Opening in theaters on January 27th is a new thriller from director Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cite Soleil) called Man on a Ledge. The film features an excellent cast of young and veteran actors including Sam Worthington (Texas Killing Fields), Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games), Jaime Bell (The Eagle), Anthony Mackie (Real Steel), Edward Burns (Newlyweds), Genesis Rodriguez (TV's Entourage), Titus Welliver (TV's Lost), Kyra Sedgwick (TV's The Closer), and Ed Harris (The Rock). 

IAR's Managing Editor Jami Philbrick recently had an opportunity to sit down and speak with actor Edward Burns about his role in Man on a Ledge. Burns discussed the new film, why he took the role, what he looks for in Hollywood scripts, playing a New York cop, collaborating with Elizabeth Banks, working opposite Titus Welliver, and what it feels like to actually walk out on the ledge of a building. 

Actor/filmmaker Edward Burns first gained attention from Hollywood in 1995 with his critically acclaimed independent film The Brothers McMullen, which he wrote, directed, produced and starred in himself. As the legend goes, Burns had been working as a production assistant on Entertainment Tonight and used his salary to help finance the film. After the it was completed, Burns was able to use his connections at ET to give a copy to actor/director Robert Redford, which eventually led to its inclusion at Redford’s Sundance Film Festival where it went on to win the Grand Jury Prize and was bought for $10 million by 20^th Century Fox. That’s not bad considering the film only cost around $28, 000 to make.

Hot on the heels of that success, Burns made She’s the One, which he also wrote, directed, and starred in opposite (then little known actresses) Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz, and Amanda Peet. The film went on to be his most financially successful movie to date. While Burns would continue to write and direct movies over the years including Sidewalks of New York, The Groomsman, and Nice Guy Johnny, it was his acting work that would make him a household name. Beginning with a starring role in Steven Spielberg’s now classic WWII film Saving Private Ryan, Burns became one of the most reliable actors around continually giving daring performances in both studio and independent films. His acting resume includes several diverse projects opposite Oscar-winning talent such as 15 Minutes with Robert De Niro, Confidence with Dustin Hoffman, Life or Something Like It with Angelina Jolie, and A Sound of Thunder with Ben Kingsley.

Like all New Yorkers, Edward Burns loves his corner of the world. Unlike most New Yorkers, however, Burns gets to share his love of the Empire State with hundreds of thousands of people around the world. His first movie, The Brothers McMullen (1995), which launched his career as actor, writer and director, was shot in Long Island on a minimal budget. Lauded by critics everywhere for his resourceful commitment and lucid take on working-class Irish-American lives, Burns went on to play a number of handsome nice-guys in compelling movies such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), Life or Something Like It (2002) and 27 Dresses (2008).

The filmmaker in Edward Burns, however, is still drawn to explore relationships from the other side of the lens. His latest movie, Newlyweds, will be released everywhere digitally on-demand December 26^th, making it the triple-aesthete’s tenth feature-length film. In all ten of his movies, New York is the extra in the background, wordlessly pulling the characters to each other or away from each other. Sometimes, New York’s multi-faceted landscape simply exists seemingly to enchant the audience without them even knowing it. Newlyweds continues Burns’ charming formula of mixing romance and milieu, except for three major details. This time around, and quite unlike most movies in general, its mode of narrative is the mockumentary, it is being distributed digitally on-demand, and it was shot on a $9,000 budget in eighteen days. Those three details alone are enough to get tongues wagging, and for independent filmmakers, at the very least, it’s enough to start asking some bigger-picture questions.