Press Conference: Fair Game by Doug Liman

Doug Liman held a press conference for Fair Game this morning. The director was accompanied by the producer-scriptwriter Jez Butterworth, the producers Janet Zucker, Jerry Zucker and Bill Pohlad, and the actress Naomi Watts.

Chosen extracts.

Naomi Watts about preparing for her role:
It was important for me to understand who Valérie Plame was. Although I knew about her story, I needed to research deeper and to contact her. We emailed each other and had dinner together, and I was able to see that this extraordinary woman was still hiding secrets even today. While she’s delicate and feminine, she has another deep-seated aspect to her personality. She’s an inspiring woman.

Doug Liman on his choice of actors and notably Sean Penn:
What is incredible is that my two first choice actors were Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. It’s rarely the case that you get your first choice to shoot a film. Sean Penn is probably the greatest living actor of our time. He didn’t disappoint us despite the height of our expectations. He was Joe Wilson, and he became him a bit more every day.

Doug Liman on the political orientations of the film:
I don’t know if my political views are very strong on the theme we talk about here. I wanted above all to depict the atmosphere in the US at the time of the Plame-Wilson affair. The film doesn’t take sides, but simply tries to tell a story as it happened, without ever having the intention of prodding the public one way or another.