4 Questions With Garrett Hedlund From ‘Tron: Legacy’

*Updated December 2025

I got an EXCLUSIVE behind the scenes look at the upcoming movie from Disney’s Tron: Legacy, the sequel of the very successful movie Tron in the early 80s. This one is said to be just as big as Avatar!

In my visit to Digital Domain in Los Angeles, the star of the movie Garrett Hedlund was kind enough to give us a private interview and tell me a bit about the movie as well as his future projects. With his charisma, modesty and good looks, he’s a young Brad Pitt in the making, and Tron: Legacy will surely be what will launch him into stardom!

ShowBizCafe.com (SBC): How do you feel about being involved in such a big project?

Garrett Hedlund (GH): Well, before I was part of the cast I met up with Sean Bailey (producer) and Joseph Kosinski (director). They showed me the footage of the film [they had shown at Comic-Con that year] and I was driven to take this adventure.

You step into [the project] uncertain then get driven by something no-one else has seen. By seeing the blockbuster material there’s fear and nerves come up, because you know this is a big vehicle that a mass amount of people are going to see you as and formulate opinions on whether they like you or not; is a big way of throwing yourself out there. This is such a fantastic team and a hard family to pull away from.

SBC: Can you tell us a little bit about your character Sam Flynn and how you prepared for it and your favorite scene in the film?

GH: Well you start with the script, this character is far from who I was, I grew up in a little farm and this kid has all the money in the world and is haunted by his father’s disappearance. It has been 20 years and he’s turned his back in ENCOM (his father’s company) and is living an individual, secluded life.

When someone is very rich it’s easy to make this person dislikable, with money comes a certain attitude. [You are] trying to bring empathy to somebody that has to deal with abandonment who is driven by adventure and accomplishing crazy feats and is also technologically driven and savvy.

For this character the wheels are always turning, he’s always trying to figure something out. For me I’m always happy to let be-be. The only thing I can say about my favorite scene is… the light jet, look out for it! (Laughs)

SBC: Talk to us about your upcoming projects.

GH: Earlier this year I did this film Country Strong with Gwyneth Paltrow where we play country singers and have a loving relationship and I got to work with Tim McGraw who plays her husband and Leighton Meester from Gossip Girl. I got to do 6 months of prep for guitar because I had never played before and I would go into the studio every two weeks to chart the progression?

Along the progression you sing “Song of the Birds” amongst others and then you acquire the songs that your character is going to sing and you start working on those [continuously]. That’s why it was great working with Jeff Bridges for this film because he had already finished Crazy Heart before Tron: Legacy.

I’d be in his trailer and he’d be strumming the guitar and playing the songs he played for that and he would try to show me but I couldn’t play or sing for the life of me.

So that is a very affecting film [Country Strong], very sad, that’s what I like to do. I gravitate towards the sad; I like sad songs and sad films. This morning I just arrived from the film adaptation of On the Road the Jack Kerouac novel, so we are in the process of that right now, so now I head down to Mexico City.

SBC: Right off the top of your head your top 3 movies.

GH: Wow… Being There with Peter Sellers, Five Easy Pieces from Jack Nicholson, so many great ones. Well the one that I’ve seen the most in the theater: I Am Sam with Sean Penn.

He says goodbye with a huge smile and humbleness in his eyes.

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A Look Back at The Grid

Tron: Legacy arrived in theaters with massive expectations, aiming to update the visual language of the digital world created in the 1982 original. Director Joseph Kosinski utilized cutting-edge 3D technology and a seamless blend of practical sets and CGI to bring the “Grid” to life. The film also featured a Grammy-nominated score by the French electronic duo Daft Punk, which became instant cult classic music for fans of the genre.

The story follows Sam Flynn (Hedlund) as he investigates a strange signal sent from the old Flynn’s Arcade. He finds himself pulled into a digital world where his father, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges), has been trapped for 20 years. Along with the fearless warrior Quorra (Olivia Wilde), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and dangerous.

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