Lina Esco has gushed about her easygoing and friendly experience co-starring with Ben Affleck in Netflix’s new crime thriller The Rip.
Streaming now, the Joe Carnahan-directed film reunites Affleck with his longtime friend and collaborator Matt Damon as a pair of Miami cops, who, along with their team, discover a stash of millions in cash. When news of their seizure gets out, they become distrustful of those around them.
Esco, 40, plays Captain Jackie Velez, who engages in a romantic relationship with Affleck’s JD Byrne. The film also features recent Golden Globe-winner Teyana Taylor, as well as Steven Yuen and Sasha Calle.
Speaking to People on the red carpet of the film’s Tuesday premiere in New York, Esco recalled the playful rapport she and Affleck developed while filming intimate bedroom scenes.
“We were giggling,” the S.W.A.T. alum recounted. “We were just two dorks, dorking around.”
Praising Affleck, 53, as “such a sweet man,” she acknowledged, “Sometimes you don’t run into people that are easy, and I can honestly say it just felt [like an] easygoing set energy, which is very rare.”
Esco further described the on-set environment as “very lowkey, very down to earth.”
“There was nothing pretentious about anyone, it was just easy,” she added. “And so is the director [Joe Carnahan]. He just made sure everyone was comfortable at all times, played soundtrack music at all times, pushed you into the tone and the mood of the film. And at all times it felt like you were in the movie — and again, [a] very cozy, loving set.”
The friendly, light-hearted atmosphere on The Rip was no accident but an intentional choice made by Affleck and Damon, who co-produced the film through their production company Artists Equity. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, the duo shared that it was important that the on-set environment felt collaborative and equal for all involved.
“We really believe that it’s not just the cast and the writers and director, but that the environment, every single person involved, that if they’re committed to making the movie good, it’s very likely to be better,” Affleck said. “It’s really a collaborative art form.”
To create a sense of equality, they said they implemented an old-school back-end bonus model.
“Netflix is obviously a streaming platform, business is obviously changing, there’s been a lot going on,” Affleck explained, referring to the film industry’s controversial shift to streaming, “and what we’re kind of trying to do is, in the old days, you knew how a movie did and you could get bonuses based on the box office performance.”
He continued: “What we wanted to do was try to adapt that model to what’s happening on streaming” in order to spread the movie’s financial success among the “1,200 crew members, every standby painter, greensman, camera [operator].”
The Rip is now available to watch on Netflix.
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