WEBVTT - Ep04 - Jeff Nichols / "Loving" 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:25.599 Welcome to Playback, a Variety podcast. On today's show, we 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:28.880 discussed this year's stacked Best Actress Oscar race and the 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:32.800 uncharacteristically thin Leading Actor Race. A little bit later, I'll 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:35.280 be talking to director Jeff Nichols about his new film 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:50.600 Loving and a whole lot more. So stick around. All right, everyone, 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:55.040 I'm back here again with Variety's Deputy. Oh, it's the 0:00:55.160 --> 0:01:03.200 longest smiling over here with Smile and Janelle Janelle Riley. Oh. 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.240 I always said it once last week. Let's see how 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:07.919 I do this week. And we're going to talk about 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.480 something specific this week. Actually, we're gonna talk about the 0:01:10.600 --> 0:01:16.720 lead oscar races. Uh. First up, let's talk about the ladies, 0:01:16.840 --> 0:01:21.000 because lead actresses insane. Yeah, it's insane. It's not just 0:01:21.080 --> 0:01:26.200 amazing performances, it's huge, huge stars, previous nominees, previous winners. 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:29.800 It's crazy. Yeah. Well at the top, I think it's 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.360 fair to Well, first of all, I won last week 0:01:32.440 --> 0:01:35.160 law law Land, you did, yes, the Victor at Toronto 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:38.600 Moon I didn't even place. And it's not three that's shocked. 0:01:38.640 --> 0:01:40.840 Although I am not surprised. I mean, obviously I've heard 0:01:40.840 --> 0:01:44.039 amazing things about Lyon and I saw Queen of Cotway 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:49.000 on Saturday night with a sag crowd and the enthusiasm 0:01:49.080 --> 0:01:51.760 for it, I mean they were rhapsodic, So I actually 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:54.760 was not surprised that that's one of those delightful kind 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.080 of movies. It really is. It's really well done. Yeah, 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:00.680 it's And having said that Lupie in the Ago will 0:02:00.680 --> 0:02:04.280 not be in the actress race because the race is insane, yeah, exactly. 0:02:04.320 --> 0:02:08.080 And and regarding lail and Emma Stone won the Venice 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:10.560 Prize for Best Actress, so she is everything for I 0:02:10.560 --> 0:02:12.400 think most of us at the top of the list 0:02:12.960 --> 0:02:15.000 right there, whether there is Natalie Portman, which we talked 0:02:15.000 --> 0:02:18.919 about Jackie last week, I think those are two locks. Yeah, yeah, 0:02:19.000 --> 0:02:22.120 I mean everyone else. It's just there's so many great performances. 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:26.519 Amy Adams turns in two fantastic performances and movies this year. Um, 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.079 Ruthnega is fantastic, Isabelle who pair And then there's the 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:32.000 what people we haven't seen in Nett Benning to Roggi 0:02:32.040 --> 0:02:35.760 p Henson, Viola Davis, Marian Cotillard, and you haven't mentioned 0:02:35.760 --> 0:02:40.720 perennial favorite Meryl Street, which is completely I mean, she's 0:02:40.720 --> 0:02:45.200 probably good to go yeah, unless you know this category 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.280 is just squeezes someone like her out, which it could. 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:49.880 I worry that it could squeeze someone like Ruth out 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.960 because it's a quiet performance. It's not a big performance 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:57.040 like some of these, just like her co star Joel Edgerton, 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.400 they're quiet performances and sometimes that can be hard to 0:02:59.400 --> 0:03:02.520 break through. But she's such a discovery this year, truly, 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:05.280 she truly is. She's you know, and preacher as well 0:03:05.360 --> 0:03:08.360 on TV doing something completely different. I mean, there is 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:12.600 always the possibility they haven't been seen yet that Mariankatillard, Viola, 0:03:12.680 --> 0:03:16.640 Davis Roggi, b Henson and Net Benning aren't good. I 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:19.560 would find that hard to believe. But those are four 0:03:19.600 --> 0:03:22.840 people that you know that they're already practically guaranteed a slots, 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:25.480 and the Net in particular is one of those that 0:03:26.080 --> 0:03:28.919 consistently brought up is overdue, Yeah, I mean the only 0:03:28.960 --> 0:03:30.840 person who is more overdue than a Net Benning is 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.639 Amy Adams. Now we've talked about this before. You say 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:36.680 that because of the number of nominations, Amy has five 0:03:37.080 --> 0:03:39.680 and I believe has four. She's been around for for 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:44.000 far longer. I think there's an argument there, but they're 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.440 both they're both going to get their oscar one day, 0:03:46.480 --> 0:03:50.160 I think, is um. And you know, we'll see how 0:03:50.200 --> 0:03:52.040 good twentieth Century Women is. That's going to play at 0:03:52.040 --> 0:03:54.520 the New York Film Festival, so we will know soon. 0:03:55.280 --> 0:03:57.600 But until then, I am only saying that only two 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.600 sure things are amastone and Natalie apartment. There you go. 0:04:01.200 --> 0:04:03.560 But did we talk about Viola? Did you bring her 0:04:03.600 --> 0:04:05.280 up there? I did bring her up. Here's the thing 0:04:05.280 --> 0:04:08.200 about Viola Davis, I am hearing. I don't know if 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:12.480 this is true or not. She supporting that. I feel 0:04:12.480 --> 0:04:14.520 confident now that it's going to stay lead. I'll just 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.800 say that, you know the are you familiar with the 0:04:16.800 --> 0:04:19.080 play itself? I am, And I know they've also expanded 0:04:19.080 --> 0:04:22.400 the role a little bit for her. She won the lead. Tony, 0:04:22.600 --> 0:04:25.599 the actress that played it previously won it in the 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:27.960 future category. So you know, you can see that the 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:30.200 argument could go either way. And the argument for supporting 0:04:30.279 --> 0:04:32.560 is very clear based on our conversation here. It's a 0:04:32.600 --> 0:04:35.240 tight category in lead. But I think at the end 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:38.080 of the day, Um, I'm expecting that to stay in lead. 0:04:38.440 --> 0:04:39.680 And why is that? Or do you not want to 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:44.320 say I don't want to say I just we'll see, 0:04:44.320 --> 0:04:46.520 we'll see. But I just feel pretty good right now 0:04:46.640 --> 0:04:50.480 that the logic on top of just you know, chatter, 0:04:51.560 --> 0:04:53.280 that lead makes the most sense to me. She's a 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:55.520 friend runner in the lead category without anyone having seen 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:59.040 the performance, So maybe she shouldn't move, you know, I'm 0:04:59.080 --> 0:05:01.120 just as far as optics are concerned, I think it 0:05:01.120 --> 0:05:05.599 would be a shame too quote unquote demote the the 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:09.160 woman of color out of this race to into the 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:12.000 supporting category. Um, you know, if it made room for 0:05:12.080 --> 0:05:13.640 Ruth then that's one thing. If it made room for 0:05:13.680 --> 0:05:15.680 Geogi p Henson, that's one thing. But if you know, 0:05:16.560 --> 0:05:18.920 if it's the one woman of color that had a 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:22.359 shot at a lead nomination and she was pushed to supporting, 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:24.080 I think it would kind of be a shame. But 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:25.359 I mean people do it all the time. I mean, 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:29.000 let's be honest, Alicia Vickender one last year performance that 0:05:29.160 --> 0:05:33.240 they don't have the optics of, you know, diversity, you know, 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:37.000 flocking around it. So if the performance is as good 0:05:37.000 --> 0:05:39.960 as I'm hearing, and it probably is because she's Viola Davis, 0:05:40.240 --> 0:05:42.240 I think she'll be fine in either category. And I've 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:45.400 heard that Denzel is fantastic as well. Opposite her, he 0:05:45.600 --> 0:05:51.960 is softer. Yes, the story of my life. We need men. 0:05:53.040 --> 0:05:56.440 It's it's uncharacteristically thin over there. I just there is 0:05:56.480 --> 0:05:58.479 no one who is a sure thing at this point. 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:01.400 There's a lot of you know, good, case Affleck feels strong, 0:06:01.600 --> 0:06:06.120 but it's it's in a in a darker also a 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.760 very subtle performance. It's very subtle performance. Yes. Also, I 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.159 don't know if Casey Affleck is going to play the 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:14.719 Oscars game well, so to speak. I don't think he would. 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:18.600 I mean, he'll probably do the usual regular stuff, but 0:06:18.680 --> 0:06:22.800 like that above and beyond territory that you need sometimes 0:06:22.839 --> 0:06:25.000 if you're on the fringe. I don't see him wanting 0:06:25.040 --> 0:06:27.200 to do that. I mean, I think Casey Affleck and 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:31.320 probably Ryan Goslin are and maybe even Tom Hanks, which 0:06:31.360 --> 0:06:34.000 is crazy to me because I liked Solly. Tom Hanks 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.480 as excellent as always. The man could not get nominated 0:06:36.480 --> 0:06:38.479 for Captain Phillips, which was one of the best performances 0:06:38.480 --> 0:06:40.480 I've seen in the last ten years, But he might 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:42.920 get in this year for solely because it is a 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:45.280 really weak categor I was going to make that specific 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.280 point and he's excellent. I mean he's Tom Hanks. He's 0:06:48.400 --> 0:06:54.040 very good. I mean he's it's It's also a quiet performance, 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:56.160 by the way, because the performance is all about this 0:06:56.160 --> 0:07:00.719 guy who's very controlled, very kind of just like you know, 0:07:00.760 --> 0:07:02.719 when he landed the plane. He was very controlled, very 0:07:02.760 --> 0:07:05.960 on top of it, very just I need to know 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:08.839 he lands the plane. I do think though, that Tom 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.880 Hanks's performance is pretty fantastic. He's one of those actors 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:14.600 who does so much with his eyes without speaking, and 0:07:14.600 --> 0:07:17.960 he does get a couple great scenes in Sully that 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.640 you know, could could be that clip moment. So I'm 0:07:20.640 --> 0:07:23.000 not saying that he would not deserve an Oscar nomination. 0:07:23.080 --> 0:07:26.480 I think he's fantastic. It's just sort of indicative of 0:07:26.480 --> 0:07:29.680 of we don't have anything in this category yet, and 0:07:29.720 --> 0:07:31.360 by the way, that movie is making its best case 0:07:31.400 --> 0:07:35.480 for itself and people love it. I cannot tell you 0:07:35.520 --> 0:07:39.000 how many people who live across the country that like 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:41.760 are regularly sending me texts asking if I've seen Sully 0:07:41.800 --> 0:07:43.240 and I think it's like the best movie of the year. 0:07:43.400 --> 0:07:46.440 The movie is landing if you will. Oh god, he 0:07:46.720 --> 0:07:52.720 edited that out. I threw Matthew McConaughey in there. This 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.280 is obviously a movie that we haven't seen yet, but 0:07:55.720 --> 0:07:57.480 he looks like he's having a lot of fun and gold. 0:07:57.600 --> 0:08:03.239 I loves movie, and you know, I think people wouldn't 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:05.160 mind seeing him back on the circuit. Frankly. I mean, 0:08:05.160 --> 0:08:07.960 he was very much on the circuit for Dallas Buyers 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:11.280 Club and and hard to to Miss and regarding that 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:14.520 above and beyond stuff, you know, was doing everything and 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:18.240 it paid off. This movie comes in December, and we'll 0:08:18.280 --> 0:08:21.600 see if it's a contender otherwise, But just for his performance, 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:23.680 he looks like he's having a blast. Yeah. I was 0:08:23.760 --> 0:08:27.360 really charmed by the trailer. Much like Michael Keaton. You know, 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.920 he starting the two Best Picture winners of the last 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.280 two years. Um, he's back in a lead role as 0:08:33.360 --> 0:08:36.560 Ray Croc, the founder of McDonald's, who was not a 0:08:36.640 --> 0:08:39.440 very nice person as it turns out. I was sort 0:08:39.480 --> 0:08:41.439 of shocked to learn just how much he screwed the 0:08:41.480 --> 0:08:47.040 McDonald's brothers. I really did. I am very busy with 0:08:47.040 --> 0:08:51.960 The Bachelor. Okay, I have a lot of about things 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:56.400 that really happened. Well, uh, we'll see about that movie. 0:08:56.559 --> 0:08:57.840 I don't know that that's going to be much of 0:08:57.840 --> 0:08:59.720 a player. But I don't know if the movie is, 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:04.120 but I wouldn't under estimate Keaton. We'll see, we'll see. 0:09:04.679 --> 0:09:06.080 I love the man. I think he deserved a win 0:09:06.120 --> 0:09:08.040 for Birdman, and you know there's it's going to be 0:09:08.080 --> 0:09:09.840 that residual good will when he's back in the race. 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:11.880 Well that's what I thought. If he didn't win for Birdman, 0:09:11.920 --> 0:09:13.760 he'll win for Spotlight because of all that good will. 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:15.760 And then they didn't even nominate him. Well that was 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:21.439 tough though. It's like the two performances that have been seen. 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:23.439 I am a big fan of Miles Teller and bleed 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:26.120 for this. I think he's great. Actually think Aaron Eckhart 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.320 is pretty close to a lock for supporting actor in 0:09:28.320 --> 0:09:34.440 that movie. Um, Miles, who knows? Uh? You know, Miles 0:09:34.559 --> 0:09:37.800 is you talked about playing the game? Like would he 0:09:37.840 --> 0:09:39.920 play the game? You know? Per se? Would he? I 0:09:40.000 --> 0:09:42.320 did a lot with him for Whiplash when it was out, 0:09:42.400 --> 0:09:44.800 and he can be very try I mean, you know, 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:50.680 Miles tight, Miles Teller. Um, he just he doesn't really 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.280 have a filter in a way. I kind of admire that, 0:09:53.960 --> 0:09:56.079 and he can be very charming in front of audiences. 0:09:56.120 --> 0:09:59.080 And the performance is really great. Uh, well, people see 0:09:59.080 --> 0:10:01.760 the movie. I don't know, so it's a real crowd pleaser, 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:05.360 I think, yeah, I agree. I how did it do 0:10:05.400 --> 0:10:07.400 in Toronto? Did you see it there? No? I saw 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:10.840 before Toronto, and so I don't really the crowd there 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:12.199 because I was very curious how it was going to 0:10:12.280 --> 0:10:14.319 play a thought and tell you right, it's sort of 0:10:14.440 --> 0:10:18.880 got a little lost just because of the that first 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:22.600 night it was Moonlight, Sully Casey Afflecks Tribute along with 0:10:22.600 --> 0:10:25.520 Manchester Bleed for This. It was like there was four 0:10:25.600 --> 0:10:27.319 or five things on top of each other that people 0:10:27.480 --> 0:10:29.320 and I think Bleed for This was the one that suffered. 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:32.920 Now I have not seen Haxa Ridge, but I'm hearing 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:35.520 good things about Andrew Garfield is also appearing in Silence 0:10:35.600 --> 0:10:38.719 maybe this year. I think Silence is definitely coming out 0:10:38.760 --> 0:10:41.160 this year, but we'll see. I don't I don't know 0:10:41.200 --> 0:10:43.240 what's going on with the hold up on presenting materials 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:47.240 and whatnot. But uh, you know, regarding Haxell, I do 0:10:47.280 --> 0:10:49.320 think he's He's very good in Haxel. I think that 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:52.280 if Silence does come out, that his performance in hacks 0:10:52.320 --> 0:10:56.480 All could kind of just add to that it's like 0:10:56.520 --> 0:11:00.440 the Michael Douglas Wall Street Fatal Attraction year. There you go. 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:03.520 But it's like how at the same time, like maybe 0:11:03.640 --> 0:11:06.120 the category placement shakes out differently in Silence, Like if 0:11:06.240 --> 0:11:08.480 Liam Neeson is the lead of Silence, I think that's 0:11:08.480 --> 0:11:11.480 a game over. I am going to campaign Liam Neeson 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:15.600 for his work in A monster Calls as the Tree. Okay, 0:11:15.640 --> 0:11:20.800 that's all you so? Um. Ryan Gosling's performance has been seen, 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:24.120 has been liked, and yet I think those kinds of 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.320 roles suffer. Yeah, it's it's a tough thing. Also not 0:11:27.440 --> 0:11:32.160 able to campaign. He's shooting Blade Runner until at least November. Yeah, 0:11:32.200 --> 0:11:35.280 that's tough. But people love the movie, yeah, if they 0:11:35.280 --> 0:11:36.800 If they love it, it's kind of one of those 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:38.640 things that depends on how how deep they fall in 0:11:38.640 --> 0:11:40.200 love with it. And if he kind of comes along 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:41.560 for the ride. And I don't think he's It's not 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.160 that I don't think he's great on his own, it's 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.600 just those kind of performances in these kinds of movies 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.040 can be a little thankless. Yeah, and Emma Stone just 0:11:48.080 --> 0:11:50.160 owns the movie so much. It well, it kind of 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.200 is her story. Yeah, I mean it's it's presented in 0:11:53.280 --> 0:11:56.320 advertisements as sort of both their stories, but I do 0:11:56.400 --> 0:11:59.440 sort of feel it it tips in her favor. I 0:11:59.480 --> 0:12:02.520 think Nate Parker deserves to be in this race. I 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:05.080 think he's amazing in Birth of a Nation. I think 0:12:05.200 --> 0:12:08.000 his I would rather see him nominated as actor than director, 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:10.200 to be honest, and I think his direction is very good. 0:12:10.559 --> 0:12:13.679 But I was really really taken by his performance. I've 0:12:13.720 --> 0:12:16.240 been a fan of his for a long time. As 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.920 far as Beyond the Lights, he was great in that. 0:12:19.960 --> 0:12:22.960 He was great an arbitrage and way back in great 0:12:23.000 --> 0:12:26.040 debaters when everyone first discovered him. But I do think 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:29.439 that them getting not that it was some master stroke. 0:12:29.520 --> 0:12:33.800 But I do think that this uh controversy happening when 0:12:33.840 --> 0:12:36.679 it did gives it time to recover. It either will 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:38.360 or it won't. I mean, look, if the movie comes 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:40.040 out and it just bombs at the box office and 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:43.760 the audience is rejected or Boycott's become the story, how 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:45.439 do you think he's going to do with the box office. 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.719 I don't know. I really have no idea. I'm never 0:12:48.760 --> 0:12:51.040 good with guessing box office. But I don't think that 0:12:51.080 --> 0:12:53.280 it's going to be a movie that a lot of 0:12:53.280 --> 0:12:56.440 people are interested in seeing. I'm terrible at guessing box office. 0:12:56.559 --> 0:12:59.800 Um witnessed Blair Witch this weekend. I didn't do I 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:02.040 don't ten million. I think, at the most supposed to 0:13:02.080 --> 0:13:04.360 do better than that. It supposed to like double that, 0:13:04.840 --> 0:13:06.520 And let's be frank. I mean, there have been some 0:13:06.640 --> 0:13:09.320 pretty lousy horror films that come out and do triple that. 0:13:09.679 --> 0:13:11.960 This was actually supposed to be a good movie with 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:14.480 a built in audience. And you know, I mean, I 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:16.600 guess ten million isn't bad. It was a small budget, 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:19.480 but I know it's not what they're expecting, right. We 0:13:19.520 --> 0:13:22.719 also don't know about Brad pitt An allied. Yeah, I 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:24.800 think it could be a smaller performance and people expect 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:27.840 I think Marion might be the story that I'm hearing 0:13:28.280 --> 0:13:30.480 Brad might actually be supporting. But after the events of 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:32.320 this week, gosh, the tabloid press are going to have 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:34.079 a field day with all of that. Yeah, exactly. And 0:13:34.080 --> 0:13:35.720 I don't know how much campaigning he'll want to do 0:13:35.800 --> 0:13:37.920 when his divorce is being played out in the public. 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:41.439 We talked about a few weeks ago. Love it, love it. 0:13:41.440 --> 0:13:43.760 I think he's worth considering. I absolutely well, you know, 0:13:43.800 --> 0:13:46.559 he and Joel Edgerton have Well, actually, I take that back, 0:13:46.679 --> 0:13:49.880 Vigo Mortonson's performance is a little flash here. Joel Edgerton, 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:53.520 you know, is constantly doing such wonderful, subtle work, like 0:13:53.559 --> 0:13:56.920 could he finally be recognized this year for Loving? For 0:13:57.000 --> 0:13:59.160 such a quiet performance? That's the thing is, it's that 0:13:59.240 --> 0:14:01.559 quiet performance situation. Again. I think he's great in it, 0:14:01.600 --> 0:14:03.760 and I think he's been putting out work, great work 0:14:03.760 --> 0:14:05.440 for a number of years and he's been right there. 0:14:05.960 --> 0:14:07.960 You know. Last year with Black Masse he was fantastic, 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.160 I thought, and the movie the movie just ran out 0:14:10.160 --> 0:14:14.680 of steam. So you know, I don't know. Um, we're 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.080 the interview portion later here, I'm talking to Jeff Nichols 0:14:17.080 --> 0:14:20.560 about all of that, the director of Loving. Um. It's 0:14:20.560 --> 0:14:24.600 strange too, because the supporting mail category seems so much stronger. Yeah, 0:14:24.640 --> 0:14:25.960 I mean, just off the top of my head, you 0:14:26.000 --> 0:14:28.640 have me herschel a Lean Moonlight. I mentioned Aaron Eckhart 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.760 in Bleed for This, and um, who is the person 0:14:32.800 --> 0:14:35.520 I'm just blinking, Liam Neeson if he's supporting, by the way, 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:42.960 not just making your owing up. Michael Shannon, Michael Turnal Animals. Yeah, 0:14:43.080 --> 0:14:46.400 and uh, we'll just have to see how some of 0:14:46.400 --> 0:14:48.760 these turn out. I've got just recorded Levin Gordon Levitt 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:50.600 on here too, but I don't know. I wouldn't rule 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:53.600 him out. Yeah, it's it's We talked about it briefly 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.360 last week, but you know, the accident didn't bother me 0:14:56.360 --> 0:14:58.600 after a while, which was surprising. Do you have Jake 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:01.040 Jillenov for nocturnal animals that list? No, I do not. 0:15:01.960 --> 0:15:04.320 I do not, but I love Jake. I have Ethan 0:15:04.360 --> 0:15:06.240 Hawk from Born to Be Blue on this list. Sure 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:08.640 he was great, so it was done. Chee in miles ahead. 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:10.880 They're both great. I mean there are like great performance. 0:15:10.920 --> 0:15:13.000 People want to dig back the stuff. There's stuff to 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:14.480 look at. That's the question what they want to do. 0:15:14.520 --> 0:15:16.080 But we know how much they hate to dig back. 0:15:16.640 --> 0:15:19.480 They have short memories. All right, we'll leave it at that. 0:15:19.760 --> 0:15:21.920 Please stick around. I'll be talking to Jeff Nichols right 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:55.840 after this. Walm up. I'm as wife. That's no good here. 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:02.600 Richard Perry Lovey in a white person, and Mildred Jeter, 0:16:03.200 --> 0:16:08.880 being a colored person, did unlawfully cohabitate as man and wife. 0:16:10.520 --> 0:16:12.360 I believe this is about all that could go all 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:17.280 the way to the Supreme Court the State of Virginia 0:16:17.360 --> 0:16:19.640 will argue that it is unfair to bring the children 0:16:19.640 --> 0:16:24.920 of mixed race into the world. Is there anything you'd 0:16:24.960 --> 0:16:26.960 like me to say to the Supreme Court Justices of 0:16:27.040 --> 0:16:38.360 the United States? Yeah, Jorge, I love my wife. Welcome 0:16:38.360 --> 0:16:41.440 back everyone. I'm here with the writer and director of Loving, 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:45.200 Jeff Nichols. How you doing, Jeff, I'm great. Thanks for 0:16:45.240 --> 0:16:47.560 having me. Yeah, man, thanks for being on here. It's funny. 0:16:47.560 --> 0:16:51.800 I tend to always, obviously do plenty of research and 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:56.080 learn where where the talent I'm interviewing is coming from. 0:16:56.120 --> 0:16:58.960 But I know your background pretty well. I went to 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:02.640 the same film school together, and I wanted to start there. 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:06.560 You know, your time at North Carolina School of the Arts. Uh, 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:09.640 there's interesting voices coming out of that school, an interesting 0:17:09.640 --> 0:17:12.320 group of people, with Chad Hartigan and Aaron Katz and 0:17:12.920 --> 0:17:16.399 obviously David Green and stuff. Craig Zobel, what do you 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.720 think about the uh, the kind of voice that is 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:23.800 emanated from that school. Well, I think it's probably evolving. 0:17:23.880 --> 0:17:27.080 I mean, um, I haven't been there in a while, 0:17:27.200 --> 0:17:31.960 but when we were there, I think, you know, I 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.919 guess I got there and they only graduated one class 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:37.560 by my first year, so so they still didn't really 0:17:37.600 --> 0:17:41.040 know what they were doing, which was great because they 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:44.359 just gave us film cameras and um allowed us to 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:47.639 start making mistakes, which is rare I think in the 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.040 film school setting. UM. I know the school's kind of 0:17:51.280 --> 0:17:54.240 evolved since then, but I think a big part of 0:17:54.240 --> 0:17:56.760 it is that it's in North Carolina, you know. I 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:59.199 know that was a huge part for me and uh 0:17:59.240 --> 0:18:02.040 and probably for day of it, and probably for Jody 0:18:02.119 --> 0:18:05.640 Hill too, and and maybe even Craig. But we could 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:09.920 walk out the door and be confronted with an environment 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:13.879 that was similar to what you know, we grew up around, 0:18:14.520 --> 0:18:16.880 and that's a pretty big deal. I think back now, 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.520 like had I gone to New York or or USC 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:22.359 or something one of these kind of you know, premier places, 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.439 I don't know what I would have done. Um, I 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.520 don't know what kind of storyteller I would have become. 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:34.920 And I'm really glad, you know, I had access to 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.440 to the countryside in the South. Something I've noticed about 0:18:38.440 --> 0:18:39.840 a lot of the guys that come out of there too, 0:18:39.920 --> 0:18:42.840 is they've maintained that sort of tight knit group of 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.359 people they work with. Sure well, I mean, you know, 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:48.119 all ships rise kind of an idea. Um. I think 0:18:48.240 --> 0:18:50.400 David Green was the first one to kind of bust 0:18:50.440 --> 0:18:53.720 down the door for us. And and a big part 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:58.639 of I think becoming a filmmaker is is believing that 0:18:58.680 --> 0:19:01.160 it's actually possible it us for me, at least because 0:19:01.160 --> 0:19:04.680 I grew up in Arkansas completely you know, removed from 0:19:04.720 --> 0:19:09.160 any real connection to the industry. And when David made 0:19:09.160 --> 0:19:12.520 George Washington, it was like, oh, man, like David's one 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:16.679 of us. Um as unique as David is, he felt 0:19:16.680 --> 0:19:19.679 like one, it was kind of somebody from our gang 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:24.920 making it. But also beyond that then, I mean, David's 0:19:24.920 --> 0:19:26.919 the one that sent me to Brian Kavanaugh Jones at 0:19:26.920 --> 0:19:29.520 c A, that got my finishing funds for Shotgun Stories, 0:19:30.119 --> 0:19:35.199 you know. Um, David's the one that wrote Berlin um 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.159 a letter that I think influenced them watching Shotgun Stories 0:19:38.200 --> 0:19:39.920 so that it got into that festival and had a 0:19:40.000 --> 0:19:43.399 launching pad. Those are two very probably minor things for 0:19:43.520 --> 0:19:46.040 David to do in in his day and in his life, 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:49.040 but they had a tremendous impact on me. So you 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:51.359 can't and I know for a fact that you know 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:55.120 he influenced Jodi and Danny McBride and everybody else. So 0:19:55.160 --> 0:20:01.160 like there is this kind of you know, um, mental 0:20:01.520 --> 0:20:04.520 unity that happens, but there's also a very practical side 0:20:04.520 --> 0:20:06.360 of it of just like hey, man, make a phone 0:20:06.359 --> 0:20:09.680 call for me. Yeah. Absolutely, Well you mentioned Berlin there. 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:12.560 You have two films this year, one of which started 0:20:12.560 --> 0:20:15.720 at Berlin this year, right right, and Loving sold in 0:20:15.760 --> 0:20:20.200 Berlin off of footage. Yeah, Berlin was good to us. Yeah, 0:20:20.320 --> 0:20:23.080 it was really good to us. You know, two completely 0:20:23.080 --> 0:20:25.560 different movies, Midnight and Uh and Loving. You have a 0:20:25.600 --> 0:20:29.000 sci fi film and you've got a historical drama. Uh 0:20:29.160 --> 0:20:32.560 that variety keeping things you know, mixed up? Is that 0:20:32.600 --> 0:20:36.080 important to you? Yeah, it kind of is. You know. Um, 0:20:36.119 --> 0:20:39.320 I think it's really easy to get pigeonholed in this business. 0:20:40.040 --> 0:20:44.200 And I, UM, I really liked the idea of those 0:20:44.200 --> 0:20:46.240 two films coming out in relative time and space of 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:49.480 one another, you know, um, even though technically Midnight Special 0:20:49.520 --> 0:20:51.280 could have been released and maybe should have been released 0:20:51.280 --> 0:20:56.480 the year before. Um, it's uh, it makes me happy 0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:00.520 because I can find the personal connection stach these films. 0:21:00.600 --> 0:21:03.280 I can find the personal motivations for each of these films. 0:21:03.760 --> 0:21:07.520 But just on the kind of you know, just bald 0:21:07.640 --> 0:21:10.640 face of it. Towards the industry, It's like, wow, well, okay, 0:21:11.040 --> 0:21:14.000 he's at least not repeating himself. Um, even though I 0:21:14.000 --> 0:21:15.800 think there are a lot of similarities in all these 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.440 things that I've made. UM, Yeah, that that feels important 0:21:19.440 --> 0:21:22.520 to me. But also I'm five films in now, and 0:21:22.880 --> 0:21:25.600 for the first time in my career, I don't know 0:21:25.680 --> 0:21:30.760 what's next and I and I feel though a freedom 0:21:31.000 --> 0:21:33.639 in terms of the choices I have access to simply 0:21:33.680 --> 0:21:36.720 because no one film is going to totally define me anymore. 0:21:37.080 --> 0:21:39.440 I didn't feel that way with Shotgun Stories and Take 0:21:39.480 --> 0:21:42.880 Shelter and what even Midnight Special. To degree, it was like, 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:45.120 this is how people are going to judge me. Now, 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:47.520 that's a little bit naive because in this business you're 0:21:47.600 --> 0:21:49.680 kind of always judged by the last thing that you did. 0:21:50.280 --> 0:21:54.919 Regarding Midnight Special, your experience with a big studio in 0:21:54.920 --> 0:21:56.600