Joseph Gordon-Levitt says he wants Snowden pardoned

Edward Snowden broke the law, but he is making the case for President Barack Obama to grant him a pardon. Arguing that the information he shared about government surveillance programs was the moral and ethically right thing to do. Snowden explained his case in In an interview with the guardian. Adding that his actions encouraged others to speak out against government outreach and that he didn't hurt anyone. The American Civil Liberties Union and Amnesty International also launched a campaign to push the Obama Administration to pardon him. And the petition comes the same week as the release of the Oliver Stone bio pick on the NSA whistle blower. Staring Joseph Gorden Levitt as Snowden, Shailene Woodly as his girlfriend Lindsey Mills, and Zachary Quinto as Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald. At the New York City movie premier, we asked the stars what they thought of their real life counterparts, and their views now on technology and privacy. Gorden Levitt said he would like to see Snowden pardoned. Me, personally, I would like to see that, yeah. I know that he would love to come home. I think a lot of folks, and I understand why, think that he was sort of out to get America or wanted to undermine America. What I found the more I got to know him was it was out of a love for his country. The truth is, the NSA was breaking certain laws and lying to the American people that really go against everything that's so beautiful about our country. And he risked his life to try to stand up against it. Stone said that he didn't make the movie to help Snowden. But he also wants to see him pardoned. I have no political motive. It'd be nice to see it. Quinto spoke about what impressed him on plain journalist Greenwald. I think he's unimpeachably intelligent. And I think he's unafraid to step up to in this case the Guardian, right? The corporate structure in order to fight for what he believes in. And that was the thing that I really wanted to, because in this situation where they were so vulnerable. They didn't know how at risk they were. They didn't know each other all that well. There's an implicit trust that has to be cultivated in those relationships. Working on the movie also got cast thinking about privacy issues but Woodley says she's not paranoid about it. If you actively want to see change, you have to be empowered through awareness. And so paranoia leads to complaining and I feel like awareness leads to empowerment which activates you to create a change. I'm Bridget Carrie, you can stay on top of these stories at cnet.com/update.