UB Celebrates: 30th Anniversary of ‘Set It Off’ | Commentary by Kimberly Elise

Today is the 30th Anniversary of the motion picture release of the film “Set It Off.”

Originally released in theaters, November 6th, 1996.

“Set It Off” had a production budget of $9 million and grossed over $41 million worldwide.

New Line‘s “Set It Off,” a bank heist action film described as “Waiting To Exhale” meets “Dead Presidents,” stars Jada Pinkett, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and new comer at the time, Minneapolis native Kimberly Elise.

They spent a lifetime struggling to move away from the mean streets of their neighborhood.

But the system stole their dreams, and now four childhood friends are determined to steal them back.

Stony (Pinkett), Cleo (Latifah), Tisean (Elise) and Frankie (Fox) have been through a lot together while growing up in the projects of Los Angeles.

They’ve been scammed by sleazy employers, slammed by heartless boyfriends, and slapped around by neighborhood cops.

No matter how tough the going got — when one found herself in trouble, she had three life-long friends backing her up.

Now comes the ultimate test.

A tragic chain of events has brought these inseparable companions closer than imaginable.

As one grapples with the possibility of losing her only child, the foursome find themselves on the edge of desperation.

With their world in turmoil and their backs against the wall, they decide to seize their fortune — literally.

Virtually overnight, the women spiral into an uncharacteristic world of crime.

Targeting the banks of Los Angeles (the bank robbery capital of the world), Cleo, Stony, Tisean and Frankie rob the city’s most vulnerable financial institutions.

Flush with cash, they discover that easy money can inch them towards their elusive goal of escaping from the projects — but it can’t solve their problems.

With the police hot on their trail, breaking out of prison may be easier than busting free from the ‘hood.

The film is a deeply personal drama about four women trying to escape the mean streets.

“It’s driven by emotion,” stated Jada Pinkett. “You really get involved with the characters and what pushes them over the edge.”

“This movie is not about robbing banks, it’s about personal sacrifice and commitment to friendship,” explained director F. Gary Gray. “These women have always counted on each other for survival. They’re confronted with a problem they don’t know how to solve, and it becomes a barrier to their extended family. So, with no other way out, they decide to bust through — robbing banks is a means to an end.”

Although the film is loaded with high intensity action and stunts, Gray was more attracted to the evolution of the characters in “Set It Off.”

“From the moment I first read the script, I was intrigued by the idea of what would lead four women to start robbing banks,” Gray explained. “I wanted to make a movie about America’s mean streets from a woman’s point of view.”

“This wasn’t like Butch Cassidy taking down banks for fun and thrills. Each character has her own individual reason for going through with it. You can see the escalation of events and the conflicts that fuel their motivation. There is a tremendous build-up behind why they take this risk, and that whole concept hooked me. I began to empathize with the choices these characters made, even though I couldn’t condone what they were doing,” the director explained.

Gray found the film’s high octane sequences to be an exhilarating challenge. Of his favorite scenes, one stands out.

“There’s a sequence that I loved putting together. The girls are stuck in a tunnel, and there’s a police helicopter on either side. Queen Latifah’s character, Cleo, is driving towards one of the helicopters — basically playing ‘chicken’ — she’s about to go head-on, racing at 80 miles-an-hour towards a helicopter that’s hovering about four feet off the ground,” Gray recalled. “It was a blast to film.”

“From the beginning, Gary knew he wanted to do bank robberies like no one had ever seen before,” stated producer Dale Pollock. “He and Oren (Koules, the film’s Producer) had the idea of taking the getaway vehicle into the bank itself, and driving it back out.”

“Stunt coordinator Bob Minor did a great job with planning and measuring the way we built the bank, because we obviously couldn’t run a car through the window of a real, operating bank. It took weeks of preparation to build the structure and calculate the exact timing necessary to pull off the stunt,” Gray added.

With nine cameras filming, the production closed down traffic on one of the city’s most heavily traveled arteries, Wilshire Boulevard, to complete the shot.

“This type of stunt has to be choreographed perfectly. We had over a hundred people involved, with a GMC Suburban truck crashing out of a bank onto a busy street with oncoming traffic — and only one chance to get it right.”

UB spoke with Kimberly Elise and she shared with us, what it was like being the “new” actress shooting the film. “The whole experience was so surreal. It was a big process of getting the job. I had to do several auditions. Then when I first got it, I was just in a whole different league.”

Kimberly continued; “That was surreal, but at the same time really wonderful. The ladies were great. They were all very kind especially Dana (Queen Latifah). The director F. Gary Gray was great and very supportive of me. So it was a wonderful overall experience. For one it was an achievement for me artistically. But also there were some hard times financially on my family. So it helped with me in supporting my family. So in all it was a really complex and exciting opportunity. It was more than just like a dream come true, it was like living up to your family responsibilities as well.”

The soundtrack featured an all-star Elektra Records soundtrack with original or previously unreleased songs by Seal, Simply Red, En Vogue, The Fugees, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Gladys Knight, Chaka Kahn, Tamia and Brandy, and more.

Ivan Matias who contributed to the soundtrack and penned En Vogue‘s biggest hit “Don’t Let Go (Love),” recently ReVisited the Soundtrack with UB for it’s 30th Anniversary!

The Cast of “Set It Off!”

The multi-talented Queen Latifah was a natural choice for the role of the hot-tempered Cleo, say the filmmakers.

“Latifah never ceases to amaze me with the choices that she makes as an actress,” says the director, F. Gary Gray. “She brings much more to the character than I ever envisioned.”

Latifah will long be remembered for her remarkable performance in Set It Off. Mixing a brazen, tough, street-callused exterior with a humorous, fun-loving heart, it is Cleo who suggests bank robbery as a way to escape the troubles the women encounter.

“The character of Cleo was a great challenge for me — it’s unlike anything I’ve ever done before,” the actress observes. “I had to take Queen Latifah, Khadijah (her character on the hit series “Living Single”) and Dana Owens (her birth name), and put them all to the side to create this character.”

“The only thing Cleo cares about is her friends, especially Stony, her lover, and her car. She loves that Impala, a ’62, you know,” adds Latifah. “She sees robbing banks as her chance to live. She’s that type who says, ‘I got nothing to lose.'”

“I suppose you could say this film was about four women who rob banks, but it’s really a lot more than that,” Latifah offers. “It’s about what you will do when put in a certain situation — because these characters are put in some tough situations, and they have to make choices. It’s about consequences as well — because there is no choice without a consequence.”

“Stony is no saint. She is basically a woman who’s had enough and she just wants out,” explains Jada Pinkett of the character she portrays. “She thinks that her way out of the projects is through her kid brother, not through herself. The number one mistake she makes is in putting all her dreams and aspirations into someone else’s life. Once that person is taken away, she is left with nothing.”

“Basically, this is a story about four women who are desperate,” says Pinkett. “They get in trouble, and some win and some lose.”

Director F. Gary Gray insisted that Jada Pinkett play the role of Stony. “Stony had to have a certain amount of fire — a certain amount of electricity — and there was no one better than Jada Pinkett. Scene after scene after scene, she just put that unmistakable intensity into her character. An actress either has that quality or doesn’t. You can give cues on how you want a role carried out, but you can’t direct that inner fire,” he said.

“It was a very powerful experience,” says Pinkett of working with her fellow leading ladies. “We all put our egos and insecurities aside and said, ‘Okay, we’re coming together as an ensemble to make this project happen.’ ”

Vivica Fox plays the role of Frankie, a bank teller who provides the behind-the-scenes knowledge for pulling off the bank heists.

As the upwardly-mobile Frankie, Fox brings yet another dimension to the quartet. “Frankie is the good girl in the projects who worked hard and got a nice job at a bank,” she explains. “She was looking to move up the corporate ladder when suddenly, her whole world is devastated. She gets fired for the wrong reason and all she wants is revenge.”

“For Frankie, we needed someone who was a little more polished and sophisticated than the others, yet someone who still had an edge. And we found that in Vivica, who is not only beautiful, but extremely talented as well,” says producer Dale Pollock.

“There’s a lot to this story — action, adventure, death, turmoil, even love,” adds Fox. “The challenge was to bring it together with credibility and integrity, and I think we delivered.”

Kimberly Elise makes her feature debut in the role of the soft-spoken, yet fiercely maternal Tisean. “Tisean will do anything for her baby,” says Elise. “When her child is taken away from her, she will do anything to get him back.”

“We auditioned tons of people for this role,” Director F. Gary Gray recalls. “Kimberly came in and knocked us all off our feet — she is exactly what I envisioned for this character.” Producer Oren Koules gives credit to casting director Robi Reed-Humes for having lobbied for the new actress. “Robi literally stood up and cheered when we gave the role to Kimberly. She really fought for her.”

Initially intimidated at the thought of working with such seasoned professionals, Elise was relieved to find herself welcomed by her fellow cast members. “From day one, they embraced me like a baby sister,” she says. “They’ve been so supportive — loving, honest, and sincere — sisters together in the journey.”

Blair Underwood portrays Keith, a corporate banker from a privileged environment who falls in love with Stony (Jada Pinkett) as she is casing his bank.

Director F. Gary Gray observes, “The chemistry between Jada and Blair was very strong. Blair has this magnetism that can make the audience — especially the women — believe they should fall in love with him.”

But this relationship offers more than just the flying sparks between its players. It provides a backdrop of hope in a world that is increasingly clouded. Ultimately, this union is an illusion of optimism that signals a better life waiting just around the corner —- if given the chance.

Underwood was intrigued by the uniqueness of the film’s premise. “What attracted me to this project was that it was coming from a totally different angle. You have four ladies, and they’re not waiting to exhale — they’re exhaling throughout the whole movie!”

Also Starring John C. McGinley & Ella Joyce

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