Double Jeopardy
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What Bruce Greenwood has to say about
Double Jeopardy
Here are a few of his comments on various aspects of playing
the villainous Nick Parsons in the hit film Double Jeopardy:
It's a fun movie -- you can sit down, strap in, have a laugh, get a couple of shocks, watch Tommy Lee crack wise, watch Ashley be beautiful and me be a jerk
Vancouver Province 9/97/99It's the story of a young couple who seem to be madly in love, and you discover that the husband has some other plans and she ends up going to jail.....She finds out that he's responsible for her going to jail and she goes after him!.....You watch this woman get some dirt thrown on her, and then she figures it out and [makes swooshing sound and pounces with his hand] sets her sight on this guy and goes right after him!
Behind the Scenes / E! 9/99When you think you've figured it out, you ain't!
The Making of Double Jeopardy / Showtime 9/99It was a lark. A goofy, silly, absurd script with a ridiculous premise that was tremendous fun. (Director) Bruce Beresford was a laugh a minute, we became good friends. When I saw it, I thought, 'I guess I better be hunting for a movie-of-the-week.' But it confounded everyone's expectations, except the people at Paramount who had done the audience testing. We're all going, 'Well, statistics can only tell you so much pal, don't go buying that Beemer yet.' A lot of people recognize me from that more than anything.
Vancouver Province 2/11/04
on being cast: Actually, I auditioned for another role in the film, before this came my way
Hollywood Reporter 9/24/99They kept narrowing it down, and I was just the last guy not to fall through the screen. But it took a long time, many callbacks and screen tests and all that business.
Halifax Herald 10/3/99
on Nick Parsons: The guy is a complete scumbag. I just based it on a couple of guys that I have done business with.
Maclean's 10/11/99This guy's got some serious problems
CNN ShowBiz Today 9/23/99Greenwood's interpretation of Nick is that he's a man who plays hardball in business, but that he doesn't start out as a bad person. Nick and Libby's marriage "came out of love originally and stayed that way for a long time," Greenwood says. "No marriage is perfect, but we have a pretty good thing going -- a beautiful child, a terrific art collection and a lot of high-powered friends, but my ambition gets in the way."
Double Jeopardy Press Kit 9/99The character that I play, Nick Parsons, is Ashley Judd's husband...and he's particularly driven -- an ambitious guy and reasonably wealthy -- [he] has a HUGE house on the water with numerous water craft....
The Making of Double Jeopardy / Showtime 9/99I based Nick on some of my closest friends. Actually, I based it on a couple of guys that I did some business with a few years ago who were utterly without conscience. They'd look you straight in the eye and promise you the straight-up thing, then burn you. Hard to believe you'd run into anyone like that in Los Angeles.
Halifax Herald 10/3/99The character that I play, Nick Parsons, is Ashley Judd's husband...and he's particularly driven -- an ambitious guy and it kind of drives a wedge in an otherwise perfect marriage.
Behind the Scenes / E! 9/99
on his Southern accent: Well, that's the saving grace, right? That's what Tommy Lee said to me the first day, 'I tell you what, it doesn't matter if you suck, you're supposed to be fakin' it anyway.' I talked to a guy in New Orleans a few times, and checked with him throughout the shoot. It wasn't supposed to be a perfect New Orleans accent, just a generic Southern accent with a bit of that flavour in it. Another thing about New Orleans is, it depends who you talk to down there. They're very, very different from one guy to the next. A classic Cajun accent would have been absurd, but there's a lot of latitude to mess around with it and still sound reasonably authentic.
Halifax Herald 10/3/99
on playing the villain: Question: How was it playing the villain?
Answer: Well, it's always fun; it's always fun; 'cause you get to come off like a decent guy in the beginning and then turn into an unmentionable ass about half way through
Double Jeopardy Premiere 9/21/99That's where the confrontations are. The conflict often isn't written in for the good guys but for the bad guys. The conflict is what it's all about. So, there's more to play, there's more to chew on, there's ... more fun.
Winnipeg Sun 9/23/99Greenwood pursued the part for months, auditioning more times than he can remember. He was anxious to play what amounted to two roles, as the loving husband and double-crossing spouse. "It's generally more fun to play bad guys because that's where the conflict is.....I was pulled into this project by Beresford, Tommy Lee Jones, Ashley Judd and two roles."
Winnipeg Free Press 9/24/99It was a gas, you get to chew a little more furniture
Vancouver Province 9/27/99Go with what you're good at.
Toronto Sun 9/28/99
on Bruce Beresford: He's got a really astute reality metre, I think, so he can pull me back when I'm going a little too far and coax me on when I'm not doing quite enough.
Behind the Scenes / E! 9/99
on New Orleans: (using broad Southern accent) New Orleans, baby....New Orleans, it's all right....[drops accent] It's beautiful here. The energy here is just legendary, of course, and ....every time you walk outside...[it's] stuff happening, crazy people walking around, everybody [mimes drinking with his hand] having a good time, partying....
The Making of Double Jeopardy / Showtime 9/99I got the swingin' accent out there, I wore some great clothes and got into some great environments with the likes of Tommy Lee and Ashley, that was a real treat.
Vancouver Province 9/27/99It's great; it's great; are you kidding me? We were shooting in The Quarter. [To] set up a shot....it takes an hour and a half to set the shot up. I'd just walk out into The Quarter in my tuxedo, drop into a bar and watch a band and have a beer. Then an hour later you'd see the ADs running up and down the street. Right? Trying to figure out where you've gone. You let 'em run by a couple of times, then [snaps fingers], "I'm here!", walk back to the set, do your thing... It was great....
Behind the Scenes / E! 9/99We'd shoot there all night long and with an hour between set-ups we'd wander out into the French Quarter, grab a beer and listen to a band on a street corner. We had a riot. And I was dressed in a tuxedo half the time. Actually, towards the end of the shoot, when I have blood cascading out of my chest, I'd walk down the street with fake blood all over me and no one gave me a second look.
Halifax Herald 10/3/99
on the controversial trailers: It seems to work. It's a science I don't really understand, but it is a science.
Halifax Herald 10/3/99
on the premiere party: It was kind of weird -- I had a few women come up to me and then decide they didn't want to know me. I don't know if that was their way of saying 'nice job' or 'you're just a slime, who needs you.
Vancouver Province 9/27/99
on auditioning with Ashley Judd: I came in to do the screen test for this show (with Ashley) and she said, 'You played my father.' And I said, 'I want to try playing your lover this time.' So that was a little weird. But she was very generous about it.
Winnipeg Sun 9/23/99So I'm there to play her lover and she tells me, 'You've played my dad," says Greenwood, 43, laughing at the recollection of the deflating moment. "Arrrrrgh."
Winnipeg Free Press 9/24/99The weird thing was that when I was doing the screen test with Ashley, I was hoping she'd see me as her lover. And she said, 'You played my father.' Whatever pheromones I was generating totally evaporated."
http://mrshowbiz.go.com/interviews/506_3.htmlI'd played Ashley's father Larry Strickland in Love Can Build a Bridge, the mini-series about her family. I wanted to share that wonderful irony with her, but I also wanted Ashley to be able to see me as her lover," recalls Greenwood. "I didn't have to obsess long. The moment we were introduced, Ashley said: 'You played my father.' I was off the hook and it certainly didn't seem to bother her."
Calgary Sun 9/20/99