The juxtaposition of an action-packed futuristic thriller and a contemplative drama that poses a moral question being raised in today’s news was an aspect of the film that intrigued actor Ewan McGregor and drew him to the role of Lincoln Six-Echo in “The Island.” “I’m always looking for something different, and this was a big American action film, but with something at the heart of it, which isn’t always the case,” McGregor says. “I thought the exploration of human cloning taken to extremes was really interesting in and amongst a full-on action film, and it’s the kind of role I haven’t really done before.”
McGregor continues, “I play a guy called Lincoln, and he lives in an ordered, regimented society, where everything is decided for them—what they wear, what they eat, where they work… Everything is controlled by someone else. They have been told that the outside world has been contaminated, except for one beautiful paradise, which is The Island. Periodically, there is a lottery and if they win, they will go to The Island, where their job is to repopulate the planet…which is nice work if you can get it,” he smiles. “They believe they are living to go to The Island, and whereas everyone else seems to be fairly satisfied with that, my character is the one who rocks the boat a bit and starts asking questions: Why are things this way? Who decides?”
Parkes reveals that, unbeknownst to Lincoln, his full name, Lincoln Six-Echo, indicates that he is a fifth-generation, or echo-level, clone; and science, in its endless pursuit of progress, had unwittingly given his generation what might actually turn out to be a fatal flaw. “Lincoln and others like him are blessed—or perhaps cursed—with a very dangerous character trait in this particular world: curiosity. So now, he has become the squeaky wheel.”
“They’ve made different generations of clones, and the echo generation they made a little too good,” Bay expounds. “There is genetic DNA imbedded in Lincoln’s memory, and he’s starting to have dreams that are making him more restless. He wishes there were something more; he just doesn’t know what. Ewan is a very talented actor, and he also has an innocence about him, a childlike quality that made him perfect for this role.”
Lincoln’s curiosity turns to suspicion when he finds a living clue that all is not what it seems. He goes on a fact-finding hunt that leads to a far more terrible truth than he could have imagined. McGregor says, “Lincoln discovers it’s all a huge lie. The people who win the lottery don’t go to The Island. The Island doesn’t exist. When his friend Jordan is chosen to be the next to go, Lincoln knows he has to get her out of there.”
Jordan is Jordan Two-Delta, a fellow resident of the facility, who shares a close friendship with Lincoln, although she does not share his more suspicious nature. Scarlett Johansson, who stars as Jordan, observes, “Jordan is very sweet and innocent. She knows nothing other than the containment she’s been living in, apart from the world that she was told has been contaminated.”
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