Indeed, speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com ahead of the film’s release, Smith revealed that there was one day in particular that he had especially enjoyed: filming a high-octane car chase sequence.
“That was one of my great days on a film set,” he said. “I loved that day, because what we had is this thing called a biscuit, which I’ve never seen anything like. And basically, you’re attached to a rally car engine with a rally car driver, and they’ve got this sort of… how do you describe… like, a winch on the back.
“So then you’re in, like, this fairground ride, you’ve got a rally car engine and a rally car driver on the front!”
Aronofsky added, “Yeah, you don’t have to really worry about it… you can just sit there and scream at the top of your lungs!”
Smith added that Aronofsky also let him do a bit of driving for himself – after a couple of lessons – with the director explaining that he wanted to have some grounding to the chase scene.
“It was great because, like, so many action films have kind of taken the physics of it totally bananas and insane – as if that’s the way to engage audiences well,” he said.
“I’m not critiquing that, but there’s something about returning to real physics and real broken bones and real dented cars that is exciting, and you can still find energy in it.”
Caught Stealing follows events after Austin Butler’s ex-baseball player gets caught up in the criminal underworld of ’90s New York when he is asked to look after Smith’s character’s cat, with Zoë Kravitz, Regina King and Liev Schreiber among the other stars with key roles.
And while the film includes plenty of the trademark intensity found in Aronofsky’s other acclaimed films – which include Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan and mother! – there’s also a more freewheeling sense of fun that feels quite new for the filmmaker.
But Aronofsky says that he more or less approached this film the same way he approaches all his projects.
“I think I approach them all the same, but I always think making films is a lot of fun, and I wanted to have a lot of fun making this film,” he said.
“There was definitely an intention to leave audiences with a feeling of joy and [that they] have a good time at the end of it. But still, I guess it is an intense ride as well. So maybe you get the best of both worlds!”
Caught Stealing releases in UK cinemas on Friday 29 August 2025.
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