Jamie Bell (Jumper) Interview

Based on the Steven Gould novel, Jumper follows a young man from a broken home who discovers that he has the ability to teleport. In his quest for the man he believes is responsible for the death of his mother, the kid draws the attention of the National Security Agency and another youth with the same abilities.


You must be used to giving a quick synopsis of the movie, so who’s in it, what is it and who do you play?

Jamie Bell: It’s directed by Doug Liman who we know from ‘The Bourne Identity’ and ‘Mr and Mrs Smith’. Hayden Christensen is in it, Samuel L. Jackson is in it and Diane Lane appears in it briefly. It’s basically a new take on the comic book genre. It’s about this kid who has this genetic anomaly which allows him to teleport places. You know in most comic book films the idea of ‘with great power comes great responsibility’…it’s very much in this film ‘with great power comes whatever you want’!

How is Jamie Bell, who left the North East to go off and do ‘Billy Elliott’? I detect a twang there that’s gone half LA and half Teesside?

No, you’re hearing things, you’re making it up! No, I’m still the same, same friends, still the same old me. I’m obviously affected by a lot of travelling, especially for this film. On this movie we shot in nine different countries. We’ve been doing press now and we started off the press tour in Egypt, in Cairo, so it’s busy. The accent comes and goes.

You’re twenty one now, at what point did life stop being normal for you?

It’s still normal. I still do all the things my contemporaries do and people my age do. Only the other day I was thinking, ‘Where’s the X Box? I need the X Box.’ I had a sudden craving for playing video games. I still feel very much in touch with my generation and with me as a person.

But with this movie, visiting nine countries and acting with Hayden you must have moved up that Hollywood list surely?

Absolutely not. I think that’s all an invention and I don’t think that’s true at all. The chance to do stuff like that is incredibly humbling, I have just been to Cairo which is incredibly immersed in the Muslim culture and I don’t think many people have got the chance to travel and to experience those things and I think there is an ignorance because of that. I think getting to travel gives you an amazing education and so I have been incredibly fortunate and incredibly humbled by having that experience.

What are you playing on the X Box at the minute?

You know what, there is a new game out called ‘Jumper: The Griffin Story’ which is the spin-off. I’m just saying that as a tie-in from the movie, I am playing myself in a video game! (Laughter) Which is fantastic!

Twenty one and you just slipped that in there.

Absolutely, I’ve been doing press since I was thirteen years old and I’m a whiz at it!

I saw Patsy Kensit say she’s been acting since she was four, did you start that early?

Absolutely not. I was thirteen. It was a brand new thing to me, it still is a brand new thing to me. I’ve been very fortunate to work with people like Peter Jackson, Clint Eastwood and people who know their craft incredibly well, not just acting but as filmmakers with extensive knowledge of the industry. To be around people like that is fantastic because I am still very much in a learning process.

You are going to stay in this for life, aren’t you or do think you may go and do something else?

You have to reinvent yourself a lot of the time and you have to find things that really interest you. I think I have done that; working with these people and getting to spend time travelling around with these filmmakers has opened the world of movies to me, not only acting but stuff behind the camera and I respect a lot of directors and screenwriters. My life has always been in the industry, so if not the acting, maybe something else.

Do you have anything in your soul that would bring a Hollywood movie to Teesside, to set something in your roots?

The character I play in this move ‘Jumper’ – which is a big Twentieth Century Fox movie, directed by a big Hollywood director – well, I use my own accent. I specifically wanted my character to come form the North East of England. And the guy who wrote the original books of ‘Jumper, he’s gone back and written a book which is all about my character whose back-story is that he comes from a town in the North East of England. So there!

You will have been asked a zillion times about Billy Elliot but is there a ballet dancer in every North East boy waiting to come forth?

If I had a dollar or every time I’d been asked that question I’d be an incredibly rich man! The idea of ‘Billy Elliot’ is a universal story, as a structure to the film it’s very simple; the kid loses, he loses, he loses, he wins. It is kind of unheard of, a kid coming out of nowhere and becoming a national and cultural icon for many young people and for many working class people. You have to embrace the things that make you, I think.

Making this film you have probably visited more countries that many people will visit in a lifetime? Do you think you have paced yourselves very well?! What are you going to do with the remaining sixty odd years of your life?!

It’s really what the job requires of you and it’s exhausting. The idea of getting on a plane tomorrow to travel somewhere else is nuts because we have done so much travelling for this film. But it’s part of the job; it’s something you have to just get used to.

Are you sci-fi by nature?

I was a big fan of ‘Star Wars’ as a kid and getting to work with Hayden was pretty cool because he is now cinematic history in a sense. I am a massive fan of comic books. Sci-fi was never my thing at all but working with a director who is reinventing genre movies I thought would be an interesting spin.

One of the funniest lines in any film was when the little girl in Billy Elliot says ‘I’ll show you my fanny’! I was just wondering how much time did that take. How many takes did you have to do?

I’ve no idea, it was eight years ago! I’ve no clue.

There are a lot of computer generated effects in TV and film nowadays and I just wondered what is it like to act against all that?

In terms of green screen it depends who you’re working with. With someone like Peter Jackson for example, when he says that there are going to be twenty dinosaurs chasing you down this mountain you kind of believe him because you’ve seen the blueprint for all of his movies which is ‘Lord of the Rings’. The visual effects on that were mind-blowing and really raised the bar, so on ‘King Kong’ when we were shooting that movie and he said ‘this is where King Kong is going to pick you up and throw you against something’, you go ‘that’s fine’. You totally believe him and you put all of your trust in him.

Would you like to direct?

I don’t know. It’s just incredibly difficult, telling a story. Even if you come up with an original idea, it’s very hard to get that original idea and those concepts and visions up on the screen because the studio gets involved and people want you to edit it down and it’s really a battle every step. It’s really tough.

One thing that amazes me is the amount of stuff that’s being worked on so far in advance. Obviously you hear about stuff now that’s going to come out late 2009. Can you tell us what’s in Jamie Bell’s diary from this point onwards?

Yeah, I’m going with this film. I’m following it until it comes out. Late last year I finished ‘Defiance’ a film with Daniel Craig, made by a guy called Ed Zwick who did ‘Blood Diamond’ and ‘The Last Samurai’ and that comes out in December this year, and I’ll probably start working on another movie in April at some point because the strike has just come to an end, which is great… the writers strike I mean.

Not the miners strike!

No, that came to an end in ’84 I believe!

So, any plans to come back to Billingham then?

My family are all still there and I get up there as often as I can, but with stuff like this and with moving around it is difficult and usually it requires them to come to me, which is fun. It’s fun having your family in all these different places.

What are you wearing?

Pyjamas.

You’re wearing pyjamas?

I’m not actually, that was a lie! Just the regular skinny tight black pants that everyone seems to be wearing these days. And Converse naturally. Converse that are so beaten up they could probably walk themselves actually! That’s the whole point of them I think!

Do you have a love interest in Jumper?

No, Griffin my character doesn’t, my character’s a loner. Hayden Christensen, he’s really the lead of the film, he has a romantic story line.

Did you feel any pressure to overcome the child-star tag after ‘Billy Elliot’?

No, I immediately went back to school, I was surrounded with great people who really cared about me and wanted me to have a normal childhood so it was very easy for me to slip back into a normal existence. And now I’ve worked with some amazing people.

Tell us a secret about Samuel L. Jackson.

First of all he loves golf. Loves golf! He does this crazy thing with his eyes as well when you’re acting opposite him. I’m not too sure if you can see it in the film but his eyes open really wide for half a second and then they go back to normal. It’s weird!

So what was it like working with Samuel L. Jackson?

He’s a great guy, you know I mean he’s Sam Jackson and that’s what makes him and he has managed to work with some fantastic people in his time.

And now he’s working with you! (Laughter)

I get to throw a double-decker bus at him in this movie which I know sounds crazy but it’s a lot of fun.

You get to teleport too, would you say your character is quite irresponsible with this power he possesses?

Well, my character is neither good nor bad which is always fun to play as an actor. I get to steal a car from a dealership in Tokyo and get to jump it around. I have this massive fight sequence within the Coliseum, me and Hayden’s character get to jump off the Empire State Building. It’s very action packed and a lot of fun.

So tell us about the rules of teleporting – you can go anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye...

If you touch something you can jump it, that’s why I have the capability of jumping a double-decker bus at Sam Jackson!

So with all these Hollywood films are you still living here?

I spend a lot of time here but most of my time for work is spent in the US. But it’s been a steady rise and the work after ‘Billy Elliot’ has really been the hard work. As I say, getting to work with people like Peter Jackson and Clint Eastwood doesn’t come very easy so that’s the stuff that I am incredibly proud of.

You had a go at sex in your last film, how was that?

That stuff is always awkward no matter which way you approach it, it is always going to be incredibly uncomfortable but it’s something that you have to do, I guess.

So how would you say your life has changed in the last eight years?

Not really dramatically in terms of who I am, and my personality and my values and all of that kind of stuff. But it has been hard work, that’s the reality of it. Coming from a childhood star in inverted commas, to work with those people I have mentioned has been hard, but humbling and rewarding.

Have you ever been somewhere where you wished you had teleporting powers to take you away from the situation?

Absolutely. On the promotional tour for this film they had this big idea that we’d go to the Pyramids in Egypt and the Coliseum in Rome because the tagline for the film is ‘Anywhere is possible’ and Fox wanted to show that anywhere is possible but we can’t teleport to those places. So, at the end of the day it was get on plane, stand in a security line and get your passport checked. And it was like, ‘If only it was real. If only it was real!’

And if you could have a superpower, what would it be?

Teleportation because we have done the movie but flying would be pretty incredible too.

So when we watch the movie it’s going to take two hours of our life, how long did it take of yours?

It’s going to take eighty minutes of your life, quick in and out. It’s definitely worthwhile though. You know the recent influx of comic book genre, with ‘The X Men’, ‘Spiderman’ and ‘Batman’, it’s all kind of the same structure and same formula because he’s going to wear a costume, he’s going to save the girl at the end of the movie. But with this attitude ‘with great power comes whatever you want’ - that’s a more refreshing approach to the genre. For an actor to be involved with that is really cool.

I know Hayden injured himself a few times but did you come away injury free?

We visited nine countries for this movie and usually you come away with souvenirs for your family but with this we were literally leaving every city with bruises and grazes!

How do you feel about seeing yourself on the big screen?

I cringe, every time! It’s interesting growing up on screen essentially. From thirteen I’ve been making movies and it never gets easier, it only gets harder. I was doing something in California recently with a guy who knows Joaquin Phoenix and he has an immense problem about seeing himself on the screen and I totally understand it.

So who do you look up to in the acting game?

Right now is a very interesting time to be a young actor because there are so many new, up-and-coming faces. Ryan Gosling is solidly consistent, I really love him. Casey Affleck just did a terrific performance in ‘The Assassination of Jesse James’. People like Emile Hirsh and Paul Dano who many people in this country don’t know, they are fantastic actors and will be the next generation of leading men.

And is there anyone you’d still like to work with?

It’s mostly directors. Paul Thomas Anderson right now is the hottest thing on the planet in terms of directing. I’ve always been a massive fan of his and this movie that has just come out has proved that he is one the best, if not the best modern American director. The opportunity to work with him would be fantastic.

And what about a leading lady to play alongside you?

Cate Blanchett. She is not real! It’s amazing and crazy how great she is! She plays Bob Dylan in ‘I’m Not There’ and it’s remarkable. It’s truly amazing to see her work.

So the film comes out of Valentine’s Day. Do you get and send Valentine cards?

I send a few - to my mother and grandmother - you have to! And I get the odd few!

You say you were working Doug Liman, what was that like?

I only have fantastic things to say about Doug Liman. Especially on a studio film you expect the experience to not be a collaborative, creative experience, but Doug Liman is very much a director that comes from an independent background. He made films such as ‘Swingers’ and ‘Go’, very independent based films and he still shoots like that. He approaches filmmaking like guerilla warfare. We were in a lot of vans, just jumping out with handheld cameras and running around the streets of Tokyo. It’s a big collaborative experience working with him.

How did you find moving to the sci-fi genre?

Sci-fi has always been something I’ve been very interested in, especially comic books and the idea that we’re doing something original…there’s been a lot of comic book films, Spider-Man, the X-Men films, the Fantastic Four stuff in particular, they all follow the same sort of rules and the same structure about what the heroes should do , saving the girl and wearing the costume…and I think what Doug Liman has come up with ‘with great power comes whatever you want’ is a much more honest, human approach to the genre and I think he’s really done something to raise the bar of what a comic book film should be.

Hayden’s character discovers his power in the film, but your character’s kind of armed and dangerous, isn’t he?

Yes, my character is much more seasoned in teleporting and really it’s much more about taking Hayden Christensen’s character who’s incredibly naïve and who’s been using his power to rob banks, to get girls, to afford this luxurious apartment in New York and my character reveals to him that there are people out to get us and that’s where the thrill and the action of the film really comes from. I’m very much a mentor to his character.

It’s got to be every childhood dream to do teleportation - we were all brought up with Doctor Who, weren’t we?

Yes, I think any kid who comes from a small town, it’s their dream. For me as a young boy growing up in the North East of England, having all these creative aspirations in a community that doesn’t really embody them, the idea of teleportation would be amazing. That’s the appeal and draw to many young people of this film.

Have you any plans to get to Liverpool which is the European City of Culture this year?

I have never been there and I would love to go. It’s so full of history and I suppose the first thing that everybody thinks of is the Beatles! Yes, I’d really love to get there.

You have had a very varied career. Have you any advice for Daniel Radcliffe?

Oh, I feel it’s tough to give advice to other people, especially my contemporaries and peers.

It’s just that thing of not getting typecast because you could have easily got stuck in a rut with dancing but you managed to go, ‘No, I’m moving on, I’m doing different things.’

I would never like to speak for Daniel; I think he has done remarkably well, especially doing that play ‘Equus’ in London. That was an incredibly brave performance and shows that he has a lot of guts. His choices will define him after Harry Potter. But for me, as I say, it’s always been about working with great directors. It’s the directors that make me want to move on and have a varied career.

You reside in New York don’t you?

At the moment I do yes. It’s fantastic. It’s such a party town. You know the fact that it’s contained on an island…I don’t drive so it’s really easy for me to get around. I have a lot of friends there who are at Columbia or just work there; it’s a great place to live.

You’re doing so well for yourself, but what else do you want to accomplish in life?

Thank you. I have no idea. Just continue along this journey really. Even at twenty one I have no idea what I want to do with my life really. At this point I just take as much as I can from the people I work with.

Just some quick fire questions…what’s the best day of your life been so far?

Right now talking to you!

Last meal on death row?

Oh wow! I guess…sirloin steak with a peppercorn sauce.

What’s the most you’ve spent on one item?

I’ve probably spent the most on an original Warner Brothers one-sheet for ‘Rebel Without A Cause’.

What’s on your iPod?

A lot of things. A lot of Arctic Monkeys, like a lot of people. I recently bought the new Radiohead album, but I was one of those people who went online and bought it before it came out.

Who’s your favourite superhero?

Batman obviously!

How much did you get for ‘Jumper’? Lots of money?

Of course lots because it’s a big studio film! It’s weird because I do a lot of independent films, so it’s very interesting to be travelling around the world with this one.

And how have you decked out your apartment in New York?

I’m more of an old-school person so it’s full of timeless things. Lots of antiques.


Adrenaline-packed adventure Jumper is released on DVD and Blu-ray on 16th June 2008 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.