I trained for months to figure out how to ride a motorcycle. I have kind of a major fear of them. I have a major fear of going at fast speeds without any kind of protection, no helmet, an actor on the back with no helmet. I felt very afraid to do it. I love that I did it and overcame the fear and was able to do that.
On 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,' I spent two or three months learning how to ride a motorcycle. I wasn't really riding the motorcycle in 98 percent of the movie, but the shots of me getting on and off had to look like I had been doing it for years and years.
Riding a motorcycle on today's highways, you have to ride in a very defensive manner. You have to be a good rider and you have to have both hands and both feet on the controls at all times.
It's also so cool to be able to develop the talent to be able to jump and control the motorcycle which is a very fun thing to do but it's hard to manage the two. It's so easy to get hurt, and that's the last thing I want to do.
There are times I'm approaching turns with my right hand on the brake lever, I'm downshifting with my fingers, I'm controlling the throttle with my left hand and steering into the corner with only one hand on the wheel. I feel a bit like Jimi Hendrix: I play with both my hands.
Anybody can jump a motorcycle. The trouble begins when you try to land it.
Out of a year, a half-dozen stunts are pretty tough. The rest are kinda routine. To go out and slide cars around and lay a motorcycle down hell, you do that without even thinking. But on the tough things, you put an awful lot of planning into it.
The most common way to crash coming out of a corner is to highside - which is where you accelerate out of the corner, and the rear loses grip, then suddenly finds grip and chucks you off the bike.
