B.L. John, this is by the far the most ambitious movie you have ever tackled. What was the biggest challenge?
J.W. The biggest challenge was how to make this film look real and convincing. This is a really serious subject matter and I knew that I had to make it like a documentary and unlike what I've done before.

B.L. What was the major difference?
J.W. There weren't many stylish shots, not too much slow motion or holding two guns flipping in the air, you know that kind of thing. With this, I tried to show the horror of war and also the danger. For the drama, I was more focused on the characters and the friendship aspect. I wanted to show something great about codetalkers. I really admire them for their bravery and their great contribution to the country. They saved a lot of Marines and helped win the war. I also feel that this story should be told. A lot of people haven't heard about it and don't know about this part of history. The other big part of making this movie was that I really wanted to work Nicolas Cage again (they made Face/Off together).

B.L. The acting by everyone in Windtalkers is top notch, but Nicolas, your character, Joe Enders is probably one the most tormented I have ever seen you play. All I could think of when I was watching the movie was how did he get through this every day?
N.C. Yes, he probably is the most unhappy character I have ever played. When I work with John Woo, one of the great things about it is that you feel free. He knows how to make his actors feel free to create and encourages us to come up with ideas even on the set. There are times when we would work together and he's thinking one thing and I'm thinking of something else. Then in two minutes we'll have something brand new that we hadn't even planned on before. There is this spontaneous freshness to it that keeps the performances alive and that's why I think that you see good acting in John Woo's movies. There is a life to them that you don't see in other films because they get too thought out and analyzed.

B.L. Was it difficult getting into the mindset of the character? He really goes through some bad times and has some tough decisions to make.
N.C. In terms of the torment of the character, I could just look around at any time and see (they were dummies, of course), people that were torn apart or exploded. As an actor you try and imagine really being there. You think, "My God, this really happened to people and still continues to happen to people." It doesn't take that much to get into it.

B.L. Adam, it must have been rough for you as well to make this film. We in Canada all know you, but here you are making your first huge budget picture with John Woo and Nicolas Cage and other amazing actors. I can't imagine what it must have been like to come to this set at the beginning of the shoot. Was it a completely overwhelming experience for you?
A.B. Everyday was overwhelming. I was just following Nic and John's lead, because my first week on set is the actual sequence from the movie when we arrive in Saipan. So my first week working with Nic was having him yell at me, "Get down, stay here." He transforms into this horrific, crazy, psycho Marine guy and you're thinking, "I got six months with this guy".

B.L. I would think that so far, this is one of the most amazing film experiences you've had in your career.
A.B. With Windtalkers John and Nic taught me a lot about the moment and about timing. John Woo is such an amazing director and he taught about the discipline it takes to make a movie of this scope.

B.L. I understand that you had to learn the Navajo language for this and you're not Navajo. What an amazing experience .
A.B. The Navajo language is very difficult I had a Codetalker named Albert Smith and the other Navajo character in the film, Roger Willie, was there to help me every day.

B.L. Shooting the battle sequences must have been a logistical nightmare, and John, I understand that there was no other way to do it but in one take. You had a lot to think about from the actors wanting to do a lot of their own stunts to all of the cameras and bombs going off. How did you handle it?
J.W. We had three military advisors on the set. To do this kind of action sequence is always a challenge. Since I tried to make it real and stunning, I just wanted to make everything big. What I had heard from the history is that a lot of people had gotten killed in battle and it is horrifying. So every set up was very big, many people were involved, there were a lot of explosions. I remember for one shot we had 280 bombs in the field and there were so many bullets. We used over 13 cameras to shoot the sequence. Every set up was about 4 to 5 minutes long, because I wanted it to look real. Incredibly all of the actors did the stunts by themselves. Sometimes I tried to use a stunt double but they all refused. They all felt as if they were real Marines and they were very dedicated. Fortunately none of them got hurt!