Exclusive interview: Chris Pine on why he agreed to play James Harper in action-thriller ‘The Contractor’

‘The Contractor’ star Chris Pine knows there isn’t anything groundbreaking or monumentalabout a film on the life of an army guy but he believes there’s a lot to be told about a person who’s lost it all, picks himself up and makes it happen again. Starring in an action film that will release on April 8 in theatres worldwide, Hollywood star Chris Pine speaks about his character James Harper, a man who risks it all to bounce back in life.

Chris Pine plays a US Special Forces sergeant James Harper who runs into financial strain after being involuntarily discharged from the US Army for using drugs to treat a surgery. A story of resilience, struggle and coming out stronger amid all chaos is what defines James, explains Chris to WION.

Here are the excerpts from our exclusive conversation as we get ready for the theatrical release of ‘The Contractor’:

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WION: Who is James Harper, the character in your film. What are some of his insecurities and strengths?

Chris Pine: I was really interested in this film the first time I read it. On page, it's a simple story, does not redefine the genre that much. It's a well told story but what makes it complex for me is that it spoke a lot about what it meant to be an American military man. It's very much a character-study wrapped in an action thriller. I was motivated even more because I read Yuval Harari’s book ‘Sapiens’, and the big takeaway that I had was that how much human beings are defined by narratives that we tell ourselves, fictions that we tell ourselves to live by…that we construct.

So I find James Harper to be someone who’s rigidly constructed by these narratives of country, duty, honour, democracy, noble values, freedom, and so as that is stripped away from him I was curious to see, it was fascinating to be stripped of these stories that you’ve lived your life by. What is left is something very primal, which is survival and his family, those are two that are exogen realities that have no political implications, no stories. Its deeply felt blood lineage. I wanted to explore how he dealt with them.

WION: In the film ‘The Contractor’, your character falls out of favour after being loved by all. While your character picks himself again, what’s your mantra to deal with such situations in real life?

Chris Pine: I think my worldview can be distilled down to I think ‘life is about chaos and structure’. Human beings are desperate for structure and yet we live in an entropic crazy world of singing chaos. Some people love the chaos, some people like the rigidity of structure. I think I strive for the middle path – to have a foot in each but never get beholden to either. If you try to structure something a certain way, you get a certain result, you can bemoan a second and then find your way back. Be like the water off the duck’s back, be like the water or any of the aphorisms to live by.

‘The Contractor’ is directed by Tarik Saleh. It stars Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gillian Jacobs, Eddie Marsan, J. D. Pardo, Florian Munteanu, and Kiefer Sutherland.

The film will release on April 8 in India and worldwide.