Flight Risk features some sneaky cameos from popular TV stars

Mel Gibson hasn’t made a movie in nearly a decade since his 2016 war drama Hacksaw Ridge hit theaters. whose other directing credits include Braveheart and “Apocalypto”, ended the dry spell with the release of the new film “Flight Risk”. It’s a very minimalistic, low-key thriller that takes place on a tiny plane and focuses almost entirely on just three actors for most of the time. However, some familiar voices also pop up along the way, especially for those who are fans of a certain classic CBS sitcom.

It should be noted that Gibson is a a controversial figure accused of anti-Semitismin addition to having a battery against his ex-wifethat’s largely why he doesn’t work as much as he used to. But he’s really getting work in Hollywood these days, as evidenced by this Lionsgate-produced thriller. Gibson doesn’t seem to have much trouble attracting established talent either.

Flight Risk follows a pilot (Mark Wahlberg) who is hired to transport an air marshal (Michelle Dockery) and a fugitive (Topher Grace), who is also a cooperating witness, to the trial of a criminal authority. However, while crossing the Alaskan wilderness, it turns out that not everyone on board is who they seem. Because of this, Air Marshal Dockery Madalyn is forced to communicate with several agency personnel in the air. These characters never appear on screen, but the actors who play them are TV legends.

Spoilers to follow Flight Risk.

Madalyn is forced to take over as the flight’s pilot after Wahlberg’s character is revealed to be the man trying to kill fugitive Winston so he can’t stand trial. The most important person Madalyn interacts with during this chaos is Van Sant, her closest confidante at the agency. We hear her voice through the headset quite a bit, but never see it here on screen.

If that voice sounds familiar, it’s because it belongs to no one else Leah Remini, star of Hooray and King of Queens. Of course, Remini is best known as Carrie Heffernan in The King of Queens, where she played the wife of Kevin James’ Kevin Heffernan. Given that her credits also include Saved by the Bell and Kevin Can Wait, generations of TV viewers know her voice well, giving her role on Flight Risk a familiarity factor.

Another key player in the set is director Coleridge, who is revealed to be a double whammy who tries to sabotage Madeline’s mission. If his voice also sounded familiar, it was because it belonged to Paul Ben-Victor’s character, best known for his work on the popular TV series The Wire. He played Vondas on that show, but his credits also include Everybody Hates Chris, In Plain Sight, The Preacher, and Pam and Tommy among many other shows. So, that voice might have been buzzing in the brains of many viewers as well.

Finally, the role of Hassan, the pilot who guides Madalyn through the controls of the plane, was played by two different actors. At the end of the film, we see actor Manib Abhat in the flesh, revealing who she has been talking to all along. Like. In the credits, however, it is revealed that Moaz Ali, of American Horror Story and Ragnarok Records fame, actually provided Hassan’s voice.

Flight Risk is in theaters now.