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The first stop in Bruce Greenwood's December 2000 press tour for Thirteen Days, he arrives at the morning talk show after an all night flight and seems fresher and more relaxed with answers, though perhaps a bit short on sleep. The interview was held on a snowy day in Chicago, and there's a comfortable feel to the questions and the replies, which was done live in the news room studio by Micah Materre.
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Micah: Oh, Joanie. Bruce and I are having so much fun here! For thirteen days during the Cuban Missile Crisis the world held its breath -- thinking it was on the verge of nuclear war. Well, those harrowing moments of 1962 are captured now in the new movie, Thirteen Days.
film clip shown: I am the commander in chief Micah: Whoops. All right. Actor Bruce Greenwood plays President John F. Kennedy in Thirteen Days. Thank you so much for -- You look just LIKE him, Bruce!
BG: Well, smoke and mirrors mostly, you know. A little hair piece....
Micah: How tough was that? You're down to the cadence of his voice, the way he walks with his back injury... How tough was that to recreate JFK?
BG: I don't.....It's not really for me to say. 'Cause it depends how successful people think I was at it....
Micah: Do you think you were successful at it?
BG: It's hard for me to watch because I can always think of things I could have done better. But I watched lots of film and listened to lots of tape, and...
Micah: I understand that you and the gentleman who played Bobby Kennedy talked a lot on the phone whenever you learned new stuff about Kennedy.
BG: Well, we spent a lot of time together, actually, because we felt our accents might drift into one another. Because originally, we were searching for something that's individual and distinct from one another -- dueling!
Micah: That dynamic back and forth. I think that dynamic between the two brothers, you were able to show that to a lot of people. We knew that Bobby and JFK were very close but they really played off each other. They really depended on one another.
BG: Yeah, yes.
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Micah: Now, what did you do to research it as far as reading books and things like that - for what really happened?BG: Well, I have a Kennedy library now - that focuses on this period - that's literally THAT high. We both read a great deal and spent a lot of time together trying to get that brotherly thing going. We both play guitar, so we did a little bit of that...
Micah: The Cuban Missile Crisis. I don't think the world knew how close we came to - possibly nuclear war.
BG: I think THEN we had a sense, but NOW we've conveniently forgotten that we were so close to the precipice. And those weapons are still there. The SALT treaties, SALT treaty 2 was ratified, but it was never implemented. There are 12,000 warheads - 6 on each side - and they're still armed and still pointed at one another. So there's not that much distance between then and now, if the wrong steps are taken.
Micah: Exactly. This movie also, you get the sense that's how the President speaks with his advisors during a crisis. And you wonder how much is the President leaning on advisors or from his point of view.
BG: I think that's one of the brilliant things about the way Kennedy - both the Kennedys - handled this crisis. They brought together a really disparate group of men that you wouldn't ordinarily tap for their opinions, because they didn't do it based on rank at all. They did it based on their assessment of how profound these individuals - of how profoundly they might understand the situation. But ultimately, of course, it was the President's decision, and that's what weighed so heavily.
Micah: And quickly, this is a different way we've seen JFK than in any of his other movies. Is that what attracted you to the movie?
BG: One of the things.... They don't spend any time with all the froth and frivolity and peccadillos and what not. That's such an easy mark. And the more research I did, the more I discovered it was a hundredth part of who he was and a thousandth part of what he did. You know?
Micah: Well, I suggest everyone go and see Thirteen Days, because it is a history lesson in itself and YOU did a marvelous job.
BG: Well, yeah, thanks. But also, it moves so fast. It's big, it's a glossy Hollywood political thriller - in the context of the world hanging in the balance....and it could again.
Micah: Yeah, we should realize that. Thank you, Bruce for coming in. January 12th it opens up. Have a good time in Chicago.
BG: Yeah, thanks. (shakes her hand.)
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