Powerhouse actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe have teamed up for the spy thriller 'Body of Lies,' in theaters October 10, and the two are more than happy to share their thoughts with our own Thea Andrews on working together again, the political climate -- and hamburgers!
"[Director Ridley Scott] called up and said, 'I've got this specific character I want you to play," Russell says of his latest big-screen portrayal. "How do you feel about putting on a large amount of weight?' And I thought to myself, 'hamburgers.' And I thought, 'Yes, from a serious artistic perspective, Ridley, I shall make that sacrifice for you.'"
In 'Body of Lies,' Leo and Russell play CIA operatives who team up to track an al-Qaeda leader rumored to be planning attacks against America. Leo's character is an ex-journalist-turned-CIA agent who is sent to Amman to work with Jordan's intelligence chief, played by Russell.
The project marks a reunion of sorts, as Leo and Russell co-starred in 'The Quick and the Dead' together back in 1995 opposite Sharon Stone and Gene Hackman.
"We got to know each other when we were very young and green," says Leo, "and then here we are many years later and he seems like the same guy. And he's also developed a huge, great, extremely impressive body of work as well. I couldn't respect the guy more as an actor."
"We were good friends on 'Quick and the Dead,'" adds Russell. "We both felt like new kids on the block. It was our first big Hollywood feature film. It was wonderful to get together on this film and find out he's the same fella. He's the essentially the same guy, great heart, sweet man."
The film also reunites Russell with his 'Gladiator' and 'A Good Year' director Ridley Scott, who are still planning on a future collaboration with 'Nottingham,' a revisionist take on the Robin Hood legend.
"I made a decision a few years ago that, based on the fact that I really enjoy his company, when Ridley calls I'll just do that film, and I'll work out why I want to do the film later on," say Russell.
As for his new long-haired look, the Aussie actor explains, "I've been growing this hair for about two years for one particular role, and I've done two other movies in between trying to hide it."
On the political side, both actors were willing to weigh in on the current climate.
"I'm going to vote for the candidate that I believe has the better environmental policy," says Leo. "I think that in the last eight years we could have done an incredible amount to change this country; be less reliant on foreign oil and start to develop alternative ways of getting energy through wind and solar power. I wish we'd have done that in the last eight years, but we didn't. So I'm going to vote in a way where I feel that we're going to start to finally make that transition."
"I think it's a very exciting time for America," says Russell. "It's a huge decision to make, and what a wonderful situation to be in that you actually get to take part in that."
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