Cast of Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces Cast
Jeremy Piven as Buddy "Aces" Israel: In a world that revolves around money, conspiracies, and the spirit of texas holdem culture, Buddy "Aces" Israel attempts to stake his place. Buddy Israel is a former Las Vegas magician with ties to the mafia, which he betrays when he agrees to turn evidence against Mob boss Sparazza. To prevent his testimony, two assassins are hired to kill him and retrieve his heart, for a reward of $1 million. After word of the contract gets around, several other hitmen and teams of assassins go after Aces with the intent of reaping the bounty. During most of the film Aces hides in his high-price suite, surrounding himself with bodyguards and prostitutes. As he continually snorts cocaine, he becomes increasingly depressed to the brink of suicide. At the end of the film it is revealed that Aces was in fact being used by the FBI, who were planning to transplant his heart to Sparazza to keep him alive. He is also revealed to be the illegitimate son of Sparazza. He and Sparazza are finally killed by FBI Agent Messner as revenge for the death of Messner's partner, which was indirectly caused by the contract on Aces.
"I think that both [Alicia Keys and Common] are superstars in this arena and then they come to a new arena. Yet they're kind of students and were very open to the whole process, which says a lot about them as human beings. This is a reason why they're such great artists because it's a collaborative medium and they kind of get that. It's so fun to do this process because [Common’s] kind of doing this for the first time and so I kind of get renewed about it as well. This is kind of an exciting time for all of us. The cast is so completely eclectic and everyone is so strong, except fo Ryan Reynolds. God bless him…”
For the magic tricks, “Paul Wilson was the guy that I worked with for the magic. The thing that he said that was the most important was to actually pull a trick off in front of people, and he was absolutely right. I went with Common and Joe [Carnahan] - Ryan [Reynolds] wasn't invited – but anyway, we went to the Magic Castle. We got up there and I actually did a trick. It is addicting. It really is. I've been on the stage my entire life as an actor and it's a kind of another level where you pull this thing off. And then to look in people's faces that are completely freaked out by something, I could see why you could dedicate your life to that as I did to the stage. So that was really informative for me. I had never really been around cards. I wasn't that guy and so I really had to work kind of extra hard and always have them in my hand. They're kind of like worry beads for the character that I incorporated. So that was really great, to always have them in my hand.”
About his character “The whole thing was just a complete gift. Joe and I knew that if you didn't care about this guy, if he had no heart when everyone was trying to kill him and extract his heart or put him on ice for the money, whatever their motivations were – everyone was converging on this hotel room – and if you didn't care about this character, if he didn’t have some potential as a human being and if it wasn't a tragedy, then all the hard work that everyone puts into it wouldn't mean as much. You needed to have that central character be tragic. It was just an honor to be able to kind of live fully through that guy.”
Ryan Reynolds as Special Agent Richard Messner: An FBI agent working with his partner and mentor Donald Carruthers. He and Carruthers are assigned to protect Buddy Israel from bounty hunters. While Carruthers is at the hotel, Messner goes down to Lake Tahoe to examine Jack and Pete's dead bodies. When he arrives at the hotel he finds Carruthers fatally wounded by an assassin, at which point his motivations become personal. He is angry when he learns the truth behind Primo Sparazza. In the end he kills Sparazza and Israel in an act of revenge.
"That was just part of the story, I mean, he was the guy that was deeply affected emotionally by it, deeply and through the wringer by the end of this adventure. It was the focal point for me as the character. The climax for the character of Messner was the reason to do this movie, to really get inside of that guy and find out what made him tick. For me, I haven't done a lot of films where I had to jump into something in this way. It was the least amount of 'me' that I usually put in and oddly enough the most. It was the most effort and a departure from anything that I've been comfortable in, any sort of wheelhouse that I've established."
“I've certainly never been in a movie that's had this unique brand of unblinking violence before, so that's sort of new for me. But it's like any other role. You tackle it in the same way and you try to find the truth to it. I was really caught up with this guy who was trapped in this bureaucratic FBI cluster-f**k, for lack of a better word, and because of that loses someone that is very dear to him. So for me it was just playing the truth of that the whole time. I was sort of alone throughout the movie because my character is sort of a rogue player. He kind of arrives to the party a little late and in doing so I didn't establish the special friendships that people seem to have made [laughing]. But when all is said and done, it was great. I'm also just a huge fan of Joe Carnahan. He's such a charismatic individual and someone that just applies every part of himself to the project that he's in. It was great for me.”
Ben Affleck as Jack Dupree: A world weary and serious Las Vegas bail bondsman hired by Rip Reed to capture Buddy Israel. Along the way he hires ex-cops Pete and Hollis to help him. Jack's plan was for them to sneak into the casino as security guards but the Tremor brothers gunned down Jack and his friends at the lake and stole their uniforms. Their deaths are later avenged by Hollis, who survives the attack and proceeds to hunt down the Tremors, eventually killing Darwin.
Andy García as Assistant Director Stanley Locke: The soft spoken Assistant Director of the FBI negotiating with Buddy Israel. Locke informs Carruthers and Messner that they have to protect Israel from the bounty hunters. Later, Locke is given a memo and after reading it backs out on his deal and neglects the two agents from going through with their mission. In the end he informs Messner of Sparazza and Israel's connection and he tries to stop him from killing the two.
Alicia Keys as Georgia Sykes: A killer for hire working with her partner Sharice Watters. Sykes and Watters gained notoriety after a hit on a triad. Their plan was for Sykes to sneak in as a prostitute for Buddy Israel. During a gun battle with FBI agents she is shot by the wounded Pasqual Acosta and accidentally kills a prostitute but escapes. She later encounters and saves Sir Ivy from Darwin Tremor. She and Ivy then, after making a truce with Messner, leave the hotel. Their fate is left in question.
Ray Liotta as Special Agent Donald Carruthers: A veteran FBI agent who is the partner and friend of Richard Messner. He is present at the hotel before Messner, who was at the lake where Jack and Pete's bodies were found. When he is trying to find a security guard for help, he finds the disguised Pasqual Acosta and the two head upstairs in an elevator. Once he realizes who the guard is, Carruthers and Acosta draw their weapons and shoot each other several times. They are later found by Georgia Sykes before Messner and other agents arrive. And after he and Carruthers shoot Acosta again, Messner carries Carruthers out and he dies of his wounds soon after.
Peter Berg as "Pistol" Pete Deeks: An ex vice cop and partners with Hollis Elmore. Pete is hired by Jack Dupree to help capture Buddy Israel. Pete, unlike Hollis, seems to go along with the plan Dupree has laid out due to gambling debts and missed mortgage payments. When the three are discussing the plan, Pete and Jack are shot to death in cold blood by the Tremors.
Common as Sir Ivy: A friend and bodyguard of Buddy Israel's. He overhears Israel's talk with Mecklen about Israel having to sell out Ivy, Hugo and Beanie to the FBI. Ivy confronts Israel about this and he confesses to everything. Ivy tries to kill Israel but is arrested by guards. As they take him away, the Tremors attack and Ivy is left to watch the massacre. He kills Jeeves and Lester and is saved by Georgia from Darwin. They are both instantly attracted to each other and Ivy takes her outside and they escape.
Martin Henderson as Hollis Elmore: An ex-vice cop and partners with "Pistol" Pete Deeks. Hollis is hired by Jack Dupree to capture Buddy Israel. Hollis seemed skeptical of the mission but went along with the plan. When the three are discussing the plan, Hollis, Jack and Pete are shot by the Tremors. He survives, losing three fingers. Hollis emerges from the lake and finds a cabin inhabited by a mentally disturbed boy and his grandmother. He borrows her late husband's pistol and finds Darwin, the last surviving Tremor. When Darwin apolgizes, Hollis lets him go, only to change his mind soon after and shoot Darwin to death.
Taraji P. Henson as Sharice Watters: A killer for hire working with Georgia Sykes. Sykes and Watters gained notoriety after they perform a hit on a Chinese Triad group. It is implied that Sharice is bisexual. Also, that she is in love with her partner Georgia. During Sykes' shootout with the FBI, Sharice thinks they have killed Sykes and Sharice starts sniping the agents from afar. Just when her hope is lost, she spots Ivy carrying Georgia outside. Agents then come into her position and open fire. It is likely that she didn't survive.
Chris Pine as Darwin Tremor: The oldest of the three Tremor brothers, who are ruthless redneck hitmen. They manage to kill Jack Dupree and his team, and sneak into the hotel. Darwin makes the attack on the penthouse using machetes, an M3 Grease Gun, and Stielhandgranates. Darwin also possesses a Sten Mk.II, a German officer's pistol, and a baseball bat. They start killing the guards and his brothers are killed by Sir Ivy. Darwin tries to kill him but Georgia comes and stops him. Darwin manages to escape by jumping in the elevator, using the distraction created by Georgia's initial attraction to Sir Ivy. Darwin gets away by coming out of the elevator crying and waving a FBI badge. He gets to the parking lot to find one of his victims, Hollis, waiting for him. Darwin apologizes for shooting him, stating that it was nothing personal. Hollis simply asks for the keys to his car back in exchange for letting Darwin live. Darwin duly returns the keys and just when he thinks he is free, Hollis has a change of heart and shoots him to death.
Kevin Durand as Jeeves Tremor: The largest and youngest of the Tremor brothers, he does little throughout the film other than wrestle with his brother Lester. He makes an assault on the penthouse with his brothers using an Armsel Striker revolving shotgun and a chainsaw. After Sir Ivy kills Lester, Jeeves is enraged and throws down his shotgun try to kill Ivy with his chainsaw. Ivy used all of his ammo on Lester, so he frantically grabs a dead cop's pistol and shoots Jeeves in both of his knees. While Jeeves is trying to get up, Ivy shoots him again causing him to fall on his chainsaw. He is later seen dead, but still sitting upright.
Maury Sterling as Lester Tremor: The smallest of the Tremor brothers. Lester seems to be the most technically proficient, as he was the one that fixed the elevator with a portable generator when it was shut down. He assaults the penthouse with his brothers using a Glock 18 and a double barreled shotgun. While reloading his gun, Lester is shot dead by Sir Ivy.
Tommy Flanagan as Lazlo Soot: A deadly master of disguise and the main hitman assigned to kill Israel. Soot kills and disguises himself as Hugo the bodyguard. He murders Beanie and before he can get to perform his "surgery" on Israel, the FBI come in and arrested him. He manages to wound an agent, shed his disguise and escape the building in a security uniform. In the end he was revealed that he was hired to kill Israel's guards to make way for the Swede.
Joseph Ruskin as Primo Sparazza: A dying mafia boss who has been active since the 1950s. He is actually Freeman Heller of the FBI, an undercover agent in the mafia. Heller was betrayed by the agency so he took the Sparazza name, and began his criminal rise. Buddy Israel is in fact his son, and the movie is actually about Sparazza trying to get Israel's heart for a transplant. The FBI could not risk losing the information he possessed, so they went after Israel. After learning this, Messner kills Sparazza and Israel to set things right, or as an act of vengeance.
Nestor Carbonell as Pasqual Acosta: A blood money mercenary and torture expert whose trademark is a stiletto and pistol he keeps hidden under his left sleeves. Acosta went to the hotel as a FBI agent but, after killing the head of security, he stole a security uniform. He is found by Carruthers, who was looking for a security guard, and they go upstairs. Once Carruthers finds out who he is, Acosta stabs and shoots him and he too is shot several times. During Georgia's fight with the agents, Acosta stabs Georgia but he is shot again by Messner and the dying Carruthers before he can kill her. He is last seen being carried out on a stretcher, still alive and clutching his stiletto.
“Well, for me, like Ryan said, Joe is such an enormous talent. If you watch Narc, it's amazing to see how incredibly talented he is in that particular genre, which was just a drama. And then to come around and do a follow up, second picture that is such a tonally different kind of movie – this being a dark action comedy – and every character, as Jeremy said, has a moment, has a sort of epiphany. Even though it's incredibly violent, there's a real moment of clarity for characters. As dark and as depraved as some of the characters are, which mine certainly is, we all have a sort of moment of lightness.
I think that the reason the movie works so well is because the violence is so well balanced with the comedy. On my first day I got to take a blow torch to a man's genitals, which was only funny when I saw it onscreen. But I mean, how often do you get to play something as dark as that and still make it funny? So, for me, it was just a dream to get this job and to be able to work with this phenomenal cast.”
Jason Bateman as Rip Reed: A self-deprecating, disheveled attorney and implied methamphetamine addict who describes himself as having a bad physique and a small penis. He hires Dupree and the others to locate and retrieve Israel. He is holed up in a sleazy motel in the middle of nowhere, and is a closet transvestite. He hears of Dupree and Deeks' deaths on the news.
Smokin' Aces Cameo Roles
David Proval as Victor "Baby Buzz" Padiche: A Capo in the Mafia family of Primo Sparazza. He contracts Sykes and Watters to kill Israel, as part of a plot concocted by Underboss Sidney K. Serba to make Sparazza lose face so they can eventually take over the Mafia after Sparazza's death. Matthew Fox as Bill: The head of security at the hotel was killed by Pasqual Acosta, who was played by Fox's Lost co-star Nestor Carbonell. Curtis Armstrong as Morris Mecklen: Buddy Israel's lawyer. Wayne Newton as himself. Director Joe Carnahan also has a cameo as an armed robber at the beginning of the film.
