Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss team up for the 1970s-set crime thriller The Kitchen playing the wives of New York City gangsters in Hell's Kitchen who are forced to operate their husbands' illegal businesses while they're behind bars.

The trio of strong leading ladies spoke exclusively with BET.com about why they gravitated towards their roles, how the period film's themes relate to today's climate and whether they are "cookers" or "lookers."

Haddish started things off explaining that it was a no-brainer for her once she read the script.

"I thought it was a very well-told story," Haddish said of the film. "And it's some boss a*s s**t going on and I said, 'I want to be involved in that bossiness.'"

McCarthy echoed her sentiments, adding that she was particularly intrigued by the complexities of the women they were portraying.

"I just loved that it was three really complicated main characters," McCarthy said. "I'm most intrigued when you can't say that they're making the right choice but yet you find yourself rooting for them. I think that's really realistic that people do things that, under different circumstances, that they would never do, but if you were pushed into it, how far would you take it?"

Speaking on the topic of misogyny, which stands as a major theme in The Kitchen, Moss explained how she finds this, in particular, allows the movie to transcend time.

"For me, the idea of a woman being stuck in a relationship where she is either being physically or emotionally abused and can't get out of it because she has nowhere to go, unfortunately, that is still very relevant," Moss said. "I connected to it just because I felt that was a story that I felt it was important to see inside of."

The Kitchen hits theaters on Friday, August 9.

Watch the ladies also speak on their wins and losses in the kitchen, below: