Which One Is It?

Welcome to Our Lady of the Holy Cinema. After the processional, please remain standing for the blessing of the popcorn. Following services there will be a coffee hour, after which Deacon Scorcese will give a lecture entitled “Morality, Mistresses and Prostitution: Eliot Spitzer vs. Fanny and Alexander.” Now please turn to page 235 in your hymnal and rise for our opening hymn, “Hooray for Hollywood.”

OK, maybe I’m being a little over the top, but I am gay, after all. I’m also a musician, and for a good portion of my life I have played the piano and sung in a myriad of temples and churches. Most have been comprised of interesting and altruistic groups of people who discuss morality, traditions and ethics; organize and fight for progressive goals; build close and admirable bonds among people--in other words, partake of many fulfilling activities that I would greatly enjoy participating in. As an atheist, though, no matter how much I admire their sense of community, devotion, and social action, I've never felt comfortable becoming a member of any of these groups, as I don’t believe in the central rationale for their existence or mine—God.

As more and more atheists are becoming visible, why not consider providing people with some of the same positive elements that organized religion does—community, purpose, and a sense of inspiration? I would even go as far to say that it is our duty to be a counter-balance to the increasing religiosity in American society. We are social beings who crave fellowship and respond to inspiration.

Personally, I have had the most inspirational and revelatory experiences of my life in movie theaters. Great films have moved me to tears, made me laugh, stirred me to anger and inspired me to action. Why can't a group of cinema and humanity lovers meet once a week, watch a film, discuss the ethical situations revealed, care for their members, and organize to help effect change in the world?

Transcript:

This director, her name is Deepa Mehta. And she’s . . . She did a movie called Water which was an absolutely exquisite film. And I . . . After I saw the film I called her representation and I said, “Please let me just meet her.” And when I met her I said, “I really would love to work with you. Just tell me how. I’ll send you every script that I have.” I think that movie was so touching, so beautiful, so real. And she gave me a script called Stella, and . . . which we’re gonna shoot in India in the end of February. And so in answer to your question . . . I’m not answering your question really, but I’m gonna get there. Yes. The answer is yes. Yes I think as we see performances in . . . in let’s say Indian films and we see something special, we’re going to bring it to what we’re doing. You know if . . . You know obviously the film would have to be something that was noticed by the Academy. And let’s say they were five foreign films. I think there are a lot of incredible Chinese actors like __________ I don’t know if you’ve seen that. It’s __________ new movie. There’s an actress by the name of _________ and ___________ - two spectacular . . . I know I would like to work with them and use them in the future. So yes. In answer to your question, yes. As we see movies . . . And also I think . . . I just came back from London where I saw some theater and saw some wonderful performances with Ewan McGregor and Chiwetel Ejiofor. That’s a name for you. He’s somebody who’s starting to do movies and really terrifically talented. And I met a young man today by the name of Nathaniel Parker – Nate Parker – and he’s just in the Great Debaters with Denzel Washington that Denzel just directed. And I think he had a wonderful presence in the movie. Yes, so as we see movies; as we go to theater; as we, you know, look at the magazines and see a face, yes. I think if we pull . . . If we’re casting, or producing, or directing, we try to reach out to new people no matter who they are and where they’re from, and to see if they can fit into what we’re doing. So yes.

Recorded On: 12/21/08

Transcript:

There Will Be Blood. Daniel Day Lewis was just wonderful, and I have worked with him. I did a movie called Last of the Mohicans with him. But this performance was wonderful. And also in The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, just across the board wonderful, wonderful performances. Sean Penn’s movie Into the Wild, Hal Holbrook was astonishing in that movie. All the actors were astonishing, but you do hold onto Hal Holbrook who you’ve seen so many times. And you were so touched by him that, you know, some kind of stunning performances that will stay with me.

I mean I always remember Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep in Sophie’s Choice, and that was a long time ago. I remember Placido Domingo and Tricia Status . . . or Stratus, I think her name is, in La Traviata, which was an amazing movie. And it was an opera, but the performances were beautiful. And I think I’ve seen recently Tommy Lee Jones do some astounding work, and Kate Blanchett. So I do take some of those performances with me for sure. Russell Crowe I think is a really good actor as well.

Transcript:

Well I’ll give you an example. I worked on a movie called Awakenings with Robert De Niro and Robin Williams. And it was fantastic to watch Robert in the auditioning process because he read with a lot of other actors. And the way he grew from the first audition to the last one that we did together . . . Because you know because he played somebody who shook quite a bit. And watching him do that . . . Watching him create a character in the audition, because he’s . . . many weeks. We read with a lot of different actors. I thought that was fascinating. And I could see him writing down on his script little things that he thought about. And his script was filled with like little notes. And I that’s a big part of it – that you put yourself inside that person and create a character. And maybe sometimes you can’t even come out of it.

Another instance was I was working with Al Pacino, and I . . . He was directing, and I brought in this actor from Chicago to play a bartender. And Al said, “Would you mind reading with me?” And he said, “No, not at all. I’d love to.” And I saw Al take his hat and turn it in such a way, and his posture changed. And it was almost as if Al Pacino had walked out of the room and this character was sitting in the room. I had never seen anything quite like that. But he was . . . He understood that character so much that I would imagine he would be doing that almost daily in different ways when he would think about something; or how the character would sit; or what he would be thinking. It was just a remarkable physical thing. It was truly amazing.

But he did. He twisted his hat. His shoulders went down. His body language was different. And he became the character, and Al Pacino literally walked out of the room. So I think there is a way to get inside a character that I think is . . . It’s unbelievable to me. I mean when a curtain goes up on stage and you’re transported into a whole other world, and these incredible human beings are playing these characters, I just don’t know how they do it. You know I just don’t know how they do it. I think it’s remarkable. But I’m talking about people who are really committed and great.

Recorded On: 12/21/08

Transcript:

Sometimes it’s just there inside of them. They’re just born with it. The camera loves them, and they have such a great core . . . emotional core. And sometimes it’s just very natural, and other times it’s about study and working hard. Yeah, I think that’s . . . It’s very hard to be an actor and a good actor. I mean anybody could be an actor. You could be an actor. I could be an actor. But to be a great actor I think that’s something different, and it takes a lot of hard work.

Recorded On: 12/21/08

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I don’t care about that. I don’t think about, you know, who’s wearing what styles. I don’t really give a hoot about that. You know I care, I think, about . . . I’m not a . . . I’m really not that into gossip, you know? I . . . The things that I care about are, I think, great acting talent, whether it be on the stage or on film. I’m interested to read stories about actors like, you know, Daniel Day Lewis or the great Robert De Niro. Or you know if there’s a story or an article about, you know, actors that I respect, I always would like to read about them. But I don’t really particularly care, even if I look at these magazines, because I have to for my work in a way. I have to keep up with everything that’s going on. I don’t really care about . . . You know I care about people like Owen Wilson because I’ve worked with Owen. I’m horrified by what happened in the press after, you know, he tried to commit suicide. And my heart went out to him because I care about him. I think he’s, you know, a terrific actor and a great human being. So I kind of get mad at that . . . with stuff. I think, you know, when Robert Downey, Jr. went to jail, I went to the prison to see him. He didn’t see me, but I went there because I knew him since he was as young guy . . . a young kid and I wanted to support him. So those are the things that . . . you know that I care about or think about.

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You can sense that. I mean I . . . I remember the first time I met Meryl Streep was at this theater that I told you about – the Phoenix Theater. And she walked in and she had her pants all tied up because she was riding a bike to the audition. And she had a wheel . . . a wheel of her bike in her hands, and her hair was all messy. And I thought, “Oh my god, she’s glorious. She’s . . . she’s just beautiful.” So you do get those feelings. You do . . . You are drawn to people that, you know, come in; come sit down next to you and talk to you and you see something. And maybe they’re not necessarily right for the part, but there’s something about their personalities. Maybe you wanna put them in another role. But yes, the room changes. The color changes. Usually golden . . . golden yellow I think for me. I get very excited and try to place these performers in either the role that they’ve come in for, or in another part. So I like to think that when I cast a movie, or even work on a movie, that it would be a movie that people see a hundred years from now. I think that’s the way I always look at things. Will people look at this project, this movie, this actor in 100 years in the same way we look at Betty Davis, and Cary Grant, and Humphrey Bogart. And I think we’re looking at them for a very long time. I think that’s the goal – to see that talent that you think will last forever and ever and ever.

Transcript:

If you’re casting a feature, or a television series, or a, you know . . . whatever it is that you’re casting, usually you read the script first, and hopefully you only take on things that you really like. And then you start to imagine as you read who’s going to be in this script. And a lot of times I’ll carry actors in my head while I’m reading a script. And I’ll . . . Sometimes I get it right the first time; and then other times I have to work for months to find the right people. So you can do it different ways. You could interview somebody. Or you could see a movie, or a television show, or read, or see a picture in the paper, or even just a picture and resume and say, “This is somebody I would like to bring in to meet a director or a producer.” I don’t think in terms of location, or catering, or anything like that. I just really think in terms of the . . . if I’m casting and not producing. So it’s different when you’re producing. You’re reading a script and thinking of all kinds of things. You know but I think in terms of casting, there will be times where I’ll be sitting opposite an actor, and I’ll see a big screen behind this actor or actress. And I’ll imagine them on the screen right while they’re sitting in front of me, and I’ll just get the sense that they will be in the movie somehow, or in a movie. So sometimes I think that’s one way – just this . . . my instinct. And other times I will have an empty wall in my office. It’ll be completely empty, and I will start to paint a picture. So it’s an empty canvas, and then I’ll start to put up faces – even faces of people off the street or in magazines. I’ll start to fill up this wall filled with pictures and start to see a painting. So I kind of view the casting job almost as if I’m painting a picture.I have cast, I think, 54 movies. So that’s a lot of movies. So I think you have to have a real imagination about what you’re doing.

You know when the right actor comes in, the room sort of changes color. You know I think you know it. You know it when . . . When somebody is before you and they are right, something happens in a performance, in a room, even in an audition and you can see that they’re right for the part. But then of course they could go through different steps. They’d have to maybe work with another actor, or to see how the chemistry is. They have to be physically right for the part. They have to be . . . see how . . . If it’s a love interest, you wanna test opposite your leading actor or actress to see if those things are working. There are so many different . . . But sure, yes. I’ve seen actors come in and I’ve thought, “I didn’t think this person would be right.” But they’re just so interesting that you wanna bring them in front of the director. Maybe you don’t have to make all the decisions yourself. Maybe you have to take chances and you have to say to a director or to the producers, “Would you like to take a chance with me and look at somebody who is,” you know . . . you know, “tall instead of small? Or blond instead of dark?” Or you know, “a different nationality or race?” You know you have these ideas. I think that’s the most exciting part of the job – being able to discover. Because anybody can put together a list, you know?