With Smith, The Con is On in ‘Focus’

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In Focus, Will Smith stars as Nicky, a seasoned master of misdirection who becomes romantically involved with novice con artist Jess (Margot Robbie). As he’s teaching her the tricks of the trade, she gets too close for comfort and he abruptly breaks it off. Three years later, the former flame—now an accomplished femme fatale—shows up in Buenos Aires in the middle of the high stakes racecar circuit. In the midst of Nicky’s latest, very dangerous scheme, she throws his plans for a loop…and the consummate con man off his game.

Nicky Spurgeon is all charm and ease, a cool, smooth operator with a million-dollar smile and perfectly understated style. Just don’t turn your back on him…don’t let him steal your focus for a second.

Enter Jess Barrett, a gorgeous young woman with flirty blonde locks and a wiggle in her short skirt, looking to get in the con game. She’s got all the right equipment, but she’s green. She just needs a guiding hand to show her all the right moves.

Will Smith and Margot Robbie star in Focus, a slick heist film with a sophisticated vibe in which the stakes start out high and get exponentially higher. Nicky’s masterful cons take them from snowy New York to sunny New Orleans to one of South America’s most exquisite cities, Buenos Aires. Toss in the year’s ultimate football match and the exceedingly competitive world of car racing and all together it’s a formula for high-octane action, adventure and romance.

“I loved Crazy, Stupid, Love,” Smith states, “so when I heard that John and Glenn were working on another screenplay, I was excited to get in anywhere that I fit in. And when I read the screenplay, I thought it was a brilliant combination of comedy, drama, psychology and intrigue. It demanded a wide spectrum of behavior. As an actor, I was inspired by the challenge of it.”

Writing and directing partners Glenn Ficarra and John Requa conceived of the story by first asking themselves, “In a world where trust is currency, and love requires trust, how can two people ever fall in love?”

“That relationship was my way in,” Ficarra says. “Two people who work together falling in love. Traditionally that means letting your guard down, but for these characters, that’s the complete antithesis of who they are.”

Requa adds, “A con artist uses his particular skill set to manipulate others, to gain their confidence and ultimately their trust, while his very nature is to not trust. We thought it would be interesting to explore whether two people, two such con artists, could overcome these competing concepts that sort of naturally cancel each other out.”

A jack-of-all-trades by trade, Nicky was raised in the world of deception. He’s left his family behind, but nevertheless continues on in the family business, from neatly picking pockets to expertly running the long con, and everything in between.

“Nicky is one of the smartest, most dysfunctional people you’ll ever meet,” says Will Smith of his character. “He understands human nature and human behavior—there are very few people with that level of depth and comprehension. But he got his heart broken when he was little, and he has not yet learned to use his powers for good.”

According to Ficarra, “When we first thought about casting Nicky, we thought it would be great if Will Smith—who we all know is an affable, charming guy—would be interested in playing this man who can draw anybody in, but underneath it’s all an act. Behind the facade he shows to the world lies cool calculation. We really wanted to see Will take Nicky on.”

Requa says, “Will is a great actor, and also a great improviser, both in the traditional sense but especially when it comes to finding small, subtle improvisations within the context of the written dialogue that aid the other actors in a scene. He’s very giving of himself, and he shapes his performance to provide the others what they need for their performance as well. In essence, he already understands how a confidence artist operates.”

Smith conveys with a smile, “Glenn and John, as a directing team, are like loving parents who used to own a casino and a strip club. They always want to make sure that their children are in good spirits, are working hard to keep the family business alive, and want their children to be just intoxicated enough to do the best work of their lives.”