Edward Norton - Edward Norton: Bourne Character Is The Biggest 'Russian Doll'

Edward Norton: Bourne Character Is The Biggest 'Russian Doll'

Edward Norton thinks his 'Bourne Legacy' character is like the ''next level of Russian dolls''.

The actor plays CIA Agent Byer in the forthcoming reboot of the action franchise and thinks his Alter Ego is the ''lynch pin'' running throughout the series.

He explained: ''I think when you think about those Russian dolls where there's Little Ones inside of bigger ones, inside of bigger ones, inside of bigger ones....he's the next level of Russian doll around everything you've seen in the first three Bourne films.

''It's the next chapter, and in it Tony [Gilroy, writer/director] has kind of taken you one level wider so that you can see The Matrix of programmes and agendas that was nestled within. Now you realise that there was a lot going on in parallel that's going to be affected by it. And my character, he's sort of the lynchpin of that.

''He's the one that you realise has been keeping tabs on this the whole time and debating what he has to do and when he's going to have to step in.''

Although Edward's character is out to assassinate Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) and Stephanie Snyder (Rachel Weisz), the actor insists he isn't a villain, but someone who is ''frustrated'' with his lot.

He added to Collider: ''I wouldn't say he's a 'villain', a villain is someone who takes great delight in Terrible Things. I don't think that's him at all. And I don't think he's casually doing the things he does. Tony has set him up as a person who's extremely frustrated and extremely hesitant ... not hesitant, but he's thinking long and hard about trying to do everything he can do except the worst things. When it comes to the time that he feels like he has to do the worst, he looks like a person that a truck has hit.

''He's not happy about it, but I think he sees it all as a part of the very difficult nature of the job.''