Despite playing everything from dastardly villains to wounded souls over his 38-year career, a certain theme keeps coming up for Bruce Greenwood; authority. He’s played multiple presidents, doctors and military men in his time and with good reason. Capable of bringing a rare balance of kind-hearted but stern gravitas to his roles, Greenwood shone in the likes of Star Trek, Flight and Mad Men, with his recent turn as Lieutenant Colonel Jack Johns in Good Kill continuing the trend.
Casting its beady eye onto the world of drone warfare, Andrew Niccol’s Good Kill isn’t your typical war movie. Reuniting Gattaca writer-director with leading man Ethan Hawke, the film takes place far from an explosive warzone, but raises questions about this controversial and largely unexplored subject.
How does Good Kill differ from other war movies?
It takes place in Las Vegas, where a lot of the drone pilots are stationed. So these guys live their ‘normal lives’, leave their BBQs at five in the afternoon, then drive half an hour to a base in Las Vegas where they climb into a metal box and start bombing people who live half way around the world. It explores that profound emotional disconnect that’s the result of being in combat but not being in combat and the idea of the quality of (military) intelligence; who’s giving the orders, who’s taking the intelligence and what are the parameters for taking action on any given bit of intelligence data? It’s frightening when you realise that, well, we have to defend ourselves on a certain level but at the same time where do you draw the line? It’s the eternal dilemma of war, right?
What was it that interested you in this particular project?
Well the undeniable grey area of what is acceptable in conflict. Where DO you draw the line? What’s justifiable and what is not justifiable and is there an argument on any side of the issue? I think the movie underscores that dilemma without being too histrionic in terms of its point of view.
Was it something you had a lot of knowledge of before you took on the role? Has it changed your opinions on the subject?
No I had no real sense of the personal challenges the drone pilots faced and moreover I wasn’t aware of how prevalent the drones are. I mean they are just everywhere! And it sort of gives you pause to realise that it’s not just that the drones are over Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and Turkey, you know, they’re over California, we’re living in a very transparent world at the moment.
Yeah, there’s a lot of discussion in the media about surveillance and the use of drones, and it’s obviously an issue that Good Kill highlights. What are your feelings about this? Do you think it’s going to become even more prevalent or do you think we’re going to hit a watershed moment?
No, I think it’ll become more prevalent, I think it’s the monster lying in wait. If you can kill people and if you can prosecute a war without putting your own people at risk, politically that’s gonna speak louder than the ethical boundaries that are being crossed, because you’re not putting your own people at risk and I think that’s gonna be the side that holds the day.
Obviously you’re talking in terms of war; do you think we’ll see more and more drones used in non-war situations? For policing and in our home lives?
Oh yeah it’s already happening! I mean we got fires in California right now but apparently a lot of the aircraft that are fighting the fires have been confounded by drones. You know, people shooting video and getting in the way of the firefighters. And it looks as though the people that are trying to stop the fires, are gonna be within their rights to somehow take those drones out of the air. And we’re hearing that Amazon’s gonna deliver groceries via drone… yeah, I don’t think they’re going anywhere.
You sound like you’re very interested in the topic; do you enjoy making films that ask questions and have something to say?
Yeah absolutely, of course, because it generates conversation that’s actually about something as opposed to “why did you choose to do your hair that way with that character?”
Good Kill‘s main character, Major Thomas Egan, is played by the talented Ethan Hawke. What was he like to work with?
He was very prepared, he’s a very bright, articulate guy and we had a lot of very interesting conversations. It was fun to watch him work, he’s very good. He’s one of those guys who’s a real pro. He’s been doing it a long time, he just gets downs to it, gets into it and tries to use the day as efficiently as possible to get the best stuff he can possibly can. There’s no screwing around!
How did you go about researching for this film?
I did a lot of reading; accounts of pilots, accounts of combat, some accounts of pilots that had been in combat and then were consigned to flying drones… I watched a lot of video of generals addressing troops; everything from generals who do it in a very, very quiet conversational way to fist pumpers and yellers and chargers, trying to figure out what kind of guy Johns was. There’s a tremendous amount of swearing in the movie, he swears so much that it sort of loses its effectiveness so you just use the swear – the f bomb – without a spin on it, right? He’s just one of those guys who’s very bright, but is a little bit lazy in the way he speaks.
Obviously you’ve got experience playing authority figures – JFK and Admiral Pike are two examples that jump out – and in this film you’re playing a Lieutenant Colonel. Does that help? Do these roles come easily to you?
I think people imagine they do but the people who know me well realise that my own personal authority is rather laughable… I’ve done so many characters that have pretty stiff spines that people imagine it comes naturally but it’s more a function of me doing research and trying to figure out what’s appropriate in that given context. I think left to my own devices I’d probably be playing flat footed clowns. That’s more the way my real life unfolds (laughs).
You’ve starred in a whole host of films and TV shows, covering all sorts of genres… what exactly do you look for when choosing your roles?
Well generally I try to look for a role that is playable, that I can do something with, and now I’m trying to look for stuff that is less… fewer authority figures. It’s difficult when you get to this age (59) and you’ve played as many authority figures as I have, to say to your agents “well listen, I’d like to avoid playing authority figures this year if I could”, to really find some other thing to do, somebody with a different set of experiences. So I’m looking for stuff that’s a little different now and as a consequence I’m just doing smaller movies which has been a great deal of fun! I just finished a film called rehearsal, (Bruce puts on quite a posh London accent) where I play this English director who is really sort of on his last legs now and I’ve had a lot of fun doing that.
Just looking back, one of your most famous roles in recent times is obviously Christopher Pike in Star Trek & Star Trek Into Darkness; how was it being involved in such a huge franchise?
Awesome. It was awesome, so much fun. The cast is great… in fact they’re in Vancouver shooting now; I was talking to Chris Pine a couple of days ago. It was just a gift, it was very good fortune to be asked to do that.
Unfortunately your character died in Star Trek Into Darkness; is there any chance of a return in the next movie – in a memory or a dream sequence? Would you like to revisit that character?
Oh I would! And no amount of very obvious begging and pleading and cajoling on my part made any difference whatsoever and no, they’re shooting it now and Pike remains dead!
Well, it was worth a try!
(Bruce in a thick Scottish accent) Very, very disappointing. I was really hoping to come back, a little wee drop of Khan’s blood like, (Bruce drops the accent) and all of a sudden Pike could be there, kicking back in an armchair. As a vision! As a vision, a nightmare, a memory! Anything for crying out loud!
You’ll just have to be like the rest of us and just look forward to watching the next instalment.
Yeah, Pike remains lying in wait for the next fourth instalment… I think the guys were only contracted to do three so I don’t know if there will be a fourth one…
You’ve worked with plenty of superstar names over the years – the likes of Denzel Washington you’ve worked with multiple times (in Flight, Déjà Vu and St. Elsewhere) – how is it?
Well generally they’re superstar names because they’re bloody good at what they do so it’s really fun to sit across the table from Russell Crowe or Denzel (Washington) or Kate Blanchett or whoever, you know. You can relax right away because they’re so good at it.
Talking of relaxing, you’re a keen music fan and guitar player; What sort of music do you play? Have you always played?
The stuff that I do is mostly blues-based stuff. I was in a cover band as a kid, a bar band, and we travelled around playing bars and I just loved playing! In fact, at the moment, I’m in my (wood)shop building a console to house much of the gear I’ve got here. I just find it fascinating and I’m not particularly good but I constantly practice and study (laughs). We have a cabin on an island here, there’s a couple thousand people here and I know a bunch of players so we can play at the pub here and that kind of thing. It’s just a great thing to do.
Good Kill is released on DVD and Blu-ray from 3rd August 2015. Check out an exclusive clip from the film below:
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From the creator of Gattaca and The Truman Show comes a tense and psychological journey into the morality of drone warfare. Ethan Hawke (Training Day, Sinister) stars as a fighter pilot who now battles with Taliban using just a joystick – but is he saving the world or making it worse?
