Edward Norton is Ret.
Col. Ric Byer in “The Bourne Legacy,” directed by the same Tony Gilroy who
wrote the screenplays for the previous films, “The Bourne Identity,” “The
Bourne Supremacy,” and “The Bourne Ultimatum,” all based on the universe
created by the writer Robert Ludlum. The actor does not like to call his
character a villain, preferring to say that he is, with the agent Aaron Cross
(Jeremy Renner) and scientist Dr. Marta Shearing (Rachel Weisz), a piece of the
intricate and morally complicated puzzle involving the government, corporations
and scientists. In Rio for the Rio +20 environment conference, he talked about
the film, his interest in sustainable development, and the miniseries
“Undaunted Courage,” based on the book by Stephen Ambrose that he is producing
with Brad Pitt for television.
Q: Were you a fan of the previous BOURNE films?
A: Yes, I always thought they were very intelligent
and sort of realistic.
Q: How different is THE BOURNE LEGACY in relation to
the previous BOURNE films? Did you have to go back to them?
A: The great thing is that there’s consistency because
Tony Gilroy wrote the other films and went on to direct this one. The BOURNE
films appeal to the conspiracy theorist in all of us. What makes this one
distinctive is the way that Tony (Writer/Director), instead of trying to start
over, just widens it out and makes you realize that the first films were like petals
of the flower. Now the flower is opening up and you are starting to see the
whole world that this was a part of. Tony is expanding the story, instead of
trying to start over. He’s now widening out from government and starting to
include corporations in the web of the corruption and conspiracy. It’s a very
interesting way to go.
Q: You’ve said in interviews that you generally like
films that reflect the zeitgeist and talk about what’s going on in the world.
Does THE BOURNE LEGACY fit into this thought?
A: In most of Tony’s films, I think there’s an
investigation of the way that the world of corporations is starting to control
and penetrate into our lives. He’s done it looking at law, he’s done it looking
at competing brands and now he’s looking at the intelligence world. I think it
is a topic that is very current.
Q: So, THE BOURNE LEGACY is not merely an action film?
A: No, it’s not just an action film. Tony is really
good at lacing some ideas, or shades of gray, into THE BOURNE LEGACY.
Q: Was that important for you to do this? Does an
action film have to do that for you to be interested?
A: Different films provide different combinations of
entertainment and thought-provoking qualities. There are some straightforward action
films that are great. The main thing that drew me into this project was that I
really like Tony’s films. I think he’s had a very consistent set of themes that
I have always been really interested in. It’s fun to work with someone who’s
got a special intelligence about a certain subculture and world. I would say
that Tony was the main draw for me because I like his films and liked the idea
of working with him.
Q: The film also tackles the subject of scientific experiments
not always going well. Can you expand on this?
A: Yes, I think this is one of those subjects that
Tony said, “Don’t talk about it!” (laughs). This film is very much about the
collaborations that exist between the government, corporations and science.
It’s how these things have become interlaced with each other and sometimes how
they end up creating a moral gray zone.
Q: In THE BOURNE LEGACY, you are the villain in this
movie. Correct?
A: I would say that Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner), Marta
(Rachel Weisz) and Byer, my character, have all made choices and decisions that
have a lot of compromise in them.
Q: For a film like THE BOURNE LEGACY, is there
preparation?
A: Tony’s screenplay was very strong. I read up on the
nature of these agencies within government just to understand the differences
between the departments of government that handle these kinds of things. It
wasn’t something that required a deep amount of research other than to get familiar
with the language. Because THE BOURNE LEGACY is so intelligently written, if
you can absorb that and make it feel credible, Tony’s done the work to make
sure it sounds real.
Q: As a director, what does Tony Gilroy bring to the
film?
A: Tony is incredibly organized. Some directors are
very improvisational, but Tony is like a diamond cutter. He’s very precise and
specific, which is great. He’s very articulate and very clear in communicating
how he sees things and what he wants. It makes it very, very easy. I really
admire the way he works. He doesn’t miss anything and he’s so well prepared
that it makes it very relaxed on set.
Q: You’ve been away from the movies for a while. Were
you taking time to pursue other interests like environmental issues and
theater?
A: I was building a theater in New York but I made two
films last year. I don’t usually make more than two films a year. I was also
writing and my company is producing some films. I spent most of one year
writing a miniseries for HBO (Undaunted Courage) and a film script.
Q: Is the process for a television mini-series similar
to that of a film?
A: It has been a long development process with this
series. We don’t know when we are going to film it. I always do a lot of things
at the same time because you never know which one is going to happen right
away.
Q: Being so involved in so many different things, do
you ever take time off?
A: I am involved in a lot of things. I have other
companies and other pursuits. It all overlaps but I usually find a way to
balance it all.
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