No ‘Bourne’ film would be complete without its fair share of action and still rings true even for the new installment ‘The Bourne Legacy’. Still, emphasizes producer Frank Marshall: “Our rules that we have been very consistent with through all the movies is that we don’t have action for action’s sake. We don’t have a formula where every 10 minutes there has to be a fight scene or an action scene. The action has to be driven by the story. That’s what makes this series unique: These characters get into situations that lead to an action scene or a chase scene, but it all has a story point.”

The architect behind the stunt work on ‘The Bourne Legacy’ is 2nd unit director Dan Bradley, who returns after making his mark as the creator of the dazzling action sequences in ‘The Bourne Supremacy’ and ‘The Bourne Ultimatum’. After the first unit wrapped its work in Palawan in the beginning of February 2012, Bradley’s unit filmed for another month in Manila, with actors Jeremy Renner and Rachel Weisz joining them there.

Renner is the first to admit that the stunt work wasn’t easy. He says: “This was very, very demanding. I was lucky enough because many of the fight coordinators, the stunt coordinators and Dan Bradley were on ‘The Avengers’ and the three movies I did back-to-back right before this movie. Working with them was seamless. I had learned hand-to-hand combat on ‘Avengers’, so I took that over to this and actually used patterns. I had a nice running start.”

“Having Dan Bradley involved in the ‘Bourne’ movies has been an enormous part of their success,” producer Patrick Crowley raves. “People love the locations, they love the characters, but they really love the action. Dan invented action for these movies that nobody had ever seen before, and action that people have imitated after it was done.”

Director Tony Gilroy is just as effusive in his praise: “Dan’s the Michelangelo of action. He’s an amazing guy, an imaginative nut who has found this incredible job for himself helping out directors like myself to make us look tougher than we really are. I made sure to get with him early on, and I told him, ‘Dan, if I’m going to do this, I need you there with me.’”

Of course, Bradley traveled to Manila months before shooting began in order to tailor the action sequences to the locations. “When we looked at the locations, he was with us, and then he said, ‘I’m going to stay behind for a week,’” Crowley recalls. “We waited for Dan to just sit and meditate and come up with great ideas. He’s come up with some things that have never been done before.”

Bradley’s biggest task was to choreograph a motorcycle chase that takes place on the crowded streets of Manila, much of it filmed with Renner in the rider’s seat. “When you’re doing something in which there’s somebody on a motorcycle and they’re not wearing a helmet, you have to have the principal actor do that,” says Crowley. “So we had Jeremy very much involved, and Rachel as well.”

Luckily for the production, Renner is an avid motorcyclist. “When I first met Jeremy, we were going to have some practice sessions, and he showed up on one of the fastest motorcycles in the world, which was one of 10 that he owned,” remembers Crowley. “We felt comfortable that we didn’t have to train him. He has the bones of an action hero. When I see him, I see that silent strength of Steve McQueen. When he gets on a motorcycle, then he becomes even more like him.”

Renner also put Weisz at ease as they worked with Bradley. “Being on the back of a bike with Jeremy, I felt completely safe,” she says. “He was doing wheelies, skids and slides—those kind of stunts that he’s very good at.”

The filmmakers were also impressed when Weisz displayed a previously unseen side: that of an action star. “She’s a great actress and has shown all this incredible talent playing characters who are typically not action characters,” says Crowley. But Weisz insisted on as much rehearsal on the motorcycle as possible and performed much of the stunt work herself. Laughs the producer: “Your heart still goes into your throat when you see her going 45, 50 miles an hour on the motorcycle with Jeremy.”

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About the author

Claudia Sondergaard
Specialised in American foreign policy media discourse, I have a real passion for media and writing and feel comfortable in subjects such as human rights, politics, environment, social issues, movies, TV and books. Reporting from Denmark. Follow me @swirlgirlversus

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