Doug Liman Blog: When Real People Are On Screen, It’s Hard To Be Objective. We’re All Flawed But We’re Not All In Movies

Share on Facebook posted 05-20-10 by Doug Liman

When I was preparing for Cannes, I realized how tough this film is to talk about. For one thing, my brother, who is fast becoming one of the top lawyers in the country, made it clear to me that if I accuse Karl Rove in the press of committing a crime I can be sued for libel. But the other big issue is that I’ve never done a film that was so closely based on real people, and the press aspect of that is really quite a minefield.

It was amazing having Joe and Valerie on the set. First of all having a “noc” as a consultant — the real deal. Non-Official Cover agents just don’t talk to filmmakers or journalists. There’s a lot of former CIA types who consult on movies, but the kind of person that becomes a film consultant isn’t going to be as high a level a person as we had in Valerie. So that was an incredible luxury and one, ironically, we only had because the Bush Administration outed her. Otherwise, in a million years, this woman would never, ever be talking to a filmmaker. Plus, Joe is such a colorful and great character it was incredible to have him there. The interesting thing now is: How do I talk about the movie? Because these are not characters without flaws (nor am I a character without flaws, but I’m not making a movie about me, I’m making a movie about them).

If I’m talking about the character of Joe Wilson and there is also a real-life person, with children and friends and relatives, how do I basically ignore that he exists for real in order to maintain my objectivity. I have gotten close to these people. I’ve gone sailing with them, and I know their kids, and I have a huge amount of affection for Joe and Val. In spite of all of this, I had to check that at the door every time I had to show up on the set. Now those same issues are coming back into play now that I’m doing press — only this time in a much more public way. It’s one thing to talk about Joe and Val’s marriage to the actors, writers, or editors. That’s essentially private (though obviously whatever we talk about ends up on the screen, so it’s not entirely private, but it’s still fundamentally different than now). What do I do when a reporter in Cannes asks me a question about Valarie or Joe? My answers might be hurtful to them but possibly honest. I can’t really say “no comment,” because I have a very strong opinion and it’s in the movie. I think it’s one of the strengths in the movie that we remain so objective and were equally critical of both sides, but it’s difficult nonetheless. I know also what it’s like to be on the receiving end of this kind of press.

In 2002, John Gill (a 30Ninjas editor and writer) came to the Paris set of The Bourne Identity to do a story on the movie’s production for Premiere magazine, and I learned a little bit of a lesson from that experience. John is one of my closest friends, but before he came to Paris he told me that once he started writing the story he’d be wearing the hat of the reporter and he would report what he sees, which he did. To this day, some people in my life are pissed at him and still don’t think he was that good a friend, but he had said up front that he is a professional journalist and that doesn’t get checked at the door just because he’s friends with the person. So I’m wrestling with these same types of issues.