Det 4 members cast to star in "The Bourne Ultimatum" Published May 9, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Darrin Gabriel 18th Intelligence Squadron, Det. 4 ROYAL AIR FORCE FELTWELL, England -- Many people join the Air Force to see the world, but not many expect to see stars. Three members of 18th Intelligence Squadron Detachment 4 stationed at RAF Feltwell recently spent more than 10 days in London taking part in the upcoming movie, "The Bourne Ultimatum" starring Matt Damon. Master Sgt. Brian Bailey, Tech. Sgt. Darrin Gabriel and Staff Sgt. Amber Godfrey responded to a request from a British casting company looking for Americans to play special roles in the third installment of the Bourne series. "I just wanted to try something different," said Sergeant Bailey. They were not cast as mere extras that simply blend into the film's scenery, but chosen to star as featured background artists who command significant camera time and plot importance. Sergeants Godfrey and Gabriel played agents while Sergeant Bailey played Bill Myer, a small parts worker. "Our role was more than just standing in the background," said Sergeant Godfrey. "We actually received direction from the directors and stunt coordinators. Most of the action on our part involved running through the train station." Sergeant Gabriel and Godfrey characters' jobs were to trail Matt Damon's character, Jason Bourne in a cat and mouse game through London's Waterloo train station. Instead of closing off the station to the public, director Paul Greengrass preferred to film the action amidst hundreds of daily commuters going about their business. This may prove artistically advantageous adding "realism" to the scenes, but for Secret Agents Gabriel and Godfrey, it proved to be more of an obstacle. Trailing a fleeing super assassin through an immense crowd is difficult enough but add in the need to keep proper distance, pace and to stay "in camera" against the flow of pedestrian traffic, proved a challenge in its own right. They resorted to shoving, cutting off and bumping into several unsuspecting by standards in-order to keep their queues and marks. Although the role was demanding physically, Sergeant Godfrey said the running wasn't the most difficult part. "It was the standing around for hours on end waiting for the directors to reset the scene and call action for how ever many takes it took to get one scene perfect," said Sergeant Godfrey. Sergeant Bailey did his filming in the controlled environment of Pinewood Studios outside of London. His character had several scenes with actress Joan Allen and David Strathairn in their futile attempt to track and catch Matt Damon. Much of the background choreography was ad-libbed, so Sergeant Bailey was free to use his imagination to make the operations center come alive with activity. "I thought it would be a lot more structured, but the director, Paul Greengrass, gave us a lot of leeway with our parts," said Sergeant Bailey. "Being in the military, I am used to a lot of structure, and it wasn't like that at all." The actors and crew know little of the movie plot and are given vague scene synopsis in order to keep the story line confidential. Even the main actors must wait until the movie is released in August to see what their characters are really up to. "It was something that you can say you have experienced once in your lifetime," said Sergeant Bailey. "Also, hanging out with David Strathairn, Paul Greengrass, Corey Johnson and Joan Allen was very exciting. It also was nice to just see these actors and actresses as everyday people, just like myself." According to Sergeants Bailey, Gabriel and Godfrey, regardless if their parts end up on the editor's floor, the experience of participating in the making a block buster movie like the "The Bourne Ultimatum" will never be matched.