This Clyde's more badass

In the children's game of cops and robbers, banks can be robbed and gunfights can be epic. But, of course, at the end of it, everyone just dusts themselves off and walk away.

Not so in real life, and certainly not for the infamous Great Depression-era American outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, famously played by Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty in the 1967 movie.

Their crime spree ended in a hail of bullets as they were gunned down by cops in May 1934. Actor Emile Hirsch plays Clyde in the four-hour TV movie Bonnie & Clyde.

How did you prepare for the role of Clyde Barrow?

The main research was through this book, Go Down Together (2009), by Jeff Guinn. It was the whole story of Bonnie and Clyde, from beginning to end, with all the details and stories. It had psychological profiling and great pictures. Reading this really gave you a clue as to what Clyde was like.

Why does the fascination with Bonnie and Clyde remain after all these years?

They were lovers and that's so rare. Lovers usually do innocent things together; they take their dates out and go get cotton candy. They don't do violent crimes together; they don't take Tommy guns out and go rob banks.

And then, there was all that sex.

What did you think of the classic 1967 film Bonnie And Clyde?

After we finished shooting, I watched the original and it's so much different from our version, I couldn't believe it.

Beatty played Clyde in a really great way: kind of a smiley, jokey, borderline doofus at times. In our version, Clyde is much more serious and stoic, and more of a badass. It's real intense.

If you were offered a superhero movie, would you do it?

It would depend on what kind of cape I had to wear, to be honest. I'm very particular about my fashion.

What's next for you?

I worked on the movie Lone Survivor with Mark Wahlberg and that was about a Navy Seal battle that happened in Afghanistan. It's about the camaraderie and courage that soldiers have and honouring all soldiers.

I just signed on to a John Belushi project as well.

myp@sph.com.sg

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