Ford, Bettany unite for new movie ‘Firewall’
Veteran actors face off in technological thriller opening Friday
After a hiatus of almost two-years, Harrison Ford is returning to the big screen alongside Paul Bettany in the new thriller “Firewall,” opening on Friday, Feb. 10.
When he committed to the film, Ford didn’t expect to be absent from the big screen for so long. “This [movie] took a particularly long time to bring to the screen because we had a lot of work to do,” he said. “As good a script as it was to start with, we had things we wanted to accomplish and unfortunately, we lost our first director due to a tragedy in his family. He had to drop out. We had to then find another director and begin to craft the script to reflect some of his concerns. It was about two years getting to the screen. I had anticipated it would be much quicker. Once I got involved I wasn’t able to really break off and go do something else. This is an unusual turn of events for me. I, in the past, have normally done one film a year and I intend to continue doing it that way.”
“Firewall” follows Jack Stanfield (Ford), a computer security specialist at the Seattle-based Landrock Pacific Bank. Bill Cox (Bettany) has been studying Jack’s life for about a year and is ready to make his move to cash in on all his hard work. In a sudden whirlwind of events, Cox takes Jack’s family hostage, forcing Jack to rob the bank for Cox’s benefit. Jack, while under constant surveillance by Cox, has to find some way to get out of this mess, and save his family.
When choosing to play the role of Jack Stanfield, Ford said, “What I look for is a very strong script to start with or an idea for a very strong script. I look for a character that’s different to one that I’ve lately played and the opportunity to tell a story that I have some faith in, to tell a story that’s part of a film that I hope an audience will enjoy seeing. I’m really looking for something that I think has a chance to be a good movie. It’s that simple.”
Ford tries to keep a diverse resume, though most know him as the action hero from “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones.” “I’m pretty happy that I get access to a variety of different genres,” he said. “It has been my practice to try to do films in many different genres,” he said.
As an actor, Bettany has applied some of the same principles to the roles he chooses, playing many unique roles, from “A Beautiful Mind” to “Master and Commander,” but his role as a villain is a new experience. What appealed to him about the project was the pedigree and the genre.
“I’d never been in a thriller before and I really wanted to work with Harrison Ford,” he said. Bettany tried to find similarities between himself and his evil character.
“I tried to look for what I had in common with the character and what I had in common with the character was he wants $100 million. I wouldn’t mind $100 million. I sort of held that in mind,” Bettany said. “Obviously, there are obstacles in my way. I don’t like hurting people and I don’t want to go to prison. If you don’t have those obstacles in your path you might well behave in a different manner.”
Bettany hoped to portray his character as believable as possible.
“The less of a James Bond villain he is, not that there’s anything wrong with that in the right film, we were asking people to believe this could happen to you. That’s the conceit of how this sort of thriller works,” Bettany said. “Your family life could be turned upside down. How safe is your identity? You’ve seen the ads. If I sat there stroking a cat with a scar down my face I think people would kind of be alienated and that’s not what you want.”- By Elizabeth Malliakos
