Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz Talk Cats, Crime, and Taylor Swift

When Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz sit down together, expect equal parts laughter and honesty. The two stars caught up with “Extra’s” Tommy DiDario to chat about their new Darren Aronofsky crime thriller Caught Stealing, but of course things started with a little Taylor Swift talk.

Before diving into gangster showdowns and shady cats, Tommy had to ask Zoë if she’d heard her close friend Taylor Swift’s new album The Life of a Showgirl. Kravitz beamed, “I’ve heard bits of it… It’s fantastic.” When Tommy pushed, “It’s a banger?” Zoë didn’t hesitate: “Yeah, of course… No skips.”

In Caught Stealing, Austin plays a New York City bartender whose life gets messy after his punk-rock neighbor asks him to watch her cat. Suddenly, he’s tangled up with a wild crew of dangerous gangsters.

Austin said the role felt deeply personal. “It just felt vulnerable… It’s not this character that’s on the surface very far from me… Obviously, he lives a completely different life and he's a totally different person, but it's not like in Dune, you know, where I look in the mirror and I see a guy who's very, very different.”

He added, “It’s also like exploring the messiness of humanity like the messiness of myself, the imperfections and the mistakes and I was excited to explore it, but it was it was also vulnerable.”

Off-screen, their bond is just as magnetic. Kravitz told Butler, “I like your sense of humor… I think you're really funny… I feel like people don't know that about you.”

Austin laughed and added, “We had a lot of laughs. I think we both didn't expect that about each other… because you are hilarious.”

But he didn’t stop there. “You’re very tapped into this creative thing, whether that's music or writing or acting. Yeah, your music… I want the world to get to experience that.”

The film also carries plenty of ’90s nostalgia, something both stars would love to see make a comeback.

Zoë said, “I'd like to bring back not having internet and social media. I mean, what a time.” Butler quickly agreed, “God, what a time.”

Kravitz expanded on the joy of old-school boredom. “Being bored and like sitting in your room and… if there was like a CD or a movie you loved you'd watch it over and over and over again, and obsess, you know, and… it created these deep connections and loves and knowledge of music and film.”

For Austin, the highlight was more digital. “Golden Eye on Nintendo 64,” he said proudly. Zoë didn’t miss a beat: “I loved that game.”

Caught Stealing hits theaters on August 29, promising gritty crime, quirky cats, and plenty of Austin-and-Zoë chemistry that fans are already buzzing about.