Jerry O'Connell does Tom Cruise

Well played, Jerry. Well played.

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Heath Ledger: Golden Years

There's not much we can say about Heath Ledger that won't be said better elsewhere, but here's a nice and very fun dance scene, set to Bowie's "Golden Years," from "A Knight's Tale," a movie which on paper didn't work but somehow did due to the infectious enthusiasm of everyone involved, Ledger most of all. R.I.P.

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A Talk with Alex Gibney: Director of Taxi to the Dark Side

Alex Gibney's Academy Award-nominated documentary Taxi to the Dark Side

Note: This article on documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney appeared last month in Venice Magazine. Today, he received a well-deserved Oscar nod in the Best Documentary Feature Category for Taxi to the Dark Side, his disturbing investigation into torture in American prisons during wartime, that being now. His previous directorial doc, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, is also a masterwork of investigative journalism.

Taxi Driver
Alex Gibney’s new documentary on torture is a harrowing new ride you won’t want to take. But you have to.
By Terry Keefe

About six weeks before he passed away, Alex Gibney’s father, once a Naval interrogator during World War II, and later a journalist himself, unhooked his oxygen tank and asked his filmmaker son to get his video camera. Frank Gibney wished to speak about the subject of torture and how outraged he was at the revelations about the use of torture on prisoners in Iraq, Guantanamo, and Afghanistan. Specifically, the elder Gibney directed his indignation at the leaders (you know them, but for the record, they include George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and Alberto Gonzalez), who he believed the buck stopped with. Frank Gibney had interrogated Japanese prisoners during the battle of Okinawa, one of the bloodiest, and although they were dealing with that era’s version of suicide bombers in the form of kamikaze pilots, Gibney and his fellow soldiers chose not to cross the line into brutality. When asked why not by his son, Frank Gibney replied that to do so would be to sacrifice the very values they were fighting for. Alex Gibney elaborates, “It’s not to say that there weren’t suspensions of human rights during World War II. The Japanese Internment Camps in particular come to mine. But it was so far from my father’s frame of reference that FDR would have condoned torture. One of the things that he was fighting for, particularly against the Japanese, who did torture prisoners, was for a better possibility.” Alex Gibney’s interview with his father closes his new documentary on the use of torture during the War on Terror, entitled Taxi to the Dark Side, a film which should be required viewing for every American, from the highest towers of political power to the youngest soldiers in the field. Gibney’s latest continues his examination of the force of corruption, explored via the business world previously in his documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, and how it virals itself into every part of an organization, whether that be a company or a country, when immorality is left unchecked, or condoned, by the people at the top of the power structure.

The taxi cab referenced in the title was driven by an Afghan named Dilawar, who was taken prisoner as a suspected terrorist by the military and brought to the air base at Bagram, where he was tortured and eventually died. It turned out that Dilawar was innocent, a fact that was known by his interrogators towards the end of his life. But they continued to abuse him anyway, largely because Dilawar had been stuck inside an organizational culture of torture that knew few boundaries and was sanctioned at the highest levels. Says Gibney, “Structurally, the story of Dilawar allowed me to show the breath of the policy, a relentless torture mechanism that corrupts everything in its path.“ Indeed, although Dilawar himself never left Afghanistan, the passengers in his cab, also suspected terrorists, were brought to Guantanamo and tortured. And that same system of torture, when used in Guantanamo on the suspected “20th Hijacker” of 9/11, Mohamed al-Qahtani, eventually extracted statements about links between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, which Colin Powell later used in his now-infamous U.N. speech in the lead-up to the current Iraq War. And who knows whether the information al-Qahtani provided was true? A man who is getting waterboarded might say anything. “The one thing we know about torture is that the interrogator gets what he wants to hear,“ explains Gibney. “And I think that became appealing for the Bush administration over time. It became a mechanism, conscious or unconscious for them, which got them back the info they wanted to hear. That’s a terrifying idea. That’s the Soviet Union. That’s the gulag. You’re intentionally seeking false confessions to confirm your beliefs.” He goes on to say, “People were stating for years that this was just a few bad apples at Abu Ghraib. But it was a much more pervasive policy. It gets into the corruption of the American character.”

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Interview with Ashley Jensen of "Ugly Betty" and "Extras"!

This article originally appeared in the February 2007 issue of Venice Magazine. Since then, “Ugly Betty” has gone on to be one of the top-rated shows on television. And Jensen, along with co-star Ricky Gervais, recently wrapped up “Extras” with the “Extras Holiday Special” which premiered on HBO last month. The final 2-hour episode was the perfect capper to a series which was frequently hysterical but also quite sad at the same time. The finale visits Gervais’ Andy as he has become the walking definition of a celebrity jerk. He gets an extra on his catchphrase-driven sitcom fired for approaching him about getting a throwaway line on the show, and has completely taken his friendship with Jensen’s Maggie for granted, at one convincing her to play his assistant when a journalist visits his house for an interview. But the series ends on the higher note of Gervais' rejection of being famous for the sake of being famous, and finally SPOILER AHEAD………………………………......................he and Maggie drive off into the sunset together, that being the grey skies of England in this case, presumably to move on to being more than just friends.

Although I’m going to miss “Extras” greatly, it’s nice that Gervais knew when to end the show. The commerce of the entertainment industry dictates that a successful show be milked for all it is worth, but in this case, someone with the success of Gervais was able to dictate that the story end where it naturally should.

OUT OF THE WARDROBE CLOSET
Ashley Jensen, the wardrobe mistress of “Ugly Betty,” sews up a great year.
By Terry Keefe

It doesn’t get much better for an actor than being on two of the best series on television at the same time. The actor in question being Scottish-born Ashley Jensen, who has plum roles on both “Ugly Betty” and “Extras.” Her part on “Betty” is as the wardrobe supervisor Christina, who in the initial episodes is one of the only kind characters that Betty encounters during her first days at the fictional Mode Magazine. The character has provided a nice grounding counterpart for some of the flashier characters on the show, as well as a much-needed sounding board for Betty.

And as for the new season of “Extras,” tastes in humor certainly vary but this writer thinks the new material is some of the funniest material ever in a series. For the uninitiated, the show features the adventures of career film and television extras Andy and Maggie, played by Ricky Gervais and Jensen. The new season adds the wrinkle that Andy has now written a show called “When the Whistle Blows,” for the BBC, in which he has been somehow cast as the star. Although Andy set out with higher artistic aspirations for the show, it’s been dumbed-down for the lowest common denominator and its humor now revolves almost entirely around a series of constantly-repeated catchphrases such as “Are you having a laugh?” and “I don’t get it!” [Say these with a thick British accent fast and they get a lot funnier.] Despite his contempt for his own material, Andy starts to take on haughty star trappings, but finds that real stars like David Bowie still don‘t want to hang out with him. Meanwhile, Maggie is still an extra, but now Andy is at least able to get her hired on some of his own productions. A particularly great running gag is that the male stars always find themselves irresistibly attracted to the extra Maggie, while she wants nothing to do with them. This provides one of the season highlights when Daniel Radcliffe plays himself on the set of a Harry Potter film and he subjects Maggie to every sort of verbal sexual advance imaginable. She still turns him down. And in another episode, Orlando Bloom strikes out with her as well.

You’ve been very busy!

Ashley Jensen: I can’t believe my luck. To go from “Extras” to “Ugly Betty,” I feel like I walked into the best show that went to pilot, that won Golden Globes, all in a matter of steps. “Ugly Betty” is charming and delightful and just sort of tumbled into America at the right time. And it’s hopeful too, with nice underlying messages. So it’s great to be a part of something like that. Because so much of what’s on television is gloom and doom and you have to cover the children’s ears. It’s a show that everybody can watch.

The underlying messages are what sets it apart. When the first promotional picture of America as Betty was released, with the braces and bad fashions, it seemed like the show would be a very broad comedy. And it often is broad, but it’s also very grounded in reality.

I think the acting kind of covers everything, really. There are moments when we are quite heightened, and then there are moments when we have to kind of pull it in. And the tone slightly changes. So having the likes of America as a central character, someone with such a big heart, it really gives the program heart as well. It roots the show really. So because of her strength of character, all of us other characters can afford to be heightened at times and it all sort of balances out. It’s great. You know, the tone is not something we all sat around and discussed. I think that the casting of the program was just so spot-on, that everyone has sort of brought their strengths to the program. It’s just been like a great big mixing board. A great big recipe in which everyone has just slung in their bit and it’s come out like a great, big cake that works.

After visiting the set of “Ugly Betty,” it occurred to me that working on this show could make one very paranoid about one’s own fashion sense.

That hasn’t happened to me yet [laughs]. No, I don’t think I can yet afford to get myself tied into knots about that. But because I play Christina the hopeful designer, I could definitely have a bad day, wandering around the streets, and people would be like, “Oh my god, she is so unfashionable!” [laughs] That could be embarrassing.

The new episodes of “Extras” are hilarious. And biting.

It’s a theatre of humiliation and cruelty, slightly, isn’t it? [laughs] It’s been quite fascinating how well it’s been received everywhere. I spoke to someone in Korea recently and they were talking about how well it’s gone down there too. We always talk about how a British sense of humor may not translate to other countries, but this really has. I think one of the reasons, apart from the fact that it’s so brilliantly written, is that everybody can relate to “Extras.” It’s just sort of a coincidence that they’re in the entertainment business. They could be anywhere. Maggie is a girl who doesn’t really have any career aspirations. She just really wants to fall in love. And Andy just wants to be noticed for being worthwhile at his job. Those are things we all can relate to as human beings. And we all make faux pas. And we all pretend that we don’t. To be honest, though, Maggie makes more than most. She spends half her life with her foot in her mouth [laughs].

What was your shooting schedule between the two shows?

In Britain, we only do six episodes and that’s a whole season. When I came over here after “Extras”, people always asked me, “Why did they just stop midway through the season?” But we only do six episodes in Britain. We shoot for eight weeks, do six episodes, and that’s a successful season [laughs]. So I finished “Extras” at the end of July, packed up my bags, and then came out to L.A. on my own, until my gentleman and my dog came out. That was a lonely time for the first two months. I think I sort of wandered around in a daze for awhile. Literally wandered around. Thinking, “I can walk [in L.A.]. It’s fine.” I got on the metro and ended up in downtown at dark [laughs]. I’m wandering around in like a little red and polka dot dress. I was thinking, “Okay, I’m not in Notting Hill anymore.” [laughs]

Do you know what you’re doing on the hiatus for “Betty”?

I’m staying in town. I’d love to do a film, something that is in complete contrast to what I’m doing on television. I’d also like to do an animated film, as a voice. I could play a great Scottish sheep. Or a hedgehog [laughs].

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FRANCIS VEBER: The Hollywood Interview

Alice Taglioni (left) and Gad Elmaleh (right) in The Valet, from writer-director Francis Veber (below).

Note: This originally appeared in the April 2007 issue of Venice Magazine. The Valet has just come out on DVD and is worth catching. Hilarious, stunningly beautiful photography of Paris, and the return of the ultimate put-upon everyman character, Francois Pignon. In person, Veber was as sweet as could be and full of great advice for a younger writer like myself. He's a comedic filmmaking genius and I feel privileged to have shared a meal with him. When we spoke last Spring, The Valet had been optioned by the Farrelly Brothers for an American remake. This isn't as odd a pairing as it might seem. The Farrellys are completely capable of keeping the sweet edge which makes the original so memorable. There's Something About Mary, a comedy obstensibly about four stalkers after the same girl, would never have been the success it was if you didn't relate to Ben Stiller's character, who had a lifetime of losing to overcome. Where the Farrelly style doesn't always fly is when you just get the gross-out set pieces without the charming characters to balance them out, as in Me, Myself, and Irene. I don't know what the status of the remake is, but here's hoping that Pete and Bobby bring their A-game to the table if it moves forward. Their Fever Pitch never found the audience it deserved. It was also the perfect vehicle to make Jimmy Fallon a star, playing to his everyman charms, but for whatever reason, Fallon hasn't made the crossover to features star, despite having comedic chops to kill for. Okay, enough Farrellys and Fallon. On to Mr. Veber.

Francis Veber: The King of Comedy Parks His Car in a New Hit with The Valet
By Terry Keefe

Forget film school. If you want to learn how to write comedy, study the screenplays and films of writer-director Francis Veber. Shakespeare said it and I repeat it: brevity is the soul of wit. And Veber’s scripts, as well as the films that follow, are marvels of economy. Water tight, with nary a word wasted, they move like the wind, rarely allowing the audience to catch the breath that might lead to boredom. His newest, The Valet, is 83 minutes long, and, The Dinner Game, one of his previous best, clocks in at a lean 81. He’s a master (and perhaps the best writer alive) at setting up a farcical scenario and then building it naturally, but unrelentingly. If writing and directing comedy is hard, farce can be torture to create, and watch, in the wrong hands. What’s perhaps most difficult about farce is making the coincidences and circumstances which drive it believable and unforced. This is where Veber’s deft touch is so welcome as an audience member. You believe every beat. He can bring you to hilarity just from his set-ups alone, without resorting to the fat suits and bodily function gags which serve as punch lines in American comedy today.

His newest to hit American screens, The Valet, was released previously in France as La Doublure. The car-parking hero of the title is Francois Pignon (Gad Elmaleh), who just happens to walk past billionaire businessman Pierre Levasseur (Daniel Auteuil) while he’s with his super model mistress Elena (Alice Taglioni), and a paparazzi snaps a photo. The picture appears in the local tabloids, angering Pierre’s wife Christine (Kristin Scott Thomas). Pierre covers himself by saying that he isn’t with Elena, who is, in fact, the girlfriend of Pignon. In order to sell the lie, Pierre tracks down Pignon and pays him to allow Elena to move into his apartment and pretend to be a couple. At the same time, Elena demands that Pierre give her several million dollars, which she vows to return if he actually goes through with his promise of divorcing his wife. More complications ensue because Pignon wishes to marry pretty book store owner Emilie (Virginie Ledoyen).

Fans of Veber will certainly know that Francois Pignon is a recurring character of sorts in Veber’s films. He’s often played by different actors though, and, as a character, is often different from film to film. Jacques Villeret in The Dinner Game, for example, played him as much more of a buffoon than Elmaleh’s lovable sad sack. What is common throughout the Pignons is that they are all likeable everymen.

The inevitable American remake of The Valet looms, with the Farrelly Brothers recently announcing their intentions to shoot it. Veber’s films have been frequently remade in America over the years and include Father’s Day, starring Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, from Veber’s Les Comperes; The Toy, starring Richard Pryor, from Veber’s Le Jouet; Buddy Buddy, the last film of Billy Wilder, from Veber’s L’Emmerdeur; and The Birdcage, from Veber’s screenplay adaptation of La Cage aux Folles. Where the remakes, with the exception of The Birdcage, have struggled is in matching the underlying sweetness in Veber’s films, even the ones with nasty characters, as well as the love he has for those characters.

What was the hardest part of The Valet script for you to nail during the writing process?

Francis Veber: That’s an interesting question, because when I was telling the story I was writing to friends here in America, people, and especially my assistant, were asking me, “Why does this girl, this supermodel, accept to get involved in such a thing?” And I had an explanation, which was an American explanation, that they were giving her millions of dollars. So, they were satisfied with that explanation that she was taking the money. Money is a god here. But when I came back to France, I told my French friends the story, and they said, “Why does she accept?” And I said, “Well, they’re giving her these millions of dollars.” And they said, “Then she’s a whore. She’s a slut.” And I understood that, because there’s a difference in mentality between over here and over there. It was then that I started to work, I don’t know how many weeks, to find a solution. Which was this: she says, “You give me the millions, and if you divorce [your wife], I’ll give you the money back.” Then, she’s sympathetic to the women in the audience, because she’s not stupid. This man has been lying to her for two years, saying “I’ll divorce my wife. I’ll marry you.” All this stuff. So she’s sort of blackmailing him, but it’s fun. So, that was one of the difficult things in writing the script. The other difficult part was that we had a hero like my little man living with a super model like that. It’s a small apartment. He’d try to see her in the shower and such. I thought, “How do I avoid that, so as not to be salacious?” But then I thought, “If he’s in love with a girl in the same league as he, a little girl, he would not be attracted to this other woman. She’s something else. She doesn’t belong to his world.” It was a very interesting screenplay to write. [In terms of production] another problem that I had was in finding an actress to play this super model, because in France, most of our actresses are small. Our Elena, Alice Taglioni, is 6 feet tall. Tall like a bird.

You also had to find a tall, super model-looking actress with good comedic timing.

I was so happy to have Alice. It was kind of a miracle. We looked at a lot of girls. She had acted before only in small parts. She’s so gorgeous. And she’s a very nice woman.

Gad Elmaleh, who is your Francois Pignon this time, has this great Buster Keaton face, sad but funny.

[laughs] It’s true. He hears that a lot. He’s a stand-up comedian in France. I think it was kind of tough for him to go from the comedy stage to a movie set. Because stand-up comedy is different. You play with the audience. Also, the guy who was performing as his best friend, Dany Boon, is an amazing actor. I think he’s one of the best in France. I’m going to direct him on the stage in August. You know, I started as a stage writer. I love directing for the stage. It’s very different work from film direction. And you know why? Because when you are directing a movie, the memory of the actors is temporary. It’s fugitive. They learn the line and then forget it. But when actors are doing a play, they have to learn the whole thing and ingest it.

What is the name of the play you’re doing with Dany Boon?

It’s “The Dinner Game”, which was a play first, for three years in Paris. I didn’t direct it then. But Jacques Villeret, who was the actor in the movie version playing Pignon [as well as the previous run of the play], died because he was drinking so much. Nobody can imagine how this man was drinking. His agent told me that on an 11-hour flight, he drank 7 bottles of white wine.

My God. He was so good in the film.

He was. On the play, we cancelled the show maybe 10 times during the three years because he was so drunk.

Do you like having a different actor play Pignon each time?

Well, Pierre Richard actually played him three times. Daniel Auteuil was Pignon in The Closet. But here, he’s the rich Pierre Levasseur. He was learning the lines of Pignon at first, and I said, “No, those aren’t your lines.” [laughs]

How similar are your scripts in terms of length to the finished film?

Very much the same. In the finished film, I sometimes lose one minute. It depends on the screenplay, you know. There are people who shoot 2 or 3 hours of material, and then they cut and cut and cut. That’s stupid, because they’ve lost money and time.

I imagine you do a lot of drafts to get the structure so tight though.

Yeah, a lot. As you Americans say, “Writing is rewriting.” It’s a very interesting process. I envy you to be young and want to write. When I was your age, it was fantastic to write. Because you’re fresh, you know. I have done 31 movies and 4 stage plays. And I start to think that maybe I’ve done my due.

Not at all. The Valet is hilarious, and as tight a script as I’ve ever seen. And I think that comedy is the hardest genre to write.

Ah, it’s terrible.

And you have to make it look effortless, while it’s anything but.

It’s difficult. You have to have a sense of comedy. I think it’s genetic. There are people who don’t understand humor at all. Which is sad.

Once you locked the script on The Valet and had the cast locked, what was your rehearsal process like?

You can’t rehearse much with actors in France. Because they are shooting too much. It’s very difficult to have them 2-3 weeks before, so sometimes you meet them on the set. It’s why you are obliged to do a lot of takes. I once did 45 takes with Depardieu. And 37 takes with Auteuil. They’re exhausted at the end of that. When I started directing, I realized how tough acting was. Before I was directing, I usually hated actors. I thought they were lazy, working for 12 weeks, making more money than I, who was working for a year. But I learned it was a tough job. You’re scared all the time, you’re insecure. With Auteuil, after I did 37 takes with him, I took him by the hand to show him that the last take was good. His hand was ice cold and wet. The effort had been so big. So now, I admire actors.

When you’re writing a farce like The Valet, do you start with the core idea of the inciting incident and then sort of develop elements to play off of it? Or do you start at the beginning and move forward linearly from there?

No, you’re obligated to structure the whole thing. When I was younger, I made the mistake of not structuring. I thought I would write and the characters would give me the story. But now I structure the whole thing first. It’s the most painful process. Because you don’t always know where you’re going. There’s a line in front of you but you’re not sure where it leads.

I’d imagine that the scene where the paparazzi take the picture of Pignon on the street was one of your first ideas though.

Sure, it was one of the first ideas. It creates the problem of the film. There’s a funny story about the making of The Valet, in that the restaurant where Pignon works is a set.

Really? I never would have suspected that. It looks like the greatest restaurant ever.

Behind it is the Museum of Modern Art and there’s nothing, just the terrace. But it was so well done, that we had Japanese tourists making reservations all day long. Party of two [laughs].

You’ve said that you do a lot of takes, but at the same time, your finished films are extremely tight. In the editing room, how much back and forth do you go through when deciding what takes to use?

It’s always about the performance. On the set, the dialogue is the same. It’s just the way you say the lines. One little change [in the way an actor says a] word makes all the difference. It’s like music. It’s a fascinating thing to direct the music of what you have written. As a writer, my advice is that as soon as you have the possibility of directing something that you have written, do it. Otherwise, giving your baby to someone who doesn’t understand him, or doesn’t treat him well, it’s very sad. I did that for 18 movies as a screenwriter.

How long was it before you thought you knew what you were doing as a director?

I still don’t know [laughs]. Because I’m a writer who directs, which is just not exactly the same as a director. There are directors who love images. For me, what I’m trying to do is be as truthful as possible to what I’ve written. So I don’t need to have my camera out running around. Whenever possible, writer-directors are usually more interested in their stories, than in being an acrobat with the camera.

Billy Wilder comes to mind also when you say that. He was rarely showy with the camera, allowing his stories to drive the film.

But he also directed very well. I just saw Sunset Blvd. again and it’s so great. When William Holden is at the New Year’s party with the young Hollywood people, the way he moves the camera through the party is already very modern. He knew his job.

And the Wilder film Buddy Buddy was a remake of your script for L’Emmerdeur.

It’s such a bad film, and I’m sad, because it was his last film. I once met him for croissants and coffee right here in Beverly Hills. So we started to talk and he started to tell me stories about his life, which were fascinating. And he knew my little films, about which I was surprised. And there was an old lady sitting at the next table, and she got up and told us, “I’ve been listening to you for the last half hour, and it was very interesting. Thank you.” Then she went away [laughs]. It was cute.

It’s been announced that there’s going to be an American remake of The Valet.

They’re going to do it. I’ve had 7 remakes here.

And some of them you’ve been involved with, and others, not?

Most of them I was not involved with. I understood that when I arrived in Los Angeles for my first remake, The Toy, and I called Ray Stark, the producer, and I talked with his assistant, and I said, “I’m the French writer of The Toy, and if you need me, I’d be delighted to work with your writers here.” They never called me [chuckles].

I’d think The Valet might translate very well into an American version.

It depends on the writers. The only thing that is maybe not American is the mistress problem. In France, it’s normal. Here, that’s not a comedy. It’s a tragedy.

Yeah, we’re definitely more uptight about that type of thing here.

And I don’t know why. Because, like in France, a lot of men have mistresses. It reminds me of an Italian story, which Fellini once told. It’s about a Man who is going to the opera with his Wife. And he’s had the bad luck of having his Mistress seated on the other side of him at the theater. He doesn’t know what to say to his Wife, so he says, “Here, in Italy, having a mistress is a sign of success. Here, look, over there is Mr. Ferrari, the car constructor. The woman to the right is his wife and the blonde girl is his mistress.” His Wife looks at Ferrari’s Mistress and then at her own Husband’s Mistress and says, “Ours is better.” I love that story. In Europe, that’s comedy.

What are you working on next?

I’m writing a screenplay now, with Pignon again.

It must be nice as a writer to have Pignon to go back to.

It’s like a new meeting. I am always happy when I meet him. There is actually an association of real people with the name of Francois Pignon that have gathered. And they wanted me to stop writing with that name. My first film with Pignon was called The Pain in the Ass. The second was The Closet, where the guy was supposed to be gay. And the third was The Dinner Game, where he was an idiot. So I received a letter from a guy who asked me to stop writing with his name. So I did something out of Stranger Than Fiction, and I called him. I said, “Hello, may I speak to Francois Pignon?” And he said, “This is he.” And I said, “This is Francis Veber.” And he said, “Bastard!” [laughs] So we started to talk, and he said, “Okay, if you’re going to keep going, then send me two seats to your next film.” And I did, I invited him to the premiere.

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KEVIN SPACEY: The Hollywood Interview - Part II

KEVIN SPACEY: BEYOND ALL EXPECTATIONS
BY TERRY KEEFE

Note: This article originally appeared in the November 2004 issue of Venice Magazine.

A lot has happened in the world of Kevin Spacey since he last graced our cover back in December of 2001. Spacey was already a two-time Oscar winner, which would certainly seem to have earned him a resting-on- his-laurels break. But he sounded determined to do exactly the opposite. Said Kevin, "I've become uncomfortable with how successful I've become. I don't deserve it. So I keep working hard at it. I keep trying to find new things." You might have thought he was just talking about trying some different types of roles, which he has certainly done. His newest film, Beyond the Sea, a musical biopic about the life of singer-actor Bobby Darin which Spacey also directs, reveals musical talents that most of his fans likely never knew he had. But during the past three years, Spacey also launched TriggerStreet.com, a virtual film festival online which has the sole purpose of helping undiscovered screenwriters and filmmakers break into the industry. And if that weren't enough, he recently took on the job of Artistic Direc- tor of the historic Old Vic Theatre in London, determined to revitalize it to its former glory when the likes of Sir John Gielgud and Richard Burton trod its boards. This is not a guy who has any intention of slowing down. In fact, he seems to have taken on the philosophy that if he slows down for a minute, he'll gather a year's worth of rust. And that's an attitude that Kevin Spacey would have shared with the man he plays in Beyond the Sea, Bobby Darin.

As long as I'm singing/Then the world's all right and everything's swingin'/Long as I'm singing my song.
-"As Long As I'm Singing, " Bobby Darin

It's been said that singing is what kept Bobby Darin alive. Rheumatic fever during childhood severely damaged his heart, and he wasn't supposed to live past age fifteen. It would be at the age of 37 when he finally passed away following open heart surgery, but he packed enough accomplishments into those years for a few lifetimes: Hit records ("Splish Splash," "Mack the Knife," "Dream Lover," and, of course, "Beyond the Sea," amongst many others), Grammys, and an Oscar nomination in 1964 for Captain Newman, M.D.

Spacey infuses Beyond the Sea with the same "Gotta dance!" mindset that drove Darin every day. We meet Darin as a child when he was known as Walden Robert Cassotto (charmingly played by William Ullrich). In an effort to give Little Bobby something to think of other than illness, his mother Polly (Brenda Blethyn) introduces him to music. Not just singing, but the piano, drums, and guitar, as well. From there, Bobby is off and not only running, but literlly dancing down the street, with all of his neighbors dancing behind him in a scene straight out of a '505 Technicolor musical. Doesn't sound like your usual musician biopic? It isn't. Spacey has wisely chosen to break with reality on a number of occasions and add full-on musical numbers in which he not only proves his chops as a musical talent. but also adds a true sense of glee to a story which could have become fairly standard and dour. Of course, we also see Spacey perform many of Darin's songs on night club stages in a realistic fashion, but it is in the more fantasy-based musical sequences where we really get a sense of how much joy Darin felt when he was performing. Who has time for a heart attack when your feet just have to move? The musical numbers are also a great story-telling device, just in terms of moving the plot along. The scene where Bobby courts his future bride, actress Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth), by singing her "Beyond the Sea" in a charged musical montage, is infinitely more captivating than a dialogue-driven version of the same scene could ever be.

Spacey has been equally wise to surround himself with top acting talent. In addition to Blethyn and Bosworth, the cast is rounded out by John Goodman as Bobby's best-friend-turned-manager, Steve Blauner, Caroline Aaron as Bobby's sister, Nina, and Bob Hoskins as Nina's husband, Chartie. Aaron, in particular, deserves special recognition. as her part calls for a cathartic revelation at the end of the film which is extremely affecting. Those familiar with Darin's life story can probably guess what that revelation is, but it would be unfair to reveal it here to everyone else. This is Spacey's second time helming a feature, his first being 1996's Albino Alligator, a relatively small-scale story of a robbery gone awry which Spacey himself did not appear in. This time around, not only has he taken on the challenging task of directing himself, but the scope of the film is also far grander.

There will be those who quibble that Spacey is too old to play Darin, particularly in the scenes when Darin is a younger man of 20. But as evidenced by the musical numbers, Beyond the Sea is never intended to be a note-for-note recreation of reality. What Spacey is playing is the essence of Darin, and towards that end, he succeeds on all counts, likely putting him on the short list for Oscar nominations once again this year. The actor-director certainly knew he'd be taking some heat by playing the lead and works a knowing answer to his critics into the dialogue during the part of the plot which revolves around a movie that Darin is making of his life. When someone mentions to him that he's too old to play the part, Darin replies. "I was born to play this part!" By the end of the first song. you'd be hard pressed to argue. Few would have ever suspected that the man who played The Usual Suspects' pretzel-legged Verbal Kint, alias Keyser Soze, was a deft song-and-dance man, but that's what he is. Spacey sings all of the songs in the film himself, many of which he recorded at the famed Abbey Road Studios with producer Phil Ramone. Much like the rest of the film, Spacey's renditions of the Darin hits capture the singer's essence without imitating him outright.

After Beyond the Sea, the next place you'll be able to see Spacey perform will be onstage at the Old Vic Theatre in London, where he has recently begun his term as Artistic Director. The actor had his first experience with this legendary venue when he was just a child and attended a performance there with his parents. In 1998, he would return once again to the Old Vic, this time as an actor, electrifying audiences in the role of Hickey in Eugene O'Neill's "The Iceman Cometh." Today, the Old Vic is essentially his show. Spacey is ardently determined to return the Old Vic to its former glory as the crown jewel of London theaters, but he's also clearly decided that this can't happen without taking a few risks. For his first production as Artistic Director, the safe route would have been to choose a classic work by the likes of Shakespeare. Instead, Spacey picked "Cloaca," by an unknown Dutch writer named Maria Goos, revolving around a group of 40-something friends who reunite. Spacey directed the play, although he chose not to appear in it. The critics have been pretty rough on the production, but the box office has been quite good, so it appears that he's onto something. In the months to come, Spacey will take the stage again for two different productions. Also in the upcoming season, no less a stage luminary than Sir Ian McKellen will be taking on the role of Window Twankey in "Aladdin."

While he's running an actual theater in London, Spacey is also running a virtual the- ater online. TriggerStreet.com was launched in November, 2002 by Spacey and business partner Dana Brunetti, as an offshoot of Spacey's production company Trigger Street Productions. Said Spacey at the time, "I feel that if you have done well in whatever business you are in, it is your duty to send the elevator back down and try to help bring up the next generation of undiscovered talent." As you can imagine, the line to get on that elevator became long very quickly. Anyone with a short film or screenplay can load their works up on TriggerStreet.com and have them critiqued, and also rated, by the community of 150,000 registered users, most of whom are also aspiring writers and filmrnakers. The most highly rated films and scripts move to the top of the site's charts, where they have a good shot at getting noticed by the industry's movers and shakers. Case in point, the top ten short film finalists were given a coveted screening at last year's Sundance Film Festival. There is no charge to upload your material onto the site, but in order to have your work reviewed, you must first review the work of a few other members. Thus, only the most committed to the process have a shot at moving forward. For anyone who has ever applied to film festivals or screenwriting competitions, and paid the large fees required simply to have your project looked at, the TriggerStreet.com model is refreshing and, unfortunately, entirely unique. Meanwhile, Trigger Street Productions itself has a whole host of projects in the pipeline. Last spring, Paramount Classics released their production The United States of Leland, which Spacey also acted in. They got on board with two documentaries: Uncle Frank and America Rebuilds: A Year at Ground Zero (narrated by Spacey). And they'll next go into production on two features: Minis First Time (with Nikki Reed and Alec Baldwin) and 21, the story of a group of MIT students who learned how to count cards and took Vegas for millions.

It's all a long way from the early part of Spacey's career, when, despite stage triumphs, he was regarded as more of a supporting character-type in Hollywood. You might have caught him at the tail end of the '80s as Mel Profitt on the television series "Wiseguy, " or when he played a slimy businessman who tried to take advantage of Melanie Griffith in Working Girl (1988). More notable work followed in Henry & June (1990) and "Darrow" (1991), where he played famed attorney Clarence Darrow. But it was 1992 when he really proved what he was capable of, more than holding his own with the likes of Jack Lemmon, Al Pacino, Ed Harris, Alec Baldwin, and Alan Arkin in Glengarry Glen Ross. And then came 1995 and the triple-whammy of Swimming with Sharks, The Usual Suspects, and Se7en. To many moviegoers, it was like he had appeared out of nowhere, but they eagerly embraced him nonetheless. A run of successes followed including L.A. Confidential (1997), The Negotiator (1998), American Beauty (1999), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, The Shipping News (2001), and The Life of David Gale (2003). Spacey today is a movie star, but also one of the most respected actors in the world. That's a rare club to be in. His fans include filmgoers who wouldn't be caught dead at an art house, as well as people who won't go anywhere else.

Kevin Spacey reached us by phone from London on an early Saturday evening. A touch of a British accent has started to seep into his famous voice, although that quickly dissipates as we talk.

What is your first memory of Bobby Darin, whether in image or song?

Kevin Spacey: "Beyond the Sea" was the first song of his that I ever heard, and that was because my parents had a great record collection.

Was Bobby's story something you always knew you wanted to tell, or was there something you learned about his story that really sparked the interest for you?

I didn't know much about his story until was in my twenties. Then I read a few books that had been written about him and I was really struck by all those things I didn't know. I thought it would be a really interesting story. Then I later learned that they were going to try to make a movie of his life, and I thought, "Well, that's the part for me!" But it took a little more than 10 years to make that happen. Originally, the movie was at Warner Bros., for about 14 years in development. I had nothing to do with the project when it was at Warner Bros., but I eventually started doing movies for Warner Bros. in the mid-'90s and began a relationship with the people who had the rights. It took about five years to negotiate those rights out, which I finally got in the year 2000.

Did you develop the script a lot from that point on or did you shoot it pretty much as it was?

No, there was no script. There were a lot of drafts of scripts that I bought out of Warner Bros. But when I took on the project from Warner Bros., it became an entirely brand-new, from scratch, screenplay. And I'm waiting for the Writers Guild to make their determination as to who will end up with the writing credits. I wrote an enormous amount of it.

What was the biggest obstacle in getting Beyond the Sea off the ground?

Trying to raise the money.

Did it help when Chicago became a big hit?

It didn't help. You'd think that it would have. But the view about Chicago was tha1 it was an anomaly. There is a resistance that I don't quite understand to films that are both perceived as biopics, although that was not what I was setting out to do traditionally, and films that are driven by music. And it doesn't matter how many times you cite All That Jazz, or Moulin Rouge! , or Fame, or Chicago, or any of the other films that are driven by music. There still is a resistance to it, and I think, at the end of the day, it's a marketing resistance. It has to do with the fact that there is a prejudice in certain mind-sets that the only reason audiences would come to see a movie about somebody who actually lived is if they already know everything about that person's life. And my argument was, "Well, if that's true, then why do audiences come in droves to movies about fictional characters that they've never heard of?" So I kind of wanted to make this a movie that would be enjoyable to any audience, whether they had ever heard of Bobby Darin or not.

And was that the impetus behind adding elements that are non-traditional to a biopic, such as the big musical numbers?

Yeah, and also the movie-within-the-movie concept. Because I didn't want an audience to come in and feel like they had to pass a litmus test of predisposition in order to enjoy the film.

Did you spend any time with Sandra Dee while doing your research?

I have never met Ms. Dee. I have spoken to her, but I've never met her. My dealings were directly with Dodd Darin, who is their son, and Steve Blauner, who is the character that John Goodman plays in the movie. I have had every single ounce of support from the Darin family, and from Steve Blauner, that I could have ever hoped to have. Including what I think was the greatest gift the film received: before we went to record all of the numbers in the film, they went into Bobby's archives and found all of his original arrangements and charts, and sent them to me. That's what we laid down at Abbey Road.

What were their reactions to seeing the film?

Over the moon. They were exceedingly happy. And Dodd feels that maybe, because of the film, his father will finally get the recognition that was denied him because he died so young.

Had you always planned on singing the songs yourself?

To some degree, yeah. I used to do musicals a lot as a kid, so singing has always been a part of my life and has sort of been second nature to me. But it was always a question of, "Could I get the music right?" and "Could I get my voice to the place where it could reasonably facsimilate what Bobby did?" I would preface that by saying that I am nowhere near the singer that Bobby is. But I had a lot of help from people who worked with Bobby. With Phil Ramone. With Roger Kellaway. And, ultimately, with John Wilson and the orchestra that did the tracks. We'd been working on the music since 1999.

At what point in the rehearsal process did you feet you had finally nailed the singing?

I never actually did. There was a moment about three years ago when we went into Capitol Records and we laid down about 20 songs, just as rehearsal tracks. And I listen to those songs now and I just cringe. But it never got better than it did at Abbey Road. And I guess all that preparation toward the recording of the songs in the movie finally paid off. Phil Ramone says he knows the moments when I stopped trying to do an imitation of Bobby and sort of became "a Bobby," but I can't tell you when that was. I just know that it evolved and it was organic.

You make reference in the dialogue to the idea that some people will consider you too old to play Darin. Was that issue something which gave you pause and did you ever consider hiring another actor to play Bobby, with you participating as a director only?

Well, I actually didn't want to direct it at first. I went after other directors and tried very hard to get someone else to direct it. But it turned out that, with people's schedules, if I had gone with another director I couldn't have made the movie for another year and a half. And I knew that if I didn't make the movie this past year, I probably wouldn't ever make it. In regards to the difference in my age versus Bobby's, it was never that big an issue with me. It was becoming an issue in some journalistic circles, and I thought, "Well, maybe it's better to identify the elephant in the room and get it over with. Let people realize that I know it too, but that I'm not setting out to tell a linear story here." So, hopefully, it won't matter. We're warping time, and I hope people can just enjoy the movie and relax about that.

Did you study any of Bobby's old films to get his mannerisms down, or was that something that didn't concern you as much?

I was concerned with finding his energy and style and spirit. But didn't want to be beholden to doing a kind of tiresome imitation. I did watch an enormous amount of his work and obviously listened to an enormous amount of his work, in order to try to capture his essence. That's what I was going for.

The film is a balance of reality and and hyper-reality, such as the musical num- bers. You also acknowledge in the dialogue that things depicted in the film may not be exactly as they happened. But was there any place you really drew the line with that philosophy and said that a certain scene has to be played exactly as it really occurred?

No. I gave myself a lot of freedom in being able to have characters in places where they weren't in real life. I just didn't feel hampered by having to be exact, with the exception of the music being authentic, and wanting to tell the story of a romance, which I think was a very real romance, between Bobby and Sandy.

As depicted in the film, Bobby tried to become a folk singer with a political conscience late in his career, but the audiences wouldn't accept him in that new role. A successful actor such as yourself can also become typecast. Was that part of his story something you related to particularly?

I think Bobby, without question, faced the same dilemma that a lot of artists face, which is the conflict between professional expectations and personal freedom. He chose personal freedom, sometimes at the expense of his career. And I suppose that in the last five years, I've experienced a little bit of people not wanting me to do the things that I wanted to do. But you have to live for yourself. You can't live for your critics.

Film audiences haven't seen you singing and dancing until now. Many of your fans probably have no idea you can do this. Was there always a burning desire to show people that you could perform a musical as well as you obviously can?

I've always loved musicals. God knows I wish I could have done a musical between my days in the musical theater and now. But it just never came up. So, for me, it's been worth the wait. I love the form, and again, in wanting to reinvent myself, it just seemed like the perfect time to do it.

Are there any other musicals you're looking to tackle next, either onscreen or on stage?

[wryly] I've got a few up my sleeve.

Okay, I guess we'll just have to wait and be surprised. But next you're going to be doing a tour singing Bobby's music.

We're going to go out on the road. promoting the movie by celebrating the music of Bobby Darin. That'll happen in December. We're going to do 9-10 cities. I'm starting rehearsals for it in November.

Cool. How different was your mindset going into Beyond the Sea, as opposed to Albino Alligator? Did you feel a lot more confident as a director?

You know, by the time you get to the first day of shooting, you'd better feel relatively confident about what you're about to do. In our case, we had 12 weeks of pre-production. I'd been dreaming about doing the movie for more than 10 years. I'd been working on it for five years. But it's still quite nerve-wracking, and you still hope that you're going to be able to succeed in directing the actors. And I was concerned that, because I'd be directing myself, that I'd be paying attention to the things that were important and that it wouldn't become a vanity production.

Let's talk about your job as Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theatre. You could have played it safe for your first production and done something very conventional. But you chose not to with "Cloaca."

What I wanted to do in this first season was present work that was fresh, not that well known, or hadn't been done in London for a long time, as well as work that I thought would be popular with the public. So the first play that we chose is by an unknown writer who has written a lovely play that we are incredibly proud to have presented. And despite the critical drubbing that we've taken, the box office is booming and people are coming into the theater in droves, exactly as we had hoped. So our objective is working.

What do you love most about the actual Old Vic Theatre, structurally or otherwise?

Well, it is just one of the great theaters in the world. Because of the shape of the theater, the design of the theater, it's one of the easiest theaters for actors to play on. It's been standing there since 1818. It has a remarkable history. And I've always wanted to run a theater my entire life. So these two dreams are coming true for me in the same year. I could die now. [laughs]

A Bobby Darin song could be playing in the background.

Yes!

Let's talk a bit about your production company, Trigger Street. Is it true that was the name of the street you grew up on?

No, I didn't grow up on it. I lived near it, but one of my best friends did live on it. And we had always dreamed about building a theater on Trigger Street. We were going to call it the Trigger Street Theatre. So when it was time to name my company, I thought back to those days and Trigger Street was born.

Many successful actors and directors start their own production companies. What made you create one which also reaches into the community of struggling filmmakers to offer a helping hand?

Because I don't know what the hell else I'm supposed to do with success...except share it.

How active are you on the website? Do you read a lot of the scripts and watch the shorts, or do you leave that up to the community members?

Well, the great thing about it is that it's community-run, You know, we're not making the choices. The community is. But I absolutely see a lot of the films. And certainly. our Top 10 films, I've seen all of them.

You've mentioned in the past that working with Jack Lemmon as a young actor on "Long Day's Journey Into Night" changed your life. Could you expand on that a bit?

Without question, it was observing how Jack dealt with his success. How Jack dealt with other people. How Jack dedicated himself to the work. How he never let Hollywood glory go to his head. It was a great lesson for someone who was trying to climb his way up in the industry. I mean, he was just a great man. He was one of the funniest people I ever spent time with, and he was a generous person. He became something of a father figure to me, and I miss him.

On the set of Edison, you were recently reunited with Morgan Freeman, whom you appeared with in Se7en back in 1995. What was that experience like?

It was great. We had a blast. First of all, after Beyond the Sea, it was nice to be able to just show up and only have to know my lines. [laughs] But, also, I admire Morgan a lot, and we had a great time working together. And Justin Timberlake plays his first dramatic role in the movie, and he was very serious about it and focused and did a terrific job. We also had a very nice time with David Burke, who was my old writer from the 'Wiseguy" days. He wrote the script and was also at the helm.

Your next acting gig will be a return to the theater.

At the Old Vic, I'll be back up on stage doing a play called "National Anthems," starting in February. Then we're doing "The Philadelphia Story" right after that. in which I'll be playing the Gary Grant role from the movie. So I'm doing two plays back-to-back. I'll be a theater rat for a little while. But the stories of my quitting acting in movies are false.

Well, that's good to hear.

I don't know where they get this stuff. You know, I'll say in a sentence that I've always preferred the theater over film, as an actor, because it's more organic. And suddenly there's a headline that says I'm quitting movies! So, go figure. At the moment, my dedication is to getting the Old Vic up and running, but I suspect I'll find a movie to do after I'm done with this first season, which ends sometime in the spring.

One final question. Our "Inside the Actors Studio" moment. How do you want to be remembered as an actor?

That I did my best ~

Read more!

LUC BESSON: The Hollywood Interview

An in-depth interview with the director on Angel-A, Arthur and the Invisibles, and why Jean Reno better not use a cell phone on his set.

Besson is Back in the Director's Chair with Angel-A
(…..although he doesn't exactly believe in director's chairs.)

By Terry Keefe
Note: This article originally appeared in the April 2007 issue of Venice Magazine.

Fans of Luc Besson have had to wait since The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc in 1999 for him to step back into directing, although he's had his hands on an almost innumerable amount of projects as both a producer and a writer since that Milla Jovovich-starring epic. In fact, he's had so many credits in the intervening years that it might be easier to list the films Besson hasn't been involved with. Through his company Europa Corp, he's been a producer or executive producer on at least 20 different features during the last two years alone and has also received a writing credit on many others since The Messenger, including The Transporter and Bandidas. He's also become the author of a successful series of children's books, based around the character named "Arthur," with the series selling over a million copies worldwide thus far. The first feature film based on the "Arthur" series, Arthur and the Invisibles, a combination of live-action and animation, was released theatrically on these shores late last year, and it was written, directed, and produced by Besson. And now his directorial feature Angel-A, which was actually distributed in France prior to Arthur, in 2005, is finally getting its domestic release in the United States. So, whether you want to mark the return of Besson the director with Angel-A or Arthur, one of the most colorful and original filmmakers (and best interviews) around is back at the helm.

Angel-A is a poetic little two-hander about a hustler named Andre (Jamel Debbouze), who meets the supermodel-beautiful Angela (Rie Rasmussen, in a starmaking lead performance), when they are both attempting to commit suicide off a bridge over the Seine in Paris. It turns out that the appropriately-named Angela is an angel who has been sent with the mission of teaching Andre a few lessons. The actor and character-driven Angel-A is on the other side of the filmmaking coin from the spectacle of Besson's The Fifth Element and The Professional, but although the scale is smaller, Besson still crafts a visually dazzling film, with gorgeous black and white photography that makes Paris the third lead of the piece. The city is just waiting for Andre to embrace it, like a spurned lover, but although its beauty surrounds him always, he cannot see it.

How long did it take you to feel comfortable directing again, once you started production on Angel-A?
Luc Besson: Even if you don't brush your teeth for a few days, you still know how to do it [laughs]. I mean, I started when I was 17, so I've sort of had the feeling that I've been doing this all my life. But, you know, after doing Joan of Arc, I started working on Arthur for about five years. So I didn't get the feeling that I had stopped [directing] really. Because making the storyboards for Arthur took nine months, to do the references for the film took nine months, and then I did this film for the government to promote Paris for the games, and I worked on that for seven months. And I was doing Angel-A at the same time, so I've kept pretty busy.

You had the idea for Angel-A over ten years ago. You weren't able to finish the script at that point though.

I wrote 15 pages, but I couldn't write the dialogue. I was too young. I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't say it. And then you wait for 10 years, and life makes you older [laughs], and you get some smacks in the face. You get some pains in your joints, and some truth. And 10 years later, you write the script in 2 weeks.

You sat down and it just came out?

I was surprised, but [whistles] boom. Like that, it came out. But let's take an example for comparison: when you're 17 and you want to tell a girl "I love you," [laughs] it takes forever. You prepare; you send flowers; you don't know her; finding the right time; it takes forever. Believe me, when you're 40, you know things. You know there's a moment when you feel you have to say it. You say, "Darling, I need to talk to you. You know, I love you." You're going to be more straight at 40. You know life. You know the words. You're going to say things differently.

10 years prior, did you know the beats of the story at least?

I knew the bones, the structure, yeah. It was just the dialogue I couldn't do.

When you were shooting Angel-A, you took the unusual step of keeping the beats of the story from much of the cast and crew, until you were ready to do those scenes.

I did that with some of the cast and crew. Some of them, I didn't want them to know [all the plot]. When it was useful, I [used this technique], but not to be mean or anything. So, for example, the guy who plays the villain [Gilbert Melki], he sees Jamel like a sheep at the beginning. And then the next time he sees Jamel, later in the movie - Jamel is so powerful. I didn't want him to know what happened to Jamel in between those scenes. We were shooting in order, and so he was very confident in the first scene with Jamel. And then suddenly, in their next scene together, he sees Jamel coming in and Jamel is totally different. Jamel's dialogue is very "in charge." So he's wondering, "What the fuck is going on?" Because he doesn't have a clue as to what happened to Jamel. He was frustrated when he shot it, but when he saw the film, he said, "I think you were right." Because he was totally confused as to what happened to this guy, just like his character would be. I did the same thing with the set designer, who I had worked with before. I knew that if I gave him the script, he would come back to me with ideas that I liked. But I said to him, "I'm not going to give you the script." He said, "How do you expect me to design things if I don't have the script?" I said, "Okay, I'm going to tell you. There are two bars, one toilet, one rest room, that's it." He said, "Guide me." I said, "No, just do what you want." And he came back with ideas that he would have never had if he read the script. Never.

The bathroom was incredible. Very Clockwork Orange Milk Bar-esque.

He never would have come up with that bathroom if he had read the script. Because he went at it with no references. If you have no references, you just come up with something interesting. That's what I wanted. Because if he had come up with something which wasn't so good, I could have just given him the script anyway. So, why not try this way?

What was your rehearsal process like with Jamel and Rie?

With Rie, it was very different than with Jamel. Because Rie didn't speak French. The biggest concern with her was being able to learn French and say the lines right in French. Jamel is a stand-up comedy guy, so he's used to playing with words, usually his own words, and reacting to things. But he's not used to doing a play, basically, and the idea that "this is the line." That you can't change the line. Because it's like ping-pong with Rie. If you change your line, she has to change her line. But she won't change her line, because she's from Norway. And you'll look stupid [laughs]. So he had to stick to the lines and learn them, and that was difficult for him. I really pissed him off, both of them actually, by making them learn all the lines by heart. I told them that I wouldn't be happy until I could say a line from anywhere in the script, at any moment of the day, and that they could cut right into the scene from there. Which I did. Sometimes we were out at dinner, and Jamel was laughing, and I would say a line, and he'd have to answer it, and start the scene right away from there.

And that memorization helped because you were shooting all over Paris with a small crew, and thus, if you found a great location on the fly, you could quickly shoot a scene.

Yeah. The fact was, I wanted them to get rid of the text. So that they knew it so much by heart, that when we're on location, and the sun was good, and the bridge is perfect, and we're kind of going guerilla with a Steadicam, with nobody knowing we were there….I could just go "Action!" and we'd go. Sometimes, we'd shoot for like 2 hours of the day and that would be it. In those 2 hours, we might do 10-12 pages of script. It was so fast.

And it's impressive that your crew was also able to keep up with that schedule.

Oh, they had to [laughs].

You've talked about shooting Angel-A guerilla-style. Did you know where most of your locations were going to be prior to shooting?

Yeah, except a few times. You know, for example, where he's by himself at night? We had no authorization at all to shoot then. We just got in a single truck, got the Steadicam, got out and all looked around, and said, "Okay, here!" Jamel is quite popular in France, and I am too, so if you started to put lights around on things, you'd have a crowd.

You achieved the affect of having virtually no pedestrians in the backgrounds of your exterior shots. Largely from having shot pretty early, I assume?

Yeah, from 7-10 AM in the summer. Everyone in Paris is on vacation. The tourists arrive around 11.

Was any lighting done when you shot outside at some of the famous Parisian monuments, or did you go guerilla at those places as well?

All natural light. It's just like shooting a sunset. You have to wait for the perfect time. Most of those scenes, we knew what time we had to be there to get it right.

The film feels like a visual love letter to Paris. Was that the intention right from the beginning?

[long pause, thinks] It's a little different when you're French, and it's your city. I'm living there, and I do care for Paris. And I always care that my locations are cool and nice. And I can understand the perspective of someone from America, or China, or…when people say, "Oh my god, Paris is…!" It's a little different for me though. Of course, I love Paris, but for me, it's more about the guy and the girl. I wanted to show this beautiful city, because I wanted to show that Jamel can't see beauty.

Right, towards the end, he says that he never realized how beautiful the city was.

We see it, but he can't. That's what I wanted. Someone who can't see it. She's telling him, "Breathe, look, it's so beautiful." And he's just like, "I don't know how to swim." [laughs] But the city could be Rome, or Venice, or another beautiful city.

Although I haven't seen Paris look this lovely and enticing since Bande a Parte.

Paris is such a pleasure to film. In contrast, New York is a nightmare. Everything there is vertical. In CinemaScope, it's a nightmare. You just can't put the thing in a bottle. Paris is like 3 or 4-level buildings. It's very flat. The monuments aren't very big, because they're a few centuries old. And everything goes into frame. It's perfect for shooting. In CinemaScope. And even the scenes by the river, all the bridges go into frame.

Had you always intended to shoot in black and white, or were there financial considerations that could have caused you to scrap that plan and go color?

Of course I heard some complaints from TV around the world. [does "obnoxious businessman voice"] "Are you sure you want to do it in black and white?" [his own voice] "Yep." [obnoxious businessman voice] "We might not be able to take it then." [his own voice] "Don't take it then." [obnoxious businessman voice] "Okay, we'll take it!" [laughs]

Did you and your cinematographer Thierry Arbogast do a lot of tests in preparation for the black and white shooting?

Oh yes. The blue, the yellow, and the red…they don't react the same in black and white. You have to look at the construction and setting and the clothes, everything. The funny thing is, this film didn't look good in color. On the set, it wasn't looking good at all. Especially the costumes.

Looks great in black and white. How did you discover Rie?

She came to me with a short film that she wanted to have produced. I said "No" a few times. But she kept coming with more scripts and more scripts. And so I said, "Okay, she's a serious girl." Then I produced her first film and she was lucky enough to get nominated for Cannes. And then a year after that, I said, "Oh, by the way, I'm going to do this new film. Do you want to be in it?" It was kind of unexpected for her.

Were you reading a lot of other girls other than Rie, or had you planned on using her from the beginning?

No, it was just her. But I pretended that we were talking to other girls [laughs].

This summer you're shooting the next two Arthur films back-to-back. How long do you anticipate production to take on those sequels?

The actual live-action shooting only takes 12-13 weeks. The rest of it takes four years [laughs].

Do you know what you're directing after the Arthur films?

No. Probably nothing. Those are going to take me 3-4 years anyway. We'll see where we are in three years [laughs].

You've knocked out a lot of screenplays recently. How fast are you?

I'm fast. As long as I have my structure. If I have my three pages in front of me, and I know all my sequences, and I know the story, I'm fast. But to get those three pages can take me five years. Ten years. Twenty years. If I have my three pages, it'll take me two weeks. It's like turning on the computer and hitting "Print." [laughs]

With all the projects you're producing through your company, how hands-on are you in terms of script notes, during production, and into post when dealing with other director's projects?

I think I'm very present before the shooting and after the shooting. But not during the shooting. During the shooting, there is one boat and one captain. I don't have any ego about that. When I write a script, and give it to a director, it's his film. It's like, "It's your baby. Do what you want." I will judge it as a moviegoer, not as a writer. We're shooting Taken with Liam Neeson. I went to see the director on the set last night. You know, I went to say hi, have coffee, and then I left. That's what I do. Because, not here, but when I'm in France, if I go on the set, all the technicians get so nervous [laughs]. They're like, "What is he doing here? Oh my god, what is going to happen?" On the set, I'm unpredictable. I love to have people on their toes, from the moment they come on the set, to the moment they leave the set. Otherwise, stay home! You're not going to have the time to sit. I don't have a seat with my name on it. Ever. I'm always standing. And I'm always looking for everything I can steal, bring, or change. You know, my senses are, like, extra-developed when I'm on the set. So you'd better not sleep when you're working with me. [laughs] I started to laugh because I just remembered this: my first assistant once came to me on the set and said, "Tell me when is a good time for me to pee." I said, "James, it's okay. Go pee." [laughs] I definitely put the pressure on people, because I'm under pressure too. And I want some help. I don't want to be by myself under pressure. I don't want people to be like, [does a pretentious voice, mimics actor talking on a cell phone] "Yeah, I'm on the set with Luc Besson." Don't come around me on the set with a cellular phone. I smash phones.

Good!

Jean Reno? I took the phone out of his hand in the middle of a conversation and I slammed it down. I said, "Are you kidding? We're prepping this film for months, and that's all you have to do – giggle around? You have nothing to prepare? You're sure you're the best? Get back to work. Otherwise, I'm going to phone my girlfriend during the take when you're speaking. I'm going to go, 'Yeah, I'm shooting with Jean Reno here, and…'" I hate that. Because shooting is so tough. You have to concentrate. I never go overtime. If we're shooting until 5, I'm done by 4:50 and say that's the end of the day. That's how I respect my cast and crew. I'm not here to have them exhausted and dead. But if we're working for six hours, I want you for six hours. Fully 100%. That's all. Give me your best.

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DIANE KEATON: The Hollywood Interview

FALLING IN LOVE AGAIN WITH DIANE KEATON
by Terry Keefe
This article originally appeared in the Dec/Jan 2003 issue of Venice Magazine.

Diane Keaton's new movie Something's Gotta Give reminds us of why we fell in love with her in the first place. And if you're a younger moviegoer who is new to her work, you'll understand immediately why she became a star some three decades ago. The film provides Keaton with her best starring role in recent memory, but it's more than that, as this particular part fits the actor so well that it's a little magical. Writer/director Nancy Meyers created the role of Erica Barry with Keaton in mind, and it shows. The role is a virtual playground for the acting pleasures of Keaton, who is at once hilarious, charming, neurotic, and touching as a successful, divorced playwright who finds her true love at middle-age with the eternal roving bachelor Harry Sanborn, played to perfection by Jack Nicholson. Erica has essentially given up on the prospect of love at this point in her life, and when her young daughter Marin (Amanda Peet) brings the womanizing Harry to Erica's house in the Hamptons, she certainly doesn't anticipate that her life is about to change. But Nicholson's Harry isn't as nimble in the bedroom as he used to be, and he has a heart attack prior to a romp with Peet, requiring him to stay with Erica until he is able to travel. The sparks fly as Erica and Harry, who never in a million years thought that they could want each other, find themselves drawn together.

The film is being marketed with a poster of Keaton and Nicholson accompanied by the title "Jack & Diane." Without having seen the film, this might just look like a clever promotion, tying in the names of the cast to a famous rock song. But the "Jack & Diane" who are being marketed here have such chemistry together that their sum is even greater than their already great parts, and selling them as a pair is thus very apt. Not only is this the hottest middle-aged romance ever put on screen, but it's one of the hottest romances in romantic comedy history, period. The sparks escalating between Keaton and Nicholson are so tangible that they transcend the already strong dialogue and story to create something far more profound than you usually get from a movie. Specifically, Something's Gotta Give takes you on a journey that reminds you very much what it is like to fall in love in the real world, outside of the three-act structure of Hollywood. Keaton and Nicholson build their relationship to a high boil very slowly. They blunder about, occasionally flirting, occasionally arguing, and then, boom! Before either one of them realizes it, they're there.

If Something's Gotta Give had a spiritual godfather, it would have to be the great writer/director Preston Sturges (The Lady Eve, Sullivan's Travels). Like the best Sturges films, Something's Gotta Give is a comedy where everyone sounds like people you know, only a lot wittier and smarter. At the same time, beneath the gags is a tenderness and humanity that most comedies never even bother to reach for. A prime example of where these paths cross is the first bedroom scene between Keaton and Nicholson, in which Nicholson's Harry starts to have heart palpitations and Keaton makes him check his blood pressure. This all goes down in the middle of a romantic moment which manages to not only stay romantic, but build to an even sexier level after the gags are over.

Like Nicholson, Keaton is now in the enviable position of doing some of the best work of her career many years into it, and will quite probably, and deservedly, receive an Oscar nomination for her performance. There is a whole younger generation of moviegoers who are going to be introduced to her via Something's Gotta Give, so now might be a good time to recap her career before launching into the interview proper.

Keaton was born in Los Angeles and moved to New York to study at Sanford Meisner's Neighborhood Playhouse. She would appear on Broadway in "Hair" and then be cast opposite future collaborator Woody Allen in his show, "Play it Again, Sam," a role that she would reprise in the film version in 1972. That would also be the year in which her Kaye Adams met Al Pacino's Michael Corleone in The Godfather. Kaye was introduced to "the family" very much at the same pace the audience was, starting at the wedding party and ending with the dark scene in which Michael lies boldfacedly to Kaye about his role in the murders of the heads of the Five Families. The last shot of The Godfather is of Kaye's face as Michael closes the door on her, and at that concluding moment it becomes very much her story. She would once again play Kaye in The Godfather: Part II in 1974, and by then her character, like the audience, is devoid of any illusions that her husband can be redeemed.

Woody Allen would cast her as his comedic foil and romantic interest in a string of wacky comedies— Sleeper (1973) and Love and Death (1975), but it would be with Annie Hall in 1977 that their partnership would bear its most intoxicating fruit. The film followed the roller coaster relationship between Allen's famed New York comedian Alvy Singer and Keaton's Annie, who comes to Manhattan as sort of a country bumpkin but quickly develops big city neuroses as varied as those of Allen's character. It was one of the first American romantic comedies where the characters almost lived happily ever after together, but not quite. The film also broke the mold in terms of its fractured narrative and skillful interweaving of different types of comedy. Keaton won a Best Actress Academy Award for her work as Annie. She then appeared in a far darker look at modern romance in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), and would close out the decade with two more Woody Allen classics, Interiors (1978) and Manhattan (1979).
A lengthy shoot followed on the epic Reds (1981), where she played writer Louise Bryant opposite director/star Warren Beatty, as well as future co-star Jack Nicholson, who appeared in a supporting role. The film garnered her a second Academy Award nomination, as well as a Golden Globe nomination. More Golden Globe nominations followed in Shoot the Moon (1982), Mrs. Soffel (1984), the Nancy Meyers-scripted and produced Baby Boom (1987), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), and the television film "Amelia Earhart: The Final Flight" (1994). Amongst her many other films are The Little Drummer Girl (1984), Crimes of the Heart (1986), Radio Days (1987), and The Godfather: Part III (1990). She appeared in a string of commercial successes in the early to mid-nineties with Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride: Part II (1995), and The First Wives Club (1996). She earned a third Academy Award nomination for Marvin's Room in 1996. Keaton has also had success as a director, most notably with the theatrical features Unstrung Heroes (1995) and Hanging Up (2000), which she also starred in opposite Lisa Kudrow and Meg Ryan. In addition to her filmmaking endeavors, she's very involved with the Los Angeles Conservancy, a group which fights to preserve many of the historical buildings in town.

Did you speak frequently with Nancy Meyers as she was writing the script for Something's Gotta Give?

Diane Keaton: Not really. When she was sort of finished with an outline, she talked to me about it, and then again when she had a first draft, she spoke to me about it. She told me the idea and asked me what I thought. What could I think but that it was a golden opportunity for me? My only question was, would it really realize itself? That was all. Otherwise, what? Of course, I wanted to do it. And I know Nancy and I know what her work is like. She always wanted to do it with Jack, and the opportunity to work with Jack again was thrilling. Besides the fact that I was terrified, I was thrilled. [laughs]

You were terrified to work with Jack again?

Yeah, I mean I hadn't seen Jack, besides passing him like twice in 25 years. [laughs] So I didn't know what he would be like. Because in that span of time, you know, Jack became larger than legendary. He became a national treasure, which has not exactly happened to me. You know, I would see him on television peripherally at a Lakers game or read about him on the cover of Time Magazine or see him at an awards show. I didn't know who he was.

Has his style of working changed much since you did Reds?

Yes, I do think so. When I worked with him in Reds, he was kind of Warren's friend. Warren had this huge burden, which was the making of Reds, which was really very difficult for him. He was so invested in that movie. It was the passion of his life. He had a lot of difficulties with it, because it was such a massive undertaking. So Jack came in, as his best friend, and gave him a tremendous amount of support, and relief, and added humor on the set. Jack was like a hero— he was a hero to all of us, in a way. I only had a few scenes with him, but they were some of the most enjoyable scenes I did on Reds, because they were free of the burden of the responsibility of this movie, something that was being carried about on Warren's back. So Jack was really Warren's hero and my hero. He was sort of the relief that came in, that just lifted up the day for us. So in that regard, he wasn't carrying the burden of the leading role in this movie. He would come in and be fabulous, like he is, and help everybody and leave. And I felt at the time that he was the most generous actor I'd ever been with on-screen, by far. He was always right there with you and he was always helpful and he would never let you down. Because of the technique that I come from, which is the Sandy Meisner technique, you're only as good as the person you're acting with. And it's really kind of a more reactive type of acting. Like I take from what you give me and that colors my performance. As opposed to going it on my own and forging my path to create a wonderful performance without the help of anyone. I always need the help of everyone! [laughs] He changed in that time, because we all change in 25 years. And because in this movie, he carries it. So it was a more real relationship. Sort of like in the m