1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:03,400 Speaker 1: This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the thing. 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:10,840 Speaker 1: Imagine it's the nineteen seventies, the golden years of rock 3 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,360 Speaker 1: and roll, and you are one of the biggest rock 4 00:00:14,440 --> 00:00:24,880 Speaker 1: stars in the world. Let's say you're David Bowie and 5 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:28,120 Speaker 1: this cutting edge magazine that everyone in the industry is 6 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:31,960 Speaker 1: taking notice of sends a reporter to interview you, and 7 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: in walks a sixteen year old boy. Cameron Crowe is 8 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:42,560 Speaker 1: still probably best known for his personal story the child 9 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,640 Speaker 1: prodigy who convinced Rolling Stone to let him in bed 10 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 1: with rock superstars at age sixteen, as told in his 11 00:00:49,760 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: brilliant coming of age movie Almost Famous, for which he 12 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: received an Academy Award for Best Screenplay. But before he 13 00:00:57,760 --> 00:01:01,240 Speaker 1: won that, Oscar Cameron Crows spent his high school years 14 00:01:01,360 --> 00:01:05,200 Speaker 1: on tour with the Legends of Rock. My dream kind 15 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,080 Speaker 1: of ended with a story on the cover of Rolling Stone. 16 00:01:08,200 --> 00:01:11,520 Speaker 1: I was like, that may never happen, and then it 17 00:01:11,560 --> 00:01:15,119 Speaker 1: happened when I was sixteen, so it was like, okay, 18 00:01:15,360 --> 00:01:18,040 Speaker 1: let's recalibrate the dream. But when you when you go 19 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: to make movies, was that inevitable? Did you always say 20 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:22,680 Speaker 1: that's what I'm gonna do no no that that happens. 21 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,959 Speaker 1: That was a bonus thing that was coming from a 22 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: family that worshiped Mike Nichols in Elaine May and that 23 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: stuff was playing. And my mom would take me to 24 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: see Cardinal Knowledge on opening weekend, argue with the theater 25 00:01:34,280 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: owner to like, get me in, I'll take him outside 26 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:39,400 Speaker 1: if anything's coming up. Of course she's like, stay, don't leave. 27 00:01:39,520 --> 00:01:42,080 Speaker 1: She wants me to see it all and um, and 28 00:01:42,120 --> 00:01:44,640 Speaker 1: so movies were a big part of our world, and 29 00:01:44,880 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: Yahn and Ben Functoras kept me doing stories that were 30 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,400 Speaker 1: inching towards cinema, So I got to kind of blend 31 00:01:53,440 --> 00:01:56,320 Speaker 1: a little bit. Were you thinking cinema during the time too? 32 00:01:56,360 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: Because um, I loved Sissy SpaceX carry and loved um 33 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: you know what she was starting to do with Altman 34 00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: and my daughter. Coal Miner's daughter daughter came together while 35 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: we were on assignment for a cover story for Rolling Stone. 36 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:17,040 Speaker 1: It was Anne Leawoods and me and Sissy who said, oh, 37 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: let's go see Loretta Len. I have to turn her 38 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: down for this project. She's been trying to get me 39 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,600 Speaker 1: to do her life story for six months, so I 40 00:02:24,639 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: have to go and actually face to face say no, 41 00:02:27,000 --> 00:02:29,840 Speaker 1: come with me. So we all go, yeah, cover that. 42 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,240 Speaker 1: So we road trip to a Loretta Lynn show with 43 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:37,799 Speaker 1: Sissy spacek Alec. Loretta Lynn closed Sissy in about ten minutes. 44 00:02:37,840 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaker 1: It's like as soon as she saw Sissy they got 45 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:43,080 Speaker 1: into it. Boom she was going to play that part 46 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: that won are an Oscar And it was just one 47 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:47,320 Speaker 1: of those great moments where I get to be fly 48 00:02:47,400 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: on a wall for this stuff and starting to see 49 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,720 Speaker 1: how films happen. But um, that was a dream that 50 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,240 Speaker 1: was really far away at that Does it also a 51 00:02:56,240 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: time out? When Yon leaves the West Coast and goes 52 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:00,160 Speaker 1: to New York, did it will kind of come together? 53 00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: We're like, you're done with that now that Yahn's you're 54 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: not going to New York? Can we talk about going 55 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:06,519 Speaker 1: to New York? No, I was continuing with them, and 56 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:08,239 Speaker 1: you live on the West Coast. I stayed in l 57 00:03:08,320 --> 00:03:12,240 Speaker 1: A and kind of worked in that office and and 58 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,320 Speaker 1: stayed independent because I didn't want to be somebody who 59 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:18,639 Speaker 1: would be given an assignment and have to do it. 60 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: So I was always kind of a freelancer, but I 61 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,880 Speaker 1: had an editor position, so it was kind of the 62 00:03:23,919 --> 00:03:26,680 Speaker 1: perfect thing. And then it grew into the idea of 63 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:29,480 Speaker 1: telling the story about kids from a kid's point of view. 64 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: And I had been writing all these stories about like 65 00:03:32,720 --> 00:03:36,360 Speaker 1: Rod Stewart's and Crosby Stills in Nash and you would 66 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 1: hear them talk about the fans, and you would see 67 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:42,040 Speaker 1: the fans follow them through these situations. But at a 68 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: certain point it was kind of like, let's just let's 69 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,520 Speaker 1: just turn the observation over to those people who follow 70 00:03:47,680 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: Rod Stewart, for example, and and the stories just became 71 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:53,840 Speaker 1: endless just interviewing people. And that grew into a desire 72 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,000 Speaker 1: to capture characters. And the first when you wrote the 73 00:03:57,000 --> 00:03:59,440 Speaker 1: book fast Times and it wasn't a novel that was 74 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:03,160 Speaker 1: a real it's a nonfiction nonfiction do the Truman capody 75 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:04,800 Speaker 1: of Rock and Rome. Who tells you you're going to 76 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: make that as a movie? How does it become a movie? Um, 77 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: Art Linson and Irving as Off and a few people 78 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,360 Speaker 1: that they kind of knew the music world and knew 79 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: my writing. I liked the book a lot, and Art Linson, 80 00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: I remember, really loved Spicoli the surfer, and that always 81 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:24,320 Speaker 1: felt like a great character. If we were able to 82 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: get the right guy to do it. Sean doesn't necessary 83 00:04:27,400 --> 00:04:29,800 Speaker 1: somebody comes into nails with the reading. He wasn't necessarily 84 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:33,760 Speaker 1: the guy. Yeah, and uh, And we heard like, oh, 85 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: there's this guy who's like kind of a young de 86 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:40,520 Speaker 1: Niro guy. He's really good. He's from Malibu. Let's let's 87 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: read him. So he came in. There were three of 88 00:04:43,080 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: us in the room and he said, I know how 89 00:04:46,279 --> 00:04:50,440 Speaker 1: to do this part. We're like, great, do it. No, 90 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: I'll do it when you hire me, come on, giving 91 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: you my ship. For some reason, we just decided to 92 00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:02,000 Speaker 1: hire him without ever seeing him do it. It was 93 00:05:02,200 --> 00:05:07,560 Speaker 1: kind of like, what the fuck happened? And and he 94 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:09,680 Speaker 1: was stayed in character of the whole movie. He had 95 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:13,160 Speaker 1: us call him Jeff and I would try and get 96 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,440 Speaker 1: him to do parts of the character before it was 97 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 1: time to actually film, wouldn't do it. And then he 98 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:20,320 Speaker 1: just busted out with the character on the day and 99 00:05:20,320 --> 00:05:25,480 Speaker 1: we're like, oh my god, this is the guy. It's bicycle. Yeah, 100 00:05:25,520 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 1: it's like a documentary version. Hard to believe that him. 101 00:05:29,960 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: You go see other you know, with the other Chameleon things. 102 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: He did Falcon and the Snowman and things like that. 103 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:40,160 Speaker 1: Very strange quay I met him. I don't remember when 104 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:42,800 Speaker 1: I met him, but I remember first seeing him there 105 00:05:43,760 --> 00:05:46,720 Speaker 1: and thinking he was like this, uh, you know, crazy 106 00:05:46,800 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: comic genius. He was like a Peter Sellers to me almost. 107 00:05:50,520 --> 00:05:54,200 Speaker 1: He just completely occupied the character, you know, and all 108 00:05:54,240 --> 00:05:56,120 Speaker 1: the classic lines. And I want to bore everybody with 109 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:58,640 Speaker 1: But people who are not familiar with the movie, you know, 110 00:05:58,720 --> 00:06:00,880 Speaker 1: people on lud should not have all that suff We 111 00:06:00,880 --> 00:06:04,960 Speaker 1: all were gagging laughing. We watched everybody watches fast times 112 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:07,120 Speaker 1: you watched the movie for Sean Penn's performance, and we 113 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:10,279 Speaker 1: would just be gagging, laughing. And there was some really 114 00:06:10,400 --> 00:06:12,360 Speaker 1: and in the middle of the laughing and in the 115 00:06:12,400 --> 00:06:14,839 Speaker 1: middle of the kind of madness of it, and and 116 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:18,360 Speaker 1: and Ray Walston and ordering the pizza and everything is 117 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:20,720 Speaker 1: is Jennifer Jason Lee story. And I made a movie 118 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: with her, and I know who's there's nobody deeper than her, 119 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: the deepest actress has ever worked with him. Very real. Yeah, 120 00:06:27,080 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 1: she's cool. She was ready for the movie to be 121 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,520 Speaker 1: even more raw and real. I mean there was some 122 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:34,719 Speaker 1: conversation in the movie first came out like this is 123 00:06:34,760 --> 00:06:36,880 Speaker 1: a hard are this is really more than we want 124 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,800 Speaker 1: to see from our young kids today, and She was 125 00:06:40,800 --> 00:06:42,320 Speaker 1: the first one to say, like, I wish it was 126 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: ex there was there was nudity on me that they 127 00:06:44,839 --> 00:06:47,560 Speaker 1: cut out that I wish they'd kept in, which which 128 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,719 Speaker 1: was like super bold and like you know, visionary knew 129 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: where she was headed. The thing though, was Tann and 130 00:06:54,839 --> 00:06:57,000 Speaker 1: all those guys coming this movie is like, we're gonna 131 00:06:57,040 --> 00:06:58,919 Speaker 1: be listening to theaters. This is a piece of crap 132 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 1: where we don't we shouldn't be making movies like that. 133 00:07:01,480 --> 00:07:04,720 Speaker 1: We we snuck it through. And when they started to 134 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: see it, they realized that Amy Heckerling had gone for 135 00:07:07,440 --> 00:07:10,520 Speaker 1: the raw truth, you know, of like what Jennifer Jason 136 00:07:10,600 --> 00:07:14,680 Speaker 1: Lee's character had gone through, gotten pregnant and an abortion. 137 00:07:15,560 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: Amy had this brilliant kind of take on it, which was, 138 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:19,680 Speaker 1: let's just show it. How was it for you when 139 00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 1: you saw it? Okay, it was like this, let's shoot that. 140 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:27,320 Speaker 1: So she had this very naturalistic, funny approach that when 141 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:31,280 Speaker 1: people saw it they laughed. The thing though, was Bicoli 142 00:07:31,600 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: was our magic. That was our bit of magic, And 143 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: and the studio and the people involved in the movie. 144 00:07:38,000 --> 00:07:42,600 Speaker 1: Maybe Art Arlenson knew the potential there, but everybody who 145 00:07:42,640 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: made those plans, like on opening weekend. We're gonna drive around. 146 00:07:45,320 --> 00:07:47,680 Speaker 1: We're gonna get together. We'll pick you up. We'll pick 147 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: you up, we'll come and get you we'll all go together. 148 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:52,239 Speaker 1: We'll get like two cars will caravan. As it gets 149 00:07:52,280 --> 00:07:54,480 Speaker 1: closer to the to the weekend that the movie comes out, 150 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,480 Speaker 1: it's like, I'm gonna be out of town. Um, are 151 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: you gonna go? I can it make it? So? It 152 00:08:01,240 --> 00:08:04,440 Speaker 1: turned out nobody would go and do like a victory 153 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:06,960 Speaker 1: tour of the theaters for Fast Time. So I got 154 00:08:07,000 --> 00:08:08,720 Speaker 1: in a car and drove to Arizona to to go 155 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 1: to my friend's wedding that didn't think I would be 156 00:08:10,560 --> 00:08:13,040 Speaker 1: able to go to. Oh was I available to go 157 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: to his wedding? And I went with a buddy And 158 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 1: we start to get close to Phoenix, Tucson where we're going, 159 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:20,800 Speaker 1: and and we're like, let's go to the theater. Let's 160 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:24,720 Speaker 1: just see the empty theater showing Fast Times. We go in. 161 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:28,520 Speaker 1: It's packed. There's already kids who have gotten the checkerboard vans, 162 00:08:28,960 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: gone to the mall and gotten them and come back 163 00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:38,400 Speaker 1: to see the movie. And I'm Coli drives them into 164 00:08:38,400 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: the theater and and and saves the movie. Really, they 165 00:08:41,760 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: never caught up because they cut our theaters the last minute. 166 00:08:45,040 --> 00:08:46,640 Speaker 1: They were like, nobody in the East Coast is gonna 167 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:50,319 Speaker 1: go see this movie, and then like those theaters ended 168 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: up being packed. You've never written a screen play before. 169 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: I had not. You wrote the book The People, even 170 00:08:56,559 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 1: though it's a small movie. You've done this research alc. 171 00:08:59,280 --> 00:09:01,560 Speaker 1: You're like the busy this guy, and how did they 172 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: get you to do that? I mean, how did you 173 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:06,520 Speaker 1: get them guy available? It's like they bought the book 174 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:10,040 Speaker 1: and they were like, let him write it. Let him 175 00:09:10,040 --> 00:09:13,800 Speaker 1: write it twelve dollars and maybe he'll pay us fifty? 176 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:18,640 Speaker 1: Was Amy on board? Then? Were you did? Script was done? 177 00:09:18,960 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 1: Script was done? And Tom Mount again, the guy at 178 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,000 Speaker 1: Universal was kind of our secret patron, you know, helping 179 00:09:25,080 --> 00:09:27,560 Speaker 1: us out and everything. I said, I got this great idea. 180 00:09:27,640 --> 00:09:30,560 Speaker 1: Who could direct it? He's done this film eraser Head. 181 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:34,560 Speaker 1: He's really a talented guy. David Lynch is his name, 182 00:09:35,240 --> 00:09:37,400 Speaker 1: and uh I saw a racer Head. Of course, racor 183 00:09:37,480 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: Head's amazing. I'm like, you know, if he'll read the script, absolutely, 184 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,680 Speaker 1: so I give him the script and he was really 185 00:09:44,679 --> 00:09:46,840 Speaker 1: great about and David Lynch like drove back a couple 186 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:49,000 Speaker 1: days later in a I believe it was a white 187 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: VW bug and very politely said, fun story, not really 188 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:55,960 Speaker 1: what I think I'm going to be doing. It's a 189 00:09:55,960 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: bad David Lynch, but he he appreciated it enough so 190 00:10:00,520 --> 00:10:03,200 Speaker 1: that they kept looking. And then Amy had done this 191 00:10:03,360 --> 00:10:05,720 Speaker 1: short called Getting It Over With about a young girl 192 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:08,360 Speaker 1: losing a virginity. It was fantastic, and so we're like, 193 00:10:08,840 --> 00:10:11,719 Speaker 1: let's let's go Gorilla lo fi and make it what 194 00:10:11,880 --> 00:10:14,400 Speaker 1: do you right after Fast Times? We did, But when 195 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:17,800 Speaker 1: you wrote the screenplay, the film comes out and eventually 196 00:10:17,840 --> 00:10:21,080 Speaker 1: becomes this kind of this called classic comedy. So are 197 00:10:21,080 --> 00:10:23,040 Speaker 1: you like fully smitten then? And you're like, I'm going 198 00:10:23,200 --> 00:10:27,960 Speaker 1: down that road now far less? Rolling Stone essays that 199 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:30,640 Speaker 1: kind of writer, I always feel like it's been journalism 200 00:10:30,679 --> 00:10:33,280 Speaker 1: all the time. But it was kind of, you know, 201 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:35,840 Speaker 1: a morphous trying to get to what the story would be. 202 00:10:36,360 --> 00:10:38,560 Speaker 1: I was trying to tell other people's stories. But the 203 00:10:38,640 --> 00:10:42,520 Speaker 1: more almost famous became utterly personal, the more it became 204 00:10:42,559 --> 00:10:44,640 Speaker 1: the movie it should be. Wasn't there something before? Almost 205 00:10:44,720 --> 00:10:47,360 Speaker 1: amass between many but it's like that was the first 206 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,080 Speaker 1: thing that I went to. I want to get into 207 00:10:50,080 --> 00:10:53,440 Speaker 1: the music. Who started creating that characters and music because 208 00:10:53,440 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: it was so fun putting the music on fast times 209 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,480 Speaker 1: that you could take a song like Somebody's Baby, which 210 00:10:59,679 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: like in this part of the movie, it's just kind 211 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: of nice pop, but if you put it over a 212 00:11:05,000 --> 00:11:08,840 Speaker 1: kid having premature ejaculation all of a sudden, it's like 213 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 1: kind of psychedelic in the in the song you'll never 214 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:14,679 Speaker 1: forget as you remember it. And then later you run 215 00:11:14,679 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: into Jackson Brown, He's like, thanks a lot. Thought I 216 00:11:16,720 --> 00:11:18,880 Speaker 1: was writing you a nice little ballad, and I'm now 217 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:21,920 Speaker 1: I'm like a poster boy for jacking off and coming 218 00:11:21,960 --> 00:11:26,319 Speaker 1: too fast. It's like it was like, thank you, Jackson, Jackson, 219 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,720 Speaker 1: thank you, and and uh, and that was kind of 220 00:11:29,760 --> 00:11:32,080 Speaker 1: like the beginning of Wow, you can use these songs 221 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 1: and really make the music character and that became don't 222 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:38,319 Speaker 1: you see people that are doing that though when you 223 00:11:38,360 --> 00:11:42,600 Speaker 1: think that they're not doing that well with Without naming names, Judge, 224 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: I'm just saying for me, I'll see a movie sometimes 225 00:11:44,240 --> 00:11:47,000 Speaker 1: and I'll be like, enough enough of you telling I 226 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,080 Speaker 1: get it. We're in the seventies, I get it, I 227 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:51,280 Speaker 1: get it. Your script is a nimick and you want 228 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,760 Speaker 1: to bolster it with you know, Knights and white Satin 229 00:11:53,920 --> 00:11:56,640 Speaker 1: or something. I'll get it. They are great. Music is 230 00:11:56,640 --> 00:11:58,920 Speaker 1: gonna make your movie great, and they just use it 231 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,319 Speaker 1: for a minute while somebody's car door opens and then shuts, 232 00:12:02,120 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: rather than like let the song play. Of course, as 233 00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: he was always the guy that could give you a 234 00:12:06,760 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 1: fast buzz of like, here's the guy that knows music, 235 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:12,199 Speaker 1: and he's gonna give you this Ronnette's record and it's 236 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:14,560 Speaker 1: gonna rip your soul out. You know this because he 237 00:12:14,600 --> 00:12:18,600 Speaker 1: knows when you're on a cocaine run all of a sudden, indeed, Ray, 238 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:21,400 Speaker 1: you and Ray are Jones and yeah, or or you're 239 00:12:21,400 --> 00:12:24,240 Speaker 1: looking at that helicopter and Nielsen Is has got that 240 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:28,520 Speaker 1: track going and you're like, take me there. Cameron Crowe 241 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:32,400 Speaker 1: is a master of the moment. The needle drops, the 242 00:12:32,440 --> 00:12:36,880 Speaker 1: song comes on, and you're there, filled with teenaged longing. 243 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:44,600 Speaker 1: Lloyd Dobbler holding up the boom box and say anything. 244 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: Jerry McGuire's You had Me at Hello and comic perfection, 245 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:54,480 Speaker 1: Sean Penn's puckish Stoner, Jeff Spicoli, just what in the 246 00:12:54,559 --> 00:12:57,840 Speaker 1: hell do you think you would doing learning about Cuba 247 00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: having some food. Mr Spiccole. You're on dangerous ground here. 248 00:13:01,679 --> 00:13:06,240 Speaker 1: You're causing a major disturbance on my time. I've been 249 00:13:06,240 --> 00:13:10,199 Speaker 1: thinking about this, Mr hann If I'm here and you're here, 250 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:14,200 Speaker 1: doesn't that make it our time? We certainly did nothing 251 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:17,520 Speaker 1: wrong with a little feast on our time. After the break, 252 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:20,840 Speaker 1: Cameron Crowe tells me what John Cusack was like on 253 00:13:20,880 --> 00:13:25,320 Speaker 1: the set of Say Anything. I'm Alec Baldwin and you're 254 00:13:25,360 --> 00:13:49,319 Speaker 1: listening to here's the Thing. Yeah, that's Neil Young's Cinnamon Girl, 255 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:54,040 Speaker 1: used by Cameron Crowe to give an unsentimental retro rock 256 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:57,800 Speaker 1: field to a montage sequence. In two thousand elevens we 257 00:13:57,920 --> 00:14:01,760 Speaker 1: bought a Zoo. Now more from my conversation with crow 258 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:06,840 Speaker 1: about going from screenwriting success to taking full creative control 259 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 1: of his films. What's the first one you directed? Uh, 260 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,520 Speaker 1: Say Anything? James L. Brooks? He said, like, Okay, we 261 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:17,079 Speaker 1: have two other people that we've always talked about, and 262 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:19,240 Speaker 1: if if the second one on that list, the second 263 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: one says no, you really got to think about it. 264 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: And the second one was in fact Lawrence Caston, who 265 00:14:26,880 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: who said, you know, if I was prolific and did 266 00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:30,560 Speaker 1: a movie a year, I would do this, but I'm 267 00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,840 Speaker 1: doing um Accidental Tourists, and that's going to be my 268 00:14:33,880 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: movie in the next two years. But I'm gonna call 269 00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:37,120 Speaker 1: the studio and tell him James Brooks is right and 270 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:40,160 Speaker 1: you should direct it. So that got me the directing job. 271 00:14:40,880 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: Say anything, how did you find that the first time 272 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,400 Speaker 1: you directed? What was it like for you to direct actress? 273 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: And how was that change? Scared today? Cusack is their 274 00:14:49,320 --> 00:14:51,760 Speaker 1: lead Cusack it was. It was a wide shot in 275 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: a nursing home, and he gave the speech and I 276 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,800 Speaker 1: kind of turned around to everybody and said, I like it. 277 00:14:56,880 --> 00:15:00,240 Speaker 1: It's it's good. I think we have it, and they 278 00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,200 Speaker 1: kind of like, hey, come, come, come over. Here gets 279 00:15:02,200 --> 00:15:04,080 Speaker 1: some look of water. You have to do a thing 280 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,080 Speaker 1: called coverage. You have to shoot it from other angles, 281 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:12,760 Speaker 1: other angles. Let's go other angles. Everyone terrified. I went 282 00:15:12,800 --> 00:15:15,520 Speaker 1: to the trailer and and just like was in an 283 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:19,680 Speaker 1: upright fetal position. And Clay Griffith, my good buddy who's 284 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 1: been production designer for all the movies lately, Claire Griffith says, 285 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:26,760 Speaker 1: you've got to get outside of the trailer and you 286 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,920 Speaker 1: should go have lunch with the crew and tell the 287 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,960 Speaker 1: crew just by being there that you're with them and 288 00:15:33,000 --> 00:15:35,040 Speaker 1: you're all making the movie together. And it was like 289 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:40,120 Speaker 1: the greatest advice. I left the trailer obviously never left 290 00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:43,160 Speaker 1: hanging with the crew. It's the only way to make 291 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:45,160 Speaker 1: a movie is to love your crew and to be 292 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:51,560 Speaker 1: with them as actors. I didn't realize until we're halfway 293 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,840 Speaker 1: through what great partners they could be. Like John Mahoney 294 00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: and Q Sack are like these Chicago brawlers. They're like 295 00:15:59,000 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: they just want to tear your seve thirty takes, Like 296 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:04,680 Speaker 1: Johnny be like, let me do one where I throw 297 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: John Mahoney across the table. It's supposed to be kind 298 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,320 Speaker 1: of like the nonviolent guy. Well let me just do 299 00:16:10,360 --> 00:16:12,320 Speaker 1: one where I do this, And it's like, yeah, okay, 300 00:16:12,360 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: let's do that. Let me make out with him, let 301 00:16:14,000 --> 00:16:17,680 Speaker 1: me kiss him in the mouth. Yeah, they do. Through 302 00:16:17,680 --> 00:16:21,120 Speaker 1: the we we kind of found through collaboration, like how 303 00:16:21,160 --> 00:16:24,000 Speaker 1: to get a really good language first time director style 304 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: on that movie, and I fell in love with directing actors. 305 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:29,680 Speaker 1: And you worked with him again. Since then, you worked 306 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:32,040 Speaker 1: with the one time, tried to a couple of times 307 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,120 Speaker 1: and we've missed, but I think the times so for you, 308 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: there is it is there a the notion that you 309 00:16:39,120 --> 00:16:41,040 Speaker 1: have kind of a battery with them as a director 310 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:43,360 Speaker 1: and an actor. You think I can get movies made 311 00:16:43,360 --> 00:16:46,000 Speaker 1: with the skuy It's like Scorsese with Leo. Now he's 312 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: a DeNiro. You thought about that. I love that. That's 313 00:16:48,640 --> 00:16:52,800 Speaker 1: you know why I'll always call you when you have 314 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: to say anything, just a quick question. When we were 315 00:16:55,440 --> 00:16:57,600 Speaker 1: going over movies that we're going to talk about, there 316 00:16:57,640 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: were so many like super strong leading man movies like 317 00:17:02,280 --> 00:17:06,359 Speaker 1: just you know, double fisted, I'm gonna give you the story, 318 00:17:06,480 --> 00:17:08,919 Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna hit my mark and give it 319 00:17:08,960 --> 00:17:11,480 Speaker 1: to you. Man. It was like, there are not many 320 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:13,800 Speaker 1: of those movies made anymore. And I saw them on 321 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:17,080 Speaker 1: that list, and I was like, damn, studios used to 322 00:17:17,080 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: make movies that we're both personal and universal and and 323 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:24,439 Speaker 1: and without a lot of fear, it seemed. And and 324 00:17:24,480 --> 00:17:27,399 Speaker 1: so now there's these cannon of movies that are that 325 00:17:27,480 --> 00:17:30,360 Speaker 1: are feeling like they're from the distant past, which is 326 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:33,720 Speaker 1: strange because we gotta start making like these movies that 327 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:37,080 Speaker 1: are kind of our version of that today. It's there's 328 00:17:37,080 --> 00:17:39,159 Speaker 1: a lot of whimsical stories being told, but I just 329 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:41,920 Speaker 1: like to like straight up, let's tell you an American 330 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,320 Speaker 1: story quality. And then there was Woodstock on the list, 331 00:17:44,320 --> 00:17:50,000 Speaker 1: of course, equally important in every way. It's like I'm 332 00:17:50,000 --> 00:17:53,760 Speaker 1: obsessed with it too. And Monterey Pop. Monterey Pop is amazing. 333 00:17:53,760 --> 00:17:56,920 Speaker 1: For the crowd shots. Monterey Pop has the most beautiful 334 00:17:57,000 --> 00:18:00,960 Speaker 1: crowd shots. They're like comfortable back, Oh my god, they're 335 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,080 Speaker 1: so great. And they also tell you that thing of 336 00:18:03,119 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: like in nine seven, it wasn't all the sixties. It 337 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:10,480 Speaker 1: was still like there were dudes from the fifties still 338 00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:12,240 Speaker 1: there in the shots. You know, they go to the 339 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:15,000 Speaker 1: show too. They just they didn't get the manual for 340 00:18:15,080 --> 00:18:17,879 Speaker 1: the moon to wear. They're still wearing like, you know, 341 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:21,560 Speaker 1: a little skinny black tie. And you see these things 342 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:24,000 Speaker 1: in Monterey Pop and just go wow. Somebody was there 343 00:18:24,000 --> 00:18:26,280 Speaker 1: at the right time with the camera just captured the 344 00:18:26,600 --> 00:18:31,119 Speaker 1: generation changing and it was crazy. The end of that 345 00:18:31,200 --> 00:18:33,480 Speaker 1: the end of that time, we're like, I always get 346 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:36,800 Speaker 1: so upset when people say the sixties was for nothing, 347 00:18:37,400 --> 00:18:38,680 Speaker 1: But I want to get back to something you said, 348 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:41,000 Speaker 1: which is about Monterey and what stock, which is I'm 349 00:18:41,040 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: on the board of the Hampton's Film Festival, and we 350 00:18:42,800 --> 00:18:45,560 Speaker 1: have our festival, so we do give me shelter, and 351 00:18:45,560 --> 00:18:48,359 Speaker 1: we find out that Masals is insect Harbor visiting his 352 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,760 Speaker 1: daughter who lives there. We bring him into interview him. 353 00:18:50,800 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: It's sold out and everybody comes in and everybody like, no, 354 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:55,639 Speaker 1: there's no dope in the room, but you can smell. 355 00:18:56,640 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: Everyone gets a contact Hie, this is really true, Like 356 00:19:00,160 --> 00:19:03,560 Speaker 1: just like the the souvenirs of that era, people are 357 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,200 Speaker 1: are gravitating to so strongly, Like that's why they showed 358 00:19:07,240 --> 00:19:09,280 Speaker 1: up for gimming Shelter. I want to see Richie Furey, 359 00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:15,680 Speaker 1: you know who packed a nice sized theater singing Buffalo 360 00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:19,359 Speaker 1: Springfield types. It's like that they people are there for 361 00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:24,280 Speaker 1: the things that moved them in their lives. Shows bring 362 00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: back Will and Grace. Yeah, But and if and if 363 00:19:27,119 --> 00:19:28,840 Speaker 1: Will and Grace comes back with the feeling that you 364 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:31,680 Speaker 1: got that contact high the first time and they have, 365 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,800 Speaker 1: You're like, they're in that's a miracle. But but I 366 00:19:34,880 --> 00:19:37,639 Speaker 1: know that you did reunion with Elton John and u 367 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:41,919 Speaker 1: um U a couple of numbers from Leon. I know 368 00:19:41,960 --> 00:19:44,200 Speaker 1: that you did the reunion with him. Why didn't you 369 00:19:44,600 --> 00:19:47,880 Speaker 1: make more movies like that, like concert films? Why didn't 370 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:51,879 Speaker 1: you marry? We're doing it? Yeah, it's just the movies 371 00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,360 Speaker 1: have taken me like a long time because they take 372 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:56,399 Speaker 1: a long time to write and then I you know, 373 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,800 Speaker 1: maybe put one aside for a while and start a 374 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:01,639 Speaker 1: new one. So it's like, as I've kind of streamlined 375 00:20:01,720 --> 00:20:03,760 Speaker 1: that process a little bit, there's a room to do 376 00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,119 Speaker 1: music stuff. So we're we're actually, um gonna do a 377 00:20:07,160 --> 00:20:09,359 Speaker 1: couple of documentaries and a few and a few music things. 378 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,360 Speaker 1: One thing I guess I can say is, um, we're 379 00:20:12,359 --> 00:20:15,160 Speaker 1: gonna do a little documentary with David Crosby, who I 380 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:19,480 Speaker 1: first met when I was fifteen. He's, you know, more 381 00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:21,719 Speaker 1: prolific now that he's been a long time. He's at 382 00:20:21,720 --> 00:20:24,240 Speaker 1: a point in his life where he's just got a 383 00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:27,080 Speaker 1: lot to say, and I think with a with a 384 00:20:28,240 --> 00:20:31,000 Speaker 1: lack of a lot of talking heads and leaving it 385 00:20:31,080 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: with him just telling you almost all just a very 386 00:20:36,119 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: personal thing. I'm gonna tell you some stuff you'll agree with, 387 00:20:39,359 --> 00:20:41,239 Speaker 1: some stuff you won't, but it's this between me and you, 388 00:20:41,359 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 1: this is my life. Like I love that tone, that tone. 389 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:47,920 Speaker 1: So we're gonna do that with David Crosby, who's wonderful 390 00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:55,400 Speaker 1: and you know the music you know, listen, we made 391 00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:58,159 Speaker 1: almost famous and here's this note that comes to the 392 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: mail like immediately and from Alec Baldwin. I'm like, fuck, 393 00:21:02,800 --> 00:21:05,119 Speaker 1: open it up. And it's like, I loved your movie. 394 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:07,920 Speaker 1: I love led Zeppelin. I can't believe you put tangerine 395 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:11,880 Speaker 1: in the Movie's real that's the way, that's the way, 396 00:21:12,119 --> 00:21:15,280 Speaker 1: and and and I was like, like Baldwin knows that's 397 00:21:15,280 --> 00:21:20,000 Speaker 1: the way in Zeppelin. Yeah maybe. And fandom. I never 398 00:21:20,040 --> 00:21:22,600 Speaker 1: lose that fandom. And you don't good and you don't. 399 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:25,639 Speaker 1: You can't because I just think you have to sign 400 00:21:25,680 --> 00:21:29,840 Speaker 1: on for the people that you love creatively and personally. 401 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:33,160 Speaker 1: Take the ride. Lennon can make mind games. He can 402 00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:35,880 Speaker 1: make you know. It's one of the in between records. 403 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: Don't leave him. He's John Lennon. You know. It's like 404 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:42,320 Speaker 1: you just have to stay for the ride or you're 405 00:21:42,359 --> 00:21:45,680 Speaker 1: a fair weather. You get that from your mother for 406 00:21:45,920 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: a little bit, your lack of pretentiousness. Well, you want 407 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: an Academy Award for screenwriting, as I reminded your children, Yes, 408 00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:56,400 Speaker 1: thank you for that. I told your children, I said 409 00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,480 Speaker 1: you must rocket roll Hall of Fame and your father 410 00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:01,480 Speaker 1: won an Oscar. I said, you know, no pressure, but 411 00:22:01,480 --> 00:22:03,719 Speaker 1: but but but but what you're doing well, by the way, 412 00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:06,720 Speaker 1: but but you're but you're but but you I think 413 00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 1: it's super important, and I think you can even make 414 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: movies that way. You can. You can be loving with 415 00:22:12,840 --> 00:22:14,480 Speaker 1: the point you're saying to make with a movie and 416 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,440 Speaker 1: stay open and and be open to your actors too, 417 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:21,800 Speaker 1: because generally, not every time, but generally a movie will 418 00:22:21,880 --> 00:22:25,880 Speaker 1: have your spirit. You know, the movie will have your 419 00:22:25,960 --> 00:22:28,719 Speaker 1: signature somewhere, even even in movies where like you know, 420 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:31,120 Speaker 1: Penny Marshall came in at the last minute and replaced 421 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:34,199 Speaker 1: so and so it's it's a Penny Marshall movie. The 422 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: director's personality seeps in Hallelujah, and and I love playing 423 00:22:38,840 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: with that. I love playing with like the sensibility and 424 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:43,640 Speaker 1: the feeling that the movie is going to give you. 425 00:22:44,119 --> 00:22:47,960 Speaker 1: Music helps the relationship on the set, Like when we've 426 00:22:47,960 --> 00:22:51,320 Speaker 1: been able to work together, it's it's really been wonderful 427 00:22:51,359 --> 00:22:54,600 Speaker 1: to have like the environmental version of directing, where where 428 00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,600 Speaker 1: we all are together kind of vibing and there are 429 00:22:57,640 --> 00:23:00,399 Speaker 1: relationships that are separate and the characters are part of 430 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,119 Speaker 1: it and we're doing this thing together. I think that 431 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:06,119 Speaker 1: feeling gets into the movie. So Jerry mc would you 432 00:23:06,119 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 1: say that, Jerry McGuire, that blows things open for you. 433 00:23:08,320 --> 00:23:10,560 Speaker 1: That's a big hit movie. H that's you got number 434 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,120 Speaker 1: one in the call sheet there. I just came from 435 00:23:12,119 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: London shooting with him and no, no, it's a singular experience, 436 00:23:15,680 --> 00:23:17,080 Speaker 1: number one. When you work with Tomas you can never 437 00:23:17,080 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: complain that you're tired. Yeah, and you can never complain 438 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 1: that you're in pain. That it happened once Tom broke 439 00:23:22,560 --> 00:23:26,159 Speaker 1: his leg in October, like really fucking smashed his legs 440 00:23:26,160 --> 00:23:28,040 Speaker 1: and he's back to working like nine weeks or wherever 441 00:23:28,080 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: the it was. So when you work with him, I 442 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: love him the best. So you could do the movie 443 00:23:32,520 --> 00:23:35,840 Speaker 1: that obviously changes everything for you. Yeah. When he said 444 00:23:35,960 --> 00:23:38,760 Speaker 1: yes that that that change things. But but he said 445 00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:41,560 Speaker 1: it in a way Alec that like, you know, your 446 00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:44,520 Speaker 1: friends take your sense, you know. Tom Cruise says, yes, 447 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,600 Speaker 1: you lose your power. You can't do a thing. It 448 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,119 Speaker 1: just becomes a freight train that's out of control. And 449 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,600 Speaker 1: it's a freight it's a Hollywood freight train. You'll be 450 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:56,440 Speaker 1: lucky if you see the back of the caboose and 451 00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:58,840 Speaker 1: and you get terrified. And then Tom Cruise calls from England, 452 00:23:58,840 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: so I read your script. I hope I'm the right 453 00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:02,560 Speaker 1: guy for you. Let me come out and read it 454 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:06,000 Speaker 1: for you. And you're like, wait, you want to come 455 00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,880 Speaker 1: out and read it? Yeah, why why not know if 456 00:24:08,880 --> 00:24:10,240 Speaker 1: it's right for both of us? Let me read it 457 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,439 Speaker 1: for you. See if I'm the guy for you? And 458 00:24:12,480 --> 00:24:15,000 Speaker 1: he was that guy from the moment he got off 459 00:24:15,000 --> 00:24:18,760 Speaker 1: the twice and and hope to work with him again. 460 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:20,679 Speaker 1: And when you do the movie and the movie becomes 461 00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:24,560 Speaker 1: a success because you you know, you make small movies 462 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:26,440 Speaker 1: and you're like everybody. You start off from one place 463 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:28,680 Speaker 1: and then you end up in another place. How does 464 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:30,680 Speaker 1: that change once the movie makes a lot of money 465 00:24:30,720 --> 00:24:33,639 Speaker 1: and you're directing movies with big movie stars. Do people 466 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: except back and go whatever you want, Cameron, whatever you want, baby, 467 00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:40,440 Speaker 1: you do get easier, you do Well, we never knew 468 00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:42,040 Speaker 1: that Jerry McGuire was going to do that. Well, it's 469 00:24:42,040 --> 00:24:44,640 Speaker 1: the same old thing you know of. Is it an 470 00:24:44,640 --> 00:24:47,600 Speaker 1: in between movie? Because it's sports and it's also a 471 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:51,240 Speaker 1: romance and sports guys, I don't want to see romance 472 00:24:51,320 --> 00:24:55,600 Speaker 1: and romance is confusing people. You're confusing people. So there 473 00:24:55,680 --> 00:24:58,159 Speaker 1: was a big there's a big issue about you know, 474 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:03,160 Speaker 1: is this one of those Robin Williams movies that you know? 475 00:25:03,359 --> 00:25:05,960 Speaker 1: And you're like, I just remember being in these rooms 476 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:07,919 Speaker 1: when everybody said, you don't have a star, what are 477 00:25:07,920 --> 00:25:09,960 Speaker 1: we gonna do? Now we have one, and they're like, 478 00:25:10,000 --> 00:25:14,440 Speaker 1: what are we gonna do? So you know, over Thanksgiving weekend, 479 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:19,280 Speaker 1: Bob Cooper cut together, like one of the executives who 480 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:22,879 Speaker 1: just arrived, I think, cut together a version that was 481 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:25,879 Speaker 1: both and we watched it and it was like, fuck, 482 00:25:26,400 --> 00:25:30,719 Speaker 1: football can live with Rene Zellweger running through a street 483 00:25:30,840 --> 00:25:34,280 Speaker 1: and you're feeling love and romance. It's like it can work. 484 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:37,679 Speaker 1: And it was a very very interesting thing because like 485 00:25:37,840 --> 00:25:40,119 Speaker 1: it was the first Tom Cruise movie that had like 486 00:25:40,480 --> 00:25:42,800 Speaker 1: not a high want to see. So they were doing 487 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:44,680 Speaker 1: testing and they were going like, you know, you're gonna 488 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:48,399 Speaker 1: get killed by the Preacher's Wife. It's coming out the 489 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:50,320 Speaker 1: same way you're gonna get killed. You know, this is 490 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: a changing of the guards, this is a new day, 491 00:25:53,600 --> 00:25:57,159 Speaker 1: and you know it's gonna be Preacher's Wife. Tom was 492 00:25:57,240 --> 00:26:00,880 Speaker 1: doing the Cooper movie already at that time, came from 493 00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 1: London to New York and said, boys, I'm gonna do 494 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:07,760 Speaker 1: some promotion and he started on a Monday, did Rosie did, 495 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: Larry King did everything. By the end of the week, 496 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:15,040 Speaker 1: our numbers were way high, was starting to go down 497 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: and he basically blew us a kiss and went back 498 00:26:17,200 --> 00:26:20,440 Speaker 1: to England. In the movie opened, it was the brawn 499 00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:24,600 Speaker 1: of him coming to say, okay, guys, I act for free. 500 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,160 Speaker 1: This is what you pay me for. I'm gonna give 501 00:26:27,240 --> 00:26:30,160 Speaker 1: him everything I got for this movie. And then when 502 00:26:30,160 --> 00:26:32,520 Speaker 1: that movie comes out and that's a huge hit, that's 503 00:26:32,520 --> 00:26:34,400 Speaker 1: when you decide you want to do well. You feel 504 00:26:34,400 --> 00:26:36,800 Speaker 1: like that in the back pocket. Now we can Now 505 00:26:36,840 --> 00:26:39,040 Speaker 1: we can do like the Labor of Love. And they 506 00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:41,520 Speaker 1: were great. We did it for DreamWorks and Spielberg said 507 00:26:41,560 --> 00:26:45,000 Speaker 1: shoot every word, which I've never heard before or since. 508 00:26:45,600 --> 00:26:49,200 Speaker 1: And uh, we started with all of the casting imperatives. 509 00:26:49,200 --> 00:26:51,320 Speaker 1: There we no finish, we can say. We started to run. 510 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:53,600 Speaker 1: We started to run along and I got a message back, 511 00:26:53,640 --> 00:26:56,560 Speaker 1: like Stephen says, shoot every other word. For a while, 512 00:26:58,440 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: the no, there was no casting imperative. In fact, you 513 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,800 Speaker 1: will dig this. Um it was gonna be Brad Pitt 514 00:27:04,240 --> 00:27:09,000 Speaker 1: as the Billy Crudup character. And um, we we worked 515 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:11,200 Speaker 1: on it and it just he started to drift away. 516 00:27:11,200 --> 00:27:13,280 Speaker 1: I still haven't had the definitive conversation with him on 517 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: why it didn't work out, but didn't work out, but 518 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:21,440 Speaker 1: somewhere I have Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman trying out 519 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:23,879 Speaker 1: for Penny Lane, and the portrait of the two of 520 00:27:23,920 --> 00:27:27,359 Speaker 1: them together is is riveting, but a completely different movie. 521 00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:31,600 Speaker 1: And Spielberg said, cast anybody wants, as long as he's right, 522 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:37,159 Speaker 1: And it came down to Billy and Christian Bale, and 523 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:40,760 Speaker 1: they both were great, and it was kind of like, 524 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:44,280 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Billy, and he learned how to 525 00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,640 Speaker 1: play guitar in six weeks and was the guy of destiny. 526 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:50,720 Speaker 1: He was the guy of Destiny and they let me 527 00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,800 Speaker 1: make it, you know, with with all the so called 528 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 1: bells and whistles, which really was being being able to 529 00:27:54,720 --> 00:27:57,280 Speaker 1: shoot up with John Toll and get all the sets, 530 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:01,560 Speaker 1: ride and go back to sand Kid. Yeah, it's told 531 00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:03,920 Speaker 1: the only person to win the Oscar back to back years. 532 00:28:06,720 --> 00:28:10,919 Speaker 1: Bart he's great, and I think he worked on Monterey 533 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: popper Woodstocker un. I mean he actually was there shooting 534 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:17,440 Speaker 1: for part of that era, so he knew what real 535 00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:21,440 Speaker 1: he knew what authenticity was. And led Zeppelin said yes 536 00:28:21,480 --> 00:28:24,520 Speaker 1: and let us use the music, which was incredible to 537 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:26,480 Speaker 1: go to England and show the movie to led Zeppelin 538 00:28:27,240 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: with the editor and sit in a small room on 539 00:28:29,320 --> 00:28:31,879 Speaker 1: the one day that Jimmy and Robert like spend together 540 00:28:31,920 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: going over Zeppelin business. We're in the back row. It's 541 00:28:35,040 --> 00:28:37,960 Speaker 1: just like five of us. And every time the two 542 00:28:38,000 --> 00:28:40,520 Speaker 1: heads of Jimmy Page and Robert Plant would come together 543 00:28:40,600 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: to talk talking about something, We'd like, what what are 544 00:28:43,760 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: they talking about? What are they talking about? And and um, 545 00:28:46,320 --> 00:28:50,800 Speaker 1: and then was over. They they were kind of emotional, 546 00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: and Robert Plant said, I have a I have a 547 00:28:53,280 --> 00:28:55,880 Speaker 1: bottle of queluds I've been saving since nineteen eighty and 548 00:28:55,880 --> 00:28:59,600 Speaker 1: I'm gonna take one tonight. And then we went across 549 00:28:59,640 --> 00:29:02,080 Speaker 1: the street talked about the music and Jimmy Page says, 550 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:06,640 Speaker 1: I would like one of our acoustic songs, one more 551 00:29:06,680 --> 00:29:08,480 Speaker 1: of our acoustic songs in there, and I'll let you 552 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:10,280 Speaker 1: have it for free, just find a place for it. 553 00:29:10,840 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: And I I was like, damn, you're supposed to be the 554 00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:17,719 Speaker 1: people that say no music for anyone. And so they said, like, 555 00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:21,160 Speaker 1: the movie is coming from the right place, and how 556 00:29:21,200 --> 00:29:23,600 Speaker 1: great is Jeff Buckley, And they just started talking about 557 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:27,640 Speaker 1: Jeff Buckley, Page and Plant like fans exactly what we're 558 00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:32,200 Speaker 1: talking about, like the way you want to hear musicians 559 00:29:32,240 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: you love talking about the musicians they love. And it 560 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:40,360 Speaker 1: was Jeff Buckley who unfortunately died playing immigrant song I've heard. 561 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:44,160 Speaker 1: I loved all the musicians that helped us on Almost Famous, 562 00:29:44,160 --> 00:29:46,360 Speaker 1: because they all pitched in, they all gave us like 563 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:48,640 Speaker 1: a good price on the music, and loved that we 564 00:29:48,800 --> 00:29:55,880 Speaker 1: played so much of it. Writer, director, journalist Cameron Crowe 565 00:29:57,640 --> 00:30:00,160 Speaker 1: After the Break Cameron Crow on what it feels it's 566 00:30:00,240 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 1: like after the success of Jerry McGuire and Almost Famous 567 00:30:04,040 --> 00:30:06,400 Speaker 1: to have a movie fall flat in the eyes of 568 00:30:06,440 --> 00:30:11,120 Speaker 1: the outside world, plus the story of his definitive interview 569 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:14,960 Speaker 1: with the great Billy Wilder, which became the book Conversations 570 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:22,360 Speaker 1: with Wilder. This song is led Zeppelin's Tangerine, which Crow 571 00:30:22,560 --> 00:30:25,760 Speaker 1: uses to amp up the nostalgia as the tour bus 572 00:30:25,840 --> 00:30:45,280 Speaker 1: drives away. At the end of Almost Famous, this is 573 00:30:45,320 --> 00:30:53,400 Speaker 1: Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the Thing you Street. 574 00:30:56,640 --> 00:31:00,760 Speaker 1: That's led Zeppelin's Misty Mountain Hop, also from Most Famous. 575 00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:04,760 Speaker 1: Another great use of song capturing the swelling pride of 576 00:31:04,840 --> 00:31:09,440 Speaker 1: will The Cameron Crowe character when he loses his virginity. 577 00:31:10,240 --> 00:31:13,360 Speaker 1: Now back to the real Cameron crow on making a 578 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:17,080 Speaker 1: movie that is not a hit. Is it painful? Is 579 00:31:17,120 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 1: it so searching? Do you getting in a minivan and 580 00:31:21,040 --> 00:31:23,800 Speaker 1: drive cross country and meditate? It's a great What do 581 00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:25,680 Speaker 1: you do in the wake of the one? We sit 582 00:31:25,720 --> 00:31:31,120 Speaker 1: there and go, I miscalculated something. You definitely do that. Um, 583 00:31:31,160 --> 00:31:36,160 Speaker 1: but you also know that sometimes time is the component 584 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 1: that's not in play yet, and over time stuff that 585 00:31:39,840 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 1: I've done and movies that I appreciated that other people 586 00:31:42,040 --> 00:31:45,240 Speaker 1: have done, time adds a little something, sometimes takes it away, 587 00:31:45,520 --> 00:31:48,920 Speaker 1: but it adds something. So some of the movies, like Elizabethtown, 588 00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,000 Speaker 1: got a strange reaction when it first came out. I 589 00:31:51,440 --> 00:31:54,440 Speaker 1: love Elizabethtown. I love what we did, and I love 590 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:57,760 Speaker 1: the purpose of elizabeth Town. Not everybody got it. But 591 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,760 Speaker 1: as it's for my dad, as as almost famous, was 592 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:02,400 Speaker 1: very much a kind of portrait of my mom. I 593 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:04,400 Speaker 1: wanted to I wanted to say something about my dad. 594 00:32:05,000 --> 00:32:07,640 Speaker 1: And Um, as time goes on, more and more people 595 00:32:08,120 --> 00:32:11,600 Speaker 1: really get that movie, like really get it. Like when 596 00:32:11,600 --> 00:32:14,400 Speaker 1: people started to say to me, I saw your movie 597 00:32:14,640 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: or I read something that you wrote and it kind 598 00:32:16,600 --> 00:32:19,080 Speaker 1: of changed my life. It took me a long time 599 00:32:19,120 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: to to kind of wrap my head around that, and 600 00:32:21,960 --> 00:32:25,000 Speaker 1: then it became something that I was so proud of. 601 00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:28,080 Speaker 1: And if you're able to just like touch people in 602 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:31,600 Speaker 1: a certain way, they remember you forever. They remember the 603 00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,360 Speaker 1: movie of the line or the character forever. So I 604 00:32:34,400 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: just love the game. It's really they're all going. So 605 00:32:38,720 --> 00:32:41,880 Speaker 1: the thing is, like Kirsten Dunce's character and Elizabeth Town 606 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:46,840 Speaker 1: for example, like understood, less understood, now kind of understood again. 607 00:32:46,880 --> 00:32:48,719 Speaker 1: It's the acronym the guy came up with to describe 608 00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:52,040 Speaker 1: her character, Anni Pixie dream Girl. Yeah, well it was 609 00:32:52,160 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 1: Lucille Ball, so you know, totally Mary Tyler more and 610 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:00,000 Speaker 1: um and that character was patterned after a real person 611 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:02,720 Speaker 1: and so it's kind of authentic too. But the thing 612 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:07,320 Speaker 1: is it's disappointing, but then you never lose the desire 613 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: to get back on the horse. And just like you 614 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:13,000 Speaker 1: know what, stand doing what you're doing, meaning maybe it 615 00:33:13,000 --> 00:33:16,040 Speaker 1: doesn't perform because it is a business according to plan, 616 00:33:16,240 --> 00:33:18,000 Speaker 1: would you go right back into it the same way 617 00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:19,520 Speaker 1: you do it? You don't change the way you're doing. 618 00:33:19,880 --> 00:33:21,960 Speaker 1: When I first started out, like given the opportunity to 619 00:33:22,000 --> 00:33:23,239 Speaker 1: do it. My thing was like, I want to make 620 00:33:23,280 --> 00:33:26,360 Speaker 1: movies about the people that never get movies made about them. 621 00:33:26,400 --> 00:33:29,000 Speaker 1: And I still believe that, I still like say anything. 622 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:33,200 Speaker 1: Was that for me? Like a guy like Lloyd? I 623 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: mean it was patterned after my next door neighbor, really, 624 00:33:35,880 --> 00:33:41,680 Speaker 1: who was just a completely unique, soulful guy, lived died 625 00:33:41,760 --> 00:33:44,480 Speaker 1: at a very young age. Was like a young motivational speaker, 626 00:33:44,680 --> 00:33:48,240 Speaker 1: was a you know, fledgling kickboxer. I was trying to 627 00:33:48,280 --> 00:33:50,400 Speaker 1: figure out the main male character in the script, and 628 00:33:50,400 --> 00:33:53,400 Speaker 1: this guy knocked on my door and said, I'm from Alabama. 629 00:33:53,640 --> 00:33:56,360 Speaker 1: I'm here in town. My father is under investigation for 630 00:33:56,400 --> 00:33:59,240 Speaker 1: income tax, and I'm gonna be doing some kickboxing later tonight. 631 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,600 Speaker 1: Would you like to come see me? And I'm like, no, 632 00:34:01,760 --> 00:34:03,800 Speaker 1: I'm busy trying to come up with a creative character. 633 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:08,120 Speaker 1: Wait a minute. He come back, Yeah, come back? And 634 00:34:08,160 --> 00:34:11,160 Speaker 1: that that guy. Actually I didn't go watch him kickbox, 635 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:14,600 Speaker 1: And I said I might and go out to like 636 00:34:14,640 --> 00:34:16,960 Speaker 1: Sam Bernardino and watch him kickbox. I didn't make it. 637 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:21,840 Speaker 1: Next morning, I hear like boom in our apartment place, boom, boom, boom, 638 00:34:21,960 --> 00:34:25,200 Speaker 1: what's happening? I go downstairs. He's got a bag hanging 639 00:34:25,320 --> 00:34:28,360 Speaker 1: from the pipes in the in the parking lot, parking crush, 640 00:34:28,920 --> 00:34:31,480 Speaker 1: and he's working out again. And he turns around and 641 00:34:31,719 --> 00:34:35,200 Speaker 1: guy's black and blue. He was decimated in his fight. 642 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:38,560 Speaker 1: And and I said, I guess I didn't go too well. 643 00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:41,680 Speaker 1: And he goes, He goes, I'm back at it next Friday, 644 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,000 Speaker 1: and I think I'm gonna do well and I want 645 00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:46,520 Speaker 1: you there and and I was like, this is a 646 00:34:46,560 --> 00:34:50,080 Speaker 1: warrior for optimism. I love this and this is life. No, 647 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:53,239 Speaker 1: I didn't go why But I went and hung with 648 00:34:53,320 --> 00:34:55,440 Speaker 1: him a lot and we watched a lot together. So 649 00:34:55,480 --> 00:34:59,279 Speaker 1: he's gonna make it a movie about him. Um in 650 00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: the end. In the end, Lloyd was based on it. 651 00:35:03,239 --> 00:35:06,000 Speaker 1: Diane was supposed to be the main character. When we 652 00:35:06,000 --> 00:35:08,520 Speaker 1: first started doing Say Anything, the Ione Sky character was 653 00:35:08,560 --> 00:35:11,839 Speaker 1: the main character. Lloyd kind of took over along with 654 00:35:12,080 --> 00:35:15,640 Speaker 1: Lowell my next door neighbor and um. And that was 655 00:35:15,680 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 1: another thing. It's like, real life is going to deliver 656 00:35:17,680 --> 00:35:19,520 Speaker 1: you some of the best stories. Like you just sit 657 00:35:19,600 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: tight and listen and watch because life is the best writer. Now. 658 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:31,120 Speaker 1: Of course, when you love movies, classic films, whether they 659 00:35:31,120 --> 00:35:33,799 Speaker 1: were in the TCM, Wheelhouse or not. People will say 660 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:34,680 Speaker 1: to me, who you know, who do you want to 661 00:35:34,680 --> 00:35:35,920 Speaker 1: work with? Who do you want to work with? I said, well, 662 00:35:35,920 --> 00:35:37,000 Speaker 1: who do you think I want to work I want 663 00:35:37,000 --> 00:35:39,920 Speaker 1: to work with Bogart, I want to work with John Houston, 664 00:35:40,440 --> 00:35:42,879 Speaker 1: William Holden. I just wanted to I just watched Bridge 665 00:35:42,880 --> 00:35:47,040 Speaker 1: on the River Quiet the other day again. And so 666 00:35:47,160 --> 00:35:49,200 Speaker 1: for you, how does the connection happen? How do you 667 00:35:49,239 --> 00:35:52,360 Speaker 1: get the hook into Wilder? Meat Wilder? You know, I 668 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:55,319 Speaker 1: fell in love with his stuff when we were working 669 00:35:55,360 --> 00:35:57,760 Speaker 1: on Jerry McGuire. I just fell in love with this stuff, 670 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:01,600 Speaker 1: and and the apartment spoke to me in such amazing way. 671 00:36:01,840 --> 00:36:04,600 Speaker 1: I got like a vintage poster and I wanted to 672 00:36:04,640 --> 00:36:07,440 Speaker 1: go visit Billy Wilder and have him sign it. And 673 00:36:07,560 --> 00:36:11,560 Speaker 1: I did, and he was kind of where at his office, 674 00:36:12,040 --> 00:36:15,520 Speaker 1: Uh in Beverly Hills. You're an established director who just 675 00:36:15,560 --> 00:36:18,120 Speaker 1: wants to meet him? Yeah? Yeah, And so there was 676 00:36:18,160 --> 00:36:21,719 Speaker 1: a there was an appointment made like two o'clock. So 677 00:36:21,760 --> 00:36:26,080 Speaker 1: I go to this little office building and uh, and 678 00:36:26,160 --> 00:36:28,840 Speaker 1: I have like my poster and a tube and everything, 679 00:36:28,920 --> 00:36:32,760 Speaker 1: and two goes and to thirt e goes, and three goes. 680 00:36:33,000 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: Three thirty and uh, I'm getting ready to leave, and 681 00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:40,640 Speaker 1: like four o'clock here comes Billy Wilder like crossing the street, 682 00:36:40,640 --> 00:36:43,879 Speaker 1: and I'm like, excuse me, Mr Wilder, Cameron Crow, I'm here. 683 00:36:43,880 --> 00:36:47,000 Speaker 1: Cia was supposed to call you to tell you that 684 00:36:47,080 --> 00:36:49,520 Speaker 1: an appointment I got to a call. I got no 685 00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:51,720 Speaker 1: call from c A. Why don't they call me for work? 686 00:36:52,000 --> 00:36:53,719 Speaker 1: Why don't they call me for work? If they call me, 687 00:36:53,719 --> 00:36:55,839 Speaker 1: they should call me for work. Well, well, okay, who 688 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:57,680 Speaker 1: am I signing this post? You want to sign a poster? 689 00:36:57,719 --> 00:36:59,960 Speaker 1: Want to sign a posters? Caramon, get me a funk 690 00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:03,040 Speaker 1: and I go up to his office and um, he 691 00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:06,640 Speaker 1: signs the poster and starts talking to me about carry 692 00:37:06,640 --> 00:37:10,399 Speaker 1: grant and I'm like, I'm sitting in fucking Billy Well 693 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:14,040 Speaker 1: there's office and he's telling me carry grant stories. Thinks 694 00:37:14,080 --> 00:37:16,880 Speaker 1: I'm like a p A for somebody at C A A. 695 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:20,640 Speaker 1: He hasn't quite put it together. Starts telling about like 696 00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: they should have called me for this and that, and 697 00:37:23,200 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 1: you know Schindler's list was mine at a certain point, 698 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,480 Speaker 1: and like that was a great go Mr Wilder. I'm 699 00:37:28,520 --> 00:37:31,960 Speaker 1: making a movie and myself and I would like you 700 00:37:32,000 --> 00:37:35,040 Speaker 1: to play a part in it. I'm not an actor, 701 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:37,759 Speaker 1: Hire an actor, but it's great. It's like it's like 702 00:37:37,800 --> 00:37:41,319 Speaker 1: you're a sports agents mentor. Okay, okay, okay, okay, you 703 00:37:41,400 --> 00:37:43,480 Speaker 1: come and find I come and do it. I do 704 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:44,919 Speaker 1: what I do. I come in. I was so happy. 705 00:37:44,920 --> 00:37:47,120 Speaker 1: I went to get some cigars. I brought him back 706 00:37:47,160 --> 00:37:52,720 Speaker 1: some cigars. Jerry McGuire comes together. We're in the rehearsals. 707 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:54,279 Speaker 1: I haven't been able to get a hold of him. 708 00:37:54,320 --> 00:37:56,279 Speaker 1: Tom Cruise is standing there and Cruise goes, when do 709 00:37:56,360 --> 00:37:58,799 Speaker 1: we get to meet Billy Wilder? I go, let me 710 00:37:58,840 --> 00:38:01,400 Speaker 1: call him. It's like call his office and you know, miracle. 711 00:38:01,480 --> 00:38:04,960 Speaker 1: He picks up the phone. Mrs Wilder, it's camera crow. 712 00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:10,040 Speaker 1: Who I'm the guy. I'm doing this movie with Tom Cruise. 713 00:38:10,239 --> 00:38:14,520 Speaker 1: And we talked about a part, and um, I'm I'm 714 00:38:14,600 --> 00:38:17,640 Speaker 1: just at the rehearsals, so maybe you can come and 715 00:38:17,680 --> 00:38:20,239 Speaker 1: just be a part of it. You know, I'm going 716 00:38:20,280 --> 00:38:23,000 Speaker 1: to piss ice water on you right now. I'm not 717 00:38:23,080 --> 00:38:26,560 Speaker 1: an actor. Hire an actor. You're bothering an old man. 718 00:38:27,480 --> 00:38:29,760 Speaker 1: I'm I'm going to say goodbye to you now, goodbye. 719 00:38:29,920 --> 00:38:33,600 Speaker 1: Click and now like Tom Cruise is standing there with 720 00:38:33,680 --> 00:38:37,919 Speaker 1: Bonnie Hunt like Wendsy counting, and I said, my dad, 721 00:38:38,239 --> 00:38:41,359 Speaker 1: I think he's not in a good mood today. And um, 722 00:38:41,400 --> 00:38:44,360 Speaker 1: you know, I'll try and ate like raining and terrible 723 00:38:44,520 --> 00:38:47,479 Speaker 1: kind of moody situation. Cruise, who you know it goes, 724 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:51,919 Speaker 1: Let's go to him right now, Come on, where's your keys? 725 00:38:52,000 --> 00:38:55,000 Speaker 1: Let's go. So now I'm driving through the rainy streets 726 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:56,839 Speaker 1: with Tom Cruise going please don't let me get an 727 00:38:56,880 --> 00:39:00,560 Speaker 1: accident because it is Tom Crumble ones in the car 728 00:39:00,800 --> 00:39:03,120 Speaker 1: and number one in the car traveling. So we get 729 00:39:03,120 --> 00:39:05,120 Speaker 1: to the office, think goodness, Billy Wilder is still there. 730 00:39:05,120 --> 00:39:07,360 Speaker 1: He opens the door. He looks annoyed. Then he looks 731 00:39:07,400 --> 00:39:09,560 Speaker 1: next to me and sees it's Tom Cruise and suddenly says, 732 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:14,360 Speaker 1: come in, come in, Come in, come in, and proceeds 733 00:39:14,440 --> 00:39:19,000 Speaker 1: to flirt with Tom Cruise the whole time, where they're 734 00:39:19,000 --> 00:39:23,000 Speaker 1: like perfect, just loving, lashing him with nose like Tom's like, 735 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:25,960 Speaker 1: we really want you to play this part. No, no, 736 00:39:26,040 --> 00:39:28,440 Speaker 1: you must hire an actor. No no, no, no no no. 737 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:29,719 Speaker 1: I mean, why wouldn't want to be in a movie 738 00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:32,200 Speaker 1: with you? You tell me, why why would you make 739 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:34,960 Speaker 1: such a movie? What is the perfect I'm going, Oh fuck, 740 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,480 Speaker 1: Billy Wilder, do not unravel the movie and rehearsal with 741 00:39:38,520 --> 00:39:41,479 Speaker 1: Tom Cruise because Tom's like, tell him about the movie. 742 00:39:41,520 --> 00:39:43,879 Speaker 1: I'm like, it's sports agent, like kind of like tell 743 00:39:43,960 --> 00:39:45,799 Speaker 1: him a story. And while there's listening, and it's not 744 00:39:45,960 --> 00:39:49,640 Speaker 1: sparkling with love for this story, and Cruise is looking 745 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:51,399 Speaker 1: at him and looking at me, and I'm going, I'm 746 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:56,120 Speaker 1: now gonna everything's gonna be shipped because of this. Wilder goes, 747 00:39:56,160 --> 00:39:59,959 Speaker 1: how will you have sympathy for such a sports age? 748 00:40:00,080 --> 00:40:03,000 Speaker 1: How you have sympathy? I got what you know? A 749 00:40:03,040 --> 00:40:05,120 Speaker 1: little kid tells him to funk off in the beginning, 750 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:08,960 Speaker 1: and his heartbreaks, and he I think Lemon should have 751 00:40:08,960 --> 00:40:11,319 Speaker 1: had more problems with him in the apartment. I think 752 00:40:11,400 --> 00:40:13,360 Speaker 1: Lemon should have had a limp. So something like a 753 00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:16,200 Speaker 1: limp would have helped us with the sympathy, and and 754 00:40:16,280 --> 00:40:18,000 Speaker 1: Cruises looking at me, and I'm going, well, I think 755 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:20,359 Speaker 1: Jeremy is a very sympathetic character. And I think you're 756 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:23,440 Speaker 1: gonna love it. I think you're gonna love Okay, okay, okay. 757 00:40:23,600 --> 00:40:27,480 Speaker 1: It's nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, especially you, 758 00:40:27,680 --> 00:40:33,560 Speaker 1: he says to Tom, and delighted and we leave and uh, 759 00:40:33,680 --> 00:40:35,640 Speaker 1: and of course he doesn't play the part. We hire 760 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:38,960 Speaker 1: the the business affairs guys guy at try Star who 761 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:42,640 Speaker 1: is so not an actor but was fantastic. Movie comes 762 00:40:42,640 --> 00:40:46,359 Speaker 1: out first week, goes by phone rings, It says Billy 763 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:48,399 Speaker 1: Wilder on the on the caller, I d so I'm 764 00:40:48,440 --> 00:40:53,960 Speaker 1: shipping already. I picked up Hello, Mr Cameron Crow. I 765 00:40:54,280 --> 00:41:00,359 Speaker 1: enjoyed your picture. Who is this guy who played my part? Well, 766 00:41:00,360 --> 00:41:02,160 Speaker 1: he wasn't really not he was good. He was good. 767 00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:05,040 Speaker 1: I liked him very much. I liked the Billy Bob 768 00:41:05,040 --> 00:41:07,360 Speaker 1: Thornton movie this year a little bit more than yours. 769 00:41:07,440 --> 00:41:11,360 Speaker 1: But yours is good. Yours is good. Uh, come and 770 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:14,280 Speaker 1: visit me if you'd like to do something for your column. 771 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,239 Speaker 1: And I go, I don't really have a column, but 772 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:20,680 Speaker 1: I'm gonna come visit you. He says, the same place. 773 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:25,120 Speaker 1: I'll be there tomorrow. Yeah. So I went and just 774 00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:29,600 Speaker 1: started interviewing him for my column which didn't exist Archer 775 00:41:29,719 --> 00:41:33,839 Speaker 1: and turned into the book which he argued against, like, 776 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:35,879 Speaker 1: do do they really care about me? Do they really 777 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:37,560 Speaker 1: want a book of me talking to they? Really? Does 778 00:41:37,600 --> 00:41:41,000 Speaker 1: this generation really care? And in the course of these interviews, Alec, 779 00:41:41,120 --> 00:41:44,880 Speaker 1: like you know, Sam Mendis would show up and Curtis 780 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:47,720 Speaker 1: Hansen would come along on some of these things, and 781 00:41:47,719 --> 00:41:51,960 Speaker 1: and and Jerry Moss, her Balbert's partner was was Billy's 782 00:41:52,320 --> 00:41:55,880 Speaker 1: you know, music friend, and he would come along on stuff. 783 00:41:56,320 --> 00:41:58,960 Speaker 1: And Billy just started to really get into the idea 784 00:41:59,600 --> 00:42:03,200 Speaker 1: of this book project. And he he said, one night, 785 00:42:03,239 --> 00:42:05,759 Speaker 1: and this is like a huge thing. We went out 786 00:42:05,800 --> 00:42:09,080 Speaker 1: to dinner with his wife and Audrey was amazing, and 787 00:42:09,080 --> 00:42:10,839 Speaker 1: Audrey goes to the bathrooms. Now it's just the two 788 00:42:10,840 --> 00:42:12,440 Speaker 1: of us. I've been interviewing Billy Wilder for about a 789 00:42:12,520 --> 00:42:15,719 Speaker 1: year and a half and he goes, Okay, is this 790 00:42:15,840 --> 00:42:20,120 Speaker 1: book really going to come out? And I said, yeah, 791 00:42:20,239 --> 00:42:23,520 Speaker 1: of course. He said, because if this was all just 792 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:28,560 Speaker 1: for you, that's fine. And I realized he was basically 793 00:42:28,600 --> 00:42:31,560 Speaker 1: telling me, you know, if you if you wanted film 794 00:42:31,600 --> 00:42:37,040 Speaker 1: school with Billy Wilder, that's cool, that's cool. But what 795 00:42:37,080 --> 00:42:40,279 Speaker 1: I sensed was I'd like to read it before I 796 00:42:40,400 --> 00:42:42,799 Speaker 1: check out, you know, like I'd like the book to 797 00:42:43,000 --> 00:42:45,319 Speaker 1: come out at a point where I live in the 798 00:42:45,360 --> 00:42:48,560 Speaker 1: same world, because I'm not the youngest guy in the world. 799 00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:53,000 Speaker 1: So I threw it into overdrive. We finished the book. 800 00:42:53,920 --> 00:42:56,359 Speaker 1: He loved the book, Alec it was great Vandy Fair 801 00:42:56,400 --> 00:42:58,960 Speaker 1: asked him right before he died, asked him what was 802 00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:01,919 Speaker 1: on his stand, and he said Conversations with the Wild, 803 00:43:03,840 --> 00:43:11,280 Speaker 1: A fitting tribute to two incredible talents. In his films, 804 00:43:11,520 --> 00:43:15,720 Speaker 1: Cameron Crowe has used songs from Simon and Garf, Uncle, Yes, 805 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:20,640 Speaker 1: Rod Stewart, Lou Reid, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, and several 806 00:43:20,680 --> 00:43:29,719 Speaker 1: cuts from another band We Both Love the Who, for 807 00:43:29,760 --> 00:43:33,160 Speaker 1: example getting in tune in the opening scenes of Jerry 808 00:43:33,200 --> 00:43:38,640 Speaker 1: McGuire underlining Tom Cruise's intensifying emotions as he writes his 809 00:43:38,719 --> 00:43:46,120 Speaker 1: mission statement. As an actor who's worked with Cameron Crowe, 810 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:49,320 Speaker 1: I can confirm he's the greatest partner you could possibly 811 00:43:49,360 --> 00:43:54,880 Speaker 1: have in filmmaking. I'm Alec Baldwin and you're listening to 812 00:43:55,000 --> 00:44:02,239 Speaker 1: Here's the Thing and I'm gonna chi