Billy Crudup can relate to the struggles of his cop character Frank in his latest film Blood Ties. Frank must live with his criminal brother Chris (Clive Owen) as they struggle to have a relationship while on opposite sides of the law. Or, as Crudup described it, “Before you know it, they’re acting like nine year olds again. Except this time, they have guns.”

Crudup told Uinterview that his own relationships with his two older brothers helped him play Frank, as he could easily slip back into the competitive brother mindset. “I can remember getting stitches under my eye,” Crudup said. “I broke my thumb one time, we fought a lot. We would always take it to just the edge just to drive the parents a little bit crazy, but not too many trips to the hospital.”

Blood Ties, directed by Guillaume Canet, also stars Marion Cotillard and James Caan. It is currently out in limited release.

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Q: What's your character'€™s relationship to his brother in the movie? - Uinterview

Well, growing up together I think they were very tightly bound -€” a family that had its version of ups and downs and difficulties and I think sometimes when that happens when it's chaotic between the parents or they'€™re struggling with money any of those, the children can really bond deeply. And these are two brothers who really did bond and they were really close and I really think my character idolized Clive'€™s character quite a bit and at a certain point Clive'€™s character took a wrong turn. That was really confusing and upsetting for my character, and they never really got over it. Twenty years goes by and they'€™re weren'€™t that close anymore and Clive'€™s character spent time in jail and when he gets out, despite the fact that he has no interest in supporting his older brother, and he feels sucked back into this family dynamic and before you know it they'€™re acting like nine-year-olds again, except this time they have guns.

Q: Clive Owen plays your brother. Did you two bond during the shoot? - Uinterview

We did, but I don'€™t think Clive needed much training in that. I certainly am speaking for myself, growing up with two brothers I was very familiar with a certain version of sibling rivalry and how you go about competing in a world with two brothers who are very close to you.

Q: How did growing up with your brothers prepare you for this role? - Uinterview

I can remember getting stitches under my eye. I broke my thumb one time. We fought a lot. We would always take it to just the edge just to drive the parents a little bit crazy, but not too many trips to the hospital.

Q: Frank'€™s relationship with his ex is complicated. What'€™s the situation with her? - Uinterview

He had this relationship with Zoe Saldana's character and they were struggling to make it work. Frank'€™s character comes from a family; his father is racist, the idea of him dating a black woman was completely impossible and he made it very difficult on them and ultimately they broke up and the relationship crumbled under it and after a number of years I think Frank realized that it's up to him to set his own standards on how to make a relationship work and he tried to win her back and their relationship begins to blossom.

Q: Zoe Saldana plays your ex. What was your most memorable scene with her? - Uinterview

Zoe is followed by photographers in New York relentlessly, and I’m sure all over when she shoots and we were working on Coney Island one day and it was suppose to be this sort of intimate scene between the two of them on the rocks, Coney Island, talking about some really vulnerable experiences in their lives and sharing and what you don’t see is the hoard of photographers that were standing like five feet from us trying to take pictures of Zoe and there was no way for us to cord them off so I would say that was a pretty memorable experience in my New York filming.