Paranoia: Liam Hemsworth Talks "Repercussions" of Technology
by Joel D Amos at . Updated at . CommentsLiam Hemsworth had the most special spot making Paranoia with Harrison Ford and Gary Oldman. As the young businessman who is caught in the middle of the dueling tech titans, Hemsworth had a front row seat to watching legends work. “It was great to sit there and watch Harrison and Gary go head to head,” Hemsworth told Movie Fanatic recently.
“Particularly in those last few scenes when we were in the room together -- in the scene, my character watches, and in real life I watched, and it was just very exciting. You don’t know what either of them is going to do.”
As shown in the Paranoia trailer, this is a completely different film than anything he’s made before. In fact, one could argue that The Hunger Games star has achieved his first “adult” role. “What I initially related to was this character has something that everyone can relate to. He’s trying to climb the ladder. He’s starting at the bottom, and he’s been at the bottom for a while, and he’s fed up with being there,” Hemsworth said.
“He’s at the point where he’s got big ideas and big hopes, and they don’t get him anywhere. All of a sudden, he’s caught in a position where he’s being told to do something that he wouldn’t normally do. And then, he starts going down this road, and he starts buying into the whole life, and the power, and he gets a taste for it.”
The Australian actor also appreciated appearing in a genre he adores. “I’ve always liked thrillers like this, and I try to find characters that are going to challenge me,” he added. “This is definitely one of those.”
Hemsworth also sees Paranoia as a warning sign to society. “What’s good about this film is that you’re getting an insight into this day and age and how hard it is to keep things private, from your personal life to the internet, and how much information is able to be stolen so easily and so quickly. That’s what this film gives you an insight into,” Hemsworth admitted.
Another performer who Hemsworth had appreciated from afar and got to share numerous scenes with as his love interest/work colleague was Amber Heard. He even reported that her uber-smart character is not a stretch for the actress. “Amber’s character in the film is extremely intelligent and a little scary, and I would say she’s pretty close to that in real life,” he said and laughed.
“She would come to set and she’d be reading some interesting book. I’d have conversations with Amber where she would just say things that I didn’t understand.”
The man who was recently seen in the Catching Fire trailer, although he didn’t have to, delved quite deep into the cell phone world… just to add that layer of authenticity. “My character has a scene where he takes apart a number of phones and does numerous things to them. So, when I found out that I was going to do this film, I got some old phones and I took them apart,” Hemsworth said and laughed. “That’s about all I did. I took them apart and couldn’t even put them back together!”
As a member of the generation who seems completely attached to their electronic devices, Hemsworth feels Paranoia is a must-see for all generations as it can serve as a warning sign to those who live in electronic ignorant bliss.
“What is interesting, too, is that one of the biggest threats these days is cyber warfare and how dangerous that is. They talk about terrorist groups hacking into power plants and all these things that are now run by computers, and everything’s connected,” Hemsworth said.
“We’re all so connected by the internet and all this stuff, and all of a sudden, we don’t have these things in place to protect it. We’ve advanced that technology so quickly that we haven’t thought about all the other repercussions with it.”