June 27, 2017 • 36 mins
Before Sofia Coppola could talk, she was in movies, famously playing an infant in her father Francis Ford Coppola’s masterpiece The Godfather. She’d appear in the next one too, as an immigrant girl, but it was her role in The Godfather: Part III that caught the attention of the media—not in a good way. Critics claimed her novice performance “ruined” the final chapter of his series. It was a painful moment for Coppola, but one that gave her a firsthand look at the vulnerability of stars. Today she has the reputation of being “soothing” on set—a tactic that, given her multiple awards and accolades, is an effective one.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the thing,
My chance to talk with artists, policymakers and performers, to
hear their stories, What inspires their creations, what decisions change
their careers, what relationships influenced their work. To be the
(00:23):
offspring of filmmaking genius Francis Ford Coppola is to eat, sleep,
and breathe cinema. Sofia Coppola should know. His youngest child
and only daughter, appeared on screen before she could talk,
playing an infant in his nineteen seventy two masterpiece The
Godfather as Hollywood Royalty. Coppola's success may have been predestined,
(00:47):
but her path to greatness was far from paved in gold.
Before turning twenty, she endured the sudden death of her
oldest brother, followed by a vicious media storm from critics
regard her performance in The Godfather Part three, and then
things changed. Now an Academy Award winning filmmaker in her
(01:08):
own right, it's safe to say Sofia Coppola has found
her stride. Her movies are extraordinary, arresting, and elegant these days,
the critics agree. At forty six, she's taken home more
rewards than some get in a lifetime, including an Oscar
for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Lion Award for
(01:29):
Best Picture for My personal favorite Somewhere. This March, she
made history again as the second female filmmaker to win
Best Director at can. Finishing her most recent film, The Beguiled,
has sent Coppola into a familiar space wondering what's next.
I wait until I finished a film, and then there's
(01:52):
always kind of a panic I'm ever going to do
anything ever again? And then somehow something you know, sparked
some interest, but then you never know if that's really
what you're going to focus on. So yeah, usually after
I finished a project, I sort of think about what
I'm interested in and then and trying to be open
(02:12):
to different things. And then finally something keep snagging at
you that wants attention. And did that work with this
last film? Was that the case with The Lastime? Yeah?
This one was my my friend and Ross, who was
my production designer. She we were working on a commercials
after a film, and I didn't know what I was doing,
and she just said in passing, like you have to
see this Don Siegel film. The beguiled. I think you
(02:33):
need to remake it. And I was like, what, I
would never remake a movie. And I knew that people
I never saw the film. I didn't know about the film,
but people that really know, like Cinophiles, you know, love
that movie. It's it's a classic in that genre. And
I watched it and it was so not what I expected.
It takes a turn, and I just it just stayed
(02:53):
in my mind. It was so weird and just to
my mind. And then I kept thinking about how I
would do it this way, and I it's it's it's
you know, a story about the household of women, but
told from a real kind of macho guys point of view.
I thought it would be interesting kind of to tell
the same story, kind of flip it intil a different version.
So I found the book, which is out of print,
(03:13):
and it's told by the story of all the different characters.
But who wrote the book, Thomas Culligan? When did that
come out? How long ago? It looked like a kind
of pulp fiction of the sixties, not it's not quite
classic literature, and you know, very like genre. And then
I try to forget about the film. But had I
always hear people say that, and then I forget about
(03:34):
the film. Yeah, yeah, because you have things in the
back of your mind. I tried. I didn't watch it
again for you know, a few years, but it still
stays in the back of your mind, kind of like
a dream. I don't know if it's a memory, how
much is my imagination or what I remember from the
other film. But but yeah, I feel like it's always
different how you end up starting a project. Now, for
the uh, the film you shot? What was the location?
(03:56):
We shot in New Orleans, New Orleans. Yeah, we shot
in town one for the in two years and then
we shot at a plantation which one Madewood Plantation in
Napoleonville shot down that one Hampton and you know, we
were at the what's that famous hotel than the better one.
I don't know, there's something it will come to me.
But we shot at a place called not Away Plantation
(04:18):
which was out there and you'd have to uh, there
was a bit of a drive and when then we
we created a set of buy you Home in City
Park in the middle of town park one day. Yeah,
it's pretty amazing that that's in the middle of the city.
We shot like our wood scenes in City Park there.
You know, you've made how many films now is at
(04:38):
eight or nine or um? I think it was my
six six And when you make one, when you're there,
it's an exhausting process. And you have little kids. So
there's your life with your children mirror your childhood because
I read where you weren't parked in northern California going
to school and dad was in the Philippines for a year.
(04:59):
You went with your father and you guys were all together. Correct. Yeah,
we always went on location, which which I thought was
fun because it was exciting to go to set. And yeah,
my education is a little patchy. Yeah, yeah, I can't multiply,
but but yeah, but it was always exciting to live
in all these places. And we lived, you know, in Oklahoma,
(05:20):
and you know, but I would go to the local
schools everywhere. So it was a fun adventure. But you're
the same with your kids. They come with you. When
they were smaller, I brought them everywhere. But now the
older ones in fourth grade, it's harder to leave school
for them. So this it was a short shoot is
six weeks. So they just came and visited over Thanksgiving
and um, they stayed in New York with my husband
(05:42):
whom he's a musician, and he was now he's on tour,
so somehow it worked out that he could be here.
But they will come and visit, but they will come
to set. And they're older now little seven, seven and ten,
but they like being on set and and it's funny
because I remember, Yeah, it was always fun to hang
out on on set. Craft service is probably the most exciting. Well,
(06:02):
I was wanting to do any of them where they
like you like, do you see yourself? Whether they get
the bug and like you turn around, there's your You
have a boy and a girl. I have two girls.
And one of the girls got like an eyepiece and
they're looking through the lens and find the little one
was into looking through the lens and and her school
they did a little project and she was a cinematographer.
So um, the photography is extraordinary. And then film is
a beautiful film. You're a film the big guild. And
(06:24):
who's the cinematographer. His name's Felippe Lassore. He's a French cinematographer.
And yeah, I loved working with him. He's a real artist.
I think the last film he did was the Grand
Master with One car Y and he has a lot
of commercials in between. But he's been great and you
hadn't worked with him before. No, we shot a few
commercials and I knew about him from another cinematographer friend,
(06:46):
but it's the first time we did to film together.
Do you find for a director that as you grow
and as you change, you need to have your staff
change with you need to change partners in certain I
can't think of any more important than that cinematographer relationship. Yeah,
a lot of my crew we've worked together on a
lot of projects and it's great to work together and
have that shorthand and they really know me. But with
(07:07):
a cinematographer, No, I think it's nice to have his
ongoing relationships. I had a cinematographer, Harris VDS that I
did a few films with, who the one I did
in New Orleans He did no way. Harris was a
cinematograment I loved Roco with Harris, so when I met him,
I felt like, Oh, he's my guy, and he really
helped me so much. And then he passed away. UM,
so sorry to lose him as a friend and as
(07:29):
a collaborator, but he introduced me to Philip so Um,
and I really trusted him because because he was an
artist and and Philip really is about being, you know,
his priority is to make a beautiful being an artist.
You acted in a film, in one of your dad's films,
and how did that experience. Did that have any impact
on the way you deal with actors? And beyond that,
(07:52):
how do you deal with actors when you You've got
some pretty famous movie stars in this movie, and how
what does that experience like for you? Yeah, I mean
I think, um, having acted in a movie, it was
not my thing at all. Wasn't comfortable doing it, but
I was kind of an age We're like, oh, I'll
try anything. But now I feel like when I must said,
I know, I think I'm I know how vulnerable an
actor could be. Or I feel protective because I feel
(08:14):
like they have to try to make it as comfortable
as I can, because I feel like it's you have
to be comfortable to reveal yourself. And I don't know,
I try to make the atmosphere as much in the
feeling of the way you want the scene to be
and the tone of the room. Yeah, yeah, the whole
the whole, I think, the whole feeling on set and
where you are. I was fun it easier to shoot
(08:35):
on location than in a stage because you sort of
get the atmosphere of the real place. And I'm very collaborative.
I'm open to like I never like to plan out
how the scene is going to look before the actors
block it, because you don't know what the actors are
going to do and work ins from them. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
I could never storyboard before doing the scene because I
(08:55):
really it really starts from me when I see the
actors block the scene and you get ideas of, um,
you know what feels right, but working with them, it's
just from my experience, it is kind of an either war.
You know, there's people who walk in and in the
sense that someone has to decide what's going to happen.
A director will walk in and be very hands on
in terms of what you do. I have an idea before,
(09:16):
and the difference is how they sell it and how
they convey it. Some people will walk in and be
very precious about it and very polite about it and deferential.
Go well, I thought maybe, And there's other people were like, okay,
you walk over here and you do this, there's always
like a puppetry, which wouldn't makes sense. It's uh, it's
it's it's kind of exciting when someone is that clear. Yeah,
(09:37):
I always have to work really fast because it's low budget.
We don't have a lot of time to mess around.
So I felt we had to get in there and
block it. And then you see right away you can
tell what works. Did you have to luxuriate the most
in the schedule, Wi, I don't think I ever had,
I know, yeah, never. Now, when you cast, did someone
(09:58):
have a different title? It was always where? Yeah, but
that was probably we meandered the most in that because
there's not a lot of plots. Thank you. We were
being really indulgent. But when you cast, I mean that
was dorif uh and uh, you've got Nicole and Colin Farrell.
I mean you have these people in these films and
Kirsten Dunst. I would assume that an independent film this
(10:21):
cast consciousness has become suffocating. Yeah, yeah, I know it's
still like that. No, it's definitely like if you want this,
then you get this, And what is the words going
to do? Is there a vein of investors and financiers
who are in the Sofia couple of business, and you
go back to them to that well again and again.
I do have a few distributors that I always go
(10:42):
to and and um, and luckily they've supported what I've done.
But this film, the story was owned by Universal from
the previous film, so um, I asked him if they
would take it out of their library and let me
reinterpret it, and so I was really beholden to them,
and Focus as part of Universal came on board, and
I was happy that they let me do it. But um,
(11:05):
I think it's kind of odd project. So you know,
they was, you know, a small production. It's odd in
your mind, it's odd. Why why is it odd? Oh?
I don't know. I mean, I guessing I want to
redo this on Seagull Movie. Just the premise is pretty
I don't know on paper. Yeah. Yeah, and then that genre,
I mean, I think it's entertaining, and now when I
see it, I don't think it's but I think the
(11:26):
idea of pitching it was was sort of out there.
I think it's a conservative time right now for it wasn't. Yeah,
there's no Cathy Bates hobbling moment. Forever. It just wakes
up and it's bad news. Yeah for me, there's a
more gore than I've ever done with a little bit
of blood. But yeah, no, it's pretty discreet. So your
(11:47):
father was very kind and very gracious. I did this
documentary film about ken. Remember that we had fun. We
had fun. We did this movie Seduced An Abandon, and
we shot your dad. And I'm wondering for you as
your child was film watching film going both ordinary and extraordinary,
like did you watch the movies at all? The girls
(12:08):
your age did and go see movies and or were
you heavily influenced by your dad or both? Yeah, I
think I remember the first movie. I don't know if
it was Greece or bugsy Malone, but so I did
see some movies that were part of kid culture. But
my dad was a screening room and he was always
there's always movies being shown and we were always around,
(12:28):
and you know, so I remember they're watching Kurasawa or
you know, some movie that kids would normally watch, but
they were just around. So I feel like we were
exposed two interesting films. But then I would also go
to the local movie. Yeah, I remember Purple Rain was
my really seeing that in the theater when I was twelve,
like blew my mind. So I had a mix. What
(12:52):
was the first moment that when you were watching the
Kurasawa that that stable the film you sat there and said,
wait a second, there is cinema. Yeah, I don't, but
I feel we were. He was always watching all these
movies and I don't think it really registered. And then
somewhere has to have had lateness like that. Yeah. I
don't remember the time, you know, but remember him like
being on the I think on the porch watching you Jimbo.
(13:13):
Our dog was called Yo Jimbo after that movie. But um,
and and then like really weird, um there was this
movie like hitler Manamore. There was there was some really
weird German art film that was like it was creepy
and I remember seeing this a little kid, But there
was there was always he was watching cinema while we
were Um, so we were doing yeah exactly, so we
(13:35):
were kind of half watching it. And was there ever
a film that I'm not assuming your father was in
openess or was there ever a film that you turned
your father onto? Was there like a whole continent of
films your father wouldn't get near and you probably said, oh,
you gotta watch this, and he watched. He was like, hey,
that's not you know, it's really funny. Like years ago,
(13:55):
did you ever se this R Kelly hip hopera called
Trapped in the Closet? You know what that is? It's
so far out it's him doing this kind of Yeah,
trapped in the Closet R Kelly, it's really out there.
And we had the video and we were watching it
and my dad started watching it with us, and he's like,
this is really creative, but it's really this like it's
like a long hip hop video, but it's so everything's
(14:18):
really acted out and it's really out there. So it's
funny to see him get get into this. Yeah. I
feel like he would have never seen that, but he
watched it and he really appreciate it. And I remember
when I was a kid, we um for the screen
when we could pick movies we wanted to see. And
I had read about Prick Up Your Ears with and
so my favorite Yeah, And I was like, I don't know, teenager,
(14:38):
and I didn't really know what it was about, but
I had read about it and some of London it
was cool. So he got the movie, and then everyone
was like, Sophia, what is this movie? But he I
ended up knowing about Gary Oldman and appreciated him for
when he was casting Um Dracula. So Oldman is my
favorite actor. Oh he's great, He's amazing. He can do anything.
If you ever wanted to write something, did you write
(15:00):
Lost in Translation for Murray? I? Did? You did? I did?
It helps me a lot to picture an actor when
I'm when I'm writing, and I was picturing Bill and
and so then I was determined that it had to be.
Had you met him before? No, I had never met him.
I'd never met him, and I spent like a year
trying to track him down, and anyone I met as like,
do you know Bill Murray? And yeah? So but I
(15:22):
had I really had him in mind. I wasn't going
to make it unless he was doing it. So and
then what happened? How did you? Well? Mitch Glazer helped me.
He had showed it to him and I knew he
worked together. Yeah, he's a writer, and so I and
I was. I showed him something early drafts as a writer,
and then I said, you know, I want to get
Bill first. What do you think, and I think he
was impressed that I saw this kind of side a
(15:44):
Bill or He thought it was worthwhile and finally asked
Bill to to meet me. But it was a long process.
But thanks too much, I got. When you met him,
I'll never forget. He was wearing a Sear Sucker suit
and I think they were like El continor that restaurant.
Mitch called me, said you know, I'm here with Bill.
He says, come over, and I've been trying to meet
(16:06):
him me after a year. And I went over and yes,
and I remember he was in sure Sucker. He was very,
very gentlemanly, and we were walking out after and I
turned to Bill and there's a moment in sixteen Candles
where she's with the guy that she likes and she
sees her dad and she's like, Moles, that's the one.
And I had that moment with him, like, oh my god,
to Mitch about Bill. But I was thrilled for him
(16:27):
to even, you know, look at it, because it was
so hard to track him down, and it was a
tough to convince him to do the movie. I mean,
he's not the easiest person to corral. He's just not
comme at all. And like he didn't have an agent
or anything. And I was just trying an eight hundred
number and leave a message. Yes, I was leaving messages
on that eight hundred number and um for luck a
year and and then finally the NT he looked at
(16:50):
it and he said, yah, yeah, yeah, I might be
inclined to do it, but he never would say for sure.
And so we went to Japan, just like hoping he
would show up, and luckily he did desire wracking, but
didn't have a backup. Coming up, Sophia Coppola reveals her
father's advice for getting actors to do their best. In
(17:17):
her early days, Coppola struggled to find funding for her movies.
I talked with Jimmy Toback, with whom I co produced
Seduced and Abandoned, about just that. I found myself with
two million dollars cash, which I won in Vegas. By
the way, less the I R S be listening, my
net figure with Vegas is about minus fifty millions, so
(17:40):
please don't tell me I made money that way, as
anyone in Vegas will vouch. But in any event, I
had that two million. This is one and I thought,
christ I'm not going to hang around here anymore, pounding
on doors, chasing money. I'll just bribe Bagelman and get
the movie done. To hear more about Jimmy Toback's story,
(18:02):
go to Here's the Thing dot org. This is Alec Baldwin,
and you're listening to Here's the Thing. Sophia Coppola's Academy
Award in two thousand three made her the second ever
(18:23):
third generation Oscar winner, alongside Angelica Houston. But while the
soft spoken New Yorker caught the filmmaking bug early, her
mother didn't. After making a few documentaries, Eleanor Coppola released
her first feature of film last year, a movie titled
Paris Can Wait, in which I Appear for Sophia. Her
(18:45):
mother's new passion is a happy, albeit unexpected turn of events.
I was surprised. I mean, she was too kind of
art projects and she made her documentary, but I never
thought she would make this kind of film, you know,
kind of a narrative, because she's because she's more avant
garde with her art projects. So yeah, I was. I
was really surprised. Yeah, it's funny. Does she want to
(19:06):
make another one? I think now she's making the short
phone and she's like, I've got the bug. So yeah,
it's fun. It's fun to see that, you know, in
her early eighties, she's younger than all of us. She's
very entertaged, she's in she just wanted Tokyo yesterday to
her movie is coming out there. But but yeah, I know,
it's it's fun to see. It's a total surprise. What
I loved about her was that, and I don't not
(19:26):
have just saying this because it's your mom. What I
loved about her to be on the set with the
director who doesn't transmit their attension. Pachino had a line
once he said, we were shooting The Godfather's Funeral out
in Queens of Brooklyn, wherever it was. That's perfect, and
he said, I remember Francis was sitting on a slab
(19:49):
and he was crying. And I said, Francis, we just
had a great day and everything is fantastic. And I said,
why you're crying. He said, they won't give me one
more set up. I remember I've heard that start. And
he said that's when I knew we were onto something.
That Francis scared that much. And I thought to myself, wow,
you know it was like I remember him telling me,
(20:09):
and I don't know, I can't remember if it was
a quote from like von Brando or our original that
whenever I get the urge to act, I sit down
and wait for it to pass. Is that a famous one?
But I mean when you're when you're on a set,
let's assume ideally that of the time people are doing
basically what you want them to do. That's you know,
(20:31):
casting is a big part of directing. But when they're not,
what do you do? What's your technique? What do you do?
That's such a good question because I'm always worried about that.
I remember asking my dad, like, what do you do
in that situation? And what do you say? He told
me that he has them talk about their morning and
forget the lines and just be themselves and then and
then try it again to hope we try to kind
(20:53):
of forget, get them to forget the scene and just
be themselves again. But god, I don't know. I do
all kinds of things. Uh, you know that there's always
a panic, But I don't know. I've worked with such
great actress that usually it's minimal. Yeah, yeah, not an issue.
What about music in your films? Are you your husband
as a musician. Are you very music centric in your work?
(21:14):
I do. I listen. I listen to music and I'm
writing and it's a big part of kind of finding
the world or the atmosphere. And this. His band Phoenix
did the score for the film, which is it's more minimal.
It's not like their their music that they do as
a band. Um. So yeah, I just enjoyed that part.
That's what I love about film making it so visual,
but then you get to also incorporate music. And where'd
(21:35):
you cut the film? Here in New York? You kind
of here in New York at Harbor Downtown. No going
up to the family farm. No, No, my editor is
based here. Sarah Black and um York. I think Sarah
would have loved I know we used to we used
to mix out there. But I have kids in school
in New York. I'm in New York or now. But yeah,
(21:57):
what do you want you here? Yeah? Yeah, I grew
up in northern California, opening but no more Paris. We
have a plast in Paris with my husband's French so
we spent time there, but our kids are at school here. Yeah,
just fun to be there. But then I got home. Second,
did you really know? I love being in Paris, But
then it's nice too to be here and get to visit. Now,
(22:17):
before you took the direction that you took, you were
a girl most likely to what when you were young?
But you was it understood you would do this? No,
not at all. Um. Yeah, I definitely had a flaky
period in my twenties. I'm very grateful that there were
no no social media. Then there's no There are a
lot of photos around at that time, but no. I
(22:39):
went to art school. I wanted to be an artist.
I wanted to be a painter. I had so many interests.
It was really hard for me to figure out, um,
what I was supposed to do. I never occurred to
me to be a filmmaker. Yeah, it was really confused
because I had so many you know, I love music
and I loved photography and all the stuff I couldn't
I couldn't kind of land on one thing. And then um,
(23:00):
I made a short film which I enjoyed while I
was in art school and so made me think, oh,
I something. I was surprised that I kind of knew
how to do it. I didn't realize that I was
learning I spent a lot of time on my dad's
sets with all of his team, my whole life. And
then I read the book The Virgin Suicides and I
heard they were making a film event. I felt very
protective and I felt like, oh, I hope they don't
(23:22):
mess up this book I love. I hope they do
it this way. And I heard a guy was doing it,
and to me, it was so much a girl's story.
And um, so I started writing a working on the script,
which I didn't have the rights too, and then um
just kind of as an experiment to learn how to
adapt a book into a screenplay. And then I finished
it and I was very attached to it and I
(23:43):
felt like I had to try to let I made
it in nine. This was the late nineties. Um, I
was like twenty eight. Yeah, and I just I love
this book and I felt protective of it. So how
did that happen? The mechanics of how you end up
getting your hands on that and you get to direct
that project. So I met this couple, the Handleys, that
(24:04):
had the rights to it, and I said, we please
read my script and consider it, and they had someone else.
Somehow that fell apart and the script was the calling card.
They read the script and loved it. Yeah, they've read
the script and I had a real clear idea of
how to make it. Interview wanted to paint, and you
wanted to and you thought about photography and more visual things. Well,
how did the writing part begin for you? About stories
(24:25):
as a kid, And my dad always talked a lot
about screenwriting. That was that was where he started, and
so he was always talking about, you know, act structure
and writing. So I guess it was something that I was,
you know, he was talking about and I was learning about.
But um, I don't know. I I wrote this my
first script and somehow figuring out how to do it. Yeah.
(24:46):
How many days was that shoot for your first movie?
Regardless of your d n A for your first movie,
and people kind of limit you in a certain way
where the tight schedule, it was very, very very low budget. Um,
I've never shot more than like thirty days. You know,
it's always like twenty something days. You know. Actually, actually
Marie and Toinette was a longer schedule, and I prefer
a short schedule. I think it's so intensive. I'd just
(25:08):
like to like get in there and get it done,
and it's exhausting At a longer shoot. I feel like
it's hard to do a long shoot and um and
I let that schedule of having a problem solved quickly
and you know, have to just figure it out and
not you know, it's more intuitive or something to just
you have some directors who I've worked with that moment
when they're on the set directing the film, which is
(25:31):
I mean, obviously is the pre production. There's the shooting
and in the editing, and the preponderance of directors will
say to me that the editing things is their favorite
face because they're locked down and they're really making the movie. Yeah.
I like being in the editing room. You do because
it isn't the same amount of same time pressure and
you can kind of play around. But being on set
is exciting and fun because you have all your collaborators
(25:52):
and you're making something. You don't have to answer this question.
But so you ever where you show your father cuts
off your film and he has some advice for you
and you're like, no, you know, as your own point
of view, and you like, I want to do this. Yeah,
And early on, you know, I wasn't as confident. He's
the great master of films, So I would definitely take
his opinion, but I always end up doing what I
(26:13):
want in the end, because you know, you have to
so and this one I waited till I was finished
close to the end to show him. But you don't
want to have too many opinions. So he's nice, he's
he's always encouraging in support, but he definitely has ideas.
And I remember when I was working on Rantoinette, he
was talking a bit more about the characters of the husband,
and I said, no, it's not about him. It's about her,
you know, because I think about her. So everyone looks
(26:36):
at it from their point of view. But and I
feel like sometimes when I watched this last movie, there's
a very kind of artistic I made everyone the girl
walking down the lane with the weeping trees and the
mist and the costumes, and there's a real cinematic reach
you have. Now, Oh, I just I just love that.
And it's such a beautiful location. And I it's a
(26:58):
visual art forms of idea of making every frame the
most like a painting. The Godfather is like a painting,
and so many of the are so beautiful and and
and and it's it's beautiful I we tell people watched
the movie with a sound off. I saw the Radio
City recently, both of them. Is incredible to see it.
But I wonder if that's true with you? Which do
(27:20):
you want to deepen the texture? Do you want to
make your films you want to go further in terms
of design and beauty in a kind of almost Cubrickian
way of the sets and the costumes. Or are you
gonna make a movie like two Chicks Are in a Car. Yeah? No,
I like the visual part of it, and then how
you tell the story visually. I think that's I don't know,
(27:41):
that is exciting and interesting to me. This last one
of yours was probably the most voluptuous, small in terms
of the photography, the look of it. Yeah, and just
being in the South and like it even trying to
trying to feel the heat of it made it made
you more uncomfortable to see those women doing their little
modest field work and the little guarding in those full dresses. Yeah,
(28:04):
I wanted to fill them all buttoned up. Do you
do you sit there and go, God, why are where
are these these poor women? They must be like suffering
to death in this thing and sexual attention underneath it.
When you cast someone to play that part, what did
you want in an actor who played the lead role
that Farrell plays, What were you looking? Yeah, we had
(28:25):
to have I wanted a really masculine guy that could, um,
you know, handle all these women, but like charm at
twelve year old, you know, a woman or forties kind
of had to arrange. And I knew that he could
be complex enough that he was, you know, he could
be mysterious and complicated to them and really be a
contrast to their kind of delicate, pale, feminine world. So
(28:48):
he had to be, you know, have mystique and narcissistic. Yes,
he's like underneath every scene. It's almost like a new Colin.
Farrell obviously is a movie star. Is almost in every
scene he's like, go ahead, admit it, you want me
exactly want whatever age they were in the house, everyone
in the house, just just let's tell me up front
you want me, right? Yeah, he and he and he
was I like that he's like the thinking woman's sex object.
That he's just like they're you know, like the hunk.
(29:10):
But but hopefully there's more going on. And in the
book he was Irish immigrants. So when I'm at Colin.
I thought that just adds to his exotic charm. Being
in your family, would you say that there's been as
much down as there's been up as it's been hard
as well for you? Oh, definitely. I mean we've gone
we've gone through our Yeah, every family. Um, I mean, well,
(29:33):
my dad definitely had ups and downs in his career
where he was successful and then could lose everything, and
so yes, he's a gambler, but it was always exciting. Yeah. Yeah.
And then we had a personal loss with my lost
my brother as a teenager. So, um, you know I
was of teen Yes, yes, so I think you had.
(29:58):
I mean it had a big impact on her family,
so um yeah. So I feel like we've been fortunate
some ways, and then you know, you've experienced the worst
moments of life. So I can't imagine now having children
as a as a parent, because I may know how
it affected us as a family, but um, you tell
your children is the ultimate despair. Yeah, I know, I
(30:19):
can't even picture it. Your mom, on the other hand,
I mean your father, who I don't know well and
and don't think I could because he's just so whenever
you're around him, be so intimidating. Let's face it. I
mean you, he's your father, so it's different. But your mom, though,
is such a unique, speaking, very down to earth in
that situation with your brother, that she seems like something
(30:40):
that she she conquered that. Yeah, yeah, I know, I
know it was obviously a huge struggle for them, but
she she dealt with it in her personal ways and yeah, yeah,
and here's to a lot of people fall apart and
she was able to find some way to to go
on with her. Yeah, so she's strong. But she seems
(31:03):
petite and quiet, but she's strong. She's incredibly clear. That
just might opinion the brief two days I was there,
How would you say that for you? Beyond being a
mom and your issues with your raising your kids while
you're working and doing this very difficult work, how else
does that affect your work? You being a woman, I
don't know, because you put your personality, so I think
(31:24):
women have different qualities. I don't know. People have said
I'm like maternal on set or I don't know. I
think I just have a different point of view as
a as a guy, So I feel like that's an
advantage to have a different point of view. I think
I got that from my mom. When you said that
she keeps it together on set. People think I'm so
calm on set, and I think we're good at concealing
(31:46):
our our stress because you've got to keep it together
for your crew and everything. So yeah, I have a
different demeanor. So I'm sure, Um, you have a very
soothing demeanor. And the other person that I worked with
once I didn't even work with you, but someone I
worked with who had that come into mean is wouldy
and when you work with them, but it's it's such
a great it achieved such a great effect. That's if
(32:08):
you relax people, you're more likely to get to something good.
If they're relaxed, then if you're yeah, tormenting that exactly.
That's what a couple of directors were from the Torment school. Yeah.
I never understood that, And I know there's a lot
of hothead behavior, but you know, I feel like we
want to put everyone at ease and so everyone can
do their best. So did you ever get frustrated working
(32:29):
where you really literally lost it? I never lost it,
always keeping together. I've had frustrating moments for sure, But
do you go home and lose it? Yeah? Yeah, I
go home, Yes, I go home. Is it not not
so much? But I've had moments with Yeah, what's the
hardest part of it? I mean, I'm an actor who
directed one film, and I found it so difficult because
I wanted to map it out and I wanted to
(32:49):
lay it all out and have at least have a
plan which we could then deviate. Yeah, you have to
have a vision in your mind, Like I see it
all in my head beforehand, for sure, Like when I'm
writing it and I'm picturing the actors exactly how they
say it. Then you come on set and you see
how they do it, and it's like how you imagine.
But then they add something that you didn't expect. And
I think you just have to be really flexible and
(33:09):
and opened. Can you experience movies now with links and
DVDs and and oscar material and privately? And how or
do you go to the movies? I love going to
the movie theater. I mean I imagine, Yeah, so I
watch a lot of movies at home, but um, but
whenever I go to theater. I live near Film Forum
and and and just live in New York. Is so
exciting to get to see all these revival old films.
(33:30):
It's just such a different experience, especially nowadays with being
in contact and having your phone around all the time.
It's distracting at home to really get lost in a movie.
So I am. I keep telling people I hope they
go see it my theater. But I love going to
a movie theater. It's such a different experience when you
think about your nature, when you think about the time
you live in now and you're making films now in
(33:51):
our society now, are there films you look back on
historically or even currently. I think I wish I'd made
that film. That's a film I would make. That's funny.
I've never thought about that old film and that that's
a kind of movie I would make. No. I mean,
there's movies that I admire and I love, but I've
never movies are so personal. It's like your children or something.
(34:11):
It's it comes from you. So I can't imagine looking
another movie and thinking, not a female character in a
film that you think reflects who you are and how
you feel about life and your career and your family. No,
I can't. I can't think of one. But of course
there's there's so many that I admire, and love and um,
(34:33):
but I can't think of one. But where are Where
are you in your films? Are you in your films?
You feel about life? Where are you in this current film?
And all of them? This one I think it's a
little bit maybe my devilish side or you know, like, um,
I don't know. I was having fun with this. You
don't need to you don't need to explicate that in
(34:56):
this film. There's because there's there's al who's eighteen, and
Kirsten and then Nicole there there. I feel like I've
been each age of that woman in that kind of stage.
I'm not like those characters, but I can kind of
relate to kind of the girls of different stages. But
I don't always find it. I always put things about
myself and um um at that moment. But this is
(35:19):
the idea that we're always questioning who we are. We're
always questioning at least I am the life I have.
I'm always thinking of alternatives, well what about this and
what about this? Until you finally realize I'm doing precisely
what I was meant to be doing. What you want
to feel like you're doing precisely what you were meant
to be doing. I do. I do. I feel like
I'm doing what I well. I'm excited get to do
(35:39):
what I want to be Sorry that you didn't become
a painter. No, No, because I can always do I
can always have hobbies, you can always I feel like
you can do other things. But now I feel like
I'm doing what I enjoyed. Yeah, what are you gonna
do next? I don't know. I'm looking forward to summer
vacation with my kids and decompressing and getting the movie
out there. It's you know, it's that hustle, right, But
(36:00):
for Yeah, do you have a lot of you put
a lot of pots on the stove of things you
might do or or No. No, I haven't had a
few ideas when I was starting to think about this,
So now I'm going to kind of revisit. But I don't.
I have always heard that Woody Allen has a drawer
full of ideas. I don't have that drawer. As luck
(36:23):
would have it, she doesn't need one. This is Alec
Baldwin and you're listening to here's the thing
This is Alec Baldwin and you're listening to Here's the thing,
My chance to talk with artists, policymakers and performers, to
hear their stories, What inspires their creations, what decisions change
their careers, what relationships influenced their work. To be the
(00:23):
offspring of filmmaking genius Francis Ford Coppola is to eat, sleep,
and breathe cinema. Sofia Coppola should know. His youngest child
and only daughter, appeared on screen before she could talk,
playing an infant in his nineteen seventy two masterpiece The
Godfather as Hollywood Royalty. Coppola's success may have been predestined,
(00:47):
but her path to greatness was far from paved in gold.
Before turning twenty, she endured the sudden death of her
oldest brother, followed by a vicious media storm from critics
regard her performance in The Godfather Part three, and then
things changed. Now an Academy Award winning filmmaker in her
(01:08):
own right, it's safe to say Sofia Coppola has found
her stride. Her movies are extraordinary, arresting, and elegant these days,
the critics agree. At forty six, she's taken home more
rewards than some get in a lifetime, including an Oscar
for Best Original Screenplay and a Golden Lion Award for
(01:29):
Best Picture for My personal favorite Somewhere. This March, she
made history again as the second female filmmaker to win
Best Director at can. Finishing her most recent film, The Beguiled,
has sent Coppola into a familiar space wondering what's next.
I wait until I finished a film, and then there's
(01:52):
always kind of a panic I'm ever going to do
anything ever again? And then somehow something you know, sparked
some interest, but then you never know if that's really
what you're going to focus on. So yeah, usually after
I finished a project, I sort of think about what
I'm interested in and then and trying to be open
(02:12):
to different things. And then finally something keep snagging at
you that wants attention. And did that work with this
last film? Was that the case with The Lastime? Yeah?
This one was my my friend and Ross, who was
my production designer. She we were working on a commercials
after a film, and I didn't know what I was doing,
and she just said in passing, like you have to
see this Don Siegel film. The beguiled. I think you
(02:33):
need to remake it. And I was like, what, I
would never remake a movie. And I knew that people
I never saw the film. I didn't know about the film,
but people that really know, like Cinophiles, you know, love
that movie. It's it's a classic in that genre. And
I watched it and it was so not what I expected.
It takes a turn, and I just it just stayed
(02:53):
in my mind. It was so weird and just to
my mind. And then I kept thinking about how I
would do it this way, and I it's it's it's
you know, a story about the household of women, but
told from a real kind of macho guys point of view.
I thought it would be interesting kind of to tell
the same story, kind of flip it intil a different version.
So I found the book, which is out of print,
(03:13):
and it's told by the story of all the different characters.
But who wrote the book, Thomas Culligan? When did that
come out? How long ago? It looked like a kind
of pulp fiction of the sixties, not it's not quite
classic literature, and you know, very like genre. And then
I try to forget about the film. But had I
always hear people say that, and then I forget about
(03:34):
the film. Yeah, yeah, because you have things in the
back of your mind. I tried. I didn't watch it
again for you know, a few years, but it still
stays in the back of your mind, kind of like
a dream. I don't know if it's a memory, how
much is my imagination or what I remember from the
other film. But but yeah, I feel like it's always
different how you end up starting a project. Now, for
the uh, the film you shot? What was the location?
(03:56):
We shot in New Orleans, New Orleans. Yeah, we shot
in town one for the in two years and then
we shot at a plantation which one Madewood Plantation in
Napoleonville shot down that one Hampton and you know, we
were at the what's that famous hotel than the better one.
I don't know, there's something it will come to me.
But we shot at a place called not Away Plantation
(04:18):
which was out there and you'd have to uh, there
was a bit of a drive and when then we
we created a set of buy you Home in City
Park in the middle of town park one day. Yeah,
it's pretty amazing that that's in the middle of the city.
We shot like our wood scenes in City Park there.
You know, you've made how many films now is at
(04:38):
eight or nine or um? I think it was my
six six And when you make one, when you're there,
it's an exhausting process. And you have little kids. So
there's your life with your children mirror your childhood because
I read where you weren't parked in northern California going
to school and dad was in the Philippines for a year.
(04:59):
You went with your father and you guys were all together. Correct. Yeah,
we always went on location, which which I thought was
fun because it was exciting to go to set. And yeah,
my education is a little patchy. Yeah, yeah, I can't multiply,
but but yeah, but it was always exciting to live
in all these places. And we lived, you know, in Oklahoma,
(05:20):
and you know, but I would go to the local
schools everywhere. So it was a fun adventure. But you're
the same with your kids. They come with you. When
they were smaller, I brought them everywhere. But now the
older ones in fourth grade, it's harder to leave school
for them. So this it was a short shoot is
six weeks. So they just came and visited over Thanksgiving
and um, they stayed in New York with my husband
(05:42):
whom he's a musician, and he was now he's on tour,
so somehow it worked out that he could be here.
But they will come and visit, but they will come
to set. And they're older now little seven, seven and ten,
but they like being on set and and it's funny
because I remember, Yeah, it was always fun to hang
out on on set. Craft service is probably the most exciting. Well,
(06:02):
I was wanting to do any of them where they
like you like, do you see yourself? Whether they get
the bug and like you turn around, there's your You
have a boy and a girl. I have two girls.
And one of the girls got like an eyepiece and
they're looking through the lens and find the little one
was into looking through the lens and and her school
they did a little project and she was a cinematographer.
So um, the photography is extraordinary. And then film is
a beautiful film. You're a film the big guild. And
(06:24):
who's the cinematographer. His name's Felippe Lassore. He's a French cinematographer.
And yeah, I loved working with him. He's a real artist.
I think the last film he did was the Grand
Master with One car Y and he has a lot
of commercials in between. But he's been great and you
hadn't worked with him before. No, we shot a few
commercials and I knew about him from another cinematographer friend,
(06:46):
but it's the first time we did to film together.
Do you find for a director that as you grow
and as you change, you need to have your staff
change with you need to change partners in certain I
can't think of any more important than that cinematographer relationship. Yeah,
a lot of my crew we've worked together on a
lot of projects and it's great to work together and
have that shorthand and they really know me. But with
(07:07):
a cinematographer, No, I think it's nice to have his
ongoing relationships. I had a cinematographer, Harris VDS that I
did a few films with, who the one I did
in New Orleans He did no way. Harris was a
cinematograment I loved Roco with Harris, so when I met him,
I felt like, Oh, he's my guy, and he really
helped me so much. And then he passed away. UM,
so sorry to lose him as a friend and as
(07:29):
a collaborator, but he introduced me to Philip so Um,
and I really trusted him because because he was an
artist and and Philip really is about being, you know,
his priority is to make a beautiful being an artist.
You acted in a film, in one of your dad's films,
and how did that experience. Did that have any impact
on the way you deal with actors? And beyond that,
(07:52):
how do you deal with actors when you You've got
some pretty famous movie stars in this movie, and how
what does that experience like for you? Yeah, I mean
I think, um, having acted in a movie, it was
not my thing at all. Wasn't comfortable doing it, but
I was kind of an age We're like, oh, I'll
try anything. But now I feel like when I must said,
I know, I think I'm I know how vulnerable an
actor could be. Or I feel protective because I feel
(08:14):
like they have to try to make it as comfortable
as I can, because I feel like it's you have
to be comfortable to reveal yourself. And I don't know,
I try to make the atmosphere as much in the
feeling of the way you want the scene to be
and the tone of the room. Yeah, yeah, the whole
the whole, I think, the whole feeling on set and
where you are. I was fun it easier to shoot
(08:35):
on location than in a stage because you sort of
get the atmosphere of the real place. And I'm very collaborative.
I'm open to like I never like to plan out
how the scene is going to look before the actors
block it, because you don't know what the actors are
going to do and work ins from them. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
I could never storyboard before doing the scene because I
(08:55):
really it really starts from me when I see the
actors block the scene and you get ideas of, um,
you know what feels right, but working with them, it's
just from my experience, it is kind of an either war.
You know, there's people who walk in and in the
sense that someone has to decide what's going to happen.
A director will walk in and be very hands on
in terms of what you do. I have an idea before,
(09:16):
and the difference is how they sell it and how
they convey it. Some people will walk in and be
very precious about it and very polite about it and deferential.
Go well, I thought maybe, And there's other people were like, okay,
you walk over here and you do this, there's always
like a puppetry, which wouldn't makes sense. It's uh, it's
it's it's kind of exciting when someone is that clear. Yeah,
(09:37):
I always have to work really fast because it's low budget.
We don't have a lot of time to mess around.
So I felt we had to get in there and
block it. And then you see right away you can
tell what works. Did you have to luxuriate the most
in the schedule, Wi, I don't think I ever had,
I know, yeah, never. Now, when you cast, did someone
(09:58):
have a different title? It was always where? Yeah, but
that was probably we meandered the most in that because
there's not a lot of plots. Thank you. We were
being really indulgent. But when you cast, I mean that
was dorif uh and uh, you've got Nicole and Colin Farrell.
I mean you have these people in these films and
Kirsten Dunst. I would assume that an independent film this
(10:21):
cast consciousness has become suffocating. Yeah, yeah, I know it's
still like that. No, it's definitely like if you want this,
then you get this, And what is the words going
to do? Is there a vein of investors and financiers
who are in the Sofia couple of business, and you
go back to them to that well again and again.
I do have a few distributors that I always go
(10:42):
to and and um, and luckily they've supported what I've done.
But this film, the story was owned by Universal from
the previous film, so um, I asked him if they
would take it out of their library and let me
reinterpret it, and so I was really beholden to them,
and Focus as part of Universal came on board, and
I was happy that they let me do it. But um,
(11:05):
I think it's kind of odd project. So you know,
they was, you know, a small production. It's odd in
your mind, it's odd. Why why is it odd? Oh?
I don't know. I mean, I guessing I want to
redo this on Seagull Movie. Just the premise is pretty
I don't know on paper. Yeah. Yeah, and then that genre,
I mean, I think it's entertaining, and now when I
see it, I don't think it's but I think the
(11:26):
idea of pitching it was was sort of out there.
I think it's a conservative time right now for it wasn't. Yeah,
there's no Cathy Bates hobbling moment. Forever. It just wakes
up and it's bad news. Yeah for me, there's a
more gore than I've ever done with a little bit
of blood. But yeah, no, it's pretty discreet. So your
(11:47):
father was very kind and very gracious. I did this
documentary film about ken. Remember that we had fun. We
had fun. We did this movie Seduced An Abandon, and
we shot your dad. And I'm wondering for you as
your child was film watching film going both ordinary and extraordinary,
like did you watch the movies at all? The girls
(12:08):
your age did and go see movies and or were
you heavily influenced by your dad or both? Yeah, I
think I remember the first movie. I don't know if
it was Greece or bugsy Malone, but so I did
see some movies that were part of kid culture. But
my dad was a screening room and he was always
there's always movies being shown and we were always around,
(12:28):
and you know, so I remember they're watching Kurasawa or
you know, some movie that kids would normally watch, but
they were just around. So I feel like we were
exposed two interesting films. But then I would also go
to the local movie. Yeah, I remember Purple Rain was
my really seeing that in the theater when I was twelve,
like blew my mind. So I had a mix. What
(12:52):
was the first moment that when you were watching the
Kurasawa that that stable the film you sat there and said,
wait a second, there is cinema. Yeah, I don't, but
I feel we were. He was always watching all these
movies and I don't think it really registered. And then
somewhere has to have had lateness like that. Yeah. I
don't remember the time, you know, but remember him like
being on the I think on the porch watching you Jimbo.
(13:13):
Our dog was called Yo Jimbo after that movie. But um,
and and then like really weird, um there was this
movie like hitler Manamore. There was there was some really
weird German art film that was like it was creepy
and I remember seeing this a little kid, But there
was there was always he was watching cinema while we
were Um, so we were doing yeah exactly, so we
(13:35):
were kind of half watching it. And was there ever
a film that I'm not assuming your father was in
openess or was there ever a film that you turned
your father onto? Was there like a whole continent of
films your father wouldn't get near and you probably said, oh,
you gotta watch this, and he watched. He was like, hey,
that's not you know, it's really funny. Like years ago,
(13:55):
did you ever se this R Kelly hip hopera called
Trapped in the Closet? You know what that is? It's
so far out it's him doing this kind of Yeah,
trapped in the Closet R Kelly, it's really out there.
And we had the video and we were watching it
and my dad started watching it with us, and he's like,
this is really creative, but it's really this like it's
like a long hip hop video, but it's so everything's
(14:18):
really acted out and it's really out there. So it's
funny to see him get get into this. Yeah. I
feel like he would have never seen that, but he
watched it and he really appreciate it. And I remember
when I was a kid, we um for the screen
when we could pick movies we wanted to see. And
I had read about Prick Up Your Ears with and
so my favorite Yeah, And I was like, I don't know, teenager,
(14:38):
and I didn't really know what it was about, but
I had read about it and some of London it
was cool. So he got the movie, and then everyone
was like, Sophia, what is this movie? But he I
ended up knowing about Gary Oldman and appreciated him for
when he was casting Um Dracula. So Oldman is my
favorite actor. Oh he's great, He's amazing. He can do anything.
If you ever wanted to write something, did you write
(15:00):
Lost in Translation for Murray? I? Did? You did? I did?
It helps me a lot to picture an actor when
I'm when I'm writing, and I was picturing Bill and
and so then I was determined that it had to be.
Had you met him before? No, I had never met him.
I'd never met him, and I spent like a year
trying to track him down, and anyone I met as like,
do you know Bill Murray? And yeah? So but I
(15:22):
had I really had him in mind. I wasn't going
to make it unless he was doing it. So and
then what happened? How did you? Well? Mitch Glazer helped me.
He had showed it to him and I knew he
worked together. Yeah, he's a writer, and so I and
I was. I showed him something early drafts as a writer,
and then I said, you know, I want to get
Bill first. What do you think, and I think he
was impressed that I saw this kind of side a
(15:44):
Bill or He thought it was worthwhile and finally asked
Bill to to meet me. But it was a long process.
But thanks too much, I got. When you met him,
I'll never forget. He was wearing a Sear Sucker suit
and I think they were like El continor that restaurant.
Mitch called me, said you know, I'm here with Bill.
He says, come over, and I've been trying to meet
(16:06):
him me after a year. And I went over and yes,
and I remember he was in sure Sucker. He was very,
very gentlemanly, and we were walking out after and I
turned to Bill and there's a moment in sixteen Candles
where she's with the guy that she likes and she
sees her dad and she's like, Moles, that's the one.
And I had that moment with him, like, oh my god,
to Mitch about Bill. But I was thrilled for him
(16:27):
to even, you know, look at it, because it was
so hard to track him down, and it was a
tough to convince him to do the movie. I mean,
he's not the easiest person to corral. He's just not
comme at all. And like he didn't have an agent
or anything. And I was just trying an eight hundred
number and leave a message. Yes, I was leaving messages
on that eight hundred number and um for luck a
year and and then finally the NT he looked at
(16:50):
it and he said, yah, yeah, yeah, I might be
inclined to do it, but he never would say for sure.
And so we went to Japan, just like hoping he
would show up, and luckily he did desire wracking, but
didn't have a backup. Coming up, Sophia Coppola reveals her
father's advice for getting actors to do their best. In
(17:17):
her early days, Coppola struggled to find funding for her movies.
I talked with Jimmy Toback, with whom I co produced
Seduced and Abandoned, about just that. I found myself with
two million dollars cash, which I won in Vegas. By
the way, less the I R S be listening, my
net figure with Vegas is about minus fifty millions, so
(17:40):
please don't tell me I made money that way, as
anyone in Vegas will vouch. But in any event, I
had that two million. This is one and I thought,
christ I'm not going to hang around here anymore, pounding
on doors, chasing money. I'll just bribe Bagelman and get
the movie done. To hear more about Jimmy Toback's story,
(18:02):
go to Here's the Thing dot org. This is Alec Baldwin,
and you're listening to Here's the Thing. Sophia Coppola's Academy
Award in two thousand three made her the second ever
(18:23):
third generation Oscar winner, alongside Angelica Houston. But while the
soft spoken New Yorker caught the filmmaking bug early, her
mother didn't. After making a few documentaries, Eleanor Coppola released
her first feature of film last year, a movie titled
Paris Can Wait, in which I Appear for Sophia. Her
(18:45):
mother's new passion is a happy, albeit unexpected turn of events.
I was surprised. I mean, she was too kind of
art projects and she made her documentary, but I never
thought she would make this kind of film, you know,
kind of a narrative, because she's because she's more avant
garde with her art projects. So yeah, I was. I
was really surprised. Yeah, it's funny. Does she want to
(19:06):
make another one? I think now she's making the short
phone and she's like, I've got the bug. So yeah,
it's fun. It's fun to see that, you know, in
her early eighties, she's younger than all of us. She's
very entertaged, she's in she just wanted Tokyo yesterday to
her movie is coming out there. But but yeah, I know,
it's it's fun to see. It's a total surprise. What
I loved about her was that, and I don't not
(19:26):
have just saying this because it's your mom. What I
loved about her to be on the set with the
director who doesn't transmit their attension. Pachino had a line
once he said, we were shooting The Godfather's Funeral out
in Queens of Brooklyn, wherever it was. That's perfect, and
he said, I remember Francis was sitting on a slab
(19:49):
and he was crying. And I said, Francis, we just
had a great day and everything is fantastic. And I said,
why you're crying. He said, they won't give me one
more set up. I remember I've heard that start. And
he said that's when I knew we were onto something.
That Francis scared that much. And I thought to myself, wow,
you know it was like I remember him telling me,
(20:09):
and I don't know, I can't remember if it was
a quote from like von Brando or our original that
whenever I get the urge to act, I sit down
and wait for it to pass. Is that a famous one?
But I mean when you're when you're on a set,
let's assume ideally that of the time people are doing
basically what you want them to do. That's you know,
(20:31):
casting is a big part of directing. But when they're not,
what do you do? What's your technique? What do you do?
That's such a good question because I'm always worried about that.
I remember asking my dad, like, what do you do
in that situation? And what do you say? He told
me that he has them talk about their morning and
forget the lines and just be themselves and then and
then try it again to hope we try to kind
(20:53):
of forget, get them to forget the scene and just
be themselves again. But god, I don't know. I do
all kinds of things. Uh, you know that there's always
a panic, But I don't know. I've worked with such
great actress that usually it's minimal. Yeah, yeah, not an issue.
What about music in your films? Are you your husband
as a musician. Are you very music centric in your work?
(21:14):
I do. I listen. I listen to music and I'm
writing and it's a big part of kind of finding
the world or the atmosphere. And this. His band Phoenix
did the score for the film, which is it's more minimal.
It's not like their their music that they do as
a band. Um. So yeah, I just enjoyed that part.
That's what I love about film making it so visual,
but then you get to also incorporate music. And where'd
(21:35):
you cut the film? Here in New York? You kind
of here in New York at Harbor Downtown. No going
up to the family farm. No, No, my editor is
based here. Sarah Black and um York. I think Sarah
would have loved I know we used to we used
to mix out there. But I have kids in school
in New York. I'm in New York or now. But yeah,
(21:57):
what do you want you here? Yeah? Yeah, I grew
up in northern California, opening but no more Paris. We
have a plast in Paris with my husband's French so
we spent time there, but our kids are at school here. Yeah,
just fun to be there. But then I got home. Second,
did you really know? I love being in Paris, But
then it's nice too to be here and get to visit. Now,
(22:17):
before you took the direction that you took, you were
a girl most likely to what when you were young?
But you was it understood you would do this? No,
not at all. Um. Yeah, I definitely had a flaky
period in my twenties. I'm very grateful that there were
no no social media. Then there's no There are a
lot of photos around at that time, but no. I
(22:39):
went to art school. I wanted to be an artist.
I wanted to be a painter. I had so many interests.
It was really hard for me to figure out, um,
what I was supposed to do. I never occurred to
me to be a filmmaker. Yeah, it was really confused
because I had so many you know, I love music
and I loved photography and all the stuff I couldn't
I couldn't kind of land on one thing. And then um,
(23:00):
I made a short film which I enjoyed while I
was in art school and so made me think, oh,
I something. I was surprised that I kind of knew
how to do it. I didn't realize that I was
learning I spent a lot of time on my dad's
sets with all of his team, my whole life. And
then I read the book The Virgin Suicides and I
heard they were making a film event. I felt very
protective and I felt like, oh, I hope they don't
(23:22):
mess up this book I love. I hope they do
it this way. And I heard a guy was doing it,
and to me, it was so much a girl's story.
And um, so I started writing a working on the script,
which I didn't have the rights too, and then um
just kind of as an experiment to learn how to
adapt a book into a screenplay. And then I finished
it and I was very attached to it and I
(23:43):
felt like I had to try to let I made
it in nine. This was the late nineties. Um, I
was like twenty eight. Yeah, and I just I love
this book and I felt protective of it. So how
did that happen? The mechanics of how you end up
getting your hands on that and you get to direct
that project. So I met this couple, the Handleys, that
(24:04):
had the rights to it, and I said, we please
read my script and consider it, and they had someone else.
Somehow that fell apart and the script was the calling card.
They read the script and loved it. Yeah, they've read
the script and I had a real clear idea of
how to make it. Interview wanted to paint, and you
wanted to and you thought about photography and more visual things. Well,
how did the writing part begin for you? About stories
(24:25):
as a kid, And my dad always talked a lot
about screenwriting. That was that was where he started, and
so he was always talking about, you know, act structure
and writing. So I guess it was something that I was,
you know, he was talking about and I was learning about.
But um, I don't know. I I wrote this my
first script and somehow figuring out how to do it. Yeah.
(24:46):
How many days was that shoot for your first movie?
Regardless of your d n A for your first movie,
and people kind of limit you in a certain way
where the tight schedule, it was very, very very low budget. Um,
I've never shot more than like thirty days. You know,
it's always like twenty something days. You know. Actually, actually
Marie and Toinette was a longer schedule, and I prefer
a short schedule. I think it's so intensive. I'd just
(25:08):
like to like get in there and get it done,
and it's exhausting At a longer shoot. I feel like
it's hard to do a long shoot and um and
I let that schedule of having a problem solved quickly
and you know, have to just figure it out and
not you know, it's more intuitive or something to just
you have some directors who I've worked with that moment
when they're on the set directing the film, which is
(25:31):
I mean, obviously is the pre production. There's the shooting
and in the editing, and the preponderance of directors will
say to me that the editing things is their favorite
face because they're locked down and they're really making the movie. Yeah.
I like being in the editing room. You do because
it isn't the same amount of same time pressure and
you can kind of play around. But being on set
is exciting and fun because you have all your collaborators
(25:52):
and you're making something. You don't have to answer this question.
But so you ever where you show your father cuts
off your film and he has some advice for you
and you're like, no, you know, as your own point
of view, and you like, I want to do this. Yeah,
And early on, you know, I wasn't as confident. He's
the great master of films, So I would definitely take
his opinion, but I always end up doing what I
(26:13):
want in the end, because you know, you have to
so and this one I waited till I was finished
close to the end to show him. But you don't
want to have too many opinions. So he's nice, he's
he's always encouraging in support, but he definitely has ideas.
And I remember when I was working on Rantoinette, he
was talking a bit more about the characters of the husband,
and I said, no, it's not about him. It's about her,
you know, because I think about her. So everyone looks
(26:36):
at it from their point of view. But and I
feel like sometimes when I watched this last movie, there's
a very kind of artistic I made everyone the girl
walking down the lane with the weeping trees and the
mist and the costumes, and there's a real cinematic reach
you have. Now, Oh, I just I just love that.
And it's such a beautiful location. And I it's a
(26:58):
visual art forms of idea of making every frame the
most like a painting. The Godfather is like a painting,
and so many of the are so beautiful and and
and and it's it's beautiful I we tell people watched
the movie with a sound off. I saw the Radio
City recently, both of them. Is incredible to see it.
But I wonder if that's true with you? Which do
(27:20):
you want to deepen the texture? Do you want to
make your films you want to go further in terms
of design and beauty in a kind of almost Cubrickian
way of the sets and the costumes. Or are you
gonna make a movie like two Chicks Are in a Car. Yeah? No,
I like the visual part of it, and then how
you tell the story visually. I think that's I don't know,
(27:41):
that is exciting and interesting to me. This last one
of yours was probably the most voluptuous, small in terms
of the photography, the look of it. Yeah, and just
being in the South and like it even trying to
trying to feel the heat of it made it made
you more uncomfortable to see those women doing their little
modest field work and the little guarding in those full dresses. Yeah,
(28:04):
I wanted to fill them all buttoned up. Do you
do you sit there and go, God, why are where
are these these poor women? They must be like suffering
to death in this thing and sexual attention underneath it.
When you cast someone to play that part, what did
you want in an actor who played the lead role
that Farrell plays, What were you looking? Yeah, we had
(28:25):
to have I wanted a really masculine guy that could, um,
you know, handle all these women, but like charm at
twelve year old, you know, a woman or forties kind
of had to arrange. And I knew that he could
be complex enough that he was, you know, he could
be mysterious and complicated to them and really be a
contrast to their kind of delicate, pale, feminine world. So
(28:48):
he had to be, you know, have mystique and narcissistic. Yes,
he's like underneath every scene. It's almost like a new Colin.
Farrell obviously is a movie star. Is almost in every
scene he's like, go ahead, admit it, you want me
exactly want whatever age they were in the house, everyone
in the house, just just let's tell me up front
you want me, right? Yeah, he and he and he
was I like that he's like the thinking woman's sex object.
That he's just like they're you know, like the hunk.
(29:10):
But but hopefully there's more going on. And in the
book he was Irish immigrants. So when I'm at Colin.
I thought that just adds to his exotic charm. Being
in your family, would you say that there's been as
much down as there's been up as it's been hard
as well for you? Oh, definitely. I mean we've gone
we've gone through our Yeah, every family. Um, I mean, well,
(29:33):
my dad definitely had ups and downs in his career
where he was successful and then could lose everything, and
so yes, he's a gambler, but it was always exciting. Yeah. Yeah.
And then we had a personal loss with my lost
my brother as a teenager. So, um, you know I
was of teen Yes, yes, so I think you had.
(29:58):
I mean it had a big impact on her family,
so um yeah. So I feel like we've been fortunate
some ways, and then you know, you've experienced the worst
moments of life. So I can't imagine now having children
as a as a parent, because I may know how
it affected us as a family, but um, you tell
your children is the ultimate despair. Yeah, I know, I
(30:19):
can't even picture it. Your mom, on the other hand,
I mean your father, who I don't know well and
and don't think I could because he's just so whenever
you're around him, be so intimidating. Let's face it. I
mean you, he's your father, so it's different. But your mom, though,
is such a unique, speaking, very down to earth in
that situation with your brother, that she seems like something
(30:40):
that she she conquered that. Yeah, yeah, I know, I
know it was obviously a huge struggle for them, but
she she dealt with it in her personal ways and yeah, yeah,
and here's to a lot of people fall apart and
she was able to find some way to to go
on with her. Yeah, so she's strong. But she seems
(31:03):
petite and quiet, but she's strong. She's incredibly clear. That
just might opinion the brief two days I was there,
How would you say that for you? Beyond being a
mom and your issues with your raising your kids while
you're working and doing this very difficult work, how else
does that affect your work? You being a woman, I
don't know, because you put your personality, so I think
(31:24):
women have different qualities. I don't know. People have said
I'm like maternal on set or I don't know. I
think I just have a different point of view as
a as a guy, So I feel like that's an
advantage to have a different point of view. I think
I got that from my mom. When you said that
she keeps it together on set. People think I'm so
calm on set, and I think we're good at concealing
(31:46):
our our stress because you've got to keep it together
for your crew and everything. So yeah, I have a
different demeanor. So I'm sure, Um, you have a very
soothing demeanor. And the other person that I worked with
once I didn't even work with you, but someone I
worked with who had that come into mean is wouldy
and when you work with them, but it's it's such
a great it achieved such a great effect. That's if
(32:08):
you relax people, you're more likely to get to something good.
If they're relaxed, then if you're yeah, tormenting that exactly.
That's what a couple of directors were from the Torment school. Yeah.
I never understood that, And I know there's a lot
of hothead behavior, but you know, I feel like we
want to put everyone at ease and so everyone can
do their best. So did you ever get frustrated working
(32:29):
where you really literally lost it? I never lost it,
always keeping together. I've had frustrating moments for sure, But
do you go home and lose it? Yeah? Yeah, I
go home, Yes, I go home. Is it not not
so much? But I've had moments with Yeah, what's the
hardest part of it? I mean, I'm an actor who
directed one film, and I found it so difficult because
I wanted to map it out and I wanted to
(32:49):
lay it all out and have at least have a
plan which we could then deviate. Yeah, you have to
have a vision in your mind, Like I see it
all in my head beforehand, for sure, Like when I'm
writing it and I'm picturing the actors exactly how they
say it. Then you come on set and you see
how they do it, and it's like how you imagine.
But then they add something that you didn't expect. And
I think you just have to be really flexible and
(33:09):
and opened. Can you experience movies now with links and
DVDs and and oscar material and privately? And how or
do you go to the movies? I love going to
the movie theater. I mean I imagine, Yeah, so I
watch a lot of movies at home, but um, but
whenever I go to theater. I live near Film Forum
and and and just live in New York. Is so
exciting to get to see all these revival old films.
(33:30):
It's just such a different experience, especially nowadays with being
in contact and having your phone around all the time.
It's distracting at home to really get lost in a movie.
So I am. I keep telling people I hope they
go see it my theater. But I love going to
a movie theater. It's such a different experience when you
think about your nature, when you think about the time
you live in now and you're making films now in
(33:51):
our society now, are there films you look back on
historically or even currently. I think I wish I'd made
that film. That's a film I would make. That's funny.
I've never thought about that old film and that that's
a kind of movie I would make. No. I mean,
there's movies that I admire and I love, but I've
never movies are so personal. It's like your children or something.
(34:11):
It's it comes from you. So I can't imagine looking
another movie and thinking, not a female character in a
film that you think reflects who you are and how
you feel about life and your career and your family. No,
I can't. I can't think of one. But of course
there's there's so many that I admire, and love and um,
(34:33):
but I can't think of one. But where are Where
are you in your films? Are you in your films?
You feel about life? Where are you in this current film?
And all of them? This one I think it's a
little bit maybe my devilish side or you know, like, um,
I don't know. I was having fun with this. You
don't need to you don't need to explicate that in
(34:56):
this film. There's because there's there's al who's eighteen, and
Kirsten and then Nicole there there. I feel like I've
been each age of that woman in that kind of stage.
I'm not like those characters, but I can kind of
relate to kind of the girls of different stages. But
I don't always find it. I always put things about
myself and um um at that moment. But this is
(35:19):
the idea that we're always questioning who we are. We're
always questioning at least I am the life I have.
I'm always thinking of alternatives, well what about this and
what about this? Until you finally realize I'm doing precisely
what I was meant to be doing. What you want
to feel like you're doing precisely what you were meant
to be doing. I do. I do. I feel like
I'm doing what I well. I'm excited get to do
(35:39):
what I want to be Sorry that you didn't become
a painter. No, No, because I can always do I
can always have hobbies, you can always I feel like
you can do other things. But now I feel like
I'm doing what I enjoyed. Yeah, what are you gonna
do next? I don't know. I'm looking forward to summer
vacation with my kids and decompressing and getting the movie
out there. It's you know, it's that hustle, right, But
(36:00):
for Yeah, do you have a lot of you put
a lot of pots on the stove of things you
might do or or No. No, I haven't had a
few ideas when I was starting to think about this,
So now I'm going to kind of revisit. But I don't.
I have always heard that Woody Allen has a drawer
full of ideas. I don't have that drawer. As luck
(36:23):
would have it, she doesn't need one. This is Alec
Baldwin and you're listening to here's the thing
Host
Alec Baldwin
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