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Ian Spelling
NYT Syndicate
Julia Stiles is Bourne again, and in more ways than one. The actress first played Nicky Parsons in The Bourne Identity (2002), in which the character an ally of Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and a potential romantic interest originally was supposed to die. Given a last-minute reprieve in The Bourne Identity, Stiles and Nicky returned in The Bourne Supremacy (2004) and then in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007). They're back for a fourth go-round in Jason Bourne.
"Oh, it's fantastic, this bonus time," said Stiles, now 35, during a recent conversation."I got really nostalgic on this last set, because I lucked out. This franchise has taken me to many parts of the world, and I had no idea I'd still be working 15 years later.
"This time around, I was excited because it's the first time we see Nicky more rebellious and taking charge," the actress said."She's outside of Langley. The last time we saw her, in Ultimatum, she was put on a bus. At the start of Jason Bourne she's been in hiding for eight years, and has become a little bit more of an anarchist and gotten involved in this white-hat-hacking world.
"Nicky has uncovered very threatening information about Treadstone and the CIA, and she wants to expose that," Stiles added, referring to the black-ops programme that spawned Bourne, its last surviving member and greatest menace."As I said, she's gotten a lot more rebellious, which was fun and interesting to play."
Stiles, an amiable interviewee speaking by telephone from Manhattan, stressed that it was important to her, if she were to sign on for Jason Bourne, that she be given more to do. Returning director/co-writer Paul Greengrass who created the character of Nicky, who doesn't appear in the Robert Ludlum novels on which the film series is based ” assured her that she would, and he proved as good as his word.
"My role has grown," Stiles said."There's also the personal connection that she has to Jason Bourne. It was alluded to a little bit in Ultimatum, but, regardless of their past, she cares about him. They're allies.
"And so, before she goes to set off this ticking bomb, figuratively, she tracks him down because she cares about him," the actress said."She wants to tell him about his past, and hopes to help assuage his guilt."
Stiles and Damon have shared the screen four times in the past 15 years. He continues to impress her on and off the set, she said.
"Since we started these films, Matt's career has exploded," Stiles said."His family's gotten bigger. He has a bigger entourage and security guards, but he's still very, very helpful in scenes and doesn't seem to, at his core, have changed very much at all.
"He's incredibly hard-working," she said."I have a ton of respect for him. He's great."
Travelling the world is part of the joy of making Bourne films. Then there's the scope of the productions, and also the stunts. Thanks to her expanded role in the latest instalment, Stiles experienced more of those than ever before, including a wild motorcycle-chase scene and an elaborate riot sequence.
She treasured every minute of it, she said.
"The movie starts out in Athens, Greece, because Nicky needs to find a safe place for them to meet up," Stiles said."And the safest place to do that is actually in the middle of a riot. So it was modelled after the riots in Greece that have gone on very recently.
"But, of course, we couldn't shoot there," she said."So we were in Tenerife, in Spain. And it was amazing. The way that Paul Greengrass shoots, he sets up his cameras so well. So for one scene, as we were shooting, it felt like you were in the middle of a riot.
"It was really extensive," she continued."We had 600 extras, we were working nights, and for weeks they were having to shout and throw things, and they were shouting in Greek, though the extras mostly spoke Spanish."
Stiles called it controlled chaos.
"Fortunately we had a fantastic group of extras that were really excited to be there, and energetic," she said."So, imagine, you have 600 people that you're getting riled up to shout and throw rocks and throw tear gas, and there are riot cops in uniform. But then you have to yell, 'Cut,' and get them all to calm down.
"I mean, it was quite a feat to organise."
Stiles remains open to portraying Nicky Parsons in another sequel. She only hopes that she won't have to wait another nine years to do so.
"I've given up trying to predict the future of these movies," the actress said."But what I love is that, in the years since the last one, consistently, I've had strangers come up to me on the street or journalists ask, 'When are you going to make another one? When are you going to make another one?'
"It was really exciting, as we were shooting Jason Bourne, to feel like there's an appetite for this movie," she said."Also, I love being part of a franchise that consistently is relevant. To Paul's credit, he has a knack for making sure that they're entertaining action movies, but they're also timely and subversive, and comment on the world that we live in now."
The Bourne films and Silver Linings Playbook (2012) have represented Stiles' highest-profile projects during the past decade. She also has appeared in such smaller, indie films as Gospel Hill (2008), It's a Disaster (2013) and Out of the Dark (2014), as well as the upcoming family film The Great Gilly Hopkins and an upcoming drama, The Drowning. On television Stiles had recurring roles on both 'Dexter' (2010) and 'The Mindy Project' (2014), and she also stars at the title character on the current Internet series 'Blue', which airs on WIGS.
Asked if she's choosier these days than in the past, Stiles politely rejected the premise. The actress, who earlier this year became engaged to camera assistant Preston J Cook, prefers to think that she's become"more thoughtful," especially as she transitioned from her 20s into her 30s.
"Early on in any actor's career, you don't really have much choice," she explained."You're just trying to get hired. But then, when I was in my 20s, I think I was just a little more cavalier, like, 'Oh, yeah, I feel like doing that. I feel like travelling to this place or exploring this story. That could be fun.'
"Now, especially in terms of life and time, I think, 'Do I want to invest in this? Is it something I'm going to be excited about working on? I have more experience now, right?,'" she said."So that informs any decision that I'm going to make.
"I think one thing that the Bourne movies have taught me is that it's very rewarding to work on something for a longer period of time, and to kind of be grounded in one place for a while," Stiles concluded."So I am about to go and work on a British TV show called 'Riviera' for the rest of the year, and I'll be doing that in the south of France."
