NH: The script certainly went through some much darker incarnations over the development period, and I think that’s because there is a darker side to jealousy, lust for fame and self-succession. But he was very gracious about the hyperbolic way in which we portrayed his failures on screen – he most certainly never took a gun to Bono (but I can’t tell you for sure if he hadn’t ever thought about it.īT: Your sense of humor has different layers, one is the obvious funny situations that make you laugh loud and then a more deep dark humor that is underneath the skin of the film and lasts with you, is this something that you had in mind working on the film? NH: You only have to meet the real Neil McCormick for 5 minutes and you can certainly see the similarities. But as the film progresses we are less interested in the reality or historical truth and more in the character and his journey.īT: The main character of the film is very interesting and I think audience could easily relate to him, how different is he to the character in the book?

U2 really did do their first audition in Larry’s mom’s kitchen, they really did put a notice on their school’s board inviting people to sign up- these events I wanted to record and show with a level of authenticity. Some of the incidents in the film are part of rock history. I mixed the truth with the dramatically necessary. NH: I amalgamated some events and characters and focused on an impression of the music scene I knew would be cinematic and interesting. It was also refreshing to approach a music film from the point of view of a band not succeeding.īT: The book itself is very interesting and funny, but does not seem to have the structure for a screenplay, how much did you had to change it and what was the process of making it into a script? He presented an everyman character, whose journey I felt a lot of people could identify with.

Nick Hamm: I read Neil McCormick’s book, and became fascinated by the story of a failure. The film is based on Neil McCormick’s memoir “Killing Bono: I am Bono’s Doppelganger.”įollowing is Cinema Without Borders’ interview with Nick Hamm, director of Killing Bono.īijan Tehrani: What interested you in making Neil’s Killing Bono book into a film? Based on real events, KILLING BONO tells the story of young Irish rocker Neil McCormick (Ben Barnes) and his younger brother, Ivan (Robert Sheehan), who attempt to become rock stars but can only look on as their school friends form U2 and become the biggest band in the world.

Bono's doppelganger