Ellen Page, Brit Marling talk new eco-terrorism thriller "The East"
Corporate America is under attack in the new thriller "The East."
Brit Marling ("Another Earth," "The Company You Keep") stars as Sarah, a government operative who gets sent undercover to track down a group of domestic eco-terrorists determined to bring down greedy and corrupt organizations. During her assignment, Sarah connects and begins to sympathize with members of the anarchist organization The East and starts to have difficulty differentiating the good guys from the bad.
"True Blood" star Alexander Skarsgard and Oscar nominee Ellen Page also star as members of the covert organization.
Page told CBS News that, while she understands the contempt many feel towards major corporations, she doesn't agree with the terrorist acts The East carries out in the film.
"There's a lot of validity to the anger that they feel, it's something I personally feel, but of course hurting people is not something I agree with," Page said.
Marling co-wrote the screenplay with the film's director, Zal Batmanglij. Marling and Batmanglij spent a summer together practicing an entirely "freegan" lifestyle (living without money and instead using food and resources that have been discarded) in preparation for this film. Marling also said that it was important for her to have relatable female characters in the story.
"Sometimes you go to the cinema, and you watch a film, and you just don't recognize any of the women. They don't act like your mother, or your grandmother, your sisters, your best friends, and it's like, 'where are women I see around me all the time?'"
"The East" opens in theaters on Friday.
