From Reelcomix.com
What did you know about Public Enemies your new film with Michael Mann?
I did have to be a quick study. I wasn't aware of Melvin Pervis before this. I knew the circumstances around the era, the dust bowl and crime syndicates, but Michael Mann is one of the most thorough researchers that I have ever come across and so I had more then an abundance of information about it. I travelled to the FBI headquarters and I met with the family of the character I was playing. We shot at all the locations where the events took place. It was uncanny on a number of occasions. We were shooting on the actual dates of gunfights at some times, at the same place and the same time.
It stays true to the events but as with many movies in trying to condense a story into two hours there is some license taken but believe me Michael is an incredible private investigator in the way that he approaches his movie making, the details the nuances. He does so well and I have spent alot of time working with him