How the Bourne Boys Keep it Real

Matt Damon and Paul Greengrass find gritty truth in a summer action franchise

Evan Hurd for TIME

Portrait of director Paul Greengrass and Matt Damon, photographed at The Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles, Calif., on July 20, 2007.

"You need to be butch! Butcher and more intense." That's darned good advice for an NFL lineman, a carjacker ... or an action-movie star forced to start filming while awaiting pivotal script pages. It was Paul Greengrass's direction for Matt Damon when they commenced shooting this summer's globe-galloping thriller The Bourne Ultimatum without a finished screenplay. "I didn't know where I had come from. I didn't know where I was going--which are things you really need to know as an actor," says Damon, who reprises his role as conflicted assassin Jason Bourne for the third movie in the series. Luckily, Damon...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!