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Q: Who plays the assassin who tries to kill Bourne in his apartment in "The Bourne Identity"? What else has he done?

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Author: 
Adam Thomlison / TV Media

Actor Nicky Naude has done many other things outside of his role as rival Treadstone agent and assassin Castel in 2002's "The Bourne Identity."

In the commentary track included on the DVD release of the film, director and producer Doug Liman says he cast Naude in the role partly because he also wanted him to train star Matt Damon ("Good Will Hunting," 1997) in on-screen fighting. So, although he's not credited for it, Naude was also a fight co-ordinator on the film, a job for which he already had an established career in France.

"The Bourne Identity" was a springboard to further success — and even more on-screen time — for Naude. He's since appeared in 2007's "Hitman" and 2008's "Babylon A.D." in addition to several French films.

Liman brought him in for the dual role because, in 2002, Damon was an action-film newbie. We think of him now as a fight-savvy tough guy, but prior to his role as Jason Bourne, he was mostly known for more chatty, arty indie films.

Not only was he being asked to do a pretty complicated fight scene in "The Bourne Identity," using a Filipino style called Kali, but he would also do his own stunts. For story reasons, the director also wanted Bourne and his opponent to look as well-matched as possible — they were trained by the same CIA program, after all.

With all that in mind, Liman opted to have Damon fight his trainer. Even so, there were reportedly some bumps in filming — Naude said in an interview with Film Industry Network that Damon accidentally hit him for real multiple times. Damon was so sorry he bought Naude a crate of French champagne as an apology.

 

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