(L to R) Halle Berry and Chris Hemsworth star in ‘Crime 101’.
Opening in theaters on February 13th is the new crime thriller ‘Crime 101’, which was directed by Bart Layton (‘American Animals’) and stars Chris Hemsworth (‘Thor’), Halle Berry (‘X-Men’), Mark Ruffalo (‘The Avengers’), Barry Keoghan (‘Eternals’), Monica Barbaro (‘Top Gun: Maverick’), Corey Hawkins (‘Straight Outta Compton’), Jennifer Jason Leigh (‘The Hateful Eight’) and Nick Nolte (’48 Hrs.’).
Release Date: Feb 13, 2026
Run Time: 2 hr 19 min
Moviefone recently had the pleasure of sitting down in person with Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry to talk about their work on ‘Crime 101’, what fans can expect from the new movie, their complex characters, how Hemsworth connected to his role, and why Berry thinks the film is a “love letter to LA.”
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Chris Hemsworth stars in ‘Crime 101’. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
Moviefone: To begin with, Chris, what would you say to audiences sitting down right now in a theater to watch this movie to prepare them for the theatrical experiences they are about to have?
Chris Hemsworth: Propulsive. Sophisticated. Relevant. Thought provoking. There’s a beautiful momentum in the film, and continuity from the action and the intensity there through the dramatic scenes. I think we’ve, and (director) Bart Layton speaks of this a lot, prioritized the action as the most important, impressive part. But the action means nothing if you’re not invested in those characters. Every time we cut to an action scene, right before that, you’re invested in the emotional content and then the interplay between the people that are about to collide. So, it’s fun.
MF: Halle, what would you say to moviegoers to get them excited for this film?
Halle Berry: Gritty. Sexy. Character driven. Action. We’ve got some chases you haven’t seen before. It’s a love letter to LA. You see it in a brand-new way. We haven’t seen the city like that in a very long time.
Halle Berry stars in ‘Crime 101’. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
MF: Halle, can you expand on that? What do you mean by a “love letter to LA”?
HB: Well, because you see all of what the city encompasses. You see the glamour and the glitz, but you see the underbelly, you see the real. I think there is beauty in the real. Anything that’s real and true, I think people see beauty and truth in. He captured it in a beautiful way and the cinematography highlights it in the best way.
MF: Chris, you just used the word “Relevant” to describe the film. What did you mean by that?
CH: Well, we didn’t write the script, Bart Layton wrote the script. It’s based on a short story. He talks about wanting to have it entertaining, but if you could smuggle in questions that we’re asking ourselves about, I suppose “relevant” now being the system being unfair and people breaking out of the social expectations or what we’re being told is the good and what we’re being told is evil and provoking more of the conversation around the ambiguity of things, the humanity in all of us, and how whatever side of the fence you may sit on, you’re going to find good and bad people. It’s not as clean cut as like, “Well, you’re from there. That means I can put you in that box.” It’s a lot more, open for discussion. The tropes that maybe you walk into a film and expect within these characters, I do feel we break out of those and there’s some unexpected turns. I think when I watch those movies, it certainly provokes a second discussion with yourself around, “Oh, I’ve met people like that and I assumed that in a second, and how wrong I was.” They’re going through something; they’re doing their best. Nothing’s as simple as we’d like to think.
(L to R) Chris Hemsworth and Halle Berry star in ‘Crime 101’. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
MF: Halle, how would you describe your character in your own words and how she connects to Chris’ character?
HB: Well, I think what we discovered about our characters, they both come from meager beginnings, right? That connected us as characters in the movie. But my character has worked hard as a woman of color to get where she got to in her insurance company. Rightfully so, she’s expecting the rightful promotion and the rightful place within that system. She gets painfully made aware that she has aged out and that and she’s no longer useful. That is the moment that I think she feared, always knew could come, but somehow thought she was different and realized she’s not. So, she got presented with a moral question about what will you do when you realize the system is unfair? How will you mitigate that? And she makes a choice.
MF: Chris, how would you describe your character and why he teams up with Halle’s character?
CH: There’s this crisis of identity, I think. I’m not going to speak for her, but with my character, what he thought was going to bring fulfillment and happiness, it was material wealth. He literally has a number of which if he gets to that number, it’ll solve all his problems. There’s this beautiful line that her character says, “Those who come from chaos, crave order.” I think that speaks volumes with many people’s experiences, especially if you’re in your formative years and there’s abuse and neglect and you don’t have that foundation to fall back upon. You seek it in all the wrong places, or you attempt to build structure and safety through outside acknowledgement or status or material wealth. We all know that that doesn’t hold true. What is important and what they need is love, connection, support, and to be seen by people who also have had similar experiences. That’s a true connection that they are both seeking.
Chris Hemsworth stars in ‘Crime 101’. Photo Credit: Dean Rogers.
MF: Finally, Chris, obviously you grew up differently than your character but how did you tap into his intensity for this film?
CH: I mean, I grew up in a beautiful household, but we had very little money and were certainly aware of the financial burden my parents were under. It was week to week paychecks to pay for food and bills. I’d see and feel the stress that was on them. I literally was like, “Oh, I could become an actor and I could pay the house off finally.” I remember asking my dad, “When will you pay it off?” He was like, “Oh, never mate.” My dad worked as a social worker in child protection and was doing one of the most important jobs, protecting those who were the most vulnerable of us, that being children. Yet, he was tied to the bank in that way and was never going to escape it. So, I empathized or connected with the idea of that financial burden, if I could solve that thing, that will fix it. Then I did that, and then you arrive at an existential crisis of, “Well, now what?” It brings you happiness for a period, but then it’s about something else. Then you go into your second mountain of life. It’s like there’s something deeper, there’s some other burning inner desire. Your psyche stops speaking up, and your soul wants something else. None of that I have answered yet, but it’s been around my brain a lot in the recent times.
Editorial Note: President & COO of Moviefone, Rahsan-Rahsan Lindsay, conducted this interview and contributed to this article.
(L to R) Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth star in ‘Crime 101’. Photo Credit: Merrick Morton.
What is the plot of ‘Crime 101’?
A jewel thief named Mike Davis’ (Chris Hemsworth) heists along the 101 freeway have left police baffled. When he sets his sights on the ultimate score, his plans intersect with those of insurance broker Sharon Colvin (Halle Berry). A detective named Lou Lubesnick (Mark Ruffalo) believes he has cracked Mike’s pattern and is determined to bring him down before the next job.
Who is in the cast of ‘Crime 101’?
Halle Berry attends the European Gala Screening for Amazons: ‘Crime 101’ at Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on January 28, 2026 in London, England. Photo: Kate Green/Getty Images for Amazon MGM Studios and Sony Pictures Entertainment.
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