'Snowden' Cast Talk Politics and Pokemon Go at Comic-Con: 'It's a New Level of Invasion'

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It's not easy securing a sit-down with Edward Snowden.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt had to travel to Moscow, Russia, to meet the NSA whistleblower he plays in Oliver Stone's Snowden. The actor revealed during the film's Comic-Con panel on Thursday that he even got to join Snowden for a meal.

"Most people, when they sit down and talk to him, they're approaching him from a place of politics. I was trying to get to know him from a different level," he told the crowd in Hall H.

So, what did Gordon-Levitt learn about one of the most controversial men in U.S. history? "He's very polite," he explained. "I think that's actually pretty charming. He's like an old-fashioned gentleman in that way. Really warm. He's an optimist."


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The Snowden panel marked the legendary director's first trip to Comic-Con and Stone was welcomed with rousing applause. So, did his expectations of the convention match the reality?

"Yes," he deadpanned. "It's nice to see a memory, to see history. I'm a fan of history."

Stone weighed in that he still sees Snowden as a "mystery" and said, "It was cat and mouse getting to know him." As for the lasting impact of Snowden's leak, Stone joked, "We don't go to our favorite porno sites. Some people won't even go to their favorite investigative reporting sites."

The Academy Award winner then weighed in on...Pokémon Go?!

After Zachary Quinto shared a particularly charming anecdote about looking up from your phone and making connections in the real world, Stone said, "It's not really funny, because what you're saying is on the money. It's a new level of invasion."

Stone went into an extended explanation of data mining -- "It's everywhere" -- concluding of Pokémon Go, "You'll see a new form of, frankly, a robot society...It's what they call totalitarianism."


Snowden
hits theaters on Sept. 16, 2016.

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