Exclusive ‘Station Chief’ Interview: Aaron Eckhart

On May 3, the new spy thriller ‘Chief of Station’ opens in theaters, starring Aaron Eckhart (‘The Dark Knight’), Olga Kurylenko (‘Black Widow’) and Alex Pettyfer (‘The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare’ ).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Aaron Eckhart about his work on ‘Chief of Station’, his first reaction to the script, his love for the genre, his character, the fight sequences and his work with Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer, as in addition to remembering the making of ‘Sully’ and working with Tom Hanks and Clint Eastwood.

Moviefone: To start, can you tell us about your first reaction to the script and, in general, when you read scripts and choose projects, what do you look for?

Aaron Eckhart: Well, it’s interesting. I like cold war era spy movies. I grew up watching it and it has always intrigued me. Of course, being in Europe, we filmed this in Hungary, we used the streets, we used the architecture and that feeling. I really liked those movies. I like the idea of ​​coordinated events of people moving as one to achieve a goal and that’s really what the spy game is, right? It’s a game of hands and coordination and it’s a house full of mirrors, and I really liked that. I’ve always liked it. I grew up with this and it’s fun to participate in.

MF: What are some of your favorite films in the spy thriller genre?

EA: Well, of course there’s ‘Three Days of the Condor,’ which is the iconic movie where the powerful guy behind the curtain is on the other end of the phone giving instructions or telling you in the middle of this city of millions of people on a phone. public that has its eyes on you. There’s something very intriguing about that, and especially with today’s technology. Every spy movie I can think of is about how they can implant something, how they can monitor you in some way, and what’s more current than that right now in terms of cameras, drones, the Internet, lasers and radars. All these things where they can literally see inside your mind and even implant things now. So the idea of ​​this surveillance state and the idea of ​​them always knowing what you’re thinking is fascinating, especially since they implant chips and stuff. So I’ve always been fascinated by that, the idea of ​​it, what’s true and what’s not true, what’s the future? How does it look? I think it’s good fertile ground for cinema.

MF: In the film, your character suffers a great loss. Can you talk about who he was before that event and who he becomes afterward?

EA: He loses his wife to a bomb and it’s his fault. It is the fault of her occupation and her participation in it. Of course, she’s involved too, but I become the victim. Before, you talked about a man who is living his life, his occupation, everything, and then you talked about a deep loss. I mean, there’s really nothing I can say more than that. It’s just that you are an empty man. Now you’re ending the days and nothing really feels or tastes the same and that’s where he is now. He’s also avenging the loss of him and having to deal with the real world as well as the inner world of this darkness that he has.

MF: Can you talk about that guilt and how it affects your relationship with your son?

EA: I mean, your son, it’s interesting being a father. I’m not a father, so I couldn’t say, but I can only imagine the idea of ​​a child losing his mother in a tragic and terrible event, and then having to find his way in life, especially when you have a father. that he is far away and not really in touch with his own feelings. His son falls asleep and goes to places where he perhaps shouldn’t be, and goes through his own dark times. You need to reconnect and reform a relationship on a different level now. They have gone from being father-son to being more friends and contemporaries, and now they must exist on this level. It’s an interesting dynamic because, in many ways, the father feels like a fraud. He disappointed his son. In a way, he is responsible for his mother’s death and has a lot of guilt associated with it.

MF: There’s a great scene in the movie where you fight one of the bad guys on a boat. Can you talk about filming that sequence?

EA: First, filming in Hungary and Budapest was just incredible and we were on the river there and on a river boat. It’s in the middle of the river and it goes up and down. It was just fantastic with this beautiful architecture, European history and we had a great fight coordinator. (I was fighting) the fight coordinator (in that scene) and he was just a great guy. We basically settled that fight that morning. We got to work and he said, “Okay, this is what’s going to happen.” We just rehearsed the fight and worked on it all day because we had a couple more scenes before that. It’s amazing when you have someone who is a fighter that you are working with because you have complete confidence that he will do the right thing and that you will do the right thing. We just set up this fight and he beat me up and I beat him up, and it was a great day.

MF: What was it like working with Olga Kurylenko and Alex Pettyfer?

EA: Well, Alex is great. I love it. He is a great actor and a great guy. I had a lot of fun with him. I didn’t know him before, but I really warmed to him and we had a good time together. I really appreciate him as a person and as an actor. Very impressive. Olga, of course, was amazing. I worked with her before (‘Deleted’). Again, she is very humble and very generous. She is willing to do anything for the director and for the scene, which I really appreciate, plus she is a total professional and makes everything look good all the time. So between those two, the days were easy and fun. Alex and I had our own fight scene which was punishing. Again, he’s a fighter and he can throw a punch and he knows how to take a punch, and he’s very unselfish. You never know how those things are going to turn out because you might come home with some bruises. But we had a good time.

MF: Finally, I love ‘Sully’ and think it’s one of Clint Eastwood’s best films. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Tom Hanks’ character takes you into a hallway during the trial sequence and tells your character how proud he is of what you both accomplished and that “we did our job.” Can you talk about filming that scene with Tom and Clint?

EA: I’m glad to hear that because it’s a small scene and not very monumental, but it leads to the auditorium, which is the big monologue. A couple things. I loved making that movie. I love Clint. I love Tom. I loved working with them. I love how subtle Tom is and how much trust Clint gives to the actors. In fact, I remember one time we were sitting around that big table having a discussion, I don’t remember what scene it was, but Tom was in it, I was in it and a few other people. In between a take or something, I don’t remember, I said something to Clint about doing it the first time or something. Clint says, “That’s why I cast good actors.” The level of trust was off the charts. He just let us do whatever we wanted. He never questioned us, ever. He was just amazing. So Tom was the leader. He took charge and coordinated everything, whether verbally or non-verbally, and we all followed him. That scene is a perfect example of that, sums it up, where the older guy comes out, takes charge, and walks into the auditorium. A little humor in that scene too, but “a job well done and we’ll be fine” and that’s what a leader does.

What is the plot of ‘Station Chief’?

After learning that his wife’s death was no accident, a former CIA officer and station chief (Aaron Eckhart) is forced to return to the underworld of espionage, teaming up with an adversary (Olga Kurylenko) to unravel a conspiracy that defies everything I thought. He knew.

Who is part of the cast of ‘Station Chief’?

Olga Kurylenko in ‘Station Chief’. Photo: Vertical Entertainment.

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