Production Images

Taglines

• With law comes disorder.
• Outside the law, there are no limits.

Trivia

• A more interesting aspect of the training for Richard Madden was learning how to pickpocket. Working with a consultant named, appropriately, “Keith the Thief”, Madden learned sleight of hands tricks and distraction techniques. Madden said: “We wanted some of the maneuvers he pulls to be a bit flamboyant so that it reflects Michael’s cockiness at his own ability. James was very keen to make sure that that the stealing didn’t appear to be like magic, but that it seemed realistic. So if anyone watching the film on DVD pauses and watches it in slow-motion to check it’s really me doing it, I did actually do it!”.
• Actor Richard Madden was thrilled to be involved in the action scenes. He started training with the stunt team about six weeks before filming. Madden said: “They built these 15-foot high obstacle courses which I’d have to run up and over, jumping over things, throwing myself through windows, tumbling down stairs. It was really tough but it prepared me for the chase sequences where I had to scramble over roofs and hang off the edge of buildings. It was important that it didn’t look too professional because [my character] Michael isn’t a base jumper or anything; he’s just an ordinary guy, so the rooftop chase is quite scrappy. I wanted him to slip and fall and really scrambling for his life trying to get away.”
• For his part, actor Richard Madden saw his character of Michael Mason as “a street rat, with not much of a moral compass or sense of responsibility for his actions. He’s an American pickpocket in Paris, and he’s a bit adrift, but he’s got this incredible skill set, he’s really wonderful at what he does. But I think he’s not sure who he is and who he wants to be and he’s slightly lost in the world and has a certain sense of perhaps self-loathing and but he’s really ready to embark on a journey and try to find a different side of himself.”
• Six weeks of prepping went into filming the opening rooftop chase sequence, including weeks of training for two of the lead actors, Idris Elba and Richard Madden.