Exclusive: Retta Chats ‘Hit Man’ & How She Landed The Role Of Claudette

Retta is back on the big screen in Netflix’s new romantic comedy, Hit Man. Also starring Glen Powell and Adria Arjona, the movie follows college professor, Gary Johnson (Glen  Powell), who moonlights as a pretend hit man for the police.

We got the chance to hear from Retta in honor of the new movie. During the chat, Retta revealed how she came to be part of the movie, working with Powell and director Rick Linklater, and so much more. Check out what she had to say below.

On how she got involved with the film: “I got an audition from my agent and I was like, ‘Oh, it’s Rick [Linklater] and Glen [Powell].’ I didn’t know Glen wrote, so I put myself on tape and didn’t hear anything for a long time. And then Glen and I happened to be at a birthday party or something like that? And Glen is talking to me as if I was hired. He was like ‘We’re gonna have so much fun in Austin’. And I was like, ‘Dude. Did I get the job?’ I literally went home that night and texted my manager”

On her relationship with Rick and Glen: “I know Glen from 10 years ago, we did a movie together. I know Rick from 20 years ago, we did a pilot together. I’m familiar with how they move in the world.”

On what she brought to her character: “It was written originally as a guy. So I just chose to be me if I were a detective. Those are the choices that I made. I was me saying those lines as a detective in that space. It wasn’t much more than that. I didn’t study anything. We met some detectives that told us how things go, but that was about it for me.”

Hit Man will be released in select theaters on May 24 and premieres on Netflix in select countries on June 7.

*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Photo Credit: Rick Kern/Getty Images for Netflix