Bad Bunny caused chaos on set of ‘Caught Stealing,' says director Darren Aronofsky

Los Angeles Times

30-04-2025

Bad Bunny will be back on the silver screen this summer.
The Puerto Rican superstar — whose legal name is Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — will play a supporting role in Darren Aronofsky's 'Caught Stealing,' which will hit theaters Aug. 29.
The film stars Austin Butler and Zoë Kravitz and marks Aronofsky's first movie since directing Brendan Fraser's Oscar-winning performance in 2022's 'The Whale.'
Set in the 1990s, 'Caught Stealing' follows a former baseball player (Butler) as he gets involved in the New York City crime world. Matt Smith, Regina King and Vincent D'Onofrio also appear in the movie based on the 2004 Charlie Huston novel of the same name.
Aronofsky talked about what it was like to have the 'DtMF' singer on set in a recent interview with Vanity Fair.
'He's, like, the sweetest guy in the world. ... And we ended up talking,' Aronofsky said of working with Bad Bunny, who plays a Puerto Rican gang member named Colorado in the film. 'There was a character that he fit really well and he was great. He was so down-to-earth, and he was so one of us, and so part of the team.'
But the hitmaker soon became a bit of a distraction on set, as fans would catch wind of his presence and flock to various filming locations across Manhattan to get a view.
'We were constantly terrified that the neighborhood would be overthrown as soon as they found out that Benito was there,' Aronofsky said. 'He was also a good sport. He actually would come to set and then just camp out there, knowing he was not going to be able to get back to his trailer or anywhere.'
Getting the 31-year-old musician on and off set turned in an elaborate operation to ensure a smooth and chaos-free process.
'There were a lot of back exits and going through tunnels that no one ever knew existed in the East Village to get him out and back and over fences, so he didn't have to go through the street,' the Academy Award-nominated director said. 'It was constantly like: 'Hide the Benito.''
The upcoming role will mark Bad Bunny's second movie of the summer as he will appear in Netflix's 'Happy Gilmore 2' on July 25. The 'MONACO' artist's acting aspiration have been in full swing for years now, and he has snagged roles in the Netflix series 'Narcos: Mexico,' 2022's 'Bullet Train' alongside Brad Pitt and the 2023 Gael García Bernal-led film 'Cassandro.'