JOAN Allen and Julia Stiles talk about reprising their roles in The Bourne Ultimatum and why their characters continue to be so interesting and ambiguous…

Q. As a returning character, were you excited to see where the character went next or do you view it as just another job?
Julia Stiles: Well, I think that Paul [Greengrass] certainly gave us opportunities to make these characters more interesting than you would normally find in an action film. I’ve always thought that Joan [Allen]‘s character and my character are similar in that they both have a conscience and don’t like where the operation has gone and become corrupted. It’s certainly interesting to play someone who has invested her whole life in this agency and then decides that they’re against it.

Q. Joan, your character [Pam Landy] is something of a beacon in this very deceitful landscape. Was that part of the allure?
Joan Allen: [Laughs] We weren’t always sure that she would be! It is a world of ambiguity and I certainly, as a regular American citizen, understand just a microscopic part of what it’s really like. I did interview a couple of women who were in the CIA and glean a little bit of insight, even just by being in their presence – how they talk and how they carry themselves. And that was sort of helpful.

I remember when we were making Supremacy I kept saying: “I need a consultant on this film. Who knows these people? How do they behave? How do they really react?” So I tried to make it my mission if there was a third one that I would try to ferret out somebody who would actually lift the lid on that world…. I was in the living room of this woman who was a 30-year veteran in the CIA and had been in some incredibly hairy situations, some of which she shared with me. It kind of gave me a deeper understanding of what these people deal with on a daily basis.

Q. How does the hand-held style of filming affect you in terms of giving a performance?
Joan Allen: It does but only in a completely positive way. Our camera operators were two German camera operators and they were as much a part of each scene as any of the actors in Paul’s presence. It’s actually very thrilling to work with camera operators of such a calibre where you know that there’s a kinetic aesthetic going on. It’s actually fun and really wonderful to be in their presence because they’re so good at what they do. Seeing the collaboration between them and Paul – they kind of don’t communicate after a while; they say a few words and they get it. It’s kind of like being part of a great basketball team or something because everybody is working together. Everyone is so on top of their game.

Q. Julia, given that you’ve started to direct yourself, did you learn much from Paul Greengrass’ style of filming? Does it interest you doing it that way?
Julia Stiles: I have to say that after coming to the set of Ultimatum my perspective was totally different having sat behind a camera thinking about how to make a film. I was much more aware of all those decisions that Paul has to make and what the rest of the crew was doing. I even went into the editing room to see how it came together.

But I think in terms of the shot the hand-held camera work really helped us out because on other films you get boxed in to the frame that the director wants to have. But our cameramen would follow us, so you really didn’t have to be as tight on your mark. They would grab little mannerisms that you had or little things you were doing to help tell the story that made it work even better. It’s liberating and helps to maintain that level of tension you have to have for the film.

Q. How physically demanding was this one for you?
Julia Stiles: I think that there’s something about shooting in the Medina [in Tangier] and the acting style in this movie where you want to maintain that level of tension I was previously talking about. I’d come home at the end of the day and my shoulders would be hunched up to my ears so anything you could do to release that tension was important. But I didn’t go through any kind of special training for this one.

Read our review of The Bourne Ultimatum

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