By Christina Radish
Inspired by true events, the Universal Pictures film Breach is a dramatic thriller set inside the halls of the Federal Bureau of Investigation -- the gatekeeper of the nation’s most sensitive secrets. In February 2001, renowned FBI operative Robert Hanssen (Chris Cooper) was found guilty of treason against America, making him one of the most notorious spies in the history of our country.
Over a period of more than two decades, Hanssen broke his vow to not only uphold the law, but to serve the United States with the same honor that he would serve his own family, by selling key intelligence to the former Soviet Union. When Eric O’Neill (Ryan Phillippe), the young agent-in-training handpicked to help draw Hanssen from his cover, is promoted out of his low-level surveillance job and into the headquarters of the FBI, his dream of becoming a full-fledged agent is on the verge of becoming a reality. Thinking that he is working for a new division created to protect all classified FBI intelligence, O’Neill soon learns that Hanssen is the sole subject of a long-term, top-secret investigation, and that he is expected to use the mole’s growing trust to slowly draw the traitor out of deep cover.
Once out of the Bureau, O’Neill recounted his unique experience working with Hanssen to his brother, David, who convinced him that the story would make a fascinating film. After being granted approval by the FBI, O’Neill moved forward with the idea, selling the rights to his story.
“The movie is my fault,” O’Neill tells MediaBlvd Magazine. “It’s not like I got approached and they said, ‘Hey, we want to make a movie of your life.’ Nobody knew about me. So, my brother and I worked with the screenwriting team of Adam Mazer and William Rotko. Then, I worked very closely with the film’s writer/director Billy Ray on the screenplay. He would ask me stuff and, with the classified information, I couldn’t tell him a lot of stuff. Once Billy started talking to the FBI, I would tell him to call me and tell me everything they said, and I would debrief him. Once it’s in the public, I’m allowed to talk about it because it’s no longer classified. The FBI de-classified things for the movie.”
{quote_top}After Chris Cooper was set to play Hanssen, Ryan Phillippe was eager for the opportunity to work opposite the Academy Award winner. “I read the script and started doing a little bit of research, in the hopes of getting the part,” the 32-year-old tells MediaBlvd. “Before Breach, Flags of Our Fathers was the biggest job I’d ever gotten, so I was excited for this to happen, but I was also really nervous about screen testing with Chris Cooper because I idolize the guy. I think that actually helped me when I was playing the part.”
Phillippe knew that he didn’t want to do an imitation of O’Neill, so he decided to spend some time getting to know the real person. “Eric is a great guy,” says Phillippe. “He’s got this indomitable spirit and confidence that let me know how he could get through a situation like this. Once I met Eric, he’d tell me stories about Hanssen and he’d talk about how much Hanssen annoyed him. The idea that Hanssen was not only the boss from Hell and one of the worst spies in U.S. history, but the guy would also get on his nerves, was so funny to me. Finding those human, idiosyncratic aspects of what is an enormous story was what was really appealing to me.”
Since he was not able to talk to Hanssen directly, Cooper also went to O’Neill to get a better idea of what the real man was like. “Chris wanted to get the character in a way that people in the FBI would see the movie and say, Yeah, that’s him,'" says O’Neill. "I think he got him very well. Chris is so talented that he just went through my mind and found what he needed. He asked me about some of Hanssen’s quirks, and he wanted me to read part of the script in Hanssen’s voice. He would read the script and say, ‘Just tell me when I’m close,’ and he nailed it.”
To keep the tension real on the set, so that it would translate to the screen, Phillippe says that Cooper kept a line drawn between them, so that it would help their performance. “Chris Cooper is, if not the best, then one of the best actors working today. For me, it was a privilege to have what I thought was a master class in acting, on a daily basis. We do work similarly, in our approach. He’s definitely a little bit method, and I can be prone to that as well. One of my favorite things about being an actor is that we get to make believe. I like staying in character, and I like pretending to be someone else. When the other actor is doing it as well, it feeds the energy of every scene.”
{quote_middle}Working for the FBI, O’Neill says that, above all, he learned how to anticipate what Hanssen was thinking, at all times. Being involved with the case also taught him a sense of confidence, in dealing with an adversary.
“Somewhere in there, I beat him,” declares O’Neill. “In order to do that, you really have to believe that what you’re doing is right. That level of confidence is something you can take with you into real life, for whatever you’re doing. Beating Hanssen was a lot about telling myself, in the back of my mind, ‘You’re going to do it right. Relax a little bit and don’t show him that you’re not afraid.’”
When Hanssen was finally caught, O’Neill made the decision to leave the FBI to devote more time to his family. That is something that Phillippe says has definitely gone through his mind, with his own career.
“The celebrity aspect of it and the living in a fish bowl thing can get to be a grind. I also feel like you don’t have to do the same thing for the rest of your life. You do have options. If it gets to be too much and I don’t like it anymore, I’ll find something else to do. I always thought I could be a teacher. That’s something I would like to do, in some capacity, at some point. If you aren’t happy living a certain way, then I think you should make changes, especially when you have children. Kids need happy parents.”
“The career takes a back seat. I did three movies in the last year and a half, and I’m going to take a good long break to be a dad. That’s number one on my mind right now. There are also organizations that I’d like to devote more time to, like The Children’s Defense Fun, that can really help and effect change. And, I want to direct. I’ve written a couple of scripts and, probably within the next year, I’m going to make my first small film. I am passionate about acting, but I do feel like there are other things in life.”
