NEIL McCormick talks about the experience of having his memoir, Killing Bono: I Was Bono’s Doppelganger, into a new movie and being played by Ben Barnes.

He also discusses his own relationship to U2 and Bono and why the singer is often misunderstood in the way he’s depicted.

Q. What was the experience of watching the final, finished cut of the film for the first time?
Neil McCormick: Deeply traumatic! This is a depiction of my failings and then it’s exaggerated to the ‘nth’ degree and sometimes you can look at yourself in real life on a TV screen can make you want to crawl out the room, but seeing an actor magnifying your failings was really humiliating. And then also my head was exploding because you’re kind of looking at it, saying: “Well, I kind of recognise that room but what’s that? Who’s that person? And what’s this person going to think of that scene?” You can’t really follow the story at all and something that you think is going to be your great glory, which is that your life is somehow being celebrated in a movie, just turns out to be the final insult!

But I’ve got over that now, the second time I saw it I realised it’s actually pretty funny and they’ve done an amazing job. But the best and the worst of it, I suppose, is being played by Ben Barnes! Of course, I did look like Ben when I was that age and I was as tall as he was. One of the problems with old age is that you get shorter. But Nick [Hamm, director] kept us apart and for the first six weeks of filming. Ben wasn’t allowed to meet me and he wasn’t really supposed to base his performance on me, so what was kind of shocking to me was the number of people who knew me saying: “God, he’s got you nailed!”

Q. So, you weren’t present for much of the shoot?
Neil McCormick: No, I wasn’t present for much of the shoot. I’ve been around the process, hovering in the background but I got out of the way of it pretty quickly. You know, in the ‘80s I got in the way of a lot of my own things and it’s been a long time since then and I’ve learned not to obstruct my own opportunities. Nick was determined to get it made and I sort of gave him my blessing. But every time I would see a script and see something that made me cringe deeply inside I would just take deep breath and say this is somebody else’s thing. It made me laugh, which was enough encouragement to keep it going. So, when I went to the set it was just as a guest.

Q. You do get to cameo though…
Neil McCormick: Yeah, when we were shooting the strip club scene, I’m right at the front. I spent an entire day with a naked girl shoving her butt in my face!

Q. Isn’t it true that the line between truth and fiction sometimes got blurred? Ben Barnes says that you got in trouble with your wife for having had a fictional affair in the film?
Neil McCormick: [Laughs] Yes, we went out for dinner after the first screening and she was being really horrible to me. I said: “Is this because you’ve just seen me betray you with another woman who didn’t even exist?! And you were there! So, if you don’t believe me, what hope is there for anyone else?” But she replied: “It’s just exactly like something you would have done!”

Q. Has Bono seen the film and what are his thoughts?
Neil McCormick: Yeah, he has seen the film. He’s been very supportive throughout the process of this book. I spoke to him before I even started writing the book in the first place because I felt I didn’t want to tread on his toes. I told him the first line, which was all I had at that moment, which was: “I always knew I’d be famous.” At which point he fell about the place laughing and I got quite annoyed with him because I was saying: “I could have been!” But he was very supportive and he said it was the first time that he saw himself in print and recognised himself. Because I knew him before he became this iconic figure that bestrides the world and is like a cartoon of a cartoon… and people have an idea of what Bono is. But he’s a really good human being who has always been full of life and curiosity and a lot more humility than sometimes comes across in the way he is presented. So, I wanted to capture his humour and humanity in the book. And that, I think, gets caught in the film as well.

Q. You say Bono is a nice guy, yet he has this reputation that comes with him. Why do you think that is?
Neil McCormick: Some people have an idea of Bono and they’ll think that ‘Killing Bono’ is a banner to be worn. You know, when Live Aid was on there was a T-shirt saying ‘Make Bono History’. Because he’s a very passionate activist and he stands on a soap-box and tries to make a difference in the world and that becomes annoying to some people. He uses… he beats a big drum and makes a big noise and uses his fame as positively as he can. But it makes him a loud figure in the world, saying: “This is what you should do! This is how you should behave!”

He’s not afraid to make a fool of himself and he is actually deeply, deeply affected by the idea of the wrongs in the world that he can do something about righting. His religion is part of what’s right at the heart of him. He’s a bit like a Jesuit priest or something… there’s another side of Bono. When he puts the glasses on, he takes on a persona and a role that is the rock and roll star, the front of this band, and the rock and roll star beating a drum for big issues. But if you meet him as a person he’s got… he always remembers everybody’s names, he remembers your kids’ names, he remembers your wife’s name and he gives lots of attention to the people around him. He’s very grand and he’s still married to the girl he was going out with at school.

You know, he plays a role… he’s created the role and the image of Bono but the truth is he’s not in control of that anymore. It’s got massive. It’s just been inflated by everything and it’s written about from every angle and he’s just this person in the middle of a Bono storm. People say: “Well why doesn’t he back down?” But the things he does actually make a difference. There are entire countries in Africa that are out of debt… not because of him, but because of the movement that he’s a part of, that a lot of people are a part of- economists and aid workers. But he’s been a part of that. You know, he worked in an orphanage in Africa after Live Aid. I don’t think there’s any other rock star that would have gone and done that. He held children that were dying. He was really affected by that and he resolved to do something. You know, the Irish were never cool… there was never a cool Irish person when I grew up! We were passionate and ridiculous and he’s not afraid to be that.

Killing Bono is released in UK cinemas on Friday, April 1, 2011.

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