Their comfortable life is interrupted when their home is invaded by thieves intent on ripping off the bank where Jack works. It seems that although Jack’s computer system is so secure hackers can’t get inside, there is one small vulnerability – Jack himself.
Paul Bettany co-stars as Bill Cox, the cold-blooded mastermind behind the plan to steal millions. Cox and his partners in crime have been watching the family for a long time. They know all the Stanfields' patterns and their intimate secrets. Cox uses that research as a tool to get Jack to steal millions from the bank’s customers. If Jack doesn’t comply, his family will pay the ultimate price.
Virginia Madsen on the Creepy Feeling of Being Watched: “Well in a way when you’re in the public eye it kind of is happening all the time, but it was a little bit creepy when they were filming us on the beach walking with the dog because I didn’t know they were filming us. I was kind of like, ‘Guys, are we working today or what?’ And they said, ‘We already did.’ So I was like, ‘Whoa…’”
"Firewall" co-star Carly Schroeder concurs with Madsen’s take on being filmed. “I think it really hits hard with many people because you don’t know if you’re being watched. You can be like walking down the street going to school and you’re being watched and you don’t know it. That’s the creepiest thing. They [the family in the movie] were being filmed for two years in advance so they already knew everything. They knew their pizza day, they knew social security numbers. They knew everything, which is pretty dang scary because that can happen to anyone.”
Carly Schroeder on Playing Harrison Ford’s Daughter: At the Hollywood Premiere of “Firewall,” Schroeder confessed that it’s simply amazing to work with one of Hollywood’s big stars. “He’s such a huge icon and everything and he’s just a really sweet, genuine person who’s just amazing to work with.”
Schroeder also had nothing but praise for Paul Bettany. Bettany’s the film’s biggest villain but Schroeder found him to be one of the nicest people around. “Oh my gosh, on set he was like the nicest person and then as soon as they said action, it was like a switch flipped in his mind and all of a sudden his eyes went completely blue and stony cold,” explained Schroeder. “It was amazing. He’s such a cool bad guy. I mean it’s so hard to see him in real life and be like, ‘You’re so sweet,’ and then all of a sudden he gets on set and he’s just like evil – pure evil.”
Jimmy Bennett, the young actor who plays Ford and Madsen’s son in “Firewall,” totally agrees with Schroeder’s assessment of Bettany. “He’s not scary at all, but he looks scary!”
Screen Veteran Robert Forster Relished His “Firewall” Role: Forster plays Harry Romano, a close friend and work associate of Jack Stanfield’s. Harry’s an interesting character who may or may not be a good guy. “You don’t know what I’m up to,” explained Forster about his character. “You get a chance to well fool your audience a little bit and make them wonder whether you’re doing this or that, and yeah it was fun.”
Forster said for this type of character you need to keep an even balance so as not to tip your hand prematurely. “You’ve got to play it on both sides of the equation so that it balances and the audience just does not know which direction you’re going to go until the very end. If you can hold it off until then… And the writers, of course, give you that to work with.”
Virginia Madsen and Motherhood: Madsen’s character does everything in her power to protect her children in "Firewall" and Madsen said this was a character she could really relate to. “I felt like the character was a lot like me – or the way I hoped I would be in this kind of story. And it felt good. And Jimmy, my movie son, is a lot like my real life son so it kind of came naturally in a way,” said Madsen.
Virginia Madsen Gets Physical in “Firewall:” Madsen gets the chance to get in on a little of the film’s action which is something we don’t usually see from the actress. “I mean it was kind of nice to kick a** (laughing), you know what I mean? I fight against men with guns. Like I don’t know if I could really do that, but it was fun to do on the movie set.”
Madsen did almost all of her own stunts. “I did everything except this one time when my face was supposed to hit the floor. I was like, ‘Come on, let me do it!’ They were like, ‘Virginia, that’s probably not a good idea.’ [Looking disappointed] I was like, ‘Oh, okay…’”
Virginia Madsen, Robert Forster, Mary Lynn Rajskub, and Carly Schroeder Interview Video - Play the Video
