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Elizabeth Banks opened up about working with Ray Liotta on what turned out to be his final film before his death—her latest film, the horror comedy Cocaine Bear.
Liotta passed in his sleep last May at the age of 67, but not before completing filming his scenes in Cocaine Bear. Banks said Liotta was not able to see the completed film, but he was able to review his own scenes before his death—including those with the completed CGI bear.
Banks told ET:
"He never saw the final movie, but he did see all of his scenes."
\u201c'He asked for more jokes when he read the script, which I loved,' 'Cocaine Bear' director Elizabeth Banks says of Ray Liotta. https://t.co/ILPjJ07TsR\u201d— Entertainment Weekly (@Entertainment Weekly) 1677100201
\u201cElizabeth Banks says female action directors are discriminated against, but Ray Liotta gave her the confidence to make \u2018Cocaine Bear\u2019 \u2b07\ufe0f https://t.co/GX24ASPh8P\u201d— Yahoo Entertainment (@Yahoo Entertainment) 1677164600
Banks said she was especially excited Liotta was able to see his scenes with the bear in their final form because the methods for filming with CGI can make it quite hard to imagine the final completed scene.
She shared:
"And he saw the bear, which is the most important thing, because the poor guy like everyone had to act with, you know, a guy in a black suit and a stuntman and just sort of hope that it looks cool."
The film's story revolves around the titular bear—a 500-pound black bear who finds a rather large stash of cocaine and goes on a bloody cocaine-induced frenzied killing spree.
\u201cCOCAINE BEAR is silly, sometimes hilarious, surprisingly heartfelt & at times knarly-gory. I guess with a name like that, I was expecting something wilder & crazier, but it is what it is. Bound to be a cult film. It\u2019s based on a true story, which is the most nuts thing about it!\u201d— Scott Mantz (@Scott Mantz) 1677128501
The story is loosely based on real events from 1985.
Banks said Liotta was greatly enjoying the filming process right up until the last time she saw him.
"He came in for ADR [Additional Dialog Replacement] eight days before he passed away, actually, and he loved it."
"He was so happy. He was laughing. It was just delightful."
\u201cThe famed actor "was so happy. He was laughing. It was just delightful,\u201d said Banks. https://t.co/MERZfZqwT0\u201d— HuffPost (@HuffPost) 1677081952
She said she was first drawn to direct the movie because of the script and great characters.
"I loved the script! I’m an actor first. And there were so many great characters in this film."
"There’s so much going on besides the bear."
"And I hope that’s what people take away from it—that they find someone sort of relatable in the movie."
You can view an interview Banks did with Extra below:
Castmates also shared their memories of working with Liotta in various interviews.
\u201cTwo words: Cocaine Bear.\n\n#CocaineBear director Elizabeth Banks @ElizabethBanks and star Keri Russell share what it was like behind the scenes of the film that\u2019s based on a true story, how Jesse Tyler Ferguson always made Keri laugh, and their memories of working with Ray Liotta.\u201d— TODAY (@TODAY) 1676470574
\u201c#CocaineBear director Elizabeth Banks and stars Keri Russell, O\u2019Shea Jackson Jr. and Alden Ehrenreich talk about their new dark comedy, how @OsheaJacksonJr landed the role through a Twitter interaction, how Alden told Ray Liotta he was named after Field of Dreams, and more.\u201d— TODAY (@TODAY) 1676473525
Cocaine Bear opens tomorrow, Friday, February 24 in theaters.
You can see the official trailer here: