Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry Share the Movies That Shaped Them, From 'Inception' to 'Goodfellas'

2 weeks ago 16

Published Feb 13, 2026, 7:00 AM EST

Summary

Collider's Steve Weintraub talks with Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry for Crime 101.
In this interview, Hemsworth and Berry reveal the movies that shaped them, from Stanley Kubrick to Christopher Nolan.
The duo also discuss filming in Los Angeles, how L.A. becomes a character in the movie, and being drawn by the emotional depth of the script.

An all-star roster joins forces in Amazon MGM Studio's Crime 101, a heist thriller from writer-director Bart Layton (The Imposter). In a recent interview with Collider's Steve Weintraub, stars Chris Hemsworth and Academy Award winner Halle Berry spoke about how this script set itself apart from the others, and how Los Angeles became the beating pulse to an original story.

In addition to Hemsworth and Berry, Crime 101 stars fellow Marvel alum, Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers), Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin), Corey Hawkins (The Piano Lesson), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Nick Nolte (Affliction), and Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight). In the movie, Hemsworth plays an elusive thief whose heists center on the 101 freeway. Though he's managed to skillfully evade the police thus far, what he hopes to be his final job — and the multimillion-dollar score of a lifetime — draws the attention of the relentless Detective Lou (Ruffalo) too close for comfort.

Check out the full conversation in the video above or the transcript below, where Hemsworth and Berry discuss how Layton's adaptation of Don Winslow's novella offered something new for the two leads, and for movie lovers, and how Los Angeles plays a major role in the film. They also share their favorite movies from directors Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Christopher Nolan.

"These are the most difficult questions."

The poster of Christopher Nolan's 'Inception' (2010)

COLLIDER: I know you've been asked a lot of the same questions. I like to throw curveballs. I've been asking this of everyone recently, every actor and director in the last few months. Do you have a favorite Christopher Nolan movie?

CHRIS HEMSWORTH: Yes. All of them. Memento is pretty damn brilliant. I forget… Hugh Jackman [Christian] Bale…?

Oh, The Prestige.

HEMSWORTH: The Prestige. Inception. To be honest, I watched those films not even knowing they were Chris Nolan films, and then when Inception came out, I went, “Who is this guy?” And then realized all of my favorite films have been made by him. So, I think Inception.

HALLE BERRY: I would say Inception. I remember where I was, and all that.

They're only going to get harder, these questions. Do you have a favorite Steven Spielberg movie?

BERRY: Oh my gosh.

HEMSWORTH: Jurassic Park, or Indiana Jones.

BERRY: I'm going to say E.T. only because that impacted me at a time when I saw it and made me realize that there was a whole universe out there that was alive.

HEMSWORTH: Saving Private Ryan.

BERRY: Schindler's List also rearranged me. I mean, there are just so many.

HEMSWORTH: These are the most difficult questions.

BERRY: Jaws rearranged me as a kid. You can just go on and on.

Listen, I told you, it's only going to get more difficult. Do you have a favorite Scorsese?

HEMSWORTH: Goodfellas.

That's my favorite Scorsese.

BERRY: Goodfellas. I would have to agree.

And the final one, do you have a favorite Stanley Kubrick?

BERRY: Oh, A Clockwork Orange, hands down. That's my favorite.

HEMSWORTH: Same.

Thank you for indulging.

HEMSWORTH: Now let’s talk about Step Brothers, the T-shirt you're wearing. One of my favorite movies.

I'll tell you real quick, I did a set visit on Step Brothers, and I think I ruined a take from laughing. They were fighting in the bedroom, and all of us were just dying. They're like, “You need to move farther away from the camera.”

BERRY: Makes sense.

"You see the glitz and glam, and you also see the underbelly."

Davis looking down into a car window, wearing sunglasses, as a plane lands in the background.

Chris, this is actually an individual question for you. You're one of the producers on Crime 101, and something that I was surprised at is that you guys got to film in Los Angeles. Nothing films in Los Angeles. Can you talk about the battle to actually film in LA? Because I'm sure you would have gotten a lot more money had you gone to Atlanta or some other place.

HEMSWORTH: Well, here's the funny thing. Probably not that surprising, I was like, “Why can't we shoot this in Australia, where I live?” So, I was pushing for that, and everyone was like, “No, we cannot make Australia look like L.A. L.A. is a character.” Bart [Layton] was very specific. I was like, “Okay, fine.” It's very expensive to shoot in L.A., and right before shooting, everyone was like, “Is it cheaper to move it to Australia now and try and recreate it?” And that's unfortunate because L.A., as I said… For selfish reasons, me wanting to be in Australia, that was where it sort of finished.

BERRY: And for selfish reasons, I wanted it to be in L.A. because that's where I live and where my kids are.

HEMSWORTH: But for the movie, it turned out the best way possible because L.A., in this film, you see the glitz and glam, and you also see the underbelly of things. Bart doesn't shy away from the tragic places and the homeless, and so on. It really puts on display the distance between the haves and the have-nots, and the focus on material wealth, identity, status, and all the things that we kind of wrestle with, and that, particularly in that town, can be incredibly problematic. But it was wonderful to shoot there because there's an amazing nostalgia. We don't see film shot in Los Angeles very often, and in this film in particular, you feel the heartbeat of the place.

Oh, I definitely think filming in L.A. adds so much to this movie.

'Crime 101' Is Unlike Anything These Stars Have Read Recently

"It was one of the best things I've read in a very, very long time."

For both of you, I know you're both offered a bunch of scripts, and you read a lot of scripts. For each of you, what was it about this material that said, “I have to do this?”

BERRY: It was one of the best things I've read in a very, very long time. I love a good action movie, and I love to be in action movies, but they had characters that just jumped off the page, and all of these characters, kind of in their way, were wrestling with the same issue, trying to figure out what was morally right and wrong and where they fit into all of that. I just loved how they intertwined with each other, how their stories intersected at different times. And by the time I got to the end, I thought, “This better end in a way that makes me feel good, or I'm going to be so mad,” and the ending was so satisfying to see where everything got to. And then to work with Chris and Mark [Ruffalo], they were already on board when I got asked, and that was a no-brainer for me.

HEMSWORTH: To echo what Halle said, I hadn't read a lot of, if any, actually, for a long time, I wasn't being sent films like this. I wasn't seeing films like this at the cinema, either, films that were both cinematic and big and beautiful and deserved to be seen on the big screen. There was incredible action and intensity in that space, but it was also complex characters and emotional depth, and a thought-provoking story that didn't drum you over the head with the answer. There was an ambiguity to what it was presenting, and each of the characters was going through their own sort of existential crisis of, “Who am I? What am I? What's it worth? What's the system I'm fighting against, whether it be within me or the exterior environment?” So, it posed real-world, real-life questions that an audience is able to consider and attempt to answer, but again, in a visually stunning, entertaining way.

Crime 101 is in theaters now.