the music he's listening to. So, as a musician myself I can really relate to myself, because I'm much better at playing music than I am at relating to human beings. So, it's kind of a neurosis, but it's also a real beautiful way for like music being sort of a divine voice, for it to be a channel to relate to the world. And it can relate to this film as well, too, which is something that really fascinates me about this whole concept.