"When you’re playing these real people, there’s a huge responsibility to represent them." - Sam Rockwell on his role in Richard Jewell

Power lies at the heart of Clint Eastwood’s film, Richard Jewell. It’s the true story of a former sheriff’s deputy, and later a campus police officer, who was overzealous in his work. He hassled teenagers and stopped cars without authority – to keep people safe, sure, but also to assert some power. Jewell discovered a suspicious backpack while working as security at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics. The bag’s contents, a pipe bomb loaded with nails, exploded, killing one person and injuring more than 100 others – but without Jewell’s watchful eye and swift action, it could have been worse.

However, Jewell moved from hero to public enemy number one due to the power of law enforcement and the media. With both sides desperate to solve the mystery of the Centennial Park tragedy, they settled on the rent-a-cop who had been first to spot the bomb – and set about destroying his life in a misuse of power.

Paul Walter Hauser, who was scene-stealing in I, Tonya, plays Richard Jewell, and Oscar winning actor Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) plays his one true ally; lawyer Watson Bryant, a man all too aware of how powerful organisations and systems can crush innocent people.

For Rockwell, working with Eastwood was a huge draw, with the actor appreciating how the veteran director celebrates everyday heroes.

“He’s got an interest in injustice, for sure, it’s definitely a theme in his films,” says Rockwell.
“He brings to light people who have been underestimated, but have risen to the occasion to perform a heroic act, and the media circus that surrounds them, and gets out of control. The court of public opinion is a dangerous thing, and I think it’s an important theme that never gets old, because it keeps happening in real life like it happened to Richard.”

The audience is introduced to Watson Bryant twice in the film. We first meet him early in his career as a sick, wealthy, high-flying lawyer who has some brief, warm interactions with Richard Jewell. Later, we encounter him as a man disillusioned with the trappings of power, and committed to not only having a healthier, more fulfilling life, but to defending vulnerable people, even if the money and rewards are less. Rockwell met Bryant in real life, and was intrigued by both his intelligence and clear values.

“He’s a fabulous character to play, like something out of Tennessee Williams!” Rockwell enthuses. “He’s very smart, very excitable and opinionated. He loves to argue, which, for a lawyer, is a great quality to have, I suppose. For much of the film, Watson is an underdog, one man fighting for this guy’s life against the entire government. I think the reason Watson was a good fit for Richard, as an attorney, is because of what they developed in that previous interaction. Not just a friendship, because Watson was more of a father figure or older brother archetype for Richard. Their relationship is part of the heart of the film, I think, because they always had trust between them.”

Rockwell and the rest of the cast, which includes Kathy Bates as Richard Jewell’s mother, Jon Hamm as an FBI investigator and Olivia Wilde as a journalist covering the case, were all very aware of the need to accurately reflect reality and to capture the story authentically, and shot on location in Atlanta where the events occurred.

“When you’re playing these real people, there’s a huge responsibility to represent them,” says Rockwell. “It’s daunting. So, I think it’s extraordinary if you can also film in the actual locations, because it helps you get the spirit of the story and what they went through. It helps you rise to the occasion, and for a story like this, that’s really important. Richard Jewell was underestimated. He was misunderstood, for sure. But he stepped up, he rose to the occasion and he was a hero, and then a victim of a terrible injustice, being wrongly accused by not only the FBI, but the media as well. So, as actors, you really want to do right by him, and Watson and Bobi, everyone who went through this with Richard.”

Rockwell believes that the film’s authenticity was heightened by Eastwood’s direction.

“Whenever you’re dealing with an actor-director, you get a lot of compassion,” he notes. “They know what it’s like to be in front of the camera, and Clint is no exception. He trusts you, he lets you play, but Clint is also very sharp. He picks up on the littlest things, and he’ll say stuff that only somebody who’s been doing movies as long as he has would think to say. One thing I loved is that while he’s directing, you can see he’s thinking about the editing, because he’ll ask you to go through a door faster, or start the car faster, that sort of thing. He knows it’s just a quick connect from one scene to the next; it doesn’t need to be a Doctor Zhivago moment.”

Richard Jewell is in cinemas now.