From the lens of director Paul Greengrass, this Friday’s Captain Phillips tells the true story of Captain Richard Phillips who, in 2009, had his vessel, the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, become the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in over two centuries. As he previously did with United 93, Greengrass brings to the screen a cinéma vérité-fueled look at a truly harrowing series of recent real-world events.
ComingSoon.net sat down with Greengrass and star Barkhad Abdi, who plays the Somali pirate Muse. Abdi, who makes his feature film debut with Captain Phillips, was born in Somalia, but moved to Minneapolis at a young age. Hand-picked for the film by Greengrass, Abdi carries his own in his first big screen role opposite two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks. In the below interview, he and Greengrass discuss building the Muse role, the process of ensuring and maintaining the film’s edge-of-your-seat intensity and their hope that some of the social issues on display in the narrative stay with the audience after they leave the theater.
Also starring Catherine Keener, Max Martini, Yul Vazquez, Michael Chernus, Chris Mulkey, Corey Johnson, David Warshofsky, John Magaro and Angus MacInnes, Captain Phillips arrives in theaters October 11.
