Playing Jesse James

© Warner Bros - Casey Affleck

How did you get into the Jesse James story?
The nice thing for me, that I was surprised by, was that I didn't realise that it would mean this much to me, doing something that related to the area where I grew up. When I see Missouri come up on screen, it quietly gives me a little pleasure. It's nice to see some connection to the place that shaped me.
 
Did you take home the character?
No. I hear stories of actors not being able to get out of a role, but that's never been my affliction. I usually have more difficulty getting into a role - I'm very happy to put it down! The mercurial aspect of the characters was what was so interesting to me. I relied on Andrew to keep the reins on that.

The gun you had had the actual serial number of Jesse's gun and the ring with the inscription: did this help you get into character?
These are things that don't amount to anything on film, but they're important to actors. They were little things that meant something to me that made it feel a bit authentic. It's silly, it maybe sounds a little superstitious from the outside, but for me it made sense.

Tell us about your co-star, Casey Affleck.
A lot of us have known Casey for many years and have been big fans of him and known him to be much more than the parts he's been able to play, so we're really happy to see him get this opportunity because it was a coveted role, working with Andrew, and it was such a big role. To see him score like this is really rewarding to all of us. He did an amazing job.

Would you like to see your kids become actors?
It all remains to be seen, but I'd say wait until you're at least 18 and you have some maturity before getting into this thing, because it can be discombobulating. 

Do you and Angelina accept each other's constructive criticism?
Yeah, in fact I rely on it. She's the best sounding board I have and I value her opinion immensely. It annoys me sometimes. But she's good. She loves the film.