20th Century Fox(NEW YORK) — Joel Edgerton may think he’d be a “terrible” spy in real life, but he does a good job of playing one in the new movie Red Sparrow.
The actor plays CIA agent Nate Nash, who tries to convince Jennifer Lawrence’s Russian spy seductress Dominika Egorova to become a double agent.
To research the tricks of spy trade, Edgerton says he got all the information he needed from Jason Matthews, the author who wrote the book on which the film is based. Matthews and his wife, both ex-CIA operatives, gave Edgerton “all the access he needed” during a “very, very enlightening” dinner.
As for how much they revealed, a spy never tells — though Edgerton will spill secrets about what it was like working with Lawrence.
“I think most people would be aware by certain interviews that she’s done and sort of red carpet…photobombing and all that stuff, that she doesn’t really have a filter,” he tells ABC Radio. “I also think that’s what makes her a really great actress.”
He adds that J.Law was “definitely fun” on set and that she has a keen sense of when to take things seriously and when to have a laugh.
“She likes to keep friends around, which I think is a really good sign of a good person — that she still has friends!” he laughs. “And she has a little puppy and anyone who likes dogs I like them too.”
Red Sparrow arrives in theaters today.
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