I recently previewed the movie, Bridge of Spies, and was able to interview some of the cast, and Director, Steven Spielberg!
- Alan Alda (“Thomas Watters”)
- Mark Rylance (“Rudolf Abel”)
- Steven Spielberg (Director)
- Amy Ryan (“Mary Donovan”)
- Tom Hanks (“James Donovan”)
This was a power house of stars! It was great to hear, how when Tom Hanks was first offered the role, he went and did what we all do, he googled James Donovan to find out who the man was! He said there was also a YouTube video with the real Mr. Donovan discussing the case, and that was a huge help:
“But I came across a piece on YouTube in which the real Donovan, when he was defending Abel, was interviewed at the courthouse. And he said, he literally stated the reason why he took the case, and the reason why he carried it all the way to the extremes of the Supreme Court. He says, “You, you can’t accuse this man of treason. He’s not a traitor. He’s actually a patriot to his cause. Only an American can be a traitor, only an American can be a – can commit treason against their own country. He’s just a man doing his job, in the same way we have men doing their jobs over here.”
Tom Hanks presented James Donovan perfectly in that regard, a man working 100% for his client, a man who believed in his client, perhaps not his innocence, but that he had as much right to a fair trial as anyone else in America. It was inspiring to listen to Tom Hanks talk about his acting process, his extensive research comes across in his portrayal.
There was also a lot of praise for the Coen Brothers writing. Tom Hanks remarked that they kept you on your toes because of “the cadence that is individual to each character” their writing keeps the characters from falling into set routines when dealing with each other, which keeps the audience on its toes as well as the actors.
And Oscar winner Amy Ryan was wonderful to listen to! In a second interview I attended, she mentioned that she was having lunch with a friend when she mentioned that she would be doing this film. He said he not only knew of Mr. Donovan, he was friends with his granddaughter. From there, Amy was able to get a lot of pictures including the Donovan’s wedding album. This proved helpful to the whole cast, and wardrobe for the period dress! Amy thought it was quite remarkable that in many of the pictures, Mrs. Donovan can always be seen looking enamored at her husband, this helped her in her portrayal of Mrs. Donovan.
And when speaking of period dress, Amy said the clothes she had to wear were very different than what we wear today, much more restrictive. She said this affects how you move and get physical with people, in more restrictive clothes you can’t just “throw your hands around someone.” The materials don’t stretch, the shoes are small and tight, etc. I would have never thought about the nuances of the dress that would affect the range of what an actress could do physically in a role.
The dichotomy of the two characters played by Alan Alda and Tom Hanks also came up. Both similarly educated, but only one who thought that the Constitution was the Rule Book to argue this case with. Mr. Donovan’s pursual of justice, even at the expense of his family’s safety, was something to be admired. Unfortunately he was in the minority. Alan Alda spoke about how his character kept pressuring Tom Hanks character to not work so hard at defending Mr. Abel, for the sake of his family. Mr. Alda felt that the strong home life of the Donovan family was supporting James Donovan as Mr. Donovan did what he was trained to do, work for his client, and believe 100% in the U.S. Constitution. As everyone said, in the interviews and in the movie, the Constitution is what makes Americans American, it is what sets our Democracy apart from other governments.
And Mark Rylance, as the spy, Rudolf Abel, was almost as quiet in the press room as he was in the movie. The man did not say much but every line was well thought out and acted. My favorite line that he oft repeated, “Would it help?” is something that was short and to the point. Stopping us all in our tracks when Tom Hanks would make various proposals to his client.
We also asked how he got the role and he shared that Mr. Spielberg just called and offered it to him, he had remembered him from when they were not able to work together in the 80’s on Empire of the Sun. Mr. Rylance said it was a no brainer!
Steven Spielberg mentioned that he was thrilled when he first saw a script for this, he had no idea of the involvement of this one man in such important parts of recent American history:
“I knew nothing about James B. Donovan. And that all came to me as all, I think, good stories come to us – in a surprise package, because there was no brand, you know, preceding Bridge of Spies. It was simply a piece of history that was so compelling, personally for me, to know that something like this, a man who stood on his principles, and defied everybody hating him and his family for what he thought he needed to do – equal protection under the law, even for an alien in this country, even for a Soviet accused spy. That was, to me, a righteous reason to tell the story.”
He had a script by Matt Charman which he said was very good, and then had the Coen Brothers redo it, after they reached out to Mr. Spielberg having heard that he was working on this movie, this was subject matter that they loved to work on:
“And then I let them know that we did have a script, wonderful script by Matt Charman, but I was going to, you know, go deep with all the characters, and deeper with the story, and deeper with our research. And they threw their hats in the ring. They really, you know, came to us, stepped on board because this was a genre that really piqued their interest.”
We found out that Gregory Peck tried to make a movie about Mr. Donovan in 1965. That is when the news about this entire situation was fresher in everyone’s mind. In America the news was centered around the capture of the American pilot, Gary Powers. Mr Spielberg said he had heard of the American pilot shot down in the Soviet Union, but did not know any further details, for example, any details about his release. Thankfully Mr. Spielberg’s interest was piqued, this movie is a must see, especially for any students of Cold War history, history from my own lifetime!
DreamWorks Pictures’ BRIDGE OF SPIES opens in theaters everywhere on October 16th!
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Disclosure: I attended a preview of the movie and a press day for review purposes. All opinions are 100% my own and honest.
I also chatted with Amy Ryan twice over several days, she was such a sweet lady!
This sounds like a must see movie for me.