Maggie Grace threw herself into weapons training for The Hurricane Heist so completely that she became a “gun expert”, according to director Rob Cohen.
The former Lost star plays U.S. Treasury agent Casey in the action film, about a team of hackers who try to steal $600 million from the vault of the treasury at the same time as a Category 5 hurricane.
Casey can handle herself, teaming up with meteorologist Will and his ex-Marine brother Breeze to stop the hackers from pulling off the heist while battling the extreme weather conditions, so as soon as Maggie was onboard the project, Rob sent her to weapons training and she became more prepared than he could have imagined.
“I got her in gun training, all the physical stuff; the combat, the pistol shooting, that she needed to do, all the running, jumping and diving stuff, and she took it to heart like I never saw anybody grab some aspect,” Rob divulged to WENN. “Believe me, she was a gun expert by the time she showed up in Sofia (in Bulgaria). Don’t mess with Maggie because she can really shoot!”
The Fast and the Furious director reached out to Maggie, who stars as Liam Neeson’s kidnapped daughter in Taken, asking if she wanted to “play Liam Neeson instead of the daughter in distress” in a movie, and after reading the script and having a Skype chat with Rob, she was in.
The cast is rounded out by Toby Kebbell and True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten, who play brothers Will and Breeze. Toby was initially cast as Breeze, but Rob realized he had made a mistake when he met Ryan.
“I sat with him (Ryan) and we talked and I suddenly went, ‘Holy Christ, I’ve cast this backwards. Ryan Kwanten should be Breeze and Toby Kebbell should be Will!'” Rob recalled. “So I took Toby to dinner and I said, ‘What you say to playing the lead brother instead the ne’er-do-well brother? He almost cried and said, ‘You trust me with the lead of your film?’
“I said, ‘Toby, you’re an amazing actor.’ Plus I think it’s time for him to play a hero instead of always playing the crazy guys, so he accepted and Ryan got the other role.”
The Hurricane Heist is already out in America and hits U.K. cinemas on Friday (06Apr18).
