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What do you think of Ryan Phillippe’s performance in Breach?
Eric O’Neill: “I think it’s spot on. He did an excellent job and I was very, very happy with it.”
How much did you talk to him before he stepped in front of the camera?
Eric O’Neill: “A lot, but people many interviewers think, or people ask the question, ‘How did you help Ryan play you?’ I didn’t, except for maybe by accident. I just talked to him. The way that we did it was very much two guys in a room or out over drinks and just talking. Not about the movie, and not about him being a Hollywood actor; certainly not about me being a lawyer, but just searching for commonalities as any two people who meet just randomly will do, and just talking like friends. That gave him a good sense of who I was, better than if I would try to manufacture some sort of predisposed image that I have of myself.
He took those things and he built the character around it that I think was very true to me. My wife even was watching a scene and told me that he just did something – he made a comment and he did a quirky little thing that only I do. She was freaked out by it. She was like, ‘Did you tell him that? Did you teach him that?’ I was like, ‘No.’ She was absolutely impressed with his ability.”
Chris Cooper is amazing as Hanssen…
Billy Ray: “You can’t do better.”
When did you figure out he was the right guy to play Hanssen?
Billy Ray: “He got his hands on the script – I still don’t know how. And one day I got a call from his agent, whom I had never met, saying, ‘Chris Cooper has read the script. He’s very interested. Would you like to speak to him?’ ‘Well, yeah. I’d like to speak to him a lot!’ I got on the phone with Chris and I never considered anyone else from that point forward. You can’t do better. He’s just the best actor there is and it was a privilege every single day to work with that guy. I just love him.”
I read that you totally duplicated everything about the scene where Robert Hanssen is finally arrested, down to the smallest details. Most of the public has no idea how that went down so why was it so important to duplicate it so thoroughly?
Billy Ray: “There are two reasons why I think it’s really critical. One is in this case, it really is a matter of historical record. This is not just some small little story. This is the worst security breach in the history of American intelligence so you had to get the arrest right. But the other reason is, just selfishly. You want to be able to go up to your actor, you want to be able to go up to Chris Cooper, and say, ‘This is the real corner. This is how they handcuffed you. This is the real briefcase. This is where you actually made the drop. This is the real bridge. You’re following exactly in this guy’s footsteps.’
It infects the performance in such a good way. The reason why it feels real is because Chris felt authentic when he was doing it. It’s not the same thing if you’re saying, ‘Well we’re in Toronto but let’s just pretend we’re in D.C.’ I knew I had to be on that corner in Vienna, Virginia. I wanted to be on Fairway Drive. Whatever we had to do budgetarily to get there, we were going to do.”
How difficult was it to shoot there?
Billy Ray: “You decide when you’re directing a movie there’s going to be horse-trading. ‘Okay, I have this number of dollars to spend and I need this, this, and this. I’m willing to give up this, this and this.’ So there were things I was willing to trade to make sure we were in Virginia in February shooting that scene.”
There’s a scene in the film after Hanssen’s been arrested in which Ryan Phillippe picks up Hanssen’s pen from the desk and asks if he can keep it. Did you do anything similar?
Eric O’Neill: “Yeah, I actually do have that pen. I still have it. I brought it when we did prep work, before they ever started any of the filming. I was down there with Chris Cooper and Ryan and I gave it to Chris. I was like, ‘Click that a few times. That’s Hanssen’s pen.’”
How did Chris Cooper react?
Eric O’Neill: “I mean I guess that’s important for an actor to help get into character, because it was very hard for him. He was never going to meet Hanssen so he was portraying someone that he’ll never meet or talk to. So I was thinking that if there are ways that I can help him… Like, ‘You’re holding his pen. Channel him!’”
Billy Ray: “Also, Eric then became the only barometer for Chris of how close he was to nailing Hanssen. And they actually not just during pre-production, and during production, but they watched the movie together. The first time Eric ever saw the movie was in the screening room sitting next to Chris Cooper - the first time Chris ever saw the movie. Chris kept looking over at Eric, ‘Did I get it right? Did I get it right?’”
Did you try and keep a poker face?
Billy Ray: “No, he was telling him he got it right!”
Eric O’Neill: “I must have had this goofy little boy face when I was watching the movie for the first time. I was just so excited about it. Very emotionally worried and drawn into it, but Chris’ performance was just excellent.”
Page 4: On Robert Hanssen, Chris Cooper's Performance, and Releasing Breach in February
