Gordon-Levitt meets Snowden for Stone’s flick

Hollywood star Joseph Gordon-Levitt has revealed he travelled to Russia to meet US political exile Edward Snowden before playing him on camera.

The 35-year-old actor stars as the controversial former CIA employee, who leaked classified information in 2013, in a new Oliver Stone-directed movie, and has recalled his experience of meeting the US political exile, reported People magazine. Joseph, whose visits were arranged by Snowden’s attorneys in the US and Russia, where he lives in exile, shared, “A few months before shooting the movie, I did have a chance to sit with him in person. It was honestly not as crazy as you would imagine. I flew to Moscow and went and met him at an office.”

Joseph, who stars in the movie alongside Shailene Woodley, admitted he relished the chance to study Snowden in person and learn more about his character. “One of the first things I noticed actually was, he’s got really good manners. He’s sort of old-fashioned, in a way. You don’t necessarily expect that in today’s world, or when you think of someone who’s really good at computers.

“You don’t necessarily equate that with someone who’s got a lot of social grace. But what can I say He’s from North Carolina. I think they put a lot more emphasis on good manners there than they do where I’m from in Southern California. I really noticed that. I wanted to incorporate it into my performance of him.”