meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
Zach Sang Show

Justice Smith Talks 'Now You See Me,' Dungeons and Dragons, Pikachu, and 'I Saw the TV Glow'

Zach Sang Show

Sangasong, LLC

Tv & Film, Music

4.7658 Ratings

🗓️ 29 October 2025

⏱️ 52 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Justice Smith has been carving a name for himself since his big break in Baz Lurhmann’s The Get Down (2016) as an actor who balances big blockbusters with hefty legacies and built-in fanbases (Jurassic Park, Pokemon, Dungeons & Dragons), with subversive indie films such as A24’s triumph I Saw The TV Glow with its broader trans metaphor, The American Society of Magical Negroes, and high school TV series Genera+ion.



Now he’s joining the Now You See Me franchise with its latest instalment Now You See Me: Now You Don’t — alongside Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Ariana Greenblatt, Rosamund Pike — in which he plays a key role that could really run and run.


He joins us on the couch for the first time to discuss this new film, heading to LA’s storied Magic Castle and training to be an illusionist for the role. Plus we find out more about his upbringing in Orange County, his biracial background, acting as catharsis and therapy, and the balance of art and commerce. Is he in the midst of his Saturn returns? The 30-year-old seems to think so, but he’s on such a career streak it’s hard to imagine what his life would look like when his planets are aligned!



SUBSCRIBE to Our Podcast ►►https://tinyurl.com/48yfe4v5

SUBSCRIBE to YT ►►https://tinyurl.com/5n8km55u

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Hi, beautiful human.

0:07.2

I'm Zach, that's Dan, and this is so cool because we have like a movie star here.

0:10.7

Say how to Justice Smith.

0:12.4

Hey.

0:14.0

You are a movie star.

0:16.8

Yeah, that's, that is a term.

0:20.9

What is your relationship with that title?

0:24.2

Oh, gosh, that's a really good question.

0:26.3

I mean, I definitely don't self-identify as that.

0:31.2

I identify as an actor, you know.

0:34.9

Everybody has to have a job under american capitalism that's the way it works

0:39.7

taxes were i just paid them so yeah so this just happens to be my job you know is that really

0:47.7

how you look at it yeah i think it's like i'm very grateful that my job is also something that I love to do.

0:55.8

I don't know if I would have fared well in a nine to five at a desk.

1:03.7

My job doesn't feel like a job most days, but some days it does.

1:09.5

I want to talk about like the story and what this craft genuinely means to you and how you got here.

1:15.2

Let's start first with the movie that is out now that is a major blockbuster.

1:21.9

Now you see me.

1:23.1

Now you don't.

1:24.2

Took him three movies to finally pull that one out.

1:27.8

Bravo. I literally said to Ruben Flesher, who is the director, when we sat down, I was like, what are you going to call the third movie? And he was like, I think jokingly, he was like, it's now you three me. And I'm like, that's horrible. It should be, and he's like, well, what do you think it should be? I said, now you see me, now you don't. And then when they released the, like, they like had this little teaser where it's like, everybody online was saying like, this movie should be called, now you see me, now you don't. I was like, I'm happy that like I think like the masses. It is, now you three me is not a bad name. How you three Me has become like our joking, like our jokey name for the movie.

2:06.3

And so we call the next one, Now You 4 Me.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Sangasong, LLC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Sangasong, LLC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.