Jeff Bridges won over by authentic bank heist movie script
Jeff Bridges was won over by the sense of authenticity imbued in the script of upcoming movie Hell or High Water.
The Oscar-winning actor has been one of Hollywood’s most entertaining talents, earning a cult-like following with 1998’s The Big Lebowski and wowing as a down-and-out country singer in 2009’s Crazy Heart.
In High or Hell Water, the veteran actor plays Marcus Hamilton, a Texas Ranger who sets out to catch a divorced father and his ex-con brother who plan a bank robbery to save their family's farm from foreclosure.
Though the 66-year-old star has often said he resists working as much as possible, there was something about the script of the comedy-drama, written by Sicario screenwriter Taylor Sheridan, which he couldn’t pass up.
“Taylor Sheridan I think wrote a very good script,” he told Business Insider. “It reeked of authenticity. He seemed like a guy who knew what he was talking about and it turned out that Taylor's uncle is a Marshal, so he knew things from that side.”
Speaking about his character, Jeff added that he didn’t have to spend much time thinking about Marcus’ personality traits as it was “pretty much” all laid out on the page. Though he admits that he felt fortunate to have Joaquin Jackson, a renowned Ranger, on set for a couple of days as he gave him input into the tone and confidence required.
“It's funny, the repartee was all in the script, but what he (Joaquin) brought was more the demeanour. It's not so much the words, it's being in his presence. It's hard to describe,” he said.
While Hell or High Water merges the Western and bank heist movie genres, Jeff promises that it brings originality to the tropes. In particular, he says that the film explores the concept of what is right and wrong depending on whose point of view you've got.
“You got these guys who are robbing banks, that's traditionally thought of as a bad thing to do, then you have these banks that are loaning poor people money that they know very well they won't be able to pay back and they then take their land with oil on it,” he explained.
Hell or High Water, which also stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster, opens in the U.S. on Friday (12Aug16) and in the U.K. on 9 September (16).
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