Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub interviews Kevin James and Christina Ricci for their action-comedy Guns Up.

Kevin James discusses the possibility of a King of Queens reunion, highlighting the importance of Jerry Stiller in the show.

Christina Ricci shares insights on filming intense action sequences, talks Batman: Caped Crusader, and more.

Guns Up is bringing comedy and action to theaters and VOD this weekend. Directed and written by Edward Drake, the film follows a devoted family man and former cop, Ray Hayes, played by Kevin James, who has been living a secret life as a mob enforcer. Just as he’s on the verge of leaving the mob life behind him and turning a page with his family, one final job spirals out of control. Ray finds himself racing against the clock to save his wife, Alice, played by Christina Ricci, and children from the outside forces that threaten his own moral compass. James and Ricci both have decades under their belts in both comedy and action, careers that have cultivated plenty of skills when it came to filming Guns Up, in which both actors perform their own stunts. In this interview with Collider’s Steve Weintraub, the duo discuss those stunts, with a particular focus on how big of a badass Ricci is while performing her own. The pair also reflect on what they learned from working with one another and how their work styles are similar. Outside of Guns Up, James discusses why he feels returning to King of Queens isn’t really a possibility these years later, and Ricci reveals if we’ll hear her voice again in Batman: Caped Crusader.
If You’ve Never Seen Their Work, James and Ricci Have Suggestions for Where To Start

“I don’t know what the kids are into these days.”

COLLIDER: I like throwing some curveballs at the beginning. I’m obsessed with getting more people to see movies in movie theaters. Do you both have a favorite movie theater? KEVIN JAMES: Ohhh, Christina? CHRISTINA RICCI: Well, I tend to be a convenience person, and right now I always take my son to The Americana in Glendale. That’s our theater. JAMES: I would have to say it’s Westbury 12 or 6. I remember when I was a kid, when we were growing up, this is the one we used to hang out at all the time. All the way growing up through high school, drinking beers behind it, sneaking in it, all this stuff. Then we moved away, I grew up, I had a family of my own, and now I have a place that’s a home, and near that home is this place, and that’s The Westbury, Regal Westbury. That’s the one I go to. There are a lot of people who, if you can believe it, have not seen your work yet. If someone’s never seen anything you’ve worked on, what’s the first thing you’d like them watching and why? RICCI: Oh my God, I would say just go with the most current. So I would say probably this movie or Yellowjackets. JAMES: There you go. Yellowjackets is fantastic. So how about that? And then see this movie. Then come to Guns Up. I would say Yellowjackets, as well. And I’ll tell you what, because then they would go there, and they wouldn’t know my work, but they would know the people that I like to work with. So they would see that and say, “Alright, now I get it.” Now you know why I want to work with Christina. I don’t even know. Because these things change so much. I don’t know what the kids are into these days. So, some of my earlier work might be goofy for them, or they might like it. I can’t even predict. Because I can’t even predict with my own kids, by the way. I can’t even say, “Hey, you’re going to love this one. I did this movie I made here.” They’re like, “Eh,” and I go, “Okay, alright. How about this one?” Sometimes you just can’t figure them out. So, I can’t figure out the kids. I’ll be honest, neither can I.

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Christina Ricci Reveals What She Was Most Excited for on ‘Speed Racer’

“I was such a huge Matrix fan.”

Christina, individual question for you. I am a huge fan of Speed Racer, and have been since I first saw it. I’m a huge fan of the Wachowskis. If you don’t mind, can you reminisce a little bit about working on that? Because I think it’s an incredible film. RICCI: I loved working on that movie. The Wachowskis were amazing. We shot in Berlin. I was in Berlin for three months over the summer. The cast was really great. We were usually shooting in giant stages that were just entirely green, and there would be, like, a car or a tram, and we would pretend. Everything was in your head and pretend, so that was a little strange. But then my favorite thing about Speed Racer was getting to work with Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, because I was such a huge Matrix fan. I was so obsessed with all the action sequences, as everybody was. I had stunt work, so I had to train with them, and I was so excited. All I wanted to do was learn how to pick up a gun mid-cartwheel, and they worked it into the fight scene for me, and then they trained me to do it. It’s just one of the greatest things I’ve ever been taught. A lot of people don’t realize how many amazing second unit directors who went on to become big directors worked on Speed Racer.

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“Thank you to ‘Speed Racer.’ I don’t think I’ve ever learned as much in such a short period of time.”

Let’s move into why I get to talk to you guys. Speaking of action, you guys made this, and I know this was not made with “Marvel money.” You guys made this on a budget, yet this movie is wall-to-wall action. At what point, when you got on set, were you like, “How the F are we going to accomplish this in the schedule and the time we have?” JAMES: That’s a great question. We thought that every day. RICCI: I was about to say that it was about 10 a.m. every day, right? That we had that question. JAMES: We were dealing with not only that, but you remember the fires with the smoke? We had everything thrown at us. Honestly, I think those are when you come up with the best movies. The outcome is you’re overcoming these obstacles, right? Because that’s what they say it is. Filmmaking is coming up with solutions to the problems. That’s all it is. And that’s what we did. These things would come at us each day. One of the things that helped us the most is how badass Christina Ricci is. That was the most ridiculous thing that we didn’t know. Then we found out, and that helped it so much because that was one of the things that we did. That was one of the big questions. If you don’t have that, you can’t fake it. It’s just hard. It’s hard to do that. So, we got that. We got a bunch of people working well together, and it wasn’t a tight budget, but you’re right. The action was the most important thing that looked really legit. I’m very happy to compete with these big monsters. By the way, thank you, Chad and David, for Speed Racer. It all ties together. JAMES: Yes. RICCI: That’s right. I really called out all my training from 15 years prior.
Ricci Had “Quite a Moment” After Filming One Scene for ‘Guns Up’

There’s a specific scene that Ricci is a powerhouse in.

I actually want to ask you about a specific shot that I really liked. You guys are coming out of the doorway. It’s in the third act. I don’t want to spoil anything, but Christina, the camera is centered, you come out, and you beat the shit out of, like, 1,000 people. Kevin, you’re just sitting there watching, and everything is happening sort of off frame, partly in frame. It’s a great shot. Can you talk about filming that specific sequence? RICCI: Yeah, that shot was so smart. That shot was so smart. It was such a great concept. Edward is so clever, and the stunt coordinator. Everybody was just so on point and so good. That was my first fight scene that I did in the movie. I was very nervous and worried that I was just going to make an ass of myself, and it all worked out fine. Everyone applauded for me afterwards. Really quite a moment for me. JAMES: That was insane. That was the real moment where I realize, I find out… I don’t want to give anything away either, but I’m kind of as in shock as the moviegoer is at that moment. Yeah, I was going to say your reaction is not acting. You’re actually reacting to her pulling that shit off. JAMES: Dude, I could not believe it. And we did not have a lot of time to do it and a lot of goes. I was like, “Whoa,” and she was in there. She was it. I was like, “Whoa,” but she did that time after time. I kept expecting, because I thought, like, “I’m going to be so bad ss. I’m going to do the scene by myself.” And then looking over and expecting to see a stuntwoman next to me, and it was Christina, I’m like, “What the hell are you doing here?” She was there. RICCI: We had so much fun, though. They kept throwing in different sequences. All of a sudden, they’re like, “Okay, you’re both back to back, and you’ve got your guns out, and you’re running,” and you’re just like, “Okay.” It was really fun. Kevin is so much fun to work with. I think we were just like kids having fun. JAMES: Yeah, it was fun. RICCI: And we’re two people who really don’t like to embarrass themselves, so we did a great job.
Does James See Returning to ‘The King of Queens’ as a Possibility?

Not without a specific actor.

Kevin, I have to ask you an individual question. With King of Queens, a lot of things are being made now, 10 years later, 20 years later, like Happy Gilmore 2 is 29 years after the first one. Is there a thought, after a certain amount of time, about revisiting the characters, or is it something that you’re like, “It was perfect. I don’t want to touch it?” JAMES: I wouldn’t say that it’s perfect. It was a moment in time, I think. The King of Queens is weird because we weren’t as popular. When we came out, we did okay. We did good. But it was [Everybody Loves] Raymond and Friends and all these other office comedies and funnier shows, and they did much better than us. What blows me away is how well we’ve done when we’ve come out later in syndication. I don’t know whether it’s because they just pummeled people with it and it got into their brains that way, but people now enjoy it, I feel like, more than ever. To go back and to redo it, I just don’t think, because we don’t have Jerry [Stiller]. Again, A.I., if they do everybody, and there’s something where they can do you at any age… I actually think the reason so many of these new things are working is because you’re incorporating real-time. So, you could conceivably do something where Jerry is talked about. You know what I mean? JAMES: Yeah. I would never say no, but it feels hard because for me, he was such a part of it, man. He was the glue in that thing. I don’t know. I just can’t even picture it. I don’t know. It’s just a weird way to do it. Why? Why would you do that if you don’t have him?
Is Christina Ricci Returning for ‘Batman: Caped Crusader’ Season 2?

She voiced Catwoman in the star-studded animated series.

Christina, one last thing for you. I really enjoyed Batman: Caped Crusader. You get to voice Selina Kyle/Catwoman. What can you tease about any upcoming episodes in Season 2? Are you a part of it or are you not? RICCI: No, I did not get the call for Season 2, I’m sorry to say. That is not acceptable. JAMES: Unacceptable. RICCI: I mean, we could start a letter. Write a letter campaign. I don’t know. I understand. You never really know how someone’s going to be when you’re working with them. Some people like music on set, some people like to be in their heads and left alone. What did you learn about each other in terms of the way you each like to work? Are you radically different? Are you kind of similar? RICCI: I’ve told everyone that Kevin’s like my favorite person I’ve worked with forever and ever. What I learned is that we are pretty similar in the way that we work. The thing that I love so much was hearing old set stories from Kevin and finding out that he’s like… I’m really silly on set, and I do really ridiculous things and hear all the stories. Kevin is just as silly and just as fun.

JAMES: To be honest, for me, I was a little intimidated working with Christina, because she has crushed the world of indies and blockbusters. She’s just had a crazy career that way. She’s obviously the cooler person in this equation, and I know that. I know that going in, but she didn’t make me feel that. It was family right away, and that to me just felt great. Honestly, it’s when you have that, and you have that comfort around you, you can try things, you can be goofy, you don’t have to be embarrassed, and I think that’s when you come up with your best stuff. So, I thank her for making me feel so great about that thing and becoming a friend. She’s just awesome. Guns Up is now playing in theaters and available on demand.

Guns Up

Release Date

July 18, 2025

Runtime

92 minutes

Director

Edward Drake

Writers

Edward Drake

Producers

Jon Keeyes, Jeffrey Greenstein, Tobias Weymar

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