It’s the story we think we know. Headlines blared about U.S. intel agent Edward Snowden’s spilling of surveillance secrets. But he wasn’t always like that, and the new movie, “Snowden,” shows us how he went from wonderkind to America’s most wanted.
Shailene Woodley as (Lindsay Mills): “Are they watching us?”
Yes, they are.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Edward Joseph Snowden): “They are gonna come for me.”
Yes, they are.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Edward Joseph Snowden): “They are gonna come for all of you too.”
Spolier alert: Yes they are!
“They” is the government, an omnipresent big brother, and “Snowden” tells the story of Edward Snowden, the guy who blew the lid off the government’s surveillance program.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Edward Joseph Snowden): “There’s something going on inside the government that’s really wrong and I can’t ignore it.”
The story made headlines for weeks and that’s all most of us know about it — just the headlines.
Shailene Woodley: “This is a story a lot of us know, but we don’t know the details of the back history.”
This movie takes us inside Edward’s journey from this…
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Edward Joseph Snowden): “I’d like to help my country make a difference in the world.”
To this…
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Edward Joseph Snowden): “I just wanna get this data to the world.”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Snowden — and he told Deco — this tale of privacy versus security made him think.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: “When I asked myself, ‘What exactly did he do and why did he do it? and, ‘Was it right or wrong?'”
Shailene Woodley as (Lindsay Mills): “It’s my country too and right now it has blood on its hands.”
Shailene Woodley plays Snowden’s girlfriend, and says looking beyond the headlines opened her eyes.
Shailene Woodley: “What this movie opened my eyes to was why Edward decided to do what he did.”
Shailene Woodley as (Lindsay Mills): “You are a very frustrating individual. You know that?”
Edward Snowden was granted asylum in Russia, so Joseph made the trip to get to know the person he’d be portraying.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt: “It was really valuable for me to sit and meet with him, ’cause I was gonna play him, obviously, and everyone in the world has seen him knows what he looks like.”
And despite all his computer knowledge and mastery of cloak and dagger, it was something else that surprised Joseph.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt : “He’s actually got really good manors.”
Shailene Woodley as (Lindsay Mills): “How am I gonna make you see?”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Edward Joseph Snowden): “I can see just fine, thank you.”
“Snowden” is in theaters in this Friday.