Speaker 1: Welcome to Playback, a Variety podcast. On today's show, we're
Speaker 1: talking about the recently wrapped New York Film Festival, where
Speaker 1: Ang Lee's latest film faced some tough criticism. A little
Speaker 1: bit later, I'll be talking to Hack's All Ridge and
Speaker 1: Silent star Andrew Garfield. So stick around, all right, everyone,
Speaker 1: I'm here with Janelle Riley again. How are you doing?
Speaker 1: This room is very dusty and it's making my allergies crazy.
Speaker 1: So if we sniffle the whole time, I'm doing the
Speaker 1: same thing, that is my champion. I sound like Donald Trump.
Speaker 1: It was not um. You know, the New York Film
Speaker 1: Festival just wrapped up. Did you go out there at all?
Speaker 1: I actually happened to be out there for the Hampton's
Speaker 1: Film Festival and in New York, but kind of the
Speaker 1: last thing I want to do on my day off
Speaker 1: was go to and honestly, they weren't screened anything I
Speaker 1: hadn't already seen. So yeah, well, the big story out
Speaker 1: of there, and neither of us can really speak to
Speaker 1: it because we haven't seen the film. But Billy Lynn's
Speaker 1: long halftime walk really hit the skids with critics. A
Speaker 1: lot of criticism aimed at the twenty frames per second,
Speaker 1: which you know, I mean, I I can't. I haven't
Speaker 1: seen the movie. I love Angle. I still am going
Speaker 1: to see the movie. I have to say, I do
Speaker 1: not like the multi frame rate. When I saw the Hobbit,
Speaker 1: I mean had some problems, but really hated the way
Speaker 1: it looked. And just reading what people were saying, and
Speaker 1: they meant it as praise when they were saying how
Speaker 1: crisp the picture was, and you can see the pores
Speaker 1: on their nose, I was like, that's how it's awful.
Speaker 1: That sounds. I feel like offers actors think that sounds awful.
Speaker 1: Part of the idea here is to hide between those
Speaker 1: those the flicker of the frames, you know, and you
Speaker 1: can't hide makeup, you can't hide production design, you can't
Speaker 1: hide background. I don't know that are just doing busy
Speaker 1: work back there. Well for him, I I as I
Speaker 1: understand it. It was, you know, it's just for the
Speaker 1: war scenes, and it's too kind of carry across this
Speaker 1: idea of the hyper real memory you had have of
Speaker 1: a of a battle sequence and stuff like that. And
Speaker 1: I get it. I mean, he's an artist, and I'm
Speaker 1: sure he had a very artistic reason to use it, right?
Speaker 1: Who am I to questioning? At the same time, I
Speaker 1: find it takes me out of a movie. Yeah, well
Speaker 1: we'll see when we see it. That's the other thing
Speaker 1: is they couldn't even they couldn't have a projector over
Speaker 1: here to to show it in that framework, right, don't
Speaker 1: they have to show this movie properly? When it's released commercially,
Speaker 1: there will only be two theaters in the country showing
Speaker 1: it at frames per second, Which brings up my next point,
Speaker 1: which is of the people that see this movie, you're
Speaker 1: not going to see it this way, so you know,
Speaker 1: if a tree falls in the woods, yeah, like what's
Speaker 1: or if a movie bombs in New York in New York.
Speaker 1: And that's the other thing. I think going to the
Speaker 1: New York Film Festival might not have been the best
Speaker 1: way to yeah this movie because take Life of Pie
Speaker 1: there sentimental. I guess maybe he's been there with like
Speaker 1: his Western what was that film called The Devil? I
Speaker 1: feel like maybe that person who actually likes to the Devil,
Speaker 1: I'm such a hardcore angle and the Criterion version. That's
Speaker 1: because I own like every Western, But yeah, I think
Speaker 1: you know, and he's they took the walk there last year,
Speaker 1: Sony did. They've been taking movies there Captain Phillips the
Speaker 1: last couple of years, so uh, it made sense for
Speaker 1: them to go there, I guess. But this movie is
Speaker 1: a particular movie, and it just seems like it didn't
Speaker 1: work out for them. We'll see it in two weeks
Speaker 1: when the projector finally gets over here. I don't know,
Speaker 1: were in Los Angeles storeroom. They don't even know where
Speaker 1: it's going to release commercially over here. I don't know
Speaker 1: if they know in New York either, But what the budget?
Speaker 1: Do you know? I don't I mean, this couldn't have
Speaker 1: been a cheap movie. Yeah, I don't know. I I
Speaker 1: so admire Angley, like, you know, taking chances and doing
Speaker 1: new things, and when it pays off, it's amazing, you know,
Speaker 1: Life of Pie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Um, But I
Speaker 1: just don't know. I was. I was really disappointed to read.
Speaker 1: I liked what he tried to do with Hulk oh.
Speaker 1: I actually like it. Tried to bring a comic book alive.
Speaker 1: It's kind of got the split screen stuff, and it
Speaker 1: tried to put you there. I mean that's an example
Speaker 1: of it. You liked it, apparently, but there's an example
Speaker 1: of it, but I'm not really working. I'm a fan
Speaker 1: of that one I see. I actually think it's funny
Speaker 1: and you know, entertaining, and maybe I just love the Hulk.
Speaker 1: Maybe maybe there's some lou for Rigno crushed from my
Speaker 1: childhood that keeps to Comic CON's selling autographs for forty
Speaker 1: bucks pop every year forty I think so. I used,
Speaker 1: he's moving on up. But that was that was the
Speaker 1: kind of the big premiere in New York, along with Duvernet, Uh,
Speaker 1: which we kind of talked about years ago. You've seen
Speaker 1: it since, God, so stunning and upsetting and beauty. You
Speaker 1: agree with me that should be the best picture considered. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just said it. I said, that's that's my one
Speaker 1: for this around. You know, she's she's serious. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: easily one of the best movies of the year. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and and and I think, uh, twenty Century
Speaker 1: Women also screamed out there. I guess that would have
Speaker 1: been the Was that the premiere I think it was
Speaker 1: because it didn't premiere Toronto. Yeah, that was that was
Speaker 1: the world premiere center. It was the centerpiece film in
Speaker 1: New York. Yeah, said screened in l a screen just
Speaker 1: ahead of that, and that's when I saw it, and
Speaker 1: you saw it. I'm a fan. I like Mike Mills,
Speaker 1: I like I like his voice. Yeah, he just really
Speaker 1: does a good job of getting his voice into his work.
Speaker 1: And I like Beginners better. I think it's a tighter movie.
Speaker 1: Beginners is kind of perfect. Yeah, and and and I
Speaker 1: think Twentieth Century Women starts to just wander a bit
Speaker 1: in the middle of the movie. It loses its focus
Speaker 1: a little, but I still love the tone. I loved
Speaker 1: kind of luxuriating in the world he created. And I
Speaker 1: thought that Bending was great. The actors are great. I
Speaker 1: thought Greta Girlwig was It's the best, right. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: glad someone else has said that, because l Fanning was fantastic. Yes,
Speaker 1: she's good, but Gretta man, Yeah, I mean she's there's
Speaker 1: so much going on with that character, and she's got
Speaker 1: this history to kind of work through, and I think
Speaker 1: it's her best performance. And I do think she has
Speaker 1: a shot in the supporting category. Did you hear I
Speaker 1: think someone told me that Mike Mills made Beginners for
Speaker 1: his father and made Twenty Century Women for his mother,
Speaker 1: and it is interesting how they are sort of the
Speaker 1: movie Cousins, you know. Yeah, there's certain things he uses
Speaker 1: in Beginners, you know, when he would show the pictures
Speaker 1: and be like, this is what love looks like. He
Speaker 1: does something similar in Twenty Century Women, but doesn't lay
Speaker 1: it on too thick, So they are two very different movies. Yeah,
Speaker 1: he's talked about that he likes to play with time
Speaker 1: in his editorial, like, because you know, you don't really
Speaker 1: experience time chronologically. You experienced it through memories and things
Speaker 1: like that. So he tries to play with that and
Speaker 1: the way he dits movies, and it definitely does that
Speaker 1: in this one. And yeah, absolutely Beginners is like a
Speaker 1: love letter to his father, and this is a love
Speaker 1: letter to his mother, and and that Benning. You know,
Speaker 1: I think there was a period where it was they
Speaker 1: were keeping options open about supporting her lead she could.
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of times when you see like
Speaker 1: Alicia Vickender in Danish Girl and she goes supporting it's
Speaker 1: like obvious category fraud. I have to say, this movie
Speaker 1: is really kind of the main Boys story. Like I
Speaker 1: actually think of a net Bennie went supporting it, would
Speaker 1: I would get it. I feel the same way. I
Speaker 1: mean the problem is he of all of the characters,
Speaker 1: he's the one you don't really learn a lot of it.
Speaker 1: He's very learned about everybody else, So everybody else kind
Speaker 1: of stands out. And the Net having this big performance,
Speaker 1: it feels like a lead in it. It's arguably a lead,
Speaker 1: arguably supporting because she's a Net Benning. Like, I don't
Speaker 1: know if anyone else think that's what the boils down to.
Speaker 1: As far as an Oscar campaign is concerned, too, it's like, no,
Speaker 1: not going. I mean, she's getting nominated in either category.
Speaker 1: I think I feel the same way about Violet Davis
Speaker 1: without even so even though we haven't seen it, we're like, like,
Speaker 1: she's the front runner all around wherever she could go.
Speaker 1: In the best director category we put it in. And
Speaker 1: I know, a couple of weeks ago, I said that
Speaker 1: lead is I mean that supporting is not happening. Uh.
Speaker 1: I still feel pretty strong, but it is still a question.
Speaker 1: And I think everyone's looking at that campaign, what is
Speaker 1: she going to do? A lot of people would like
Speaker 1: her to get out of that category because it frees
Speaker 1: up space for you know, a Ruthnega or Taragi p
Speaker 1: Henson perhaps or you know, assuming that the category is
Speaker 1: laid out the way we assume it is, which is like,
Speaker 1: you know Meryl, you think Meryl is a lock. I
Speaker 1: think she's strong. She's Meryl. I think she's strong. But
Speaker 1: I think in a year where you have people on
Speaker 1: the bubble that could get in, like you know Amy Adams,
Speaker 1: who's fantastic in two different movies. Um, I think Emma
Speaker 1: Stones a lock. I mean, and that Benning so and
Speaker 1: Natalie Portman, Oh yeah, obviously Natalie Portman. And then we've
Speaker 1: got I feel this kind of fifth spot. It is
Speaker 1: like assumably Viola if she's going lead, and I think
Speaker 1: that she's probably strong enough to win in either category
Speaker 1: wherever she is. Yeah, I mean, she wonted Tony and
Speaker 1: she's Viola Davis. And you've seen the trailer. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of snot going on. It worked in down, it
Speaker 1: worked in doubt. You know, it's going to be a big,
Speaker 1: powerful performance, you know. So it is in the play
Speaker 1: a supporting role, and I've heard that they've beat it
Speaker 1: up for the movie, but I mean, I am curious.
Speaker 1: It's it's strange that usually if someone is lesser known,
Speaker 1: like an Alicia Vickender, they put her in supporting even
Speaker 1: when it's clearly a lead role. But if you're as
Speaker 1: establishes Viola Davis, it works the opposite way. Sometimes you
Speaker 1: get in the lead category when it's really a supporting role.
Speaker 1: But with Viola, it may be a supporting role, but
Speaker 1: is it a supporting performance? And I know that's a
Speaker 1: weird thing to say, but like that's kind of what
Speaker 1: we're talking about with the net. It's it's sort of
Speaker 1: a leading performance but a supporting role. Well, I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, the great example is Hannibal Lector in Silence
Speaker 1: of the Lambs had something like, yeah, but you know
Speaker 1: everybody wants from that movie, you know, talking about Hannibal Lector,
Speaker 1: which is a weird comparison to make when I definitely
Speaker 1: or at betting for that man. We'll see how different role.
Speaker 1: But yeah, suffice it to say, everyone's keeping an eye
Speaker 1: on that campaign. Yeah, I mean, you know, I really
Speaker 1: want Amy I'm to be nominated for Arrival. Um. I
Speaker 1: love that movie. I love that performance. Uh, she's kind
Speaker 1: of on the bubble, you know. I'd like her to
Speaker 1: have more secure slot. I think she's more secure than
Speaker 1: merriw really. Yeah, I definitely disagree with you. Well, well,
Speaker 1: we have to wait and see how the movie does
Speaker 1: actually does, and they're gonna bring They're gonna be bringing
Speaker 1: Florence back around too. It's not good like they're going
Speaker 1: to be. They're gonna do their tastemakers and have their things.
Speaker 1: And I know you and I are big fans of
Speaker 1: Florence Foster Jenkins, and I love Hugh Grant's performance. And
Speaker 1: is he a sure thing? Sure thing but pretty secure?
Speaker 1: I think he's I think he's a good bet right now.
Speaker 1: I mean, look, I have it for picture actress, supporting actor,
Speaker 1: a couple of below the lines. Like, I think it's
Speaker 1: a strong player across the board. Good Golden Globes are
Speaker 1: going to be fit up to whenever it comes to that.
Speaker 1: So I like your column today where you said, like
Speaker 1: the Golden Globes Comedy Musical category is a race to
Speaker 1: see who will lose to Lala basically, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just four more slots to fill there, and it's
Speaker 1: a pretty thin race. I think beyond Florence Foster Jenkins
Speaker 1: in La La Land, it's pretty wide open. You're right.
Speaker 1: Literally got an email from Fox. What about Deadpool? You
Speaker 1: know that's it's funny you would say that, because I've
Speaker 1: heard a lot of people say that, Like Globes voters
Speaker 1: really love Deadpool and they love Ryan Reynolds and he's
Speaker 1: a big star. So that hp A there there are
Speaker 1: fans of Deadpool and hfp A. Now, I don't know
Speaker 1: how much of that is actual love for the movie
Speaker 1: or actual love for Ryan Reynolds. But let's be honest,
Speaker 1: how great would it be if they nominated a true
Speaker 1: comedy It would be pretty Deadpool, yeah, absolutely, or the
Speaker 1: nice guys, great guys. I would love to see Russell
Speaker 1: Crowe nominated for performance. Ryan's already getting nominated, but like, like,
Speaker 1: Russell Crowe was hilarious in that movie. Did you go
Speaker 1: to the American Cinema Tech Award? I did not. He
Speaker 1: kind of gave a good case for why he should
Speaker 1: host the Oscars. Russell Crowe, Russell Crowell. I saw him
Speaker 1: on Saturday Night Live. I was at the dress rehearsal
Speaker 1: where there's like ten times more sketches that they cut,
Speaker 1: and the guy is he's a chameleon and a comedic genius.
Speaker 1: I mean, like some of the sketches they cut, I
Speaker 1: wish I hope they put them online. Somewhere because he
Speaker 1: is he is hilarious. Maybe they should uh tap him
Speaker 1: to host the Oscars. You know, maybe they should announce
Speaker 1: a producer. Maybe they should figure out what's going to
Speaker 1: happen with this show, Like, isn't that weird? Like it's
Speaker 1: October or whatever it is now and no producer announced.
Speaker 1: We'll have winners before we have a producer. Yeah, it's crazy.
Speaker 1: I know that there was three years where you know,
Speaker 1: Zaden and Maren were a three year contract, so a
Speaker 1: lot of their decisions were able to happen early in
Speaker 1: August or September or whatever. You'd hear what the host is.
Speaker 1: And now they're kind of starting fresh. I've heard that, Uh,
Speaker 1: you know, nobody wants that gig after last year, but
Speaker 1: he wants to produce the Oscars after last year. Talk
Speaker 1: to the academy you hear something completely different. No, we've
Speaker 1: got a lot of people. We're just trying to decide
Speaker 1: who it's going to be. Anything about the host. Cluck
Speaker 1: is ticking. No, I mean you need a producer first,
Speaker 1: because that's that's gonna be where that decision comes from.
Speaker 1: I assume we'll know both before the Governor's Awards in
Speaker 1: mid November. But that's like three weeks away. Yeah, not
Speaker 1: very far, so hopefully soon. I didn't expect to go
Speaker 1: down that road, but I am like, what's going on
Speaker 1: over there? Hey, maybe it's time to go back to
Speaker 1: Brett Ratner just saying maybe wanted Eddie Murphy to h
Speaker 1: that was all about that. Yeah, let's do it. What
Speaker 1: else were we going to cover here? Opening this week? Oh?
Speaker 1: By the way, the one movie opening this week that
Speaker 1: that we need to talk about is Boo a Media Halloween.
Speaker 1: Wait what, I have never seen a Tyler Perry movie,
Speaker 1: and I'm this weekend to see Boo a Media Halloween.
Speaker 1: I don't think it will struggle for box office. I
Speaker 1: think everyone should go see Moonlight, which doesn't open wide
Speaker 1: until later anyway, but it's opening limited this week. Such
Speaker 1: a beautiful movie. And we've talked about that. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think we've talked a lot about it. How much we
Speaker 1: love that cast. Yeah, and I actually did attend a
Speaker 1: Q and A this weekend with Herschela Ali and Naomi
Speaker 1: Harris and Andre Holland and you know, just audience. Actually,
Speaker 1: I'm not sure to be honest, Um, well received, everyone
Speaker 1: stuck around. Very well received. And just listening to those
Speaker 1: three talks like a masterclass in acting. I look forward
Speaker 1: to talking to Barry Jenkins at some point this year
Speaker 1: because said him, yeah, and everyone said they were fans
Speaker 1: of his first movie Moonlight for Melancholi Melancholic flight Medicine.
Speaker 1: For me, I'm sorry, I just made the best mash
Speaker 1: up Moonlight from Melancol Medicine Man Melancholic Melancholy from Moonlight.
Speaker 1: But they were all big fans of his even before
Speaker 1: they worked with him. In the way that they talk
Speaker 1: about this director like they're so rhapsodic what he's able
Speaker 1: to pull off with these three actors playing this one
Speaker 1: character and you know, getting that performance out of Naomi
Speaker 1: over the course of the weekend. You know, it's pretty
Speaker 1: good stuff. So you should go see that film as
Speaker 1: opposed to Boom Medea Halloween. You know, one of my
Speaker 1: co workers did say he admires that Tyler Perry as
Speaker 1: he continues to get, you know, more famous in his
Speaker 1: movies are bigger and bigger, he still refuses to learn
Speaker 1: that they sick tenants of filmmaking, and in a way
Speaker 1: that that stubbornness is admirable. Well, he doesn't appear to
Speaker 1: need to yet he clearly is doing something right. This
Speaker 1: guy is a behemoth in the industry, so good for him. Yes,
Speaker 1: and look he's a good actor. He was great and
Speaker 1: gone girl. Yeah, I even saw the movie where he
Speaker 1: played Alex Cross, and it's like, yeah, he's what was
Speaker 1: the movie called? Was it called Alex? It was called
Speaker 1: Alex Cross? Yes, well, go see both of those movies.
Speaker 1: Screw it. You should should have or go see Moonlight twice.
Speaker 1: That would be seen moon Like twice. I'm talking to
Speaker 1: Andrew Garfield after this. Talked about hacks All Ridge a
Speaker 1: few weeks ago. Loved it. More and more people are
Speaker 1: seeing it and coming and telling me how much they
Speaker 1: love it. It's a lovely conversation. I think everybody will
Speaker 1: enjoy that, so stick around for that. I was dreamed
Speaker 1: about being a doctor, but I didn't get my school.
Speaker 1: I can't stay here all them go fight for me.
Speaker 1: When you figured this war is just going to fit
Speaker 1: in with your ideas. While everybody else has taken life,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be saving it. That's gonna be my way
Speaker 1: to serve. This is a personal gift from the United
Speaker 1: States government because I do bring death to the end
Speaker 1: of it. Well, I'm sorry. Sorry, I can't touch a gun.
Speaker 1: Shen't killed. You know, quite a bit of killing does
Speaker 1: occur in war. Private Dots does not believe in violence.
Speaker 1: You'll not look to him to save you on the battlefield.
Speaker 1: I don't think this is a question of religion. I
Speaker 1: think this is callous because you weren't like anyone else.
Speaker 1: You're saying you could go to prison. But I don't
Speaker 1: know how I'm gonna live with myself if I don't
Speaker 1: stay truny to what I believe. With the world so
Speaker 1: set on tearing itself apart, don't seem like such a
Speaker 1: bad thing to me to want to put a little
Speaker 1: bit of it back together. Welcome back, everyone. I'm here
Speaker 1: with Andrew Garfield, the star of Mel Gibson's hacks all
Speaker 1: Ridge j opens November four. Thank you for coming by today, man,
Speaker 1: I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Uh. It's
Speaker 1: been ten years since Mel Gibson gave us a movie.
Speaker 1: Apocalypto was the last one, and I just want to
Speaker 1: talk quickly about that. Are you as big a fan
Speaker 1: of that movie is as I think I am. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I am a huge fan of that movie. I think
Speaker 1: that's maybe my favorite movie of his that he directed.
Speaker 1: It's it's such a bold movie to make. And I
Speaker 1: remember when the trailer hit for that movie. I don't
Speaker 1: know if people remember this, but there was a moment
Speaker 1: in the trailer, like a couple of frames where he
Speaker 1: just inserted a shot where he was hanging out with
Speaker 1: like the guys that were playing the natives, and he's
Speaker 1: like just cheesing with I think he had like a
Speaker 1: cigaretto in his mouth or something. Really, it's just yeah,
Speaker 1: it's just a really brief moment where he's just like
Speaker 1: smiling in the middle of this big press trail line.
Speaker 1: I don't remember that after this, but I'm just curious
Speaker 1: if that speaks to how he is on the set. Yes,
Speaker 1: that that's so funny and and interesting. He kind of
Speaker 1: makes his own rules in that way as a filmmaker,
Speaker 1: I think, and he's not precious at all about the
Speaker 1: process or even about the moment. There's this kind of
Speaker 1: very intuitive instinctive, a physical, visceral presence that he has
Speaker 1: and that his movies have. I think is you know,
Speaker 1: with Apocalypto is a great example of that. It's so
Speaker 1: muscular and full of you know, blood and flesh, and
Speaker 1: you know, you feel like you're there. And I think
Speaker 1: Haxtell raises no exception to that. Um and yeah, and
Speaker 1: I think it does come out of his um, his
Speaker 1: his his presence on set, his kind of almost animal
Speaker 1: instinctive way of making a film telling a story. Uh,
Speaker 1: he is a figure. I think that looms pretty large
Speaker 1: in this industry. So maybe you had expectations going in,
Speaker 1: But even still, did he surprise you as a filmmaker
Speaker 1: in any way that sticks out? Now? Yeah, I had
Speaker 1: no idea what to expect, because of course you hear,
Speaker 1: you hear so much, and you kind of go in
Speaker 1: with any filmmaker really and of course you know Mail,
Speaker 1: there's no exception to that. You go in with a
Speaker 1: bunch of expectations and a bunch of ideas that that
Speaker 1: you hope you can see past in order to just
Speaker 1: be able to see the person clearly. And yeah, I was.
Speaker 1: I was so so surprised he and by his um. Well,
Speaker 1: to be honest, you know the main thing that I
Speaker 1: was so um ah happy about and surprised maybe I
Speaker 1: I don't know, I did. I didn't have any expectation
Speaker 1: either way. It was just this ability that you had
Speaker 1: to make everyone feel as important as each other in
Speaker 1: a very sincere way, without any you know, there was
Speaker 1: no strategy behind it. It was just we're all in
Speaker 1: this together. And that feeling of a good dad on set,
Speaker 1: that feeling of a good parent where you feel like
Speaker 1: your work is um as important as his and in
Speaker 1: fact he makes you feel totally vital to the process.
Speaker 1: Um and he totally means it. It's the best idea
Speaker 1: wins kind of scenario. And um, there's this very loving
Speaker 1: energy that he creates on set, and very safe and
Speaker 1: very playful and light and and as I say, kind
Speaker 1: of loving in that in that really good way that
Speaker 1: a good parent will set you up to have a
Speaker 1: really fun play session with a friend. They'll create the
Speaker 1: framework and then you just go and run riot and
Speaker 1: you paint on the canvas however the hell you want,
Speaker 1: and there's no right, there's no wrong, it just is.
Speaker 1: And so that was really kind of a wonderful surprise.
Speaker 1: I guess. Now this story is about desmondask conscientious subjector
Speaker 1: who went to war without a gun and saved some
Speaker 1: seventy people. An amazing story that I didn't know about.
Speaker 1: Were you aware of it before you read the script?
Speaker 1: Not at all. He's a He was a man that
Speaker 1: didn't want his story told for a long time, or
Speaker 1: just wasn't interested in having his story or his actions
Speaker 1: glorified in any way. Um. A big part of who
Speaker 1: he is is that he's a man of God. He's
Speaker 1: a Christian man, more specifically a Seventh day Adventist. But
Speaker 1: I do believe that his actions transcend any specific religion.
Speaker 1: Is always he kind of as a human being, transcended
Speaker 1: the dogma that he was raised in. Um. And it's
Speaker 1: it's expressed in his actions. And he didn't he saved.
Speaker 1: He saved more than seventy That was just one night.
Speaker 1: You know. Throughout the war he saved countless, but this
Speaker 1: particular night, and you know, he he actually said no,
Speaker 1: it was less than that. I think it was probably
Speaker 1: about twenty five or third. But then they counted, and
Speaker 1: you know, and he was just for forever, sincerely, humble
Speaker 1: man UM that didn't want a movie made until at
Speaker 1: the kind of encouragement of his church eventually they said,
Speaker 1: look this, this is a bit selfish of you, actually,
Speaker 1: because because your story is so inspiring and it goes
Speaker 1: beyond you, much like your actions went beyond you. This
Speaker 1: story goes beyond you. And it's possible that if this story,
Speaker 1: if this story is seen by more people than it
Speaker 1: can create some very positive ripples in the world and
Speaker 1: inspire other people to trust themselves more, to be in
Speaker 1: tune with their true selves more, to say no to oppression,
Speaker 1: to say no to people or an institution or a
Speaker 1: culture that is telling them to be something that they
Speaker 1: are not. And that's what he that's the path that
Speaker 1: he walked. He walked that very hard line where his
Speaker 1: own army was telling him to be different, was telling
Speaker 1: him to fall in line and to say no to
Speaker 1: to to the to the guys in charge. Is such
Speaker 1: an act of rebellion. Really, it's kind of a revolutionary
Speaker 1: act to be that devoted to walking your own path.
Speaker 1: I'm always curious of actors whenever they play real life
Speaker 1: people in your research looking into this man, was there
Speaker 1: a certain quality about him that struck you that you
Speaker 1: particularly wanted to carry across in your performance. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: uh ah, there was so many things. That's one of
Speaker 1: the things about the one of the joys and the
Speaker 1: tricky things about playing someone who's who, who's lived, who's
Speaker 1: who existed, and who exists in people's imaginations still, Um,
Speaker 1: is that there's so much to honor. There are so
Speaker 1: many qualities and aspects to bring to life. I would
Speaker 1: say the foundation for me, the thing that really excited
Speaker 1: me one of the things, one of the many things
Speaker 1: that excited me about Desmond was um this in being
Speaker 1: in tune with nature, being in tune with his own nature,
Speaker 1: and being in tune with the world and being insuned
Speaker 1: with what the world was asking of him. Um, I
Speaker 1: say the world, but you can say God, you can
Speaker 1: say Spirit, you can say mystery, the divine, the soul,
Speaker 1: the deep self. You know, you know again he transcends
Speaker 1: his religion in that way for me. So that was
Speaker 1: the thing being being empty enough to listen and being
Speaker 1: quiet enough to hear the messages coming from that very
Speaker 1: still small voice that we all have within us, and
Speaker 1: being in tune with nature. This was something that was
Speaker 1: really exciting to me to explore and to kind of
Speaker 1: luxuriate in. Remember that I think it was a Disney
Speaker 1: as it was a Disney cartoon. Ferdinand the Bull, you know,
Speaker 1: his his this this bull that is supposed to be
Speaker 1: kind of seeing red and and and wanting to kill
Speaker 1: human beings, but instead he just wants to smell the
Speaker 1: flowers in the middle of the auditorium um, or in
Speaker 1: the middle of the coliseum, or wherever bulls fight. Um Uh.
Speaker 1: That is fascinating in the middle of a war situation,
Speaker 1: to have this soul, this gentle um loving soul picking
Speaker 1: up flowers, you know that that was that that was
Speaker 1: such a beautiful thing to try and try and live out,
Speaker 1: I imagine, particularly so in a society that's louder and louder,
Speaker 1: you know. I mean there's so much noise and to
Speaker 1: be able to, as you say, luxuriate in that must
Speaker 1: have been an experience. Um. You know we've talked about
Speaker 1: the the religious and spiritual aspects here is it's something
Speaker 1: that strikes me about Mel Gibson's work. I think he
Speaker 1: tends to make movies about faith in in interesting ways.
Speaker 1: A lot of times it's about the difficulty of maintaining
Speaker 1: one's faith, in fact, in the faith in the face
Speaker 1: of any any number of adversities. Um. And that is
Speaker 1: a quality that's in this film, and I think it's
Speaker 1: from what I hear. I have not seen silence yet,
Speaker 1: but a quality that's in Mr Scorsese's Silence as well.
Speaker 1: And Martin Scorsais he also makes films very much informed
Speaker 1: by his religious upbringing. So given that that's an interesting
Speaker 1: kind of parallel here, I'm curious if there was anything
Speaker 1: about these two filmmakers that struck you as similar as well?
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, I think if if there, if there was
Speaker 1: a similarity, well, I think, well, first of all, I
Speaker 1: think they're both masters in their own way, in in
Speaker 1: very different ways. But I also feel in terms of
Speaker 1: the faith question, they are all too aware of their
Speaker 1: own humanity. They're all too aware of their own fallibility,
Speaker 1: you know, in a beautiful way, like they're in touch
Speaker 1: with all of that human all of that messy human nous.
Speaker 1: And yet they are also in touch with their own
Speaker 1: um longing for the divine, I would say, longing for
Speaker 1: their best selves, longing. You know, Marty's first um instinct
Speaker 1: was to join the priesthood where as a kid, and
Speaker 1: that was his first calling. He probably were were aware
Speaker 1: of that um and you know, thank god he didn't,
Speaker 1: so to speak, because otherwise we wouldn't have had the
Speaker 1: high priest of film that he now has become. Obviously,
Speaker 1: that was I feel I think we were. We'd all
Speaker 1: agree that that was his destiny, and thank god he
Speaker 1: followed it um and he's found a way to explore
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you know, religion in his own way sense
Speaker 1: and his own messy humanity, with with with the with
Speaker 1: the polar opposite. But I think that was interesting about
Speaker 1: that that film is it is a it is a
Speaker 1: man at odds with himself. And you know, I was
Speaker 1: I would read a lot of Thomas Merton m while
Speaker 1: I was getting ready and filming that that movie in particular,
Speaker 1: and what I love about Murt was Mertin, the Trappist
Speaker 1: monk Thomas Mertin, is that he he was so in
Speaker 1: touch with this humanity and he would write about it
Speaker 1: with such rawness and this idea that a life of
Speaker 1: faith is not a life of certainty. A life of
Speaker 1: faith is also equally a life of doubt, and anyone
Speaker 1: who's living a life of certainty is not to be trusted.
Speaker 1: He said, you know this, this this thing of you
Speaker 1: know what we see with politicians all the times, and
Speaker 1: and and and and strangely a lot of the time
Speaker 1: with politicians who who claim Christianity is there as their
Speaker 1: as that chosen faith. You know, you talked to George
Speaker 1: w Bush about do you have any regrets about, you know,
Speaker 1: invading Iraq and the destruction is I know it was
Speaker 1: all it was, It was it was the perfect decision.
Speaker 1: No regrets at all, No, there was, there was no
Speaker 1: other choice, totally certain. That's this really scary stance. So
Speaker 1: I think both of these films are investigating what it
Speaker 1: is to live a true life of faith. And I
Speaker 1: think the character and in Father Rodriguez in Silence begins
Speaker 1: with this certainty, a bit of a scary certainty, and
Speaker 1: of course experience changes him. Experience transforms him in this
Speaker 1: alchemical way where he realizes that faith and being incarnate
Speaker 1: in this world is a very complicated situation to be
Speaker 1: And it's that and there's not there's not a set
Speaker 1: of rules that applied to every situation. Sometimes there's there's
Speaker 1: sometimes sometimes life. Sometimes life makes you have to break
Speaker 1: the rules in order to live a life of humanity
Speaker 1: and faith. This is a fascinating realm to be in
Speaker 1: and and same for it for Desmond, you know, and
Speaker 1: I think both melon and and Mardy, like any other
Speaker 1: human being, struggles with these questions. I understand you had
Speaker 1: a chance to see so once recently. What do you think. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't want to say anything. I um, I don't
Speaker 1: want to. I don't all right, I'll take you off. Well, no, no,
Speaker 1: what I mean? Like, I can say, I we made
Speaker 1: the movie that that and I really love it. I
Speaker 1: love it. I can I will say it's unlike anything
Speaker 1: I've ever seen. Silence accepted. What's your favorite Martin Scorsese film?
Speaker 1: Oh gosh, how do you even? That's trick? It's impossible.
Speaker 1: I'll start and I'll actually just tell you when I
Speaker 1: think is hugely underrated bringing Out the Dead, Oh god,
Speaker 1: da amazing. I love how that movie just owns the
Speaker 1: Van Morrison song too. Can not listen to TV sheets
Speaker 1: again and not think about an ambulance driving down the street.
Speaker 1: I couldn't, you know what? I hadn't seen coundon when
Speaker 1: I was getting ready for Silence, and I have to
Speaker 1: say I found it so deeply beautiful and and moving
Speaker 1: and layered and rich. Um. I rewatched Taxi Driver twice recently,
Speaker 1: just for fun, just for fun, and it is but
Speaker 1: it is fun weirdly, and that scene that Mark Marty's
Speaker 1: scene in it is kind of crazy, like kind of incredible,
Speaker 1: like something like like that's that's that's like some best
Speaker 1: actor exactly, but incredible act, like proper acting where you go, wait,
Speaker 1: who's the actor in this? Like really and DeNiro is
Speaker 1: letting him, letting him go. It's beautiful, It is so
Speaker 1: so beautiful. Um, he's given us far too much too. Two,
Speaker 1: I don't know, he's given us far too much and
Speaker 1: continues too. It's like this not slowing down, which no,
Speaker 1: he's really not, he can't. It's thank god, do you
Speaker 1: know he's so Yeah, he's given the world himself really
Speaker 1: through through the stories and the movies and the characters
Speaker 1: that he's given us. And speaking of Undoon, I I
Speaker 1: interviewed Thelma Schoonmaker a few years back for Wolf of
Speaker 1: Wall Street and she mentioned at the time that Silence
Speaker 1: was kind of part of their little internal spiritual trilogy
Speaker 1: with Kundoon and Lascitation of Christ, which just made me
Speaker 1: more excited about as you have right now. So I
Speaker 1: look forward to sing good good and yeah, Thelma, I
Speaker 1: mean Thelma is you know, the other the other half
Speaker 1: of of of of Mardi, you know, I they are
Speaker 1: so one person in the edit room. Yeah, I can
Speaker 1: understand now I've seen and she how she's like her
Speaker 1: brilliance and her grace and her I don't know she's
Speaker 1: she's a magician, I think with how she cuts absolutely,
Speaker 1: I just want to venture out a little bit from
Speaker 1: these two movies. Were you sad at all to hang
Speaker 1: up to Spider Man tights? Specifically hanging up the tights
Speaker 1: wasn't a sad moment? But yes, of course, you know
Speaker 1: like that. But when any I think, when any chapter ends,
Speaker 1: it's like the end of a relationship, and there's a
Speaker 1: if I wasn't sad, i'd be a little bit cut
Speaker 1: off from myself. I think. I think there's something wonderful
Speaker 1: about about grieving something and saying goodbye to something. It
Speaker 1: means it meant a great deal, and it means you
Speaker 1: know it was, and it means it's over, which is
Speaker 1: a blessing. And and also um, you know, full of
Speaker 1: full of grief. I'm not very good at goodbyes anyway,
Speaker 1: with with with I'm not very good at things dying,
Speaker 1: not very good at relationships ending. So but it was
Speaker 1: actually a beautiful thing to to to feel the you know,
Speaker 1: watching it sail off into the sunset and me seeing
Speaker 1: the other way. Um, and yet it wasn't like I
Speaker 1: was holding onto it. Um. There was there was a
Speaker 1: really nice feeling of Okay, that's done, like I'm I'm
Speaker 1: good actually you know what I mean? Yeah, did you
Speaker 1: come out of that episode in your career pointed in
Speaker 1: a certain direction? Like did? Did? Did? Because you know
Speaker 1: today that's such a big part of the business, the
Speaker 1: franchises and everything, And I don't know what it does
Speaker 1: to when you were a part of something, so it's
Speaker 1: such a central part of something like that, what it
Speaker 1: does to what you want to do? Like coming out
Speaker 1: of it, did you have any kind of goal? Did
Speaker 1: it lit you can speak to like what well? Um?
Speaker 1: It having been in that environment for five years, which
Speaker 1: is a very specific environment. UM, I was craving smaller.
Speaker 1: I was craving um tighter. I was craving a bit
Speaker 1: more pressure in a weird way. UM. And the first
Speaker 1: film I shot after that wasn't the film called ninety
Speaker 1: nine Homes, which was you know, my truck was my
Speaker 1: trailer and you know it was it was mostly non
Speaker 1: actors apart from me and Laura and Mike Shannon and
Speaker 1: a few other people. Um. And there was a longing
Speaker 1: to simplify, I think, and to strip away excesses. UM,
Speaker 1: because obviously we we we we know that those those
Speaker 1: movies are very very big in all ways and the
Speaker 1: pressures of them are different. Um. And I wanted to
Speaker 1: be able to fully focus on the simple job of
Speaker 1: of being the storyteller as as the actor. Um. That
Speaker 1: and that's kind of where I want to be anyway,
Speaker 1: I think forever, you know, in as as long as
Speaker 1: I'm doing movies and plays, I just want to anything
Speaker 1: that takes away from the story is um is to
Speaker 1: be sidestepped really and and you know, just trim trimm
Speaker 1: the fat off and get to the thing that matters.
Speaker 1: And I think there's a lot of agitation around those movies.
Speaker 1: There's lots of excessive kind of weirdness around around those
Speaker 1: kinds of films. I have nothing against them. I love
Speaker 1: watching them, and I and there were elements of participating
Speaker 1: that felt really really good and there are elements that didn't.
Speaker 1: But um, but also I I was longing to be
Speaker 1: on a set where um, you know it was it
Speaker 1: was story first and theme first and um you know
Speaker 1: where the where where that where? That was the list
Speaker 1: of priorities. Yeah, I hear you. One of my favorite
Speaker 1: films of last year. Thanks such such an amazing movie.
Speaker 1: Cheers man, I thank you. That actually means a lot.
Speaker 1: That means a great deal to hear that. Thank you
Speaker 1: and another filmmaker you worked with that. I'm curious about
Speaker 1: your experience with I hope he can make some more
Speaker 1: movies Mark Rominett like I love Mark, and I love
Speaker 1: him as a as a friend as well. He's um,
Speaker 1: he's so himself. You know, he's so precise, and I
Speaker 1: think this is why he doesn't make a movie very often,
Speaker 1: is because he's so precise and he's so uncompromising in
Speaker 1: what he wants to put on the screen and this
Speaker 1: kind of story he wants to tell in the way
Speaker 1: he wants to tell it. I know he's gotten close
Speaker 1: to making a bunch of stuff recently, but it hasn't
Speaker 1: worked out because of that very um specific vision that
Speaker 1: he has. UM. I absolutely love him, and I think
Speaker 1: he's visual and emotional sensibility is so fascinating. And I
Speaker 1: share your feelings. I want him to make I want
Speaker 1: him to keep making films as often as possible. The
Speaker 1: film there has never let me go. UM and Uh,
Speaker 1: the Johnny Cash Hurt video just phenomenal. Speaking of Mark,
Speaker 1: you have some films coming up. I just wanted to
Speaker 1: touch on. We were talking right beforehand about David Robert Mitchell,
Speaker 1: director of It Follows. You're you're about to make this
Speaker 1: kind of l a noir film with him. What's the
Speaker 1: name of that? It's called Under the Silver under the
Speaker 1: Silver Lake, that takes place in Silver Lake. Uh. It
Speaker 1: Follows was an amazing movie last year. Just such a
Speaker 1: singular kind of vision this guy has. How are you
Speaker 1: finding kind of gearing up with him for this? It's great?
Speaker 1: It's um again. He's so clear in his vision and
Speaker 1: and yet collaborative simultaneously. UM. And I just love the
Speaker 1: tone of his films and the atmosphere that he creates.
Speaker 1: And this script is one of the best scripts I've
Speaker 1: ever read. And it's so multilayered and so wild and
Speaker 1: out there and um again, kind of unlike anything I've
Speaker 1: ever I've ever I've ever read in script for UM
Speaker 1: and it's I can name things that it's inspired by,
Speaker 1: but yeah, it's totally its own thing. UM And it's
Speaker 1: it's um. It's so weird and and and and funny
Speaker 1: and sexy and terrifying and intriguing and mysterious. And um,
Speaker 1: it's about so many things and yet about nothing. It's
Speaker 1: so weird. And he's um and you know, he just
Speaker 1: he is a he's a total cinophile. So he's just
Speaker 1: sending me so many movies to look at his reference points.
Speaker 1: And is that helpful or is that it's really helpful? Yeah,
Speaker 1: because some people might feel like that gets in the way,
Speaker 1: so I might serious how people. I love it, you know,
Speaker 1: I I personally love it, um, I because I don't
Speaker 1: have my time to watch many movies and unless the
Speaker 1: homework really yeah, um and uh so yeah, so I
Speaker 1: find it really really really useful. Well again, everyone, the
Speaker 1: movie's hacks All Ridge. It opens November four, and Silence
Speaker 1: will be later in December. Decembery limited, so look forward
Speaker 1: for that. And thank you again man for coming by.
Speaker 1: I appreciate it, Thank you for having me. Thanks again
Speaker 1: for listening. Everyone. Remember to subscribe and check back next
Speaker 1: week when I'll be talking to the director of hacks
Speaker 1: All Ridge, Mel Gibson.