Until four days ago I thought my love affair with magic had ended when the credits rolled on Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows: Part Two.
Then - I was introduced to Now You See Me 2 - and I found that life really does go on. The sequel to 2013’s box office smash Now You See Me’s super star-studded cast includes Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Daniel Radcliffe (as a baddy - a sight not to be missed), Mark Ruffalo, Jesse Eisenberg, Lizzy Caplan and the man of the hour: Dave Franco. Admittedly it’s less wands, more card tricks - but it’s magic none the less.
Picking up shortly after where the previous film left off, Now You See Me 2 finds illusionists and modern day Robin Hoods ‘The Horsemen’ in hiding and on the run, desperately waiting for their next instructions from The Eye (the omnipresent body that governs their every magical move, obvs). It’s one of those mega budget blockbusters that’s fast paced, full of gags, incredibly cheesy - and impossible not to like.
And you can tell the cast had fun making it, too - not least of all because they had to learn a lot of the magic tricks for themselves. So, I asked Dave when I meet him on the London leg of his promotional tour, does that mean they were constantly playing magic tricks on each other on set?
'Everyone always asks if we played any pranks on each other, but the main thing that comes to mind, is that when you’re on set for long hours, you get a little delirious' he says. 'And in our state of delirium we created a boyband together, composed of Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson and myself. We were named Two Direction.' Just imagine.
But while we wait for Two Direction to get their record deal, there’s one more cast member we need to talk about: the indomitable Lizzy Caplan. Lizzy’s character Lula becomes the first female member of The Horsemen, arriving in a flurry of energy and a slew of hilarious one liners. And she steals the show (sorry Dave).
'Lizzy’s incredible' he agrees. 'She’s the new kid in this movie and she brings so much humour. If I was in her position I would have been very shy and been very scared to take risks as an actor, but she came and she was just so fearless that we were trying to keep up with her. She set the tone.' You go Glen Coco.
Anyway, enough about the film. While I had the attention of one of the nicest, most aesthetically pleasing men in Hollywood I thought it was only fair that he imparted his wisdom on those ever complicated matters of the heart: and share some straight talking dating advice with The Debrief. Here’s how that went down.
So, Dave. Let’s start with the obvious: magic. Would you ever use it to impress a girl on a date?
Everyone always asks if I do magic tricks at parties and I say no - because you don’t want to be that guy who carries around a deck of cards with you everywhere you go. No-one likes that guy. So no, I have never impressed a girl with my magic tricks.
In the film Lizzy’s character Lula makes her feelings about your character Jack super obvious from the beginning. What are your thoughts on girls making the first move - yay or nay?
I’m into it. I’d say in general,the relationships I’ve been in that have worked are when there’s no games. I got to a point where I was like if we’re playing games and we’re just teasing each other, it’s like what are we doing here. It’s better to be honest right from the get go.
And where do you stand on chat up lines - and has a girl ever used a really good one on you?
A chat up line? You mean like a pick up line? I wish I had a good one. Ummm have you ever had a good one used on you?
Blind panic Umm, no, that’s not how this works, I’m asking YOU the questions…
Ok, what are the dumb ones…How about ‘Are those space pants? Because your arse is out of this world….’
[awkward laughing]
Ok …let’s move on. Another dating scenario. Say I’d been dating a guy for while, and suddenly he just stops messaging me out of the blue. What should I do?
It’s tough. I mean, it’s one of these things where realistically, everyone is always looking at their phone. If they want to text back, they’re going to text back. If they’re not texting back and they’re ignoring you, it probably means it’s not a good sign… So not in a very confrontational way but maybe message them and be like ‘hey, is everything cool, what’s going on here’ and if they don’t message you back, it’s probably time to move on…
So no angry ‘why don’t you LOVE ME’ messages..?
Yes - not confrontational but still addressing the issue. Because if you let things fizzle then it’s just mentally messes with both sides.
Ok. Now a more online dating specific one. If a girl were to turn up on a date and the guy looked nothing like his picture, what should she do?
Um, I mean, are we talking…
Let’s go extreme. He’s about thirty years older than he said he was, looks nothing like his picture…
I think you just bring it up straight away. You both know he lied on his profile. Again, you’re starting the relationship off on a lie. That’s not a good way to begin things. So address it, and maybe the guy who lied will be charming about the whole thing ….or maybe it just won’t work at all.
Now You See Me 2 is out in cinemas nationwide July 4th
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.