McG interview: This Means War, Terminator: Salvation’s ending and more

Only this time, theres no CGI Arnie.

Instead,This Means Wargives us two staple ingredients from the McG menu: spies and suburbia.

The man is like a machine, albeit less Terminator, more Energiser Bunny.

The film hinges on the two male leads, in their friendship and in their battle against each other.

So how did you hit upon Tom Hardy and Chris Pine?

And of course he went on toBronsonandInceptionand I acquainted myself with the body of his work.

When I met him I knew that he was a very interesting human being.

That would be compelling.

And then the same thing with Pine.

Pine never gets the credit he deserves as far as his command of acting.

And who else could fill the boots of Captain Kirk so proficiently and in such a satisfying way?

The two seemed like the best choices possible.

And did you have any battles with the studio over Tom Hardy?

Because hes perhaps not the obvious choice for a romantic lead.

Yeah, I have casting directors that I trust completely.

And then once I met him I fought for him.

And I said, Because hes special.

And its going to blow up.

And hes going to be exciting.

And people are going to be talking about him.

So Im very, very pleased weve got Tom.

Did that come in when you came in?

And who wins that fight?

Bournes pretty capable, isnt he?

And so is Bond.

And if they feel safe to own the character to that degree often it gives rise to great performances.

Did you harbour dreams of becoming a spy when you were young?

I strive to make movies I would enjoy.

And you were behind the US remake of that.

Is that where it came from?

Well, the US version never really took flight.

It was too good, what Simon [Pegg] got up to, and those guys.

But yeah, thats a huge influence and I love that voice.

I love British voicing and British humour in general.

Im a huge Ricky Gervais fan.

So yeah, theres a lot ofSpacedthere.

Because theres a great story to be told about the Kyle Reese character.

His scenes inSalvationwere great.

So… no, we didnt change that too much.

McG, thank you very much.

This Means War hits cinemas on Friday 2nd March.