Sabrina Carpenter at the Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA.

Show of the Summer – Shawn Mendes, Fifth Harmony, R5, Jack & Jack, Jacob Whitesides & Sabrina Carpenter – Hersheypark Stadium – Hershey, Pennsylvania – June 28, 2015

Summer is the ideal time for outdoor music festivals.  When warm breezes meet bright sunny skies and then turn into clear, starry nights, the music can be magical.

Last weekend’s Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA was just that for easily ten thousand screaming fans, mostly ranging in age from eight to 18.  The SOTS’s lineup was packed with some of the hottest young acts of today: six acts including Sabrina Carpenter, Jacob Whitesides, R5, Jack and Jack and headliners Fifth Harmony and Shawn Mendes heated up Hershey Stadium and rocked until late in the night.

Taking time off of her hit TV show Girl Meets World, Disney Channel’s sixteen year old Sabrina Carpenter (she plays Maya Hart) flew in from LA to opened the show, performing songs from her debut album Eyes Wide Open. The crowd obviously loved her and her set, which included her band and her sister on backup vocals.  It was interesting seeing Carpenter in a new light beyond actress.

Jacob Whitesides at the Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA.

Jacob Whitesides took the stage next.  His career has exploded since we first interviewed him last summer.  He has gone from a teenage YouTuber making videos in his bedroom to an emerging musical artist.  Whitesides recently released his sophomore EP containing all original material.  Sunday night, Whitesides and his guitar did not disappoint his fans, wooing them with his growing repertoire of original music including “Let’s Be Birds.”  Logging countless miles, Whitesides has been touring a lot lately, he recently completed an opening gig for fellow SOTS talent Fifth Harmony’s Reflection Tour.  All this experience is apparent in Whitesides’ performance, which has a fresh maturity level and comfort that was apparent in his set.

Jack and Jack at the Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA.

After chatting with us backstage about their career, their fans and their goals, (check out our new interview coming soon) internet sensations Jack and Jack – a.k.a. Jack Johnson and Jack Gilinsky – hit the stage to deafening screams.  Performing their rap/pop/hip-hop style songs like “Groove,” “Wildlife,” “Like That” and debuting their latest, “Shallow Love,” the best friends from Nebraska seemed to enjoy the experience as much as their fans.  With millions of followers on social media, Jack and Jack have built a following enviable to any performer with a lot more time in the business.  Their music was well received by their fans, who bounced and jumped to the music.  Quite frankly, I think they would have been thrilled if the two popular boys could have stood there doing just about anything.

Ross Lynch of R5 at the Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA.

The four “R” siblings – Ross (actor from Disney Channel’s Austin and Ally), Riker (Dancing With the Stars), Ryder and Rocky Lynch – along with their friend/bandmate Ellington Radcliff, rocked the stage next!  Their pop/rock band R5 put on an awesome set for concert goers of all ages.  Even parents seemed to enjoy and know their music.  The group – who play all their own instruments – rocked a mixture of their past music and new songs from their upcoming album.  “Cali Girls” and “Feel Good” were two of their songs receiving the biggest applauds and screams.

Fifth Harmony at the Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA.

The all-girl supergroup Fifth Harmony was by far the hottest act of the night!  As always, the girls of 5H gave their all to their set with an energetic performance.  While belting out their hits like “Sledgehammer” and “Worth It,” Camila, Lauren, Ally, Dinah and Normani connected to the audience with their girl-power messages and sexy dance moves, hair flips and booty shakes.  Their appearance at SOTS was a perfect culmination for a huge week for the girls of 5H, who were announced this week as the new face of the Candie’s Clothing’s fall line.  I dare say that many of the teens/tweens who clung to their every note Sunday night will be first in line at Kohl’s when the new clothing line is released.

Shawn Mendes at the Show of the Summer in Hershey, PA.

By the time that Shawn Mendes walked on stage to close out the night, you could probably hear the screams and shrieks two states over.  Having interviewed Shawn twice in the past year, we know he is talented, sweet and generally shy seeming, nice guy.  However it was really awesome to see what an amazing performer he is growing into and the way his voice and performance skills have grown.  His maturation as an artist was apparent in many ways, including the one-on-one interaction with his fans.  He owned the stage while performing his hits like “Life of the Party,” “Aftertaste” and “Something Big.”

All and all, the promoters should be happy with the Show of the Summer and its lineup, performances and response from the fans.  As with all concerts these days, selling VIP undoubtedly made them a ton of extra money as nearly five hundred thrilled fans paid an additional $150.00 for a meet and greet experience with one or two of the performers.  These experiences make the concert hours longer, but so much more special for the fans.

Deborah Wagner

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: July 1, 2015.

Photos by Rachel Disipio © 2015

Micky Dolenz

Micky Dolenz 

Monkees Around In Career-Spanning Show

by Brad Balfour

For another 70-year old, kicking it out on stage for three July nights at 54 Below under the banner of A Little Bit Broadway, A Little Bit Rock ‘n’ Roll might seem like a daunting task. Yet given Micky Dolenz’s uncanny history, it’s not surprising.  Produced by label exec Van Dean — directed by Dean and Dolenz — and under Michael J. Moritz, Jr.’s music direction, this show demonstrates a love for both Broadway stylizations and rock ‘n’ roll without compromising either form.

In three intimate concerts, the singer and multi-instrumentalist includes some of Dolenz’ band The Monkees’ greatest hits and rarities he’s rarely performed before from musicals he loves. Having seen an intimate rehearsal before a small audience, the raw performances — with an insider’s look at the process of refinement — suggests that A Little Bit Broadway, A Little Bit Rock ‘n’ Roll will more than please. It should arouse a demand for it to be extended here and beyond New York.

This eternal Californian has the experience having starred as a kid in the television series  Circus Boy, as well as being the drummer and singer of the hugely successful rock ‘n’ roll band The Monkees, which originated from the classic ’60s TV show of the same name. It debuted on NBC to incredible success and ratings remained high for two seasons. Then Micky and the band starred in their own feature film, Head, a 1968 psychedelic romp co-written by a young Jack Nicholson, which became a cult classic.

Ultimately, The Monkees sold over 65 million records, toured the US and much of the world many times. Dolenz has also starred in musicals on Broadway, the West End, and in national tours. These include: Disney’s AIDA (Broadway), Pippin, Hairspray (West End), Grease, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Tom Sawyer and more. He has also released two solo albums (Remember and King For A Day) and a memoir. Dolenz recently appeared in the world premiere of the new play Comedy Is Hard (Ivoryton Playhouse) by four time Emmy winner Mike Reiss (The Simpsons).

After all this, the eternal Monkee has the endurance to not only survive being a rock star — a mega-pop star at a time when excess and self-destruction was the norm — but proven to be an incredible multi-hyphenate in ways that few singers or actors rarely are. The veteran Californian has had a comprehensive career encompassing not only a range of musical styles, but creative activities as including directing, writing, producing, and a bit of design and furniture making as well.

Of course being best known as a Monkee — transforming the faux band into a crack quartet capable of world tours performed as well as the studio musicians who initially backed them on their songs — raises all sorts of good questions. When you’ve had such a remarkable career as Dolenz has had, while remaining a friendly, and thankfully for this interviewer, open subject, it garners great Q&A material. It didn’t hurt that we discussed it all in such a fine restaurant as Midtown’s Palm.

Micky Dolenz

If all these digital tools had been available to you when you did the band, how different would it have made things? Are you glad that you came out of a world that had that sort of naive experience of rock and roll? 

That’s a good point. I suspect at the time there was somebody that would ask me, “Can you imagine what it was like when there was no recording, or you were recording on a wire recorder or a wax cylinder?” Up until the ’50s there was only mono [monaural]. My first tape recorder was mono. I remember when stereo came along, and the first stereo albums [came out]. I remember clearly my father saying, “This is [in] stereo,” and I said, “What do you mean?” He put it on our home system, a big vinyl thing. It was a sound effects kind of album, and it had a train going from left to right. We were like, “Ohhh, wow….” You could hear the bass over here and the guitar on the right.

So the recording process was much more difficult [then] than it is today. It was expensive. It took a long time. You didn’t have the options. You didn’t have the editing [available]. You had to do all your work before you got to the session. That’s why the musicians like the Wrecking Crew, who of course you must have heard of — have you seen the documentary [The Wrecking Crew, about all-star studio musicians of the 50s and 60s]? You should, I’m in it. Denny [Tedesco], the guy that made it, his father was Tommy Tedesco, the guitar player. [ed note: We actually have an interview with Denny Tedesco and a couple of members of The Wrecking Crew about the film.] He has taken 20 years to get that thing off.

I am so glad they finally got the recognition that they deserve. Because everybody, as you probably have heard by now, used the Wrecking Crew — the Byrds, the  Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, the Association — everybody. The reason was not that these people couldn’t play. Playing live, and playing in a very, very — as I said — expensive, now rather primitive environment, was a very different gig. These studio [cats], that’s all they did. They could keep the dynamics the same. They could read the charts and just knock it out in one or two takes. These people also never went on stage. They never played live, except for, I guess, Glen Campbell, who is the only one I can think of.

They never toured. 

Oh, no. They’re not live performers. When you are onstage live, you’ve got to perform. They were not performers. They sat there like this [demonstrates] and played. They read the docs and played.

Has anybody ever proposed making  — not so much a documentary but a feature film — like this Beach Boys movie, Love & Mercy, about the Monkees? The Monkees story is so unique. It’s fascinating how ubiquitous the name “Monkees” is no matter what generation someone if from. A lot of people don’t really get the uniqueness of the story. In those days they would create a manufactured band, but the people were interchangeable. Here was a created band that actually became an organic whole; no one ever thought was possible.

Mike Nesmith used to say it was like Pinocchio becoming a real little boy. Well, at the time, nothing like that had happened. Now, of course, you have it happen frequently. I think the closest thing that has come along in years is Glee. They go on and perform, but it was a TV show about an imaginary glee club. And The Monkees was a TV show about an imaginary band.

You guys got to contribute and take it even further because you actually put your own wacky personalities to work in it. Would you want to have a movie like this made?

Well, there actually have been a couple of little things, television things. VH1 did one years ago called Daydream Believer. Not bad, not a bad film. There has been talk about it. You know, I am so close to it. I’m probably not the person to ask, because I am too close to it, really.

It’s also interesting how most of you stayed in touch. You had that group with Davy Jones and have toured with Peter Tork…

Well, we had our own solo careers, but it does tend to always come back to that, yeah.

Like seeing you and Peter playing together at the Rockers On Broadway.

A two-dog monkee.

Micky Dolenz

In this current show, you revisit your own personal history and reflect on it with this musical expression. What led to doing it?

I was asked. (laughs). The Broadway producer Van Dean, who also owns Broadway Records, resurrected that. We met a couple of years ago. He is from Connecticut and he was doing a benefit for Sandy Hook, for the kids. He got in touch with me and knew I had done some Broadway stuff. I did the benefit for him, sang a few songs. Then about a year or so ago, he got in touch with me and said, “There’s this club called 54 Below, and we have recorded a few acts there for the record company. We’d be interested in talking to you about it.” He had come up with the idea, he knew I had done Broadway, and of course, knew I had done rock and roll.

He said there was a Monkee tune Neil Diamond wrote for us called, “Little Bit Me Little Bit You”. So he said, “We’ll play off of that and call it, Little Bit of Broadway, Little Bit Rock and Roll. It intrigued me. I said I could really be into that. I had been doing a lot of theater, and of course I had had all those hits. It took us about a year to pull it together, just to get the dates from 54 Below. And to get the band, and [musical director] Michael Moritz, and VMD to get his band available.

So that’s the regular band he works with?

Yeah. He has lots of musicians that he works with, and these are, I think, [the] core people. Really that’s how it happened. I wasn’t available last year. Then this year, he said “Can you do it in July?” I said “Yeah.” We wanted more than one date because if you are going to record a CD, too risky. So we waited until 54 Below came up with three dates, and here we are. Simple as that.

It was brilliant that you invited people to your rehearsal the other night, having an audience there. Did that help you in certain ways?

Yeah, it’s why I requested it. It was my idea. I could not have gone onstage cold and never having sung these songs [before an audience]. Not the Monkee songs, because all the Monkee songs and those stories I have done a million times. It was the half-a-dozen [or so] Broadway tunes, most of which I had never sung before in front of an audience, ever. Ever. No, I would say out of all those Broadway tunes, there is only one that I have sung. That’s “GW Washburn,” because it was a Monkee hit and that’s the cross-over tune. All those other songs, I’ve sung around the house. I’ve sung at auditions, like “Don’t Be the Bunny”, which I mention. But no, I have never sung them before an audience before, or told any stories about them in front of an audience.

So when we started rehearsing, I said, “I can’t go onstage at 54 Below on opening night never having performed these songs. So that’s what that rehearsal was last night, and tonight is just to get me comfortable with singing those songs and telling those stories in front of strangers. I told some of them in front of my family, but I have never sung any of those songs in front of [strangers]. Last night was the first time I have sung “Pure Imagination”, “Don’t Be the Bunny” or “Mr. Cellophane.”

Obviously, it was very effective. It has a complete freshness. It’s interesting to think of these choices you made, and also to hear you sing in these different voices — to see how someone who sings rock and roll can re-interpret a Broadway song, or how you use your Broadway background. I loved you singing your mother singing Billie Holliday — that was great. 

You talk about being a public person and a private person. Where the lines are between public and private. When you are exposing yourself. But rock and roll is hyper-intensive. Even when you are interpreting someone else’s song, you have to throw yourself into it in a physical way that is not like a Broadway song.

If you hadn’t been a Monkee, would you have still gone into rock and roll, or music, or would you have been an architect like you had originally planned after you had been a child star — in the TV series Circus Boy? 

If I hadn’t gone into that audition [for The Monkees], I would probably be an architect, and we wouldn’t be sitting here.

Micky Dolenz

Or you would have invented some kind of technology. 

I don’t know. It’s a good question. It’s kind of moot, unless you believe in parallel universes. Like the thing I mentioned last night [at the rehearsal]. The showbiz thing has always [been in my life], but there’s the showbiz, and there’s my real life. I got it from my parents, who were also like that. My father was an actor. He was off the boat from Italy. We never lived in the Hollywood-Beverly Hills-showbiz-y kind of world, ever. No friends from that world, really. We lived out in little ranchettes in the [San Fernando] Valley and had horses, chickens, all that. So it was like, daddy went to work, and came home and cleaned the pool. I would win my first series, Circus Boy. I would go do Circus Boy, come home and clean the pool. So I’ve got to credit them mostly with — as much as you can have in a showbiz world — a very down-to-earth family life. Very down-to-earth, very no-nonsense. They never pushed me into the business. Never like the traditional stage mom type, “Eyes and teeth, honey, eyes and teeth.”

They did just by virtue of the way they acted. I noticed very early on that there is a difference between the person and the persona. I don’t remember them saying this to me in so many words. But I remember when I was ten years old, I saw my father on the set playing an evil Mexican general killing people. He would come home and tickle me on the living room floor. So even from very, very early on, I got that that was the character, that was the act. [Otherwise,] I am a very private person. When I’m home, I’m in my shop — I have a workshop, a wood shop. I have a business. My daughter and I have a family business called Dolenz & Daughter’s Fine Furniture. We make heirloom furniture. So I have always had that side of me.

Do you think that helped you in maintaining your sense of authenticity?

It must have, I guess. One of the things they did I think was very smart was after Circus Boy. It was a big show, a very popular network prime time show. I was 12 or 13, so they took me out of the business entirely. Back to school, public school. No showbiz, no acting. So I missed that whole post-childhood success craziness. The disappointment, “They don’t love me anymore, Mommy.” Growing up and going through puberty is tough enough. Having that “You’re a has-been at 13″ is what I believe messes up kids like that and has done in the past. We have even seen it recently, with the kid from Star Wars — the little kid [Jake Lloyd] who played Anakin Skywalker. You don’t know who you are. You don’t know what happened. All of a sudden you’re a has-been at 13. My parents wisely took me out of the business entirely. I really didn’t get back into it until The Monkees, ten years later.

So with this process of putting this show together, and these different lives, do you have any reflections? 

Yeah. Finding and choosing the songs for the Broadway section was really an interesting process. I had assumed that this started with songs that I had sung in a show like [A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the] Forum, Grease, Aida, Hairspray, Pippin — we could have started with those. But none of them worked. None of them worked because most songs in a Broadway show are part of the narrative of the show. That’s why they are a Broadway show. You have to be in the show.

So their integrity lies in the context.

Absolutely. That’s what Broadway shows are. All the dramatic moments don’t turn on dialogue, they turn on a song. Like the old saying: in a Broadway show you talk and talk and talk until you can’t talk anymore, and then you sing. Those big moments, dramatic moments or comedy moments or whatever, turn on a song. That’s what makes them Broadway shows. The downside, if you are trying to find material, then [you have to] do songs out of Broadway shows that stand alone. We can count on a couple of hands how many songs?

Cabaret is one of the few.

One of the few. The Beatles did “Til There Was You” — I mean, very few, because they are part of a narrative. Doing a show like this, that was the problem we ran into. They are great songs. I wanted to do a song out of Aida.

Micky Dolenz

Now that you mention it, I notice you didn’t do any songs from the shows you were in.

None. Not a one. We found songs that are stand-alone. But do they also speak to my narrative? “Mr. Cellophane” [from Chicago] is a good example. We set it up with that story about sometimes you’d like to be invisible. It worked. That was an interesting challenge, trying to find these songs. It took me about a year.

How did you go about finding them?

A lot of them recommended by Michael. Two of them came out of my childhood: “Some Enchanted Evening” and “But Not for Me,” [thanks to] my mom. Actually, a couple I had been working on over the years as audition pieces. “Don’t Be the Bunny” got me three shows.

Do you ever find it ironic that you did Pippin and then in the recently closed revival version — which is now on the road — incorporated that circus element?

I haven’t seen that version. I hear it’s really good.

You did an album of non-Monkee songs, right?

Yeah, a guy in England came out with [one]. He compiled all these obscure tunes from the ’70s that I did post-Monkees on MGM. I totally forgot I had even done them.

That’s interesting timing, that it is coming out now in light of you reviewing your history. 

It’s not a one-man show or anything like that. I’m not that interested in myself. I do love the fact that it is incorporating the two things I love most in music, which is rock and roll and Broadway.

What did you learn about yourself as a singer or performer in terms of how you interpret Broadway or rock and roll?

I learned that many years ago, when I started doing shows. Like I mentioned last night, The Monkees was a little bit like Broadway on television. A little bit like musical theater on TV. Like an old Marx Brothers movie. After we were cast, they screened Marx Brothers movies for us, Laurel & Hardy, the Beatle movies. I remember it was heavily weighted towards that Marx Brothers idea. Not the Three Stooges, we never beat each other up. [It was] One for all, all for one. There’s an interesting book called The Politics of Ecstasy, written by Timothy Leary. When you go back, you will find almost a chapter devoted to The Monkees. Whatever you think of Timothy Leary, I don’t know, but…

Oh, I love Timothy Leary. 

He got it. He mentions things like that. I don’t remember his words — the irreverent, psycho-something jello — but basically what he said was, the Monkees brought long hair into the living room. Before that, the only time you ever saw young people with long hair on television, it would be an arrest. It made it okay to have long hair and wear bell bottoms. I mean, the kids said “See, Mommy, the Monkees don’t commit crimes against nature, and they’re just having a good time.” [He sings] “We don’t want to put anybody down.” In a very similar way, I realized years later that Henry Winkler did it with the Fonz, in making it okay to wear a black leather jacket. Until then, we were outlaws. We were Marlon Brando and The Wild [Ones]. You were a motorcycle gang thug. You had your hair like that with a motorcycle jacket. In another similar way, I thought, was the way that Will Smith made it okay to be a young black guy [doing] rap music in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. The Monkees did that for the hippie generation.

Micky Dolenz and Meredith

In some ways, in hip hop and motorcycle gangs there always was a level of not the noble outlaw, but the bad outlaw. The hippie thing was never meant to be outlaw.

No — well, not outlaw, but [the show] was never anti-Establishment. We still couldn’t do or say anything about the war. We couldn’t talk about anything controversial. The NBC censors were very, very strict. In fact, there is a great story. There was one episode called “The Devil and Peter Tork.” It [was based on] the Faustian legend. Peter wants to learn how to play the harp, and says, “I’d give anything to be able to play the harp.” The devil appears and says, “Would you really?” He says, “Sign here.” Peter then suddenly can play the harp. He comes back to the beach house and says, “Hey, guys, I can play the harp!” “How did you do that?” And he said, “Well, I had to just sign this…” I say something to the effect of, “Peter! You’ve signed your soul to the devil, which means when you die you will go to hell!” This is in the script. They sent it to NBC, to the censors, before we were shooting. The censors came back and said, “You can’t say that on network television at 7:30 at night. You cannot use the word ‘hell’.” 1967. Well, we didn’t say it. [Series creator] Bob Rafelson fought tooth and nail — he said, “It’s FAUST!”

They probably said you can’t say that, either.

“Who’s this Faust guy? You send him over here.” So Bob Rafelson fights tooth and nail to get the word “hell” into the script. They said no, absolutely not. So if you watch the episode, when that scene comes around, I say something to the effect of “Well Peter, you sold your soul to the devil, and that means when you die, you will go to that place we can’t mention on network television.”

It’s amazing what you got away with then.

We slipped some zingers in there, but it was tough. It had to go under the radar.

The great thing was that you had all those layers, and the characters were unrealistic. 

You understand that The Monkees was not a band. It was a television show about a band. An imaginary band. On a set.

An imaginary band that had no real connection to the real world. Where was the beach house, by the way?

Malibu. Which begs the question: how could we have afforded it? We had a beach house, and we never worked.

It was this absurdist show. That is what was so great about it. 

Yes, imaginary. It was a set — Stage 7 at Screen Gems. There were two or three other shows that were trying to be high level that year — music shows. I was up for them. There was one about surfing Beach Boys kind of thing. There was one like Peter, Paul and Mary — that actually did go to pilot, it was called The Happeners. Then there was another show that had a whole big family thing in a bus, like the New Christy Minstrels kind of thing — A Mighty Wind. That became The Partridge Family years later, I think.

The thing about The Monkees was the amazing, unique combination of forces that made the show — you guys, Bob Rafelson, who later on made a movie like Head, with Jim Frawley directing. 

Paul Mazursky wrote the pilot, with Larry Tucker, his partner. You know Bob and Bert [Schneider] produced Easy Rider. I’m in that book, also: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls [How the Sex-Drugs-And Rock ‘N Roll Generation Saved Hollywood by Peter Biskind]. They used Monkee money to make Easy Rider.

I don’t think that confluence of forces could ever come together again. That’s what made the show transcend its origins.

That’s what makes any show transcend, if you look at any show, or movie, or album. It’s just that what happens is the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Bob Rafelson, years later, even said, “We caught lightning in a bottle.” You can look at any show — like Star Trek. You can’t hang the success of the show on any one thing, like William Shatner, or Gene Roddenberry, or Leonard Nimoy, or the sets or the dialogue or the costumes. It doesn’t work like that. You can’t reduce that stuff down in any real scientific sense. You can’t take it apart.

People ask me this all the time, and as a scientist — and I consider myself a scientist — you can’t take it apart. It’s like taking a watch apart to see how it works. It won’t work anymore if you take it apart. Even with The Monkees, I get asked, “Are you really like that?” No, I don’t run around, twice the speed of a human, backwards. There were elements of me in that character. But they didn’t want to hire pure Actors, to Play A Part. Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider knew that to grab those kids, they had to have something [else] — that’s why they used our real names.

Do you ever want to direct films?

I did. Nothing you heard of — it was all in England. The one film I did here was a movie of the week for Lifetime, starring Stephanie Zimbalist, actually. A typical Lifetime movie, female in jeopardy, called Malpractice. Over here I directed TV. I directed Boy Meets World, Pacific Blue… But I did a lot of stuff in England. I had been there for 15 years.

Any regrets that those projects didn’t get seen here?

It wasn’t really my call. They were owned by BBC and LWT. I tried to get a couple a change of format versions over here, but they were very British shows, so I’m not sure they would have translated. Some would, but there are not that many shows that have made it over here. A little more these days, but back then it was very unusual.

Besides your daughter that you are working with, you have how many other kids?

Three other — four daughters altogether. Ami — who is an actress, and she still does a little bit — has now taken to what she always wanted to do, which is illustration. Children’s books illustration. Even before she was an actress, that was what she wanted to do. She is doing quite well. She lives in Canada, Vancouver. She is studying at Emily Carr Art School, which is the famous Canadian art institute. Getting a certificate in illustrating children’s books. We are going to write a book together and she is going to illustrate it. Then my next oldest, Charlotte, just got married to a lovely guy. They are living in Vienna, Austria. He’s been posted there — he works in the State Department, and he is there for a couple of years. She works for the Clinton Foundation, CHIA, she’s a malaria officer for five African countries. From what I gather, they advise the local governments how to combat malaria in their particular region. The next one is a preschool teacher and photographer. The youngest one, Georgia, is the one that I have the furniture business with. They are all doing quite well. A couple of production companies have approached us about doing a show. But we’ll see.

What more do you want to do?

I would love to do more musical theater. I’d love to be on Broadway.

Writing your own?

No, not necessarily. Just some great part. I have a wish list of parts that I would love to do. I’d love to do Thénardier in Les Miz. I’d love to do the Wizard in Wicked, I’d like to do Amos in Chicago. I’d love to do Wilbur in Hairspray, if that ever comes again. I just did that in the West End for about a year, in London. I was offered shows that I couldn’t do for one reason or another. I was offered Drowsy Chaperone. There was another show, a national tour, and I couldn’t do it.

You are in good shape. What do you do?

No sex, no drugs, no rock and roll.

And don’t eat…

Both halves of this Philly cheese steak. No, I’m pretty active. I have a good metabolism. Frankly, working in the shop — it’s not running a marathon, but we’re on our feet sometimes eight hours a day, handling lumber and machine tools. I have a full-blown machine shop.

Do you have accounts, or does someone hire you to design their living room?

No, it’s all handmade for orders that are on the website. It’s specific heirloom pieces — a coffee table, a hope chest, sitting bench seat… We have one line which is Shabby Chic stuff — we have three items in that line. Then we have three items in this redwood line, and there’s a cedar heirloom hope chest with brass fittings. We’re just coming out with a chess set next week that I designed. It’s all hand-carved, hand made, we sign everything and number it and brand it.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: July 5, 2015.

Photos ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Boulevard

BOULEVARD (2015)

Starring Robin Williams, Kathy Baker, Bob Odenkirk, Roberto Aguire, Giles Matthey, Eleonore Hendricks, J. Karen Thomas, Landon Marshall, Henry Haggard, Clay Jeffries, Brandon Hirsch, Curtis Gordon, David Ditmore and Joshua Decker.

Screenplay by Douglas Soesbe.

Directed by Dito Montiel.

Distributed by Starz Digital Media.  88 minutes.  Rated R.

Despite whatever positive and negative attributes that Boulevard may display as a film, it will forever be known as the final starring role of beloved actor and funnyman Robin Williams.  Just seeing Williams – who committed suicide late last year due to extreme depression and advancing medical problems – casts a bit of a pall on this little drama of missed life chances and repression.

However, unlike the last Williams film that was also released posthumously – the antic family comedy Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tombs – the creeping melancholy the audience feels on seeing the actor’s familiar face actually adds to the somber mood of the film.

In fact, Boulevard reminds us of what a smart and subtle dramatic actor Williams could be when he was not doing his wild comedy shtick.  This film brings back the quiet, thoughtful Williams of The World According to Garp, One Hour Photo, Insomnia or World’s Greatest Dad, not the wacky fast-talking force of nature that was his normal mode.

Williams plays Nolan Mack, a sixty-something closeted gay man.  He’s been married to Joy (Kathy Baker), a woman that he loves in a sisterly way but with whom he’s never been passionate or had kids.  They’ve long since had their own rooms, living a separate but considerate and friendly co-existence.  His best friend (Bob Odenkirk) is an aging college English professor, and their long-ago plans of exciting city lives have pretty much been abandoned.  Nolan’s mother died suddenly six months earlier and his father is bed-ridden, dying in a local care facility.  He’s worked for 26 years at the same boring bank job that he doesn’t really like, and he’s just been offered a promotion that will assure that he will be at the bank for the rest of his career.

It is in this state of life ennui that Nolan finally takes a chance to change his life.  One day while driving home, he passes a group of prostitutes lined up on a local boulevard.  You get the feeling that he has been aware of them for a long time, but never before had the courage to turn around and actually engage with them.  He drives past the female pros, eventually checking out a few guy hustlers who are there.  In a slightly obvious narrative choice, he almost hits a young hustler named Leo (Roberto Aguire) with his car.  They start to talk, and eventually a visually uncomfortable Nolan agrees to take the guy to a motel and pay him for sex.

After finally giving in to this long-denied temptation, Nolan becomes somewhat fixated on Leo, determined to save the younger man from his street life and maybe even find love.  Leo, not surprisingly, seems a lot more reserved about their relationship, though eventually he does start to feel an odd friendship and kinship with this slightly desperate older man.

I’m not going to lie, sometimes Boulevard pulls its punches in its homosexual relationship.  Nolan’s relationship with Leo is often strangely chaste, almost like a mentor/student connection.  I mean, yeah, I guess I get that after decades of suppressing his desires it could possibly be difficult to totally throw yourself into the baser aspects of a homosexual affair.  However, you have to wonder how long he will be content at just watching the younger man stand around naked in cheap hotel rooms.

Nolan’s attempt to live a double life does not go totally smoothly, eventually Nolan is getting into physical altercations with Leo’s pimp, wife Joy suspects Nolan is having an affair and his relationship with the younger man starts affecting Nolan’s job.

Much of this can be intriguing.  Some of it is a bit overdone.  However, Williams never hits a wrong note, and his performance pulls the movie through its rough spots.  In fact, the extended scene when Kathy Baker as his wife finally confronts him of having an affair with a man is spine-tingling, two truly gifted actors at the top of their games.  Scenes like this make up for whatever missteps the film sometimes makes.

It is tragic that we will never see another new performance by Robin Williams.  However, at least he left us on a strong note.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: July 24, 2015.

Michael Dorn

Michael Dorn 

Promotes Worf To Starship Captain

by Brad Balfour

Actor Michael Dorn making sure the world doesn’t forget the original Star Trek universe and the character he lived in for nearly 20 years — the Klingon Lieutenant Commander Worf. And he is doing it not only through appearing at Comic-Cons and in the film Ted 2.

With the original 1960s Star Trek series there was a Vulcan member, but no Klingons on the crew. Then, with the 1987-’94 reboot, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Worf became a Klingon crew member who was as critical to his ST series as Mr. Spock was to his generation. Then Worf moved on to a successor series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and several Star Trek film features.

As separate from the real world the Star Trek universe is, Worf and his Klingons were so important that they spawned a particular fan base determined to flesh out his culture and world. As Star Trek‘s canon became fleshed out, that was an amazing thing. Though geeks appreciate how significant it was that Worf one of the 10 most important Trek characters, there was debate that justice still wasn’t done.

For the last few years, Trek alumnus Dorn has been pursuing various avenues to get a new TV series into production which centered on his beloved character Worf. The character had more hours on screen than any other in the franchise’s history.

Even now, after more than 13 years since his last appearance, he remains a fan favorite and sci-fi icon. Yet, despite Dorn’s Trek pedigree, and the worldwide love for his surly Klingon, CBS hasn’t budged on green-lighting “Captain Worf.”

Back in the ’60s, a historic letter-writing campaign saved the original Star Trek series from an untimely cancellation after the first season.

With reboots of classic series at an all-time high, from the return of The X-Files to network television to The Flash‘s resurrection, the Trek brand continues in the form of fan-made films, hugely attended events, and continual appearances of its many actors in other productions. It seems time for another official ST series to have its own development opportunity.

In order to do so, a core team surrounding the 63-year-old veteran actor came up with a campaign to press the network to produce the series. This campaign has encouraged fans to send the message that Star Trek is ready to return to its TV roots.

To have this bid kicked off, a campaign has been launched that asks fans to send mini-muffins to the powers that be at CBS this summer. To prove that the fan-fervor exists, the goal is for one million muffins to be sent to the CBS offices with a note saying, “We Want Worf.”

In order to increase a-worf-ness, Dorn has been conducting a series of exclusive interviews with journalist-trekkers — including this one held over the airways — to bring the cause to the pop culture forefront.

Michael Dorn

Your character is one of the most fascinating in Star Trek’s history. That’s because Klingon culture turns on several classic human cultures, whether it’s Roman or Japanese or others. What did you think it was? What did you draw on and what did others think you drew from?

Well, it started out as the Russians and that was who they were. When the show was going on, the [Berlin] Wall had come down before then, so we got an eye into the Russian culture. We got a good look at them and knew they weren’t all evil and bad. I then brought into it, in terms of deeper things, the Samurai warrior code. [The writers] basically had nothing until the character Worf [was created]. We went into these different areas of the Klingon culture. I told them, “Look, they’re like wild people. Whenever they fight they’re screaming and yelling and all this other stuff, I think it gets a little crazy. Why don’t we do something a little more controlled, yet still aggressive; [why not] make it more like the Japanese samurai?” So we added some of the Japanese samurai [thinking], some of Chinese martial arts, and other things, and put it all into [Klingon] culture.

Once it was debated as to whether Klingons were like the Romulans or not. Romulans were more Roman and Klingons, like you said, were more like Japanese. while Romulans were more the opposite of Vulcans, Klingons were the fighting side of cultures. Was there a discussion about how Klingons and Romulan culture distinguished the one from the other?

They never discussed that with me. If there were discussions [by the series creators], I never heard them. Because the character of Worf was on the show, they had to make a distinction with a lot of things. I don’t think they really had much discussion on how to keep things separate. They always had an idea of who the Romulans were, who the Klingons were, and “neither shall the twain meet” as they say, and that was evident. The cultures did not overlap at all.

Maybe 20 or so people in broadcast media have had an opportunity to play a character that has had so much growth and been seen by so many generations of people — and even be a Shakespearean sort of character. That cultural depth must be mind boggling at times, so I can see why you don’t want to squander that.

The way television is going right now, with all the formats between Netflix and Amazon, and the cable shows and all these things, there’s so much of an opportunity. If you’re going to do a show, it has to be an intense, dark show like Game of Thrones or Spartacus, all these shows that are out there. They’re dark and some are even soft porn. The Klingon Empire is a dark empire itself. It’s about assassinations and coups to take over the government and all the things that are the mainstay of television these days.

We Want Worf t-shirt

Speaking of soft porn, there have always been fans who have fantasized about that side of Trek. You hit on an important sub-plot element — envisioning the Klingon sex life.

There have been discussions, but we haven’t gone into it with any depth because I think we’re living in the moment. When it gets done we’ll see what works. The thing I don’t care about, and I don’t think it’s necessary, is that television feels it has to go way out there. I disagree. I don’t think you have to. It’s a little for shock value. But if you got a great story, we don’t really care about that. It’s just that a lot of these shows are just going for shock value. “Oh my god, did you see that?” It doesn’t really add anything to the overall story or feeling of the show.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation, you were never thought of as being a “black actor” because you were a Klingon. You suffered less of the sensationalist attention that Nichelle Nichols endured in the first season of the original series. But now is the time now that we need more black actors to be the lead in sci-fi or action shows. It seems like that people will accept and gravitate to such characters like never before. Do you hope that, at this time, this show might be possible?

I think you’re right, hopefully. Like you said, they don’t look at Worf as being black. They’re not going to say “Oh wow, let’s have some more Klingons on television,” or something like that. But I do think that any time you can show that there’s money to be made with you, they’re willing to do anything. I don’t think that it’s a matter of racism or anything. It’s purely financial. If they think they can make money and there’s a market for it… you see it more today. If you look at commercials, I did commercials when I first started, so I know this first hand: there would be one, maybe two commercials a year where you might see a black face. If you watch commercials now, they are inundated with them. I don’t think that was an altruistic decision. They realized there was an audience and money to be made with these products in the black community. So they started doing more. I think that’s what it’s going to be. If this show becomes successful and it’s a highly rated show, critically acclaimed and they’re making money hand over fist, my being a black actor can’t do anything but help other black actors coming up, or at least have them say, “Hey, this guy did it, let’s try it with this guy.” There won’t be a hesitance to it.

We Want Worf mini-muffins

Do you have a wish list of actors you’d like to show up, like James Earl Jones or old actors or new actors that could make a cameo, like you made in Ted recently?

What I do wish for is that I want every part to be a great part. I don’t want it to be a cameo or stunt casting. I want it to be a great part even if it’s 10 or 15 minutes onscreen. I can go down the list of people we would have on the show. Of course, all the Star Trek alumni can do the show. There are certain characters that can’t show up because they’re dead or whatever is the case, but those actors can still do parts on the show. The wish list is too long to imagine. I hadn’t even thought about James Earl Jones, but he’s definitely… I think Laurence Fishburne is wonderful. The list goes on and on and on.

There are great Star Trek actors who are typically known as “character actors”, but they play their parts — like the guy that played The Doctor on Voyager, Robert Picardo. Before that, he was a great character actor, but after that it makes you appreciate him even more. There same can be said for Armin Shimerman, the guy that plays the Ferengi. There’s something about being in Star Trek that gives great actors quite a stage to create unique performances. The same goes for the great theater actor Rene Auberjonois who played Odo.

The whole point is that there’s a dearth of actors that fit that bill. Armin Shimerman, who played Quark, is a wonderful actor. He’s so identified as Quark that it would be hard to bring him back as Armin, but I don’t think he would mind coming back and doing a great role as Quark. It’s a job. What you’re saying is something we’ve discussed and thought about. It just got overwhelming for us because there were so many actors and so many facets to bringing these characters back and how we do it? Do we bring back the character or just the actor as themselves? It goes on and on.

Have you had much interaction with JJ Abrams and how his Star Trek universe connects with yours? It’s interesting how there’s a relationship between them yet they’re not the same.

That’s why the Klingon thing is perfect because it has nothing to do with what he’s doing. I’ve never met JJ, but they’re very clear about keeping the TV and movie things separate. Not getting in the way or having them cross over, or getting someone mad at us for doing something. They’re keeping it very separate.

What did you think of their version of Klingon culture?

There wasn’t much to it. I couldn’t say anything about it. It was just a cameo for Klingons.

Star Trek – The Next Generation

Are you going to produce and direct as well as act?

On the pilot I’m going to be producing and directing, but that’s it. When it goes to series I’m not going to be producing. I’m trying to do as much directing and acting as I can.

With regard to Klingon cultural development, I want to see more of that. Re-elaborate about the idea behind your show and how showing the cultural development of the Klingons relates to the Federation.

The A story is that the Klingon culture is on the verge of dying because it’s so homogenous. They don’t allow anything except for Klingons. There’s no allowance for any other culture or any other way of thinking to go in there. It’s almost like having a culture that only has one type of individual in it. At some point it’s going to die out. They realize this, so they start allowing other cultures and species into their culture, painfully at times. It’s the growing pains of this culture that I’m interested in showing. Worf is at the forefront of that because he’s the guy that’s supposed to bond other races and [he is] one of the unique individuals in Klingon culture that can talk about that. He says we have to look at this as learning, take the best from other cultures to make our own culture better. The B story is that Worf is on a spiritual journey himself. He is trying to find out who he is, which he has been doing for the past 30 years.

Even though Worf, and you, were in more episodes than any other character, it always felt like he was reacting to other characters; we didn’t get enough episodes from his perspective, expanding his mythos. Not that he didn’t have moments. I can’t say I’ve seen all your episodes. Is it 167 episodes you were in?

With Next Generation it’s 170, then I did 100 with Deep Space 9.

Though I’ve seen a lot of episodes, I can’t claim to be that thorough. It seemed Worf was more often reacting than leading, so this new series seems like a great idea and that you should have this opportunity to expand on him and Klingon culture. Though Worf wasn’t treated as secondary, but he didn’t get as many pivotal moments as Data or Troi.

I definitely have to agree with you. I was always cognizant of the fact that on Deep Space, even if it was supposed to be a Worf episode, everyone was doing more talking than I was. I don’t know why that it was. It could do with something about the edict behind the show and how they want to portray Worf. But I think you’re right, and this is an opportunity where people will finally get those episodes.

When you were starting out as an actor, did you think you’d get so immersed in this character and universe? There’s no question that this role changed the course of your life. If you hadn’t played it, you might have been a great actor in a lot of different ways, but this is something that will live way beyond you.

Unless they have the biggest ego in the world, I don’t think anybody thinks they’re going to be a character like what Worf is to a culture. I don’t think anybody expects that. I just wanted to have the freedom to do a bunch of different jobs, whether it’s movies or television, just do something really interesting. I always wanted to be an interesting actor and I didn’t really think much further than that. I never denied myself the fact that I love science fiction, have always loved science fiction, and that I would love to do science fiction. You can’t dream about something like this. The thing that you have to realize is that even if you’re on a show like Star Trek, that doesn’t mean your character is going to be as popular as Worf is. It’s a real special thing and it’s an amazing time for me.

Your cameo in Ted 2 — attending New York Comic-Con in a really bad Worf costume — was a sort of commentary on the comic and geek culture. Did you have any input on that or did you just throw yourself into the role?

The only thing I told them was that I really wanted the makeup to be not even close to Worf. I wanted it to be so bad that it wouldn’t be an imitation of Worf. There was no beard, the uniform looked nothing like mine. I thought that would be very funny and Seth agreed.

Find this on Social Media:

www.facebook.com/wewantworf

@wewantworf on twitter

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: July 25, 2015.

Photos #1 & 2 ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Listen to Me, Marlon

LISTEN TO ME, MARLON (2015)

Featuring footage of Marlon Brando, Christian Brando, Cheyenne Brando, Anna Kashfi, Tarita Teriipia, Vivienne Leigh, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall, Francis Ford Coppola, Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard, Richard Harris, Lee J. Cobb, Bernardo Bertolucci, Maria Schneider, David Niven, Susanna York, Stella Adler and Bob Crane.

Written by Stevan Riley.

Directed by Stevan Riley.

Distributed by Passion Pictures.  102 minutes.  Not Rated.

Marlon Brando was a very talented, a very complicated and eventually a very disturbed man.  He lived a very fabulous life and also a very tragic one.  He knew great love and great loss.  He was intellectual, progressive, insecure, fun-loving, self-critical, deeply compassionate, occasionally vain, often eccentric, sometimes selfish and often baffling.  He had big passions and big appetites.  He was a ladies man and yet he almost never settled down for a traditional romantic relationship.

He loved beauty (particularly a life-long passion for the island of Tahiti) and was fascinated by ugliness.  He both appreciated and undersold his talent, even his profession of acting and filmmaking.  He had oddball interests.  There is a legendary story of his excessive fascination with extremely diminutive actor Nelson de la Rosa in one of his last films, The Island of Dr. Moreau.  This film shows that he had his head digitally preserved for filmmaking use after he was gone, an visual effect that is somewhat disorienting and spooky with cold, dead-looking eyes.

Listen to Me, Marlon probably comes as close to giving people a look at his inner workings as you can ask from a film.

The legendary actor apparently was rather obsessive about making audio cassettes of himself just talking.  He made these tapes for meditation, or as therapy, as entertainment and as a personal history.  He also recorded business meetings, doctor’s appointments and even canoodling with a few unnamed ladies in his life.

Brando’s estate has given writer, editor and director Stevan Riley complete access to these tapes, most of which had never been heard by anyone but Brando himself.  Mixing these tapes as narration with a mixture of personal photos, home movies and television and film clips, Riley is able to give a pretty intriguing overview of the life and work of the late movie star, who died in 2004.

It’s a mostly very intriguing look at what a Brando autobiography might have been like.  Starting out as a small, insecure child in the heartland, child of a cold father and an alcoholic mother, it traces his growth from starving New York actor to the toast of Broadway from A Streetcar Named Desire to becoming the flashpoint of the method acting movement.  It also shows how he drifts from his pure talent as his career exploded.

Brando could be a harsh personal critic.  He freely admits that he was disappointed in his Oscar-winning performance in On the Waterfront and that he was not at all sure he could pull off his trademark role of Don Corleone in The Godfather.  Also, he was self-aware enough to know that his exploding fame and fortune made him more headstrong and difficult to work with as an actor.

The final half-hour or so dealt mostly with his personal tragedies, particularly the 1990s when a tabloid scandal exploded as his son Christian was imprisoned for killing the abusive lover of Marlon’s daughter Cheyenne.  Then a few years later the emotionally fragile Cheyenne committed suicide.

It’s hard to listen to some of the darker passages, but Brando’s tapes also had a meditative beauty that salves some of life’s deepest hurts.  The final soliloquy, undoubtedly recorded to help with insomnia or meditation and at the same time soothingly feeling like an acceptance of mortality, shows a man who was at peace with a pretty fascinating life.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 7, 2015.

Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell in Fantastic Four.

Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell

Talk About Becoming Superheroes in Making Fantastic Four

by Brad Balfour

In the aftermath of Fantastic Four‘s opening, critical reaction hasn’t exactly been glowing. From established critics to the blogosphere, from the Rotten Tomato reporters to serious fan-geeks, this Fantastic Four re-imagining hasn’t fared well — though maybe it is an overreaction, given the huge expectations developed by a fan base 50 years in the making.

When artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee’s creation, Fantastic Four number one, appeared in November, 1961, Marvel Comics barely existed. DC Comics — home of Superman and Batman —  defined the superhero genre at the time. So there was a need to go against the grain with heroes that did not necessarily relish having powers, ones that were bestowed upon them accidentally. The Four’s real powers were their brains, quality of character and determination to both be normal and/or use the powers for something other than themselves. Their nemesis, Dr. Doom, was the embodiment of fury and self-obsession.

The groundswell that made Fantastic Four a benchmark in comic book history — and the core series in Marvel’s history — also built up a level of anticipation that was not rewarded with 20th Century Fox’s first cinematic edition of Fantastic Four or its sequel, Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer.  Released in 2005 and 2007, these two tried but didn’t quite establish both the grand mythos or the quirky charm of the longstanding printed series. Its cast — older, established actors Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis, Jessica Alba and Chris Evans — tried but didn’t quite succeed in convincing audiences of their super-ness.

So when the quartet of leads who play this Four — Miles Teller (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Kate Mara (Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman), Michael B. Jordan (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch), and Jamie Bell (Ben Grimm/Thing) came to an Apple Store to do a Q&A just before the new film’s opening, they offered some insight into the making of this new-gen Fantastic Four. In doing so, they gave the audience a sense of the film’s creation and the dynamic the cast developed to make it work for them.

In being rebooted, this film deviates from the core origin storyline by making their visit not into outer space but to another dimension and offers a far more sinister and deadly Victor Von Doom (played by Toby Kebbell). Much of the blame has been laid at the feet of everyone: from the studio, to the director Josh Trank and/or producers or even some of the performances. Yet this cast has shown a pretty enthusiastic belief in their performances and how they were making the best of it all for the release of this film.

Whatever has been said about the film since its opening, no one can fault the cast’s credits in establishing acting chops and opportunities to try on a range of characters.

Miles Teller discussing Fantastic Four at the Manhattan Apple Store.

Of the four, Teller’s been in the spotlight most recently having had lead roles in two critically acclaimed films — 2013’s The Spectacular Now and last year’s award nominee Whiplash. He’s also portrayed Peter Hayes in the commercially successful Divergent series and will headline the upcoming biopic Bleed for This, playing boxer Vinny Paz.

Jordan has also culled some serious accolades, particularly for his performance as shooting victim Oscar Grant in the award-worthy Fruitvale Station. But he also built his own fan base through a couple of high profile, gritty television series, Friday Night Lights (as East Dillon High School quarterback Vince Howard) and The Wire (as teenage dealer Wallace). He also played Steve Montgomery in FF‘s director Trank’s debut scifi thriller Chronicle, and, costarred alongside Zac Efron and Teller in 2014’s That Awkward Moment.

Jamie Bell has shuttled between copping serious creds playing Revolutionary War spy Abraham Woodhull in the TV series, Turn: Washington’s Spies and a set of genre-based vehicles such as 2005’s King Kong, Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin (2011), the futuristic Jumper (2008), produced by FF‘s Simon Kinberg (there’s a sequel underway) and the much praised Snowpiercer (2013). An English actor and dancer, this 29-year old rose to prominence in his debut Billy Elliot (he won the BAFTA for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2000).

While Kate Mara hasn’t been in the action spotlight of her younger sister Rooney who starred in Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, she’s made her mark as a character actor in the Netflix political drama House of Cards as Zoe Barnes, appeared in the Fox series 24 as computer analyst Shari Rothenberg and was in the FX horror mini-series American Horror Story: Murder House as Hayden McClaine. The 32-year-old actress made her film debut in 1999 with Random Hearts and was cast in 2005’s Brokeback Mountain.

Nonetheless, despite the disparaging reviews and advance notice swirling around them, this quartet was enthused by that day’s fan ballyhoo and this Q&A was culled from that event. Excelsior.

Kate Mara discussing Fantastic Four at the Manhattan Apple Store.

This is a different, darker, more serious spin on the superhero genre in general and Fantastic Four in particular. Are you playing Sue Storm or are you playing a “superhero?”

Kate Mara: This was a unique superhero film screen test, for me, anyway, because I’ve screen tested for many of them and never got any roles, unfortunately. But with all the other ones I’ve auditioned for, you have to get in costume and do the powers and all that. This one was more about the chemistry between Miles, Jamie, Michael and I. It didn’t feel like any other drama or film I auditioned for.

Fantastic Four is a beloved property in a genre that has good standing right now in pop culture. Everyone has been excited for this film and the other superhero films coming out right now. Michael, did you go after this, or did its producers come after you?

Michael B. Jordan: I’m in a unique position because this is something I’ve always wanted to do, but it came at me. It was a great opportunity to work with [director] Josh Trank [who had worked with Jordan on his debut sci-fi super-powered Chronicle]. We were playing video and sitting in the house one day talking about future ambitions, and he asked me if I wanted a job and if Johnny Storm is someone I wanted to play. I said, “Yeah.” It was an awesome opportunity and I’m glad it worked out.

Miles, were you able to see yourself in this context when you heard about this character and read about him? It’s different from other roles you’ve played.

Miles Teller: I have pretty eclectic taste and that’s a good thing to have. You want to keep yourself fresh; you don’t want to repeat yourself. I had just got done playing a character that’s closer to Johnny’s thing, [one with] a bit more of a temper. That wouldn’t have interested me at the time. But I was into this guy who’s obsessed with science and discovery — wanting to push the human race forward. I love that kind of spirit in Reed. He doesn’t care about whether or not this person likes me or if they think I’m weird, no, man. He’s dead set on creating something that will give us the ability to travel inter-dimensionally [no matter what], and I like that [attitude].

Jamie Bell discussing Fantastic Four at the Manhattan Apple Store.

Jamie, you’ve done motion capture performances before. Could you have done this role without having that knowledge and experience going in?

Jamie Bell: Well, I’ve worked a few times with Andy Serkis, who’s considered a guru of performance capture. For those who don’t know him, he did Gollum in Lord of the Rings and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. I had seen how Andy really used this technology to his advantage and really got under the skin of these characters, and [was able to] move audiences around the world and give them these experiences. Having worked with him before on Tintin, that technology was useful.

What does it look like on set when the scene is in another dimension and you’re playing The Thing, which is not a suit, but it is performance capture. Are you in a void? What does it look like?

Jamie Bell: It’s just a green void. It’s green, everything is green. The floor’s green, the wall is green, everything is green.

Kate Mara: Jamie’s suit was green as well.

Jamie Bell: I’m basically in pajamas that look like a jockey with a wig cap on. I got [to wear] stilts to get me up to 6’8″. But the funny thing about that is that I’m in scenes with these guys…. For us it’s a leap of faith in terms of acting. We’re in an environment and then reacting as such. Then it’s going to be put on the screen. We really have to have a lot of faith and trust in the director and the story so we don’t look like idiots when the movie comes out.

Earlier this summer, with another big movie [The Avengers], actress Elizabeth Olson [Scarlet Witch] said she had to do what you had to do, create something with her hands. You just have to go with it. Do you feel silly on set, or do you feel like, “I’m in it with these guys, I can’t half-ass it.”

Kate Mara: The first day I thought I felt like an idiot, but then you have to own it. You got to go for it. Also, we all had to do stupid things, so any time I felt stupid I just looked at Jamie.

What were the stupid things Miles and Michael had to do?

Miles Teller: It was a scene — I think they show it in the trailer — they were trying to get this one line. I was saying, “The light, it’s swallowing the earth!” Every time we’d do it they just didn’t get it. So they’d re-write it or add a scene. I would just be in a different environment saying, “The light! it’s swallowing the earth!” We did it in three different scenes. After a while I’m just like, “Screw the light. Let the earth get swallowed, it’s not a big deal.” And the stretching stuff, it’s all in your imagination. When I’m on the bed and my body is stretching, Josh was walking me through it, saying, “Your hand is stretching down and going to this grate and your fingers are grabbing it.” It’s nice. It takes you out of your head and you just have to give in to the process.

Michael B. Jordan discussing Fantastic Four at the Manhattan Apple Store.

Michael, you play a superhero that flies. Did you have to work on your flying pose?

Michael B. Jordan: You want to have your own unique style with this, so I played with a couple different poses and I went with what I was most comfortable with. With those safety harnesses and flying harnesses, they aren’t as comfortable to the males as they are to the females, what with the way the anatomy is made up, if you follow me. So that was the most uncomfortable part of the movie, the flying stuff and the harnesses.

How many of your costumes were CGI or actual outfits?

Miles Teller: The wardrobe was not CGI at all. Obviously when Michael is flaming-on, it has to be CGI to look like flames. But the suits… Reed’s looks different because built his own suit at one point. And you have to think, if I’m building a suit and also stretching all the time, it has to contain all that business so I’m not overflowing with limbs and stuff. So yeah, the suits were all real.

You have all been in some great TV series. I’ve seen Jamie in Turn and Michael in The Wire as Wallace. Like the Marvel Universe, these shows have huge fan bases. How did these two experiences relate?

Michael B. Jordan: I don’t know. When The Wire came out it was after the fact that it got attention, it wasn’t while we were filming it.

The same for Friday Night Lights.

Michael B. Jordan: Friday Night Lights was also an awesome show. But it’s the same thing. I didn’t get the instant gratification from the fans. This movie hasn’t even come out yet and a massive amount of fans are here showing love, so it’s pretty awesome to be part of the Marvel Universe.

Miles, what was the best thing you got from acting school and the worst thing?

Miles Teller: Being in acting school was the greatest time in my life. It’s tough going from film set to film set and you have to work on yourself. In theater school, you’re with sixteen other weirdoes in sweatpants who are pretending to be seaweed while their teacher is playing whale music. You’re pushing an imaginary box across a ballet stage for 30 minutes, stuff like that. If you’re not learning and you’re not growing and not getting to work on things… I miss it, yeah. The worst thing, the debt. The student loans. Also, I think a lot of people got caught up… they couldn’t do sense memories or some can’t hold a coffee cup. They forget at the end of the day you’re just talking to another person, so they can get a little intellectual. But it was the best experience of my life.

Kate Mara: I knew I wanted to be an actor when I was nine years old. I used to watch movies with my mom and little sister. I was completely obsessed with film then. It was all I wanted to do.

Who were your superhero inspirations?

Jamie Bell: Tim Burton’s Batman.

Miles Teller: I liked Batman, but for me it was also Indiana Jones and Dick Tracy.

Michael B. Jordan: There are so many, but I’m going say Darkwing Duck.

Kate Mara: I loved Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman.

And if you had powers, what would they be?

Kate Mara: I’ll give MBJ a power that he needs, and it’s to be on time.

All: Ooooohhh [laughs].

Michael B. Jordan: I want… The power to stop time.

Kate Mara: You do that already.

Miles Teller: I dunno, man. Fly, just fly. I took yours, right?

Jamie Bell: For me? Teleportation… [Laughs].

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 8, 2015.

Photo 1 ©2015. Courtesy of 20th Century Fox. All rights reserved.

Photos 2-5 ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Digging for Fire

DIGGING FOR FIRE (2015)

Starring Jake Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Mike Birbiglia, Sam Elliott, Judith Light, Ron Livingston, Melanie Lynskey, Jenny Slate, Tim Simons, Jane Adams, Megan Mercier and Jude Swanberg.

Screenplay by Jake Johnson and Joe Swanberg.

Directed by Joe Swanberg.

Distributed by The Orchard.  83 minutes.  Rated R.

I suppose this is as close as Joe Swanberg will ever get to a high-concept film.  Swanberg – a figurehead of the mumblecore school of filmmaking, a subtle, extremely natural, mostly improvised style of movie – makes Woody Allen feel hyperactive as a filmmaker.

Swanberg has a tendency to take actors, put them in a vague situation and then allow them to mostly ad lib their lines.  This worked best in the early years, when Swanberg worked with completely unknown actors, so that this naturalism felt more… well, natural.  His last few films Swanberg has become enough of a name that he is able to work with actually known actors.  That started a couple of years ago with Drinking Buddies, co-starring Jake Johnson (who also stars and co-wrote here) and Olivia Wilde and last year’s Happy Christmas, starring Anna Kendrick and Melanie Lynskey (both of whom show up here in supporting roles).  And to be quite honest, most of the professional actors seem uncomfortable at improvising their dialogue.  It’s a very specialized skill, not every actor can do it well.

Digging For Fire is his biggest star vehicle yet, with a cast featuring Johnson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Mike Birbiglia, Sam Elliott, Judith Light, Ron Livingston, Melanie Lynskey, Jenny Slate and Jane Adams.  All of them are trying to be just normal people, none of them have a script, just a very basic storyline to flesh out.

However, Digging For Fire sort of revolves around an actual potentially intriguing premise.  A long-time married couple (Johnson and DeWitt) is house sitting for a friend and while exploring the property, the husband comes upon a partially buried gun and human bone.  He begins obsessing about finding the body, but she feels that since they are guests they can’t very well dig up the entire landscape.  I say “sort of revolves around” not because that is not a dramatic development, but because the dead body tends to be something of a McGuffin here, looking for the body ends up not being nearly as important to the storyline as the relationship problems the couple is experiencing as young parents.

The spark is going out of their relationship.  They have a kid that they love but their whole life revolves around the boy.  The husband is trying to hold on to his younger, wilder self, and the wife is feeling bitter that she always has to be the adult and make the difficult decisions.

And that’s about it.  He has a bunch of buddies over to get shitfaced and help him dig for bones.  She goes to visit her family.  Both meet attractive younger people (Orlando Bloom and Brie Larson) in their adventures, who tempt them to stray, but in the long run they stay true to their spouse.  (Though, honestly, in his case, the decision not to fool around was not all in his hands.)

Johnson and DeWitt are both terrific actors, and they know their roles well, so they mostly come out looking good, though as with everyone periodically their off-the-cuff lines land with a thud.

The way that the other actors fit in pretty much depends on their comfort level with improvising their lines.  Shockingly, Sam Rockwell, who would seem like a natural for playing a drunk buddy in something like this, turns out to be pretty disappointing at it.  For example, when discussing being a father with his best buddy (Johnson), a new dad, came up with this less than stimulating ad lib: “No sleep.  No sleep.  No sleep…  I couldn’t do it.  No sleep, man…  How do you sleep?  How do you sleep?…  I can’t do it.  I’ve got to sleep, man.  I can’t do that.  I’ve have to sleep, man.”  Yeah, the character is supposed to be snockered, but he must have had something more incisive to say than just repeating “no sleep, I have to sleep” over and over again.

Old school vets like Sam Elliott and Judith Light also feel a little lost here, not sure what exactly they are supposed to be doing.  There is something to be said for having a script to guide the actors.

Also, not to be mean, but Swanberg spends way too much film on his toddler son Jude, just like he did in Happy Christmas.  Sure, the kid is kind of cute, but in Christmas having like three minutes of him ripping paper and here having a couple of minutes of him counting blueberries is excessive.  Particularly in an 83 minute film.  Eventually the audience is like: enough of the kid already.  I know you are a proud dad, but come on, save that stuff for your family home movies.

In the end, Digging For Fire comes off feeling lightweight and tossed off, even despite some of the weighty themes explored.  Also, the final twist with the body feels horribly anti-climactic.  However, Digging For Fire has a shaggy-dog charm and affability that makes it worth your time.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 22, 2015.

Jake Johnson and Rosemarie DeWitt star in “Digging for Fire.”

Jake Johnson and Rosemarie DeWitt

Are Digging on Digging for Fire

by Jay S. Jacobs

Jake Johnson has become Hollywood’s go-to guy for playing aging party boys who don’t want to grow up. Beyond his lead role as Nick on the popular Zooey Deschanel sitcom New Girl, Johnson has been digging into feature films, with the popular comedy Let’s Be Cops and this summer’s blockbuster Jurassic World. Now he’s trying out the role of writer as well.

Digging for Fire is the second film Johnson has made with mumblecore film icon Joe Swanberg, following their work together on Drinking Buddies a couple of years ago. As with most of Swansberg’s films, Digging for Fire is almost entirely improvised by the actors. Based on an outline by Johnson and Swanberg, the duo collected a bunch of Hollywood friends to play out the story of the marital problems of a bored married couple who find a gun and a human bone in the hills of a house where they are house sitting.

To play the other half of the couple, the filmmakers did not have to go far to find Rosemarie DeWitt, who it sometimes seems has cornered the market in Hollywood of playing an unsatisfied wife of a certain age. DeWitt first caught our attention with her role on the short-lived but respected TV series Standoff – which co-starred Ron Livingston, who became her husband and also has a supporting role in Digging for Fire. (Be sure to check out our older interview with her circa that series as well.) Since then she has been in films like Rachel Getting Married, Cinderella Man (interesting trivia fact, that movie was about her grandfather), Men Women & Children, Kill the Messenger and the recent reboot of Poltergeist.  She also had recurring roles on Mad Men and United States of Tara.

The rest of the ensemble cast is a who’s who of Hollywood hipness, with such established actors as Orlando Bloom, Brie Larson, Sam Rockwell, Anna Kendrick, Mike Birbiglia, Chris Messina, Sam Elliott, Judith Light, Ron Livingston, Melanie Lynskey, Jenny Slate and Jane Adams all taking on supporting roles.

The week before Digging for Fire got its limited release, we were one of several media outlets who were able to speak with Johnson and DeWitt about the film.

Jake Johnson and Rosemarie DeWitt star in “Digging for Fire.”

How did you and Joe decide Rosemarie was right to play your wife?

Jake Johnson: We built this whole story. We didn’t have a script. We just had an outline. Then once we realized we were going to be telling two stories – his story and her story – we needed an actor who was strong enough, who could not only execute the life story but help write it. That’s how we got Rosemarie.

So you did some of the writing too?

Rosemarie DeWitt: No. He’s being crazy generous. They wrote all of the [plot]. It’s really hard to break a story. It’s really hard to come up with all the details; the beginning, the middle and the end. I didn’t feel like I was ever doing any mental gymnastics to figure out what comes next. You really get to go into the scene and know what it’s about. The words are yours, or your character’s. But they did all of the hard work. Then they surrounded us with phenomenal actors, all of whom could be the lead of this movie. [They] lent very generous support to the movie. I think Jenny Slate came there for two hours, to take a yoga class with me.

Jake Johnson: That’s right.

Rosemarie DeWitt: Chris Messina showed up and took his clothes off in that home.

Jake Johnson: Which was not written…

Rosemarie DeWitt: … which was not written…

Jake Johnson: That was Chris Messina’s idea. (laughs)

Rosemarie DeWitt: Yeah, but Chris and Sam had a really important job.

Jake Johnson: That’s right. Craziness.

Rosemarie DeWitt: They needed to bring a level of danger. Something could upend this marriage. If he went down the rabbit-hole of the guy he used to be, or wanted to be, or fantasizes about being. Orlando Bloom had to come in and be devastatingly handsome…

Jake Johnson: … Charming and funny…

Rosemarie DeWitt: and charming, and all that stuff. (laughs) It was hard. I mean, this is a really bit character role for Orlando.

Jake Johnson: He really did an excellent job in this movie. A lot of the people in this movie, you’re not surprised to see them in a little indie movie that was shot for 15 days.

Rosemarie DeWitt: Like Melanie Lynskey. Or me.

Jake Johnson: Ron [Livingston]. Myself. You. But, you still get the fun of seeing all of these faces. Orlando was the one for Joe and I. When he agreed to come on, we were like, “Orlando Bloom is doing this movie?” And he really shines in it.

Mike Birbiglia, Jake Johnson and Sam Rockwell star in “Digging for Fire.”

Does Joe just call people up?

Jake Johnson: For this movie, yeah.

For every scene, there is somebody you recognize.

Jake Johnson: The way this one was cast was, we knew we wanted to do this movie. Joe wanted it to feel like an LA movie. Part of that feeling like an LA movie is celebrity faces. Joe and I were both guys from Chicago, so even though I am on TV it still weirds me out when I go to an event and I see somebody’s face where I’m like, “Oh, there is that dude from that thing!” When we were talking about an LA movie, it’s everywhere you go you see a face that you kind of know from somewhere. Most of his movies take place in Chicago and it’s a different thing. When we realized we wanted to do that kind of movie, it became about just texting people or calling people and saying, “We only need you for a day and a half or two days. You’ll have a lot of freedom in character, but this is the arc and this is what we need you to do.” We were very fortunate a lot of people were around. We shot it over the summer when there is not as much work, so a lot of people were able to jump out and come and play with us.

Did you come up with the backstory for the pieces you put in your backyard? Did you come up with the backstory for the body within the movie?

Jake Johnson: A lot of the pieces I found in the backyard were real stuff I [had] found, but we had props. All of that stuff, I had found a version of that. They didn’t look like that, because I no longer have them. But all of that was real.

In your imagination did you come up with where they came from?

Jake Johnson: Yes. The version that’s not in the movie, but for Joe and I, it’s the neighbor character who paints that picture of what happened on the hill. We imagined this guy to be a character that we felt that we knew who he was. As we were talking about it, we didn’t think that that was important for anyone in the audience, but it helped us to feel… so he was connected to the neighbor. Because of the way this story works, it could have just been something totally different and the neighbor could have just been messing with him.

Rosemarie DeWitt: Yes.

Jake Johnson: We don’t give that hard answer. Also, when Joe and I do this, he and I always have slightly different takes. We never agree fully, because it doesn’t matter. But he’s like: No, it’s like that. And I’m like: No, it’s like that. And we’re like, (shrugs) all right. We’ll shoot it. Let the audience pick.

Rosemarie DeWitt stars in “Digging for Fire.”

This is based on a story that actually happened.

Jake Johnson: Yes.

As a co-writer in this movie, did it help your acting?

Jake Johnson: That’s a good question. I would say, actually, this one was trickier for me just to be an actor on. There were so many actors, and I talked to Joe about it after, I found myself being more than being more reactionary at times. Because we would paint this story. I would have these general strokes that we needed to do. Then I’d look around, and there’d be so much talent that rather than driving a scene forward, which is how we’d imagined it, I would sit there and be like, “wow, there is Mike Birbiglia talking with Sam Rockwell. And Anna Kendrick is there. And Brie Larson is running down.” I would just find myself watching and Joe being like, “The scene is working,” and I’d be like, “Yeah, it’s great.” At times, I’d forget that I’m in the scene. I’m the one who has to drive this, so, if anything, I think it actually made it a little harder to act in it. I like it more when I know a little bit, but then it’s just my job to get on the field and play and let other people think about it.

Rosemarie DeWitt: Yeah, because you kept saying to me, “Are you really going to do it that way?”

Jake Johnson: Well, you only, because I thought your choices were so odd and peculiar and terrible.

Rosemarie DeWitt: (laughs hard) Funny.

Jake Johnson: (fesses up) I never said that to her.

You just talked a little about how, when you and Joe have disagreements on something, you’d just shoot it both ways. How do you guys decide what to ultimately go with?

Jake Johnson: It’s funny you say that. I think I misinterpreted…

Rosemarie DeWitt: Joe wins.

Jake Johnson: Joe wins.

Rosemarie DeWitt: Yeah, because Joe’s in the editing room.

Jake Johnson: It’s Joe’s decision. So, in terms of the writing of this, all we had was an outline. In terms of shooting both ways, we don’t shoot it both ways. We just have different instincts while we’re shooting. So we’ll shoot it one way. In terms of the backstory of the guy back there, I know who I thought was back there and he knows who he thinks was back there, but it’s not like we are editing it together and I get to say like, “You must do this.” Well, there’s no studio, you know?  (laughs) This is a small movie, so he’ll say, “No. I’m doing this and I’m editing in Chicago and there is nothing you can do about it because you’re back to work on New Girl. You’ll see the movie when it’s done.”

Rosemarie DeWitt: You guys are also really easy going.

Jake Johnson: Oh, stop.

Rosemarie DeWitt: No, I’m just saying you trust him.

Jake Johnson: Yeah. That’s why I work with him. I think he’s very talented.

Digging for Fire

With so many improvised scenes, was there something you were sad to see cut?

Jake Johnson: No, because it’s not like an improvised studio movie, or even New Girl, where you shoot so much and then you whittle it down. We shot this movie on film. So with our budget, which was not a lot, all of that money went to the film. You can’t shoot a scene five, or six, times just to do it. Mostly what was shot, is in it. I heard that there was some stuff with Orlando that got cut.

Rosemarie DeWitt: That was one of the rare scenes where I think Joe Swanberg did old school Joe Swanberg. Where Orlando and I, when he cooks me a steak, we sat and did longer takes. We talked about a lot of different things. I think we couldn’t let the audience go too far down the rabbit hole with those two characters, because we had to come back around with these two characters. So a lot of the Orlando stuff (laughs) was honestly just too winning to end up in the movie – but that was the only place. Everything else, if anything, we went back and did a couple extra days and needed more.

Jake Johnson: Right. We did a couple days of basically story re-shoots, just to clarify some stuff.

Rosemarie DeWitt: And stretch some things out.

What do you think came out dramatically in terms of the film saying things about modern relationships? These two definitely go off and can keep going…

Jake Johnson: That’s right. I personally think what Joe and I were both interested in saying is that being in a relationship and having kids: it’s not a fairytale, and it’s not always the easiest. Sometimes things happen that you’re not always the most proud of, but you can take something from those experiences and bring them home, and it actually can make you guys stronger. You hear stories about people who take time off and then re-find each other. I think that’s something that we both found as strong rather than a sign of weakness. It’s hard but if you stick together you can make it work.

Rosemarie DeWitt: A lot of people like to say monogamy is not natural, and yet so many people want to get married. Really want to be married to the people that they are married to. They just need a minute to, like, oxygenate the relationship and try and bring some novelty to it. We made a movie about that – for people who really want to be married to who they’re married to. It’s not easy over the long haul to keep everybody feeling alive.

Orlando Bloom and Rosemarie DeWitt star in “Digging for Fire.”

Rosemarie, do you think seeing Orlando was what made her realize she had what she wanted all along?

Rosemarie DeWitt: Of course. (laughs) I’m kidding, I don’t know. Um, yeah. I think in that moment – well, that’s a scene actually went away. Jane [Adams] and I had a scene that almost turned into a really hot make out scene. (laughs more) I don’t know why, but in the middle of it I almost just kissed Jane too.

Jake Johnson: You’re on the beach, you got a fire going…

Rosemarie DeWitt: Yeah, I kiss everybody on the beach.

Jake Johnson: She kissed the sound guy.

Rosemarie DeWitt: Yeah, I just started kissing people who weren’t in the movie. But, yeah, I think Lee just found that the world was just so vast.

It put things in perspective?

Rosemarie DeWitt: Yeah, it put some things in perspective… like those things do. You know, a moment with nature or a brush with death and everything starts to make sense. I also think that sometimes you sit across from someone, and even if they’re as dreamy as Orlando Bloom’s character, you realize you have a pretty good at home and that it’s worth fighting for. I don’t think that she wants to stay on the beach. I think that moment was enough for her. In that scene, Saturn blew her mind more so than the night she was already having.

Was it a conscious decision to have Lee to have the extramarital kiss and not Tim?

Rosemarie DeWitt: (to Jake) Was it?

Jake Johnson: No. So what that was, that was working on a Joe Swanberg movie. When they were doing those scenes on the beach, we had not written in that they kissed.

Rosemarie DeWitt: Orlando just really fought for it. (laughs)

Jake Johnson: Orlando insisted on it. So that was something that when they got to the beach that night, Joe really wanted to see that scene happen. He pushed for it. That was something that Joe, in the moment, just felt was really right. But no, it wasn’t a planned-out thing. It wasn’t a big strategy. It was more of a moment for him.

Jake Johnson stars in “Digging for Fire.”

I have a question about the use of twos in the film. There are things like private versus public, but then you have your characters living in a duplex, Tim and Phil only been friends for two years, and then we have some twinning with Lee and Ben because they’re both wearing the same color shirt and the same color jacket on the beach. Could you tell me what you meant by that?

Jake Johnson: Whoa!

Rosemarie DeWitt: You know what’s really interesting? I don’t think there was anything in the things you just said, although your eye is amazing, I think it was more meant to be between Brie Larson’s character and the character of Lee. With having her wear the dress. There were supposed to be some similarities of how maybe Lee was when she was younger…

Jake Johnson: Right.

Rosemarie DeWitt: … And certainly between that absurd moment where you dressed like Sam Rockwell.  But those might be the things that just sort of happened out of the collective unconscious of the movie.

Jake Johnson: What I really think is interesting about your question – and I mean it genuinely, because we had this at a Q&A at Sundance – part of the fun of working on a Joe Swanberg movie is that we didn’t have department heads. We didn’t have a costume department. Joe just told people what to wear in the movie. So a lot of things like those connections, I believe that everything you just said is really interesting and right –  but it was not thought about or discussed. There were moments that we knew needed to happen. For Tim to give a dress to a woman that’s his wife dress: we wanted that just to be a major betrayal. Even though you could see that as innocent, I don’t think there’s a lot of women that would like some other woman wearing her clothes.

Right.

Jake Johnson: We wanted these things to happen, but we didn’t consciously connect them all. When people connect them all, I think it’s a neat thing the way that Joe makes movies.

Rosemarie DeWitt stars in “Digging for Fire.”

What do you want audience members to walk away with an understanding of?

Jake Johnson: At the end of the day, I make movies because I like to entertain people. I would like people to enjoy the journey. This is a smaller movie. It’s a character piece. It’s slower. I think people who like movies that are more character studies and who take their time – really, more than anything, rather than a lesson, I want people to have not regretted the hour and a half of their life.

Rosemarie DeWitt: (laughs) That would be good.

Jake Johnson: Truthfully now. If you watch this on video or if you go to the theater, I want to of made their night enjoyable. If you go to dinner and see a movie, I don’t want them to think, “I wish I hadn’t seen that movie.” We wanted to tell a story that was, ideally, something that was fun to watch, kept you in it, characters who you could relate to and think were real, and a story that ends in a way that you feel satisfied.

Rosemarie DeWitt: And I think that Joe makes movies that are really personal to him. He’s not afraid to tell the actors why it is so personal to him. We will sit down and he’ll say, for example, “Kris [Swanberg, his wife who is also a director] and I had a conversation about such and such,” regarding parenting or marriage, and I think that his hope and, my hope, is that somebody goes, “Oh that movie was made for me. I think that movie is a lot like my life. Or a lot like what I’m aspiring to do or aspiring not to do.” It’s not made for everybody.

Jake Johnson: That’s right. You just said it. When you make a movie this size, you are not trying with the net to catch every fish. But the fish you catch you really hope will love this. We really hope the people who like this movie can really connect to it. That would feel like a big win.

Jake Johnson stars in “Digging for Fire.”

Have you played a dad before?

Jake Johnson: Man, I don’t know. I can’t think of offhand, but I might have. Maybe not. Maybe this was the first time.

Rosemarie DeWitt: At least in a movie…

Jake Johnson: It’s an interesting time, when you start having kids and you get married. I think the way that the story is told wrong is that “yes dear” mentality of like, “I’m dying to party, but my ball and chain won’t let me.” What feels more modern is that you’re definitely allowed to, but you’re just going to be tired all the time. When you’re partying with your buddies, you’re going to suck because you want to talk about your kids. Then when you’re with your kids, you’re going to so be tired because you partied with your buddies. I don’t think you ever stop missing being in your 20s and partying because it’s so fun. Now, you just party a little differently. (laughs)

Rosemarie DeWitt: You put on Barney and dance around the living room.

Jake Johnson: That’s right. And then drink ten bottles of wine when the kids fall asleep.

Rosemarie DeWitt stars in “Digging for Fire.”

It was really refreshing to see a female character play not being a nagging wife. Was that something that attracted you to the role?

Rosemarie DeWitt: Yeah. It’s interesting, there was a moment where we did a scene with Jude Swanberg, who is really Joe’s darling little son in real life, who plays our son in the movie. Long story short, I made him cry in the scene because I told him not to say “poopy” at the table. Then he started crying and I felt like I mean monster. But in that moment, it’s that moment that a lot of women relate to. I look at Jake and say, “See, you make me be the bad guy.” Women don’t want to nag. They know stuff needs to get done. They know their husband wants to stay on Reddit till four in the morning, or wants to go drinking with the boys… They want to do those things too, but they’re also trying to keep all the balls in the air. There’s something nice about this character for me; that she gets to do that and lead her life. We see that she has the fully alive juicy side too, she just sometimes has to be the bad guy.

Was that line ad-libbed?

Rosemarie DeWitt: It was definitely ad-libbed, and then Joe [liked it].

Jake Johnson at NY press day for “Digging for Fire.” Photo copyright 2015 Brad Balfour.

You and Rosemarie have such great on-screen chemistry together, how involved were you with the casting of her and the other characters as well?

Jake Johnson: For Roe, I was involved a lot, because in terms of the male-female dynamics, and it’s really Joe’s theory that I jumped onto, it’s really hard to write a female character as a dude. And Joe and I are both kind of dudes. We needed somebody who could come in who would have a lot of input and wasn’t going to be saying like, “What should I say now? What should I do here?” We needed someone who was going to be strong enough.

Rosemarie DeWitt: I was like, “Fuck you guys. That’s bullshit!”

Jake Johnson: (laughs) It happened with Roe, and it also happened with Brie where her character in this movie, in our outline, was supposed to have a crush on my character. There was supposed to be sexual tension. That’s what we wrote. That’s what we imagined. She came in when we met on it…

Rosemarie DeWitt: … And Brie was like, “Fuck you guys.” (laughs)

Jake Johnson: Yeah. In a very nice way, she goes, “Why would I be sexually attracted to an older guy who has got a kid?” Joe and I were like, (macho) “Yeah totally.”

Jake Johnson and Joe Swanberg at NY press day for “Digging for Fire.” Photo copyright 2015 Brad Balfour.

Rosemarie DeWitt: (laughs) They were like, “This is the male fantasy version that we wrote.” And then the real 25-year-old woman came in and said no.

Jake Johnson: She said, “I would be attracted to this weird adventure, that you were looking for a body. I’d like to hang out and maybe smoke a joint and go digging for a body, but I would definitely not want to sleep with you.” So Joe and I had a real eye-opener.

Rosemarie DeWitt: After Jake picked his ego off of the floor… (laughs)

Jake Johnson: I went home and I held on to a big glass of rum and felt bad for myself. But then we’re like, all right, if that’s the case, what keeps you around? She wanted to have intellectual conversations and talk about her adventures on Ayahuasca [a native-American “medicinal” tea]. The connection was my character doesn’t feel like he and his wife will take a crazy adventure like taking Ayahuasca because of their responsibilities. The story becomes then about that. In terms of my involvement in the casting, it was we wanted to cast – especially when you just had an outline – the most interesting people we could get. Who were smart so that they could say things like that rather than just, “Oh my God, I would totally have a crush on your character.” To which Joe and I would give each other a high five and be like (macho again) “That’s what we figured, ladies.” (DeWitt laughs)

Digging for Fire

Now that you’ve co-written a movie, have you found that you’d like to do another one?

Jake Johnson: It’s interesting. We did another one that we actually wrote more on together. This one, it feels a little bit weird being a writer on it. It felt more to me like that’s a union status thing. Joe and I did another movie this summer that we wrote way more on – to experiment more. We actually had dialogue and some scenes. But for Digging For Fire, it really felt like we came up with the story. Joe, who really oversees it, deserves a lot more of the credit, because he also edits it. This was really an ensemble and everybody brought a lot to the table on it.

In today’s day and age you see male nudity so infrequently. Would you mind telling us a little backstory to that scene?

Jake Johnson: Here’s the back story. I’ve been a fan of Chris [Messina] for a long time. Because of Mindy [Chronicles] and New Girl [both Fox comedies that ran on the same night], we’ve spent so much time together at Fox events. He’s just a guy that I’ve wanted to work with for years. In this movie, we only had an open part for a party scene. But that seems really important and it felt very dangerous and really crazy and different than Tim’s life. Exciting in a way that, when he shows up to the party, the stakes get raised. People out there, the talk was cocaine and a different kind of party. It was his idea. Chris said, “Well one thing that be weird, especially in a house that you’re house sitting, is if my character took off his clothes and jumped into the pool. It would definitely take the party to another level.”

Rosemarie DeWitt: It would take the film to another level.

Jake Johnson: Yes, it would take the film. We all laughed. We were in a bar and said like, “Sure, Chris. That sounds fun.” When we were shooting and he said, “I’m going to take my pants off and do it.” So he did. I really think it adds to a weird element of the movie, where you don’t know where the story is going at that point. So I respect and appreciate the fact that he did it.

It is sort of a pivot point in the film. Once that happens, anything is possible.

Jake Johnson: I think that’s right.

Rosemarie DeWitt: Also, the night is supposed to take a little bit of a turn.

I liked the score, it felt sort of like an 80s adventure. How did that come about?

Jake Johnson: Yeah, the score of the movie, that’s really a Joe thing. But what we wanted while we were shooting, Ben Richardson, the DP [Director of Photography], who also did Drinking Buddies and Beasts of the Southern Wild, he wanted it to feel almost like a Spielberg movie at times on that hill. Where it felt like a bigger adventure and it felt fun and exciting. I know Joe when he did the score wanted it to have that epic feeling, if possible.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 22, 2015.

Photos 1-10, 13 ©2015. Courtesy of The Orchard. All rights reserved.

Photos 11-12  ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Jack & Jack

Jack & Jack

A Tale of Two Jacks

by Maggie Mitchell

Like so many young celebrities today, Jack and Jack were discovered on the internet. The first gained notice on Vine, to be exact.

Coming from a small town in Nebraska, the hip hop/pop duo consisting of Jack Gilinsky and Jack Johnson are actually refreshingly different from some of the other personalities though.  Unlike many others whose rise to fame came via your social media feeds, Gilinsky and Johnson remain grounded.

They both have tight-knit families who are involved in their careers and follow what they are doing.  With this support and healthy up bringing, the young duo continues to bring positive, refreshing messages through their music, and their tweets, which are seen daily by their ever growing fan base whose ages ranges from ten and up.

With a combined total of more than 4.6 million followers on Twitter, Gilinsky and Johnson are capturing the hearts of young teens and tweens worldwide.  Their faces are everywhere from social media to gaming aps and clothing ads including Mudd Brand, which is sold exclusively at Kohl’s.  As a brand ambassador for Mudd, the guys work alongside friends and other social media stars – Sammy Wilkinson and Ally Simpson.

A few other projects the young entrepreneurs have taken part in include partnering with Pizza Hut and Sour Patch Kids Prom.  You’ll even find them doing Dell ads in your local movie theaters.

Gilinsky and Johnson started out making videos and vines for fun.  As they uploaded more videos, they gained more followers and got more and more likes.  Their popularity skyrocketed.  With this rapid fame, J&J soon joined a popular social media tour with other artists doing the same things they were doing.  They travelled across North America performing with nearly a dozen other artists.

In the midst of these tours,  J&J found their musical calling and starting writing and producing music.  Both Jacks also play instruments.  They co-wrote with the Eakins brothers and in January 2014 they released their first original song “Distance.”  It reached #7 on the iTunes US Hip Hop Charts.  Once the duo felt they were in a good place creatively, they left the tour to follow after their own goals.

Life has certainly changed for the guys in the last few years.  Now that they’ve released nearly a dozen other songs and they’re performing in front of over 10,000 people, the boys have changed their zip code from one in rural Omaha, Nebraska to one in sunny California.  Relocating to Los Angeles has offered J&J more opportunities for growth in their music career, as well as opened many doors in the entertainment industry.

The boys continue to find success with their music releases, selling well over a million downloads on iTunes including with their new release “Calibraska” which soared up the iTunes charts the day it was released.  Now touring on their own, J&J partnered with DigiTour, another popular social media tour, to help plan their first tour.  They scheduled 18 dates.  They sold out all but four.

Earlier this year, J&J hopped across the pond and opened for the Janoskians in their London performance at the famous Wembley Stadium.  They’ve continued to write music and are spending the summer of 2015 touring with multiple solo performances and some additional tour stops for DigiTour.  They also hit the stage for the Show of the Summer (SOTS) alongside Shawn Mendes, R5, Jacob Whiteside, Sabrina Carpenter and Mahogany Lox, which is where we caught up with them to chat.

Jack Gilinsky

How are you guys today?

Jack Gilinsky:  We’re great!

Jack Johnson:  Great!

We’ve never spoken to you before can you tell us a little about what you guys do?

Jack Gilinsky: Basically, I mean we do a lot, but our main focus right now is music. We are really focused on making it. We are coming with a four-five song EP for our fans. We like to make music for people that listen to it!

Jack Johnson: Outside of that, I’d say we just love entertaining in general. We started making sketch videos online. That’s kind of our come up, you know! That’s what we started doing! We never want to isolate that part of us. We always want to do both. I think entertainment in general is about passion. We love captivating as many people as possible!

You guys are from the same town. How did you meet?

Jack Gilinsky: We met on the first day of kindergarten. I was four and he was five. The reason we came together was that we were wearing the same shirt.

Jack Johnson: Yeah, that’s something you become friends over in kindergarten.

Jack Gilinsky: Then, we learned that we had the same name as well.

Jack Johnson: Guaranteed best friends!

Jack Gilinsky: That’s the way it’s been since then.

Jack Johnson: We grew up together in Omaha, Nebraska all the way until we graduated high school. We moved out to LA about six months ago. That’s where we are based now. Been with each other from the get-go.

Jack Johnson

When did you guys meet musically, and decide you wanted to pursue it?

Jack Johnson: We were always messing around. I would always be beat boxing. He would be coming up with melodies when we were kids. We had this YouTube channel where we would make song parodies back in sixth grade – to like ’Sexy Can I’ by Ray J, and ’Apologize’ by One Republic.

Jack Gilinsky: All the most random songs!

Jack Johnson: All the top 40 songs! We would be making these song parodies all the time on YouTube. We didn’t really get that many fans from that because we were sixth graders. It’s hard to accumulate a fan base when you are that young. Once, we got a little older and vine came around, we started putting out small six-second musical covers on there, interspersed with our comedy clips. Those got a really good response from our fans. “You guys should make some actual tracks, go in the studio.” We were like “we’re in Omaha, Nebraska. We don’t know where to find a studio!” We had never thought about that!

Jack Gilinsky: Finally, some teenagers in our town reached out to us, and were like, “We have seen your covers on vine. They’re really good. You should try to make your own songs, or at least cover a song.”

Jack Johnson: They said they had produced. They were like “Yo, if you guys want to come through and make some tracks, let’s do it!” So we were like why not just try it!

Jack Gilinsky: Let’s just try it, and go out on a limb!

Jack Johnson: So, we made our first four tracks with these guys. They got a generally nice response from our fans on iTunes! That just prompted us to  go to LA. Work with some bigger, better producers, and start getting really involved musically. It has been a really awesome experience. The music is just getting better. Better quality every day!

Jack Johnson

How does it feel to have all these people come out and see you perform?

Jack Johnson: It’s crazy! Not only is it awesome that there are 12,000 people out there, but just performing alongside of  these people – like Fifth Harmony, Shawn Mendes, Jacob Whitesides, Sabrina, R5. They are all really dope acts. It’s cool to have that association, and it’s cool to be performing on the same stage as them. It’s really awesome, because this is probably our most important show to date. We have never really performed with traditional acts. Stuff we’ve done has been social media tours and stuff. This might be a turning point for us where we start performing alongside these traditional music acts. It’s really exciting and amazing to be here in Pennsylvania.

Jack Gilinsky: It is really cool. There are big acts like Shawn Mendes and Fifth Harmony, who are bigger than us. You know that there are going to be fans out there who might not know who we are, or maybe know who we are but never got invested in us. This show could  be the reason that they start following us.  We are just really excited to get out there, and prove ourselves to the people who don’t know us.   

Did you ever imagine you’d be doing what you’re doing today?

Jack Gilinsky: I always knew that I wasn’t going to work that solid nine-to-five job, do the same routine everyday. I wanted to switch it up, and have a different and interesting life! I always wanted to be an actor, to be honest. I’m happy that I am doing this now. I love performing. It’s the best thing in the world.

Jack Johnson: Yeah definitely! I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome from all the stuff that’s been going on! It’s been a fun time. We definitely didn’t expect it when we first started doing it, but it did happen. It’s happening. It’s really cool. We are really blessed!

Jack Gilinsky

How was the transition from touring with a bunch of other artists to touring by yourself for your music career?

Jack Gilinsky: It’s really crazy, because at first we were with other acts, other personalities who were selling tickets alongside of us, so we never really knew our true power.

Jack Johnson: We didn’t know that we could sell out our own venues, just me and Jack, without the help of the other social media stars that we were associated with.

Jack Gilinsky: So when we first put on our 17-city tour for DigiTour, Chicago sold out in a day or two. We were like this is one of our biggest venues on the tour, and we just sold it out! That was really crazy for me.

Jack Johnson: Really eye-opening! It was the first time we had done something, and promoted tickets for under our name. It was cool to see that we had our own devoted fan base, outside of the guys that we were with. That really prompted us to keep doing things for our fans! Our fans specifically.

What’s your favorite thing about performing on stage?

Jack Gilinsky: One of the best things is just the response, the interaction with the crowd. Like if I am like “Yeahhhh!” I give that energy to that crowd, then when they are like “Yeah!” they give it back to me! It’s just a back and forth thing.  It’s so great! At least with our demographic of fans. They are very responsive.

Jack Johnson: It’s awesome, because they are so interactive. If we start telling them to waves their hands, they will do it. It looks visually cool from the stage, just seeing that many people waving their hands. It’s back and forth. It’s just awesome to know that these fans are so dedicated to us that they will actually interact with us while we are on stage, and get really invested in our show.

Jack Gilinsky: The craziest part for me actually is when I’m singing a part, and I see these girls singing with me. I remember writing these songs in my room alone with Jack J, and [totally] alone. Now, we are out here where like 12,000 people know the lyrics. Sometimes we’ll put the mic down and let them sing. That gives me goose-bumps every time. We wrote those lyrics, just me and you in a room, and now there’s thousands of people singing them.

Jack Johnson: It’s really an awesome thing.

Jack & Jack

Since you are around each other so much, do you guys have any pet peeves about each other?

Jack Gilinsky: Nothing that would really make me give up being with Jack J. But he can be messy.  It gets on my nerves sometimes, but I don’t really mind.

Jack Johnson: Hmm, let’s see! He takes a while getting ready. Just being timely, I guess. Making sure his outfit is perfectly on point before he leaves the house, which isn’t a bad thing! Got to keep up with appearances, and stuff!

Jack Gilinsky: I take my time, and over-analyze things.

Jack Johnson: But, it’s all good. We learned that that’s how the other people are.

Any upcoming surprises?

Jack Gilinsky: I don’t know how much of a surprise it is…

Jack Johnson: We have an EP coming out for pre-order sometime this month.  We’re really excited. We have the artwork for it, and the title for it. We can’t really give that info out yet because we want it to be a surprise. It’s all one. It’s just about us getting it out there, and packaging it and what not. We’re still independent, so there are still some loopholes and barriers that happen. But it’s definitely happening soon. We have the whole project together. The music is better then ever. I’m excited for the fans to see it. This is our first project.

Where do you see yourself in the next ten years?

Jack Johnson: I can’t answer that question. In fact I can’t answer that question because I don’t know where I can see myself in two months, to be honest. Our schedules are so sporadic, and we have so many different passions, it’s really hard to say what our passions are going to be in ten years. I know we’ll still be doing music, and we’ll still be a duo, but I don’t know exactly what the circumstances around that are going to be. We love what we do, and even if we are doing the same thing we are doing now in ten years I would be happy, because we have the best fans in the world. Screaming at our shows, that’s the best feeling in the world.

Jack Gilinsky: I hope it’s something along the lines of what we are doing now.

Fan Questions

@spooningjacks  Is fame everything you thought it would be?

Jack Gilinsky:  I don’t really consider myself “famous.” But, there are certainly pros and cons to being so well-known. I love interacting with our fans.  But, at times, I just want to chill with family or friends and really like to unplug from being recognized and connecting with fans.

@jackshyphy If you could be one celebrity for a day, who would it be?

Jack Gilinsky:  I would love to be Drake for a day, to play my own music and bump with my friends at a party.

@fireproofmxndes What’s the favorite song you’ve made so far?

Jack Gilinsky:  “Like That.” I feel like this song is moving us closer to the Jack & Jack sound.

@graciemurray  What do you miss about being in high school?

Jack Gilinsky:  Being with all our “Day One Homies” back home.

@shootjohnson  If you could personally witness any historical event, what would it be?  

Jack Gilinsky:  I would love to have witnessed Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

@virtualhailey   Best comment about your group and who was it by?

Jack Gilinsky:  I can’t connect these comments to any one fan, but we read things like this a lot.  It’s awesome when fans say something like “I expected you to be so different in person, but you guys are exactly the same as you seem on the screen.” Or “I met you guys two years ago and you are the same today as you were then”.  We feel like we are the same people we were two years ago.  But, it really reinforces those feelings when fans see that we are still real and grounded.

Last question, do you have a message for your fans?

Jack Johnson: Yes, we have many messages for our supporters! One I definitely try to get across is keep a positive mindset! We always see stuff on Twitter about how they turn to us for happiness. That we are their outlet, I suppose, when they hit rock bottom, and feel like they have no one to turn to. Just knowing that we can make their day, and make their mindset positive as supposed to negative with maybe a simple favorite or a tweet or just DM’ing them after we read their letter! That’s the best feeling, because we know that we can actually physically change somebody’s life every single day. Not many people have that power! Our message is just to anybody out there that just feels like they are at a tough spot in life to keep a positive mindset! Remember that there are people out there that love you!

Jack Gilinsky: Keep your head up. There is always someone that loves you! People that hate you are just jealous, or they have their own bad life to worry about. Worry about yourself, and keep a positive mindset! You’ll be good I promise!

Jack Johnson: Look for your own personal happiness!

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 28, 2015.

Photos by Maggie Mitchell © 2015

The Gift

THE GIFT (2015)

Starring Jason Bateman, Joel Edgerton, Rebecca Hall, Busy Philipps, David Denman, Allison Tolman, Katie Aselton, Susan May Pratt, Wendell Pierce, Beau Knapp, Tim Griffin, Nash Edgerton and P.J. Byrne.

Screenplay by Joel Edgerton.

Directed by Joel Edgerton.

Distributed by STX Entertainment.  108 minutes.  Rated R.

There is one basic truth that has been unquestionably true for many, many generations: there are very few things that can be more hurtful and casually evil than a high school student.  (Except, perhaps, for a middle school student.)  Bullies have been tormenting the weak for as long as anyone can remember and sadly it will not stop anytime in the near future.

However, at what point does one let go of that experience?  Does the bully or the victim let go of the anguish caused and the perceived roles and move on, or do they continue to stew in it, allowing that experience to define not only who they are, but who they become?

There is no one answer to that question, everyone reacts differently.  The Gift connects a thriller structure to that question, showing the alpha male having to deal with the beta trying to muscle in to his territory.

It all starts pretty simply.  Simon (Jason Bateman), a successful corporate exec, has recently moved back to his old hometown outside of LA to take a new job.  When shopping with his wife Robyn (Rebecca Hall) to get furniture for their new modern home, they happen to run into Gordon (Joel Edgerton), an old high school acquaintance.  Simon does not appear to even recognize the guy at first, but Gordon tries awkwardly to befriend the couple.

There is obviously something a bit off about Gordon (amongst other things, Edgerton’s oddball makeup job makes his own face look like a mask), but he appears to genuinely want nothing more than to welcome them back to the neighborhood and maybe make some new friends.  He’s sad and needy, but is he a threat?

Robyn starts to kind of like the odd little guy, but Simon bristles at the idea of letting Gordon into their life.  Since Simon refuses to discuss their past together, Robyn starts to investigate what had happened in high school, eventually learning that Simon and Gordon’s history was much more diabolical than she would imagine from her husband.  When Simon tells Gordon in no uncertain terms that he does not want the guy in their lives, a series of mysterious “accidents” starts to happen and Robyn starts to feel she is being watched in their house.

Is Gordon taking revenge, or is it just their imagination?

This is a pretty boiler-plate thriller scenario, with the past bullying added as seasoning – a flavor enhancement that is nice though not completely necessary for the story.  Through a plot twist that is openly outed in the film’s trailer, the audience is left unsure throughout whether Gordon or Simon is actually the aggressor causing the problems.

By the time the film reaches its surprise ending – and it is something of a shock, if just vaguely unbelievable – the audience’s, as well as Robyn’s, opinion of both men has changed back and forth several times.  It becomes a mean, hurtful, dirty game that leaves both men reeling.

Still, there is something just a bit pathetic about two men well into their 40s who still are tussling over an old high school grudge, even one that was as extreme as this one appears to have been.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: August 31, 2015.

The D Train

THE D TRAIN (2015)

Starring Jack Black, James Marsden, Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor, Russell Posner, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer, Han Soto, J.T. Rowland, Henry Zebrowski, Nicole Barré, Adria Tennor, Donna Duplantier, Denise Williamson and Dermot Mulroney.

Screenplay by Jarrad Paul & Andrew Mogel.

Directed by Jarrad Paul & Andrew Mogel.

Distributed by Paramount Pictures.  97 minutes.  Rated R.

I gotta give The D Train this, they certainly take the quickly-becoming-a-cliche bromance film and take it to a whole new level.  Whether that is a good thing or a bad thing is a matter of personal opinion, I suppose, but you have to give the film a certain amount of props for fearlessness.

The D Train starts out like The Odd Couple, or The Hangover, or I Love You Man, or Get Him to the Greek, or Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle.  But just when you think you know where this comfortably unchallenging buddy film is going, the movie flips the switch on you: the “bromantic” couple actually has sex.  Like serious, don’t-drop-the-soap sex, not rape exactly and but not exactly wanted by the recipient either.

It is at the end of a debauched evening, both of them are crazy drunk, and neither of them are gay (one is devoutly straight, the other one is bi).  It was not out of love and neither of them wants to repeat it, but still for the straight guy, this completely out-of-character action has floored him.  He’s not sure how he feels about what has happened – guilty, disgusted, a little turned on, oddly jealous – but suddenly everything the guy thought he knew about the world seems wrong.  And how can he go back to his suburban world of husband and dad after this like nothing ever happened?

It’s an extremely edgy direction to take a film which had been seeming to be content take the easy way out.  And while The D Train doesn’t quite live up to its storytelling chutzpah, it changes what was a pleasant-but-forgettable standard issue comedy into something darker and more nuanced.

It is also impressive that co-writers/directors Jarrad Paul & Andrew Mogel did not use this plot twist as a joke, a way to mock the characters.  It was a real life-changing situation (at least for one of them) with real fallout, and the film treats it with gravity.

But we have gotten ahead of ourselves.  While that controversial narrative choice may make The D Train stand out of the pack, it is not the be all and end all of the film.  (In fact, advertisements for the film pretty much ignore that particular tangent.)

As I said, the movie starts in a much more common, if still rather enjoyable, domain.  It is a high school reunion film, which are always bittersweet even though they are usually comedies: (i.e. Romy & Michelle’s High School Reunion, 10 Years, Peggy Sue Got Married, American Reunion, Grosse Point Blank.).

Jack Black, in his best role in years (I suppose since Bernie), plays Dan – a former high school loser who now has a dull 9 to 5 job, is married to his sweet high school flame (Kathryn Hahn) and is the father of a similarly dorky son.  (Dan was so scarred by his high school experience that everytime his son suggests that he may have met a girl, Dan is certain that it is a trick to humiliate him.)

Despite having been a social pariah at school and having every reason to want to forget the four years completely, Dan has become the gung ho head of the high school alumni association, trying to set up the class reunion.  Just like in school, his association co-members can’t stand him, regularly tease him and refuse to invite him out for beers when they go out after meetings.

Instead of making him want to quit, the irrationally needy Dan just works harder and harder to get everyone to like him, with little or no success.  However Dan needs to feel a part of something, a drive and a want that colors his every action.  One night when watching TV on late night, he sees a cheesy commercial for Banana Boat suntan lotion and recognizes the lead actor as Oliver (James Marsden), a good-looking former classmate who disappeared to Hollywood to discover fame and fortune.  Dan just knows that if he brings this Hollywood star back to the reunion, he will finally gain the love and respect that he so hugely yearns for.

Therefore, Dan puts his job on the line and makes up a fake business trip to LA to catch up with his old classmate.  Dan has stars in his eyes from the moment he makes it out there, certain his old buddy is living the TV star dream (in a nice, good-natured cameo, Dan is pumped that Oliver might know actor Dermot Mulroney, and Oliver plays along).  In reality, though, Oliver’s career has never taken off (the suntan ad is the only job he’s gotten in years), he drinks and does drugs and parties wildly.  Oliver feels he is a fraud and has no interest in going back to his old hometown to be put on display.

Oliver takes Dan on a couple of raucous, drug and alcohol and girl wild nights of crazy Hollywood partying, and on the last of those nights they end up back at Oliver’s apartment and things happen.

Feeling bad for his old friend, Oliver finally decides to go back to the reunion for him, but suddenly Dan is not so sure he wants him there.  However, when he comes to stay with them, Dan’s emotions get even more complicated: he wants Oliver to go and yet he is jealous about other people getting to spend time with Oliver at the same time.

Of course things get out of control, the secret gets out and people are hurt all around, and yet the film plays this out in a nice, easy and non-judgmental style.  The film is somewhat ambiguous about how this episode will affect his marriage and his job, but that’s okay.  It’s not a drama, it is a light comedy, after all.  But The D Train treats its potentially explosive situation more evenhandedly and respectfully than we had any reason to believe, so we’ll forgive the movie its little flaws.

Dave Strohler

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: September 4, 2015.

We got to check in with Ross and Riker Lynch right before they embark on their European Tour! Listen to what they tell us about the band and what’s coming up!

The Last Man on Earth – The Complete First Season

The Last Man on Earth

The Complete First Season – 2015 (20th Century Fox Home Video-2015)

Apocalypse is not considered to be a subject which elicits yuks, so the idea of surviving in a post-apocalyptic world would seem an odd subject for a sitcom.  Well Will Forte (Saturday Night Live, Nebraska) has created a sitcom with thorns, a show that is effortlessly funny and yet it also is not afraid to wallow in mournfulness.

The Last Man on Earth bypasses traditional sitcom rhythms and puts together a weird vibe all of its own.  It’s difficult to build an entire show on such a somber situation as having the whole wide world decimated by a super flu.  It’s particularly tricky when you consider that there are only seven characters in the entire season – eight if you count a new character who is revealed in the final scene of the season finale, or ten if you count flashbacks and fantasies.  It’s a whole lot of heavy lifting for a small group of people to keep an audience tuned in and interested for 13 episodes.

While the post-apocalypse of The Last Man on Earth is somewhat benign – there are no freeways full of abandoned cars, and more vitally, no corpses strewn about everywhere (what happened to all of them?) – the series does oddly capture the solitude and moments of desperation and melancholy of the situation.

The series starts with Phil Miller (Forte), who is spending his post apocalypse driving around the United States, stealing national treasures and doing vaguely antisocial things with flamethrowers and bowling balls.

The one smart thing he did – perhaps the one smart thing that he has done in his life – is stop all over and spray paint “Alive in Tucson” on billboards around the country.  Because of this, slowly throughout the season other survivors end up in Tucson.

Eventually convinced that the whole country is dead and he is indeed the last man on Earth, he returns to his hometown of Tucson, commandeering an abandoned McMansion for his home, stealing bushels of porn, swimming in a kiddie pool of tequila, befriending a bunch of balls with faces drawn on them (a la Tom Hanks Castaway, which he mocked earlier) and getting a crush on a hot mannequin in a store window.

He’s alone and honestly massively horny.  In fact he is just about to end it all when a woman arrives.  The problem is, that woman in Carol (Kristen Schaal of 30 Rock), a woman who is not exactly gorgeous, a bit annoying, kind of a nag, constantly correcting his grammar and who refuses to sleep with him unless they are married – even though they are the last hope for sustaining life in the human race.

He finally agrees to marry Carol and starts a rather unsatisfactory sex life when Melissa (January Jones of Mad Men) shows up, his dream girl – gorgeous, sweet, and with much more in common with him than Carol.  As Carol and Melissa become fast friends, Phil starts plotting how he can leave Carol and take up with Melissa, despite the fact that his obvious attempts make Melissa more and more contemptuous of him.  Then as more survivors slowly filter in throughout the series (Mel Rodriguez, Mary Steenburgen, Cleopatra Coleman and Boris Kodjoe), Phil’s attempt to be the alpha male in this new society become more desperate and pathetic.  Eventually, when a true alpha male also with the name Phil Miller (Kodjoe) shows up, he even loses his name, being called Tandy by his co-horts from there on.

It takes a certain amount of balls to make your lead character by far the worst person on the screen – a habitual liar, massively jealous, needy, greedy and selfish.  However, somehow Forte makes Phil’s whininess and weaselly qualities sort of winning, if not exactly likable.

As The Last Man on Earth takes its eccentric trail in an abbreviated series worth of episodes – and it’s probably a good thing to binge watch this particular series rather than waiting a week between episodes – it grows on you with it’s out-there world view.  You rarely know for sure where the show is going, and that is a very good thing.  In a world where network sitcom execs think it’s adventurous to remake The Odd Couple for the umpteenth time, here is something which is truly unique.  And it has the added bonus of being pretty damned funny.

It will be interesting to see where the show goes from here.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com.  All rights reserved.  Posted: September 27, 2015.

Sullivan Stapleton stars in BLINDSPOT.

Sullivan Stapleton

Seeing Past His Blindspot

by Jay S. Jacobs

NBC’s buzzworthy new action series Blindspot has one hell of a jumping off point.

One night a large duffle bag mysteriously appears in the middle of New York’s Times Square, with a note on it to contact the FBI. The busiest area in the US is completely evacuated as the bomb squad comes in to see what is in the bag. As they are about to potentially explode the duffle, it starts to move from the inside.

The zipper opens and a naked woman covered head to toe with tattoos (played by Jaimie Alexander of the Thor films) climbs out of the bag. She is completely confused and scared and has no idea who or where she is. Her memory has been obliterated by an experimental drug and all of the tattoos have been drawn on her in the last couple of weeks.

In the series, Australian actor Sullivan Stapleton plays Kurt Weller, an FBI agent who is drawn into the case when it turns out that his name is one of the most conspicuous tattoos placed on her body. Weller is put in charge of figuring out who the woman (they all refer to her as Jane Doe) is and why she was kidnapped. As he gets to know her it becomes obvious that she has certain special military skills and may have been a special forces agent.

This is Sullivan’s second consecutive American series, Blind Spot is literally starting right as his Cinemax military series Strike Back is finishing its fifth (and final) season. Sullivan has also starred in such films as 300: Rise of an Empire, Kill Me Three Times and Gangster Squad.

Right after the series premiere, we were one of several press outlets who had the chance to chat with Stapleton about Blindspot.

Sullivan Stapleton and Jaimie Alexander star in BLINDSPOT.

So much of the show is about figuring out who Jane is and what her history is, but Weller’s got his own story going on. How much are we going to find out about your character and his back story over the course of the season?

Sullivan Stapleton: We’ll find a lot out about his past and how focused he is on his job.  Also trying to help solve the case of who Jane Doe is.

Can you compare the action that you’re going to do in this to what you did in Strike Back? You got hurt really badly making that one.

Sullivan Stapleton: Yes, but that was nothing to do with a stunt on the show. You’re going to see some action, drama and thriller [on Blindspot]. But there was absolutely a lot more action in Strike Back. It’s a very different world to play, soldiers as opposed to FBI agents.

After Strike Back, were you inundated with different scripts? If they were, why does this appeal to you the most?

Sullivan Stapleton: This is an awesome story. It’s been created by [Martin] Gero, who’s a great man. The premise for the show, it excited me to actually see where this will go throughout the season. Also, it’s shot in New York. [The] people that created it and the NBC and Warner Brothers family, it was an easy ship to jump onboard.

BLINDSPOT — “Pilot” — Pictured: Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Just in the first episode he seems like a pretty complex, incredible character.

Sullivan Stapleton: Yes, it is. And obviously, you find out more about Kurt as we go on. But yes, it’s interesting to find out what drove him to become an FBI agent. Then, also, what is the  connection between these two people, Kurt Weller and Jane Doe? It’s a great start.

We’ve seen so many FBI characters on TV. Often times they’re kind of cookie-cutter. I was really surprised at how intelligent your character was, how compassionate he was, how understanding he was about Jane. Can you speak to what you like about this character and how he’s different from so many FBI agents we’ve seen on television?

Sullivan Stapleton: I love the fact that there is this connection between Kurt and Jane Doe. What is this connection between these two? Just his grasp in trying to solve cases. That is what I love about this character of Kurt. As you said, it’s not the cookie-cutter FBI agent. It’s not just an each-case procedural. We get to explore his past and this connection between himself and Jane Doe. You see the drive that makes this man who he is. He is a very layered man. Very focused at work, but yet you do see some of the emotional characteristics of him.

BLINDSPOT — “Pilot” –Pictured:(l-r) Jamie Alexander as Jane Doe, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

How does Kurt feel about Jane at this point, going into the second episode. He’s been very good to her, but obviously he must be a little suspicious with some of the interesting things that have come out of her mouth and out of her fists, so…

Sullivan Stapleton: (laughs) At first we are quite suspicious as to why the FBI was directly linked to this case, this target. What the connection is. Why his name was tattooed on her back. Through obviously the investigation and the tests they’ve put her through, he realizes that she’s telling the truth. Therefore I think we do see that almost caring nature of him. The fact that he does sympathize or empathize with the fact that she’s lost. [He] obviously understands that it would be quite hard to lose your identity, who you are or where you’re from.

You’re supposed to be training her, or attempting to train her, until she turns the tables in this week’s episode. Do you see Weller getting more suspicious of her as he starts to realize that she’s got all these skills?

Sullivan Stapleton: No, I don’t know about suspicion. I think that just opens up the door to actually really trying to find out who she is. How she understands the different aspects of the world we’re in. She understands weapons and fighting. That just becomes more intriguing for them as they’re finding stuff out.

BLINDSPOT — Season: Pilot — Pictured: Ukweil Roach as Borden, Ashley Johnson as Patterson, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe, Audrey Esparza as Tasha Zapata, Rob Brown as Edgar Ramirez, Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Bethany Mayfair — (Photo by: Sandro/NBC)

What characteristics do you like about the role you’re playing in the series as compared to other roles?

Sullivan Stapleton: Well, I like that Kurt is a pretty honest and straight-up guy. He’s obviously very focused at his job, for good reasons. Something happened in his past that drives him to try to make the world a better place by chasing criminals, solving cases. Which in turn saves people’s lives. I like the fact that he’s got a big heart. That’s how he lives his life. He’s got things to do. He seems to come from a very positive place.

It seems like from the first episode at least that you and Jaimie have some really good chemistry that’s really playing well into the show. What’s it like working with Jaimie? How well do you guys play off each other during production?

Sullivan Stapleton: She’s awesome. She’s an awesome girl to work with. She’s good at her job, so that working with that every day and working with that aspect just makes work easier. Jaimie and the rest of the cast, we all just get along really well. We do our best to try and make the show the best that we possibly can.

BLINDSPOT — “Eight Slim Grins” Episode 103 — Pictured: (l-r) Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe, Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller — (Photo by: JoJo Whilden/NBC)

Strike Back was filmed all over the world and Blindspot is filmed mostly in New York. Do you feel more settled filming in one city? What is New York like as a location as an actor?

Sullivan Stapleton: (laughs) Good question. I love it. Yes, you’re right, it’s been nice to settle in to a city for obviously longer than a few months. Strike Back, we were in and out of places after a couple of months. So it’s nice here. New York’s a fantastic city. It is a great place to work. It’s a great character to have in the show. To be able to see the city and then chase criminals through this town, it’s exciting.

Did you meet with any FBI agents or maybe even go to Quantico to learn more about your character?

Sullivan Stapleton: Yes, I did. I met up with a couple of agents. We just talked about how they approach work, really. It was an honor to meet the men that do this for real. To hear some of the stories they told me, it was really eye-opening and exciting.

One of the things that I’m really curious about is your relationship with the rest of your FBI team. As the season goes on is that relationship going to develop along with your relationship with Jane?

Sullivan Stapleton: Yes. We’re great friends, the whole group of us. We all enjoy making the show. We’re developing this team as being together for years and so we are quite close and understand each other. I’m sure we will see these relationships develop throughout the course of the season and delve into people’s back stories, different connections of each of the characters.

BLINDSPOT — “A Stray Howl” Episode 102 — Pictured: Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Earlier we were talking about what you admired about the character of Kurt. As we know, every actor brings a little of himself to the characters. In what ways would you say you’re similar to Kurt, if at all?

Sullivan Stapleton: Yes, I would say I’m similar. I think we’re both very focused to our work. Even though Kurt fights the wrongs in the world, I guess I do the same. (chuckles) If something’s not right, I’ll fight against it. It’s similar in that sense. Then also, the camaraderie between Kurt and the other agents, stuff that again is very similar to myself. Working with a great crew that we’re working with and my fellow actors, I have that sense. I enjoy working as a team to do the best we possibly can.

If you had a chance to go hang out on a night on the team, would you rather hang out with Kurt or with Damian or both?

Sullivan Stapleton: (laughs) Great question. Well, probably both. At least you’re not going to get in trouble [with Kurt]. Probably more with Damian because then you’ll get into some trouble.

The best of both worlds.

Sullivan Stapleton: Exactly.

BLINDSPOT — “Pilot” — Pictured: (l-r) Sullivan Stapleton as Kurt Weller, Jaimie Alexander as Jane Doe — (Photo by: Virginia Sherwood/NBC)

Have you had a chance to see [Strike Back co-star] Philip [Winchester]’s new show The Player?

Sullivan Stapleton: No. We were working last night and I couldn’t watch it. I miss the boy. It was a great partnership. I would like to see him again. I can’t wait to watch his show. It looks awesome. He looks like he’s having a ball, doing all the stunts himself. So, I can’t wait to see it.

In the pilot you get knocked around quite a bit. Weller almost gets blown up, almost gets knifed. What was it like for you to play the guy that for once is getting knocked around a bit, instead of doing the knocking around? How much punishment is Weller going to take this season?

Sullivan Stapleton: Good question. I don’t know. (laughs) Of course, it’s been fun to do… to explore action in a different way on this show. It is a bit different. But that’s fine, I don’t mind getting knocked around. We always seem to end up on the right side at the end of the fight.

I was reading an interview with Martin and he said that each episode is going to revolve around one of Jane Doe’s tattoos. How long do you think that the show can keep that up? How much of the season also is going to be spent on trying to figure out the mystery of why your character’s name is tattooed on her body?

Sullivan Stapleton: Yes, I think obviously that is one of the most important [arcs]. Why we connected? Why has Kurt Weller specifically been drawn into this case? But then, we can put lots of tattoos on Jaimie Alexander. (laughs) I’m hoping that hopefully it’s going to make the show go for a long, long time.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com.  All rights reserved.  Posted: October 1, 2015.

Photos ©2015.  Courtesy of NBC/Universal.  All rights reserved.

The Intern

THE INTERN (2015)

Starring Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro, Anders Holm, Rene Russo, Andrew Runnells, Andrew Rannells, Adam DeVine, Zack Pearlman, Christina Scherer, JoJo Kushner, Linda Lavin, Celia Weston, Jason Orley, Molly Bernard, Christine Evangelista, Wallis Currie-Wood, Nat Wolff, Annie Funke, Christina Brucato and the voice of Mary Kay Place.

Screenplay by Nancy Meyers.

Directed by Nancy Meyers.

Distributed by Warner Brothers.  121 minutes.  Rated PG-13.

Who wouldn’t want to live in a Nancy Meyers movie?

It is a seductive world full of beautiful, intelligent, sensitive people with cool, high-paying jobs, spectacular homes and smashing wardrobes.  Money is not a concern.  Love is either long-lived and comfortable, or waiting just around the corner for those unfortunate few who are temporarily between soul mates.  Oh, sure, there are sad moments – more often than not due to infidelity – but that is usually worked through quickly and relatively painlessly.  Kids are adorable and almost no trouble.  And there is always… always… a happy ending.

Over the last couple of decades Meyers has created a good niche in Hollywood  on these sweet-but-not-totally cloying confections (sort of like Garry Marshall without the massive sappiness).  She started as a screenwriter (the Father of the Bride movies) and then graduated to writer/director (The Parent Trap, What Women Want, Something’s Got To Give, The Holiday, It’s Complicated).

Her smart, funny romantic comedies, which seem to come every few years, are particularly needed since the too-early death a few years ago of Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, You’ve Got Mail), one of the few smart and funny female writer/directors who had become powerful in movies, and one who also courted Meyers’ uptown-smart romantic (and slightly older) demographic.

Meyers’ latest soufflé is The Intern, and it stands in good stead in the auteur‘s body of work.  In fact, it’s probably her best film since Something’s Got To Give.

Meyers picks up the premise that Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson so spectacularly whiffed at a couple of years ago in the similarly titled and themed The Internship: age-inappropriate old-school business people taking unpaid gigs at upstart new tech companies and using their life experience to teach the crazy kids a bit about business, the world and life.

The tech business is All That Fits, a flourishing dotcom start-up selling women’s clothing created by Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway).  Jules is a pixie and a business-savant.  She puts in long hours, answers customer service calls (to keep in touch with the needs of the clients), sweats every order or every warehouse problem, and whimsically rides her bike across the company’s huge loft office space (no actual offices, she doesn’t like walls in between people).  Jules created the business with nothing, ten years later it has become an international success, catching the eyes of huge money men, on the verge of going supernova.  She is also described by pretty much everyone as very hard to work for, though there is very little evidence of her dragon-lady tendencies.

One of her top advisors decides to create a senior internship program – getting retired business people who have nothing much to do with their time to come in and share their commercial acumen.

The intern who is assigned to Jules is Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro).  Ben is a recent widower who spent 40 years in management for a company which made a now mostly obsolete product – telephone directories.  Ben is 70 years young, missing his late wife and getting tired of going to friends’ funerals.  Fighting his own obsolescence, he has determined to keep himself busy during the day, getting out of his spectacular Park Slope brownstone during the day and keeping himself busy.  He hasn’t dated since his wife died, though a local widow (played by Linda Lavin) has shown herself to be very interested.

Noticing a flier for the senior internship, Ben decides that is just what he needs to keep himself busy and give his life a purpose.  He goes in to work every day in a full suit and tie (even though most of the kids wear jeans and t-shirts), does as much as he can do to keep busy and help anyway he can.  (In a bit of an over-coincidental plot point that is really probably unneeded, the new business’ offices are the exact same offices where he worked for 40 years on the phone books.)

At first Jules is a bit resistant to having this older guy following her around, but quickly he befriends her husband and adorable little daughter and shows himself to have some interesting and intelligent insights into the business.  Frankly, sometimes he’s a bit of a brown-noser, but Jules becomes more and more attached to him and more reliant on his old-school business smarts.  Eventually they become friends and he becomes her confidant in her private life and marriage problems as well as her business doubts on bringing in a new CEO to take over the company as it expands beyond her wildest dreams.

It’s a sweet-if-lightweight story, well-told and mostly terrifically acted.

The one slight problem, acting-wise, is sadly coming from one of the most respected names in the art form: Robert De Niro.  (Let’s face it, he’s pretty much been coasting on his long-tarnished reputation since Casino, maybe even Goodfellas.)  While this is one of his better performances in recent years and he mostly downplays his recent penchant for over-acting, it seems his repertoire of Meet the Fockers mugging and double-takes has become engrained to the point that it is involuntary.  Every time he has a good head of steam going as an actor, he sabotages himself with an overly broad eyebrow lift or a calculatedly goofy grin.

Luckily Hathaway is there to rescue the film every time that De Niro’s method over-acting threatens to capsize things.  Her charisma and charm keep this sweet fable grounded and fun.

If Nancy Meyer’s New York is not exactly like the New York that most of us know – both in good ways (how is it possible for everyone be this fabulous?) and bad (is there a single person of color in the film?) – it is a very nice place to visit for a couple of hours.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 3, 2015.

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

ME AND EARL AND THE DYING GIRL (2015)

Starring Thomas Mann, RJ Cyler, Olivia Cooke, Nick Offerman, Connie Britton, Molly Shannon, Katherine C. Hughes, Jon Bernthal, Masam Holden, Matt Bennett, Bobb’e J. Thompson, Chelsea T. Zhang, Gavin Dietz and Edward DeBruce III.

Screenplay by Jesse Andrews.

Directed by Alfonso Gomez-Rejon.

Distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.  105 minutes.  Rated PG-13.

Young Adult novels are sort of like young adults themselves: highly emotional, troubled, romantic, self-obsessed, fixated on sex and status, and a little bit overly maudlin.  They are also profoundly, almost morbidly, fascinated with death.

This film version of Jesse Andrews’ YA novel (Andrews also wrote the screenplay) is a mostly enjoyable (if a bit uneven) look at an quirky friendship that is cemented as one of the friends is facing possible death.

The Me in the title is Greg (Thomas Mann).  Greg is a smart but slightly lazy student.  He has created an unique plan to survive high school life: stay friendly but distant with all of the cliques on campus, but join none of them.  Therefore he may never be well-known, but he will at least be vaguely well-regarded.  And if he is ever cornered into an actual connection, he tried to pretend he is reverting to a sub-human state.

Earl (RJ Cyler) is the closest thing he has to a friend – actually he is a friend but neither of them exactly admit it – another vaguely anti-social kid who he has known from the neighborhood (though Earl lives on the wrong side of the tracks) since he was five.  They are bonded by a precocious love of foreign art films.

In fact they have taken to making amateur film parodies of these movies with MAD magazine-worthy titles and atrocious production values. While it’s a charming conceit, the idea of these amateur films sputters out quickly, much more quickly than the script is willing to give up on them.  The best title – My Dinner with Andre the Giant – is the first title shared, and each one mentioned or shown afterwards gets diminishing returns.

The dying girl is Rachel, played by British actress Olivia Cooke, who strangely is also currently playing a dying girl on the TV series Bates Motel.  Cooke is a pretty and sweet actress and appears to be healthy.  I’m not sure why exactly she seems to have been typecast as a patient of terminal diseases, but I will admit she does a very good job at the role.  She is a high school acquaintance who has contracted leukemia.  Greg’s mother forces him to spend some time with her, leading to an awkward but charming friendship.

Ironically, Rachel’s disease seems to be of secondary importance to the film.  This is a film that is not about how Rachel handles the possibility of dying, it is about how the possibility of Rachel dying affects Greg.  It’s a subtle distinction, and it is handled with tact, for the most part, but it feels like a bit of a cheat.

As often in these films, the adult characters are a little cartoonish: Greg’s dad (Nick Offerman) is an extremely eccentric college professor, mom (Connie Britton) is just a bit too much of a helicopter-mom, and the hip teacher (Jon Bernthal) tries just a bit too hard to be one of the kids.  The worst adult character is Rachel’s mom, though, played by Molly Shannon with the kind of inappropriate over-the-top sleaziness that only Molly Shannon seems to trade in.  It’s sort of hard to feel sympathy for a woman mourning the probably inevitable loss of a child while she is blatantly, creepily flirting with her daughter’s teenaged friends.  Not to mention overacting wildly.

However, despite some flaws, Me and Girl and the Dying Girl takes an emotional hold on the audience and is eventually a sweet and charming story.  If the film is sometimes a bit manipulatively maudlin (and the main character lies to the audience – not once, but twice – in the film voiceovers), it’s still a fine, smart and funny little slice of life.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 6, 2015.

Bokeem Woodbine, Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart, Jeffrey Donovan, Kirsten Dunst, Noah Hawley and Cristin Milioti at the PaleyFest NY celebration of “Fargo” on October 16, 2105. Photo copyright Jay S. Jacobs.

Kirsten Dunst, Jeffrey Donovan, Bokeem Woodbine, Jean Smart, Cristin Milioti and Warren Littlefield

Goin’ Back to Fargo

by Jay S. Jacobs

Whatcha sayin’?  Fargo’s comin’ back?

Oh, ya.  The second season is startin’ out real good.

There are few stories in history that seemed less likely (and frankly more impossible) to revisit than Joel and Ethan Coen’s classic 1996 film Fargo.  The wonderfully quirky crime comedy drama about low crimes, high passion, “Minnesota nice” manners and general incompetence in the American tundra won Oscar gold (Best Screenplay and Best Actress) for its off-the-wall mixture of the surreal and the mundane.

The film starred William H. Macy as a cuckolded Wisconsin car dealer who hatches a lame-brained plot to have his wife kidnapped for ransom, Steve Buscemi and Peter Stormare as the squabbling punks who pull off the caper and Frances McDormand as the decent and hugely-pregnant sheriff who cleans up the bloody aftermath.

It seemed almost crazy when FX picked up the title to turn into a TV series.  And it may have been, had they not found the perfect steward in show-runner Noah Hawley.  In fact, when FX took the Coens the pilot script which Hawley had created, the famously prickly brothers allowed that they were no fans of imitations, but that Hawley had completely captured their world.  Therefore the Coens signed off on the show, giving their blessing and complete creative control to Hawley.

Hawley took the ball and ran with it.  The first season of Fargo was a popular and critical success.  The oddball story of a loser travel agent (Martin Freeman) and a remorseless hit man (Billy Bob Thornton) whose chance meeting in a hospital waiting room leads to a trail of bodies. In the meantime, the local small-town cops (Bob Odenkirk, Colin Hanks and a breakout performance by Allison Tolman) try to curb the sudden crime wave.

It was a terrific story, Emmy award winning and popular.  However, it was a finished story.  All of the ducks had been put in a row, the bad guys had been vanquished and the heroic cops found true love.  Where could Fargo take the story from there?  (Maybe even to the title city?  For the record, the film did not take place in Fargo, North Dakota – except for one scene early on – and the series does not either, though the city does have glancing connections to the action.)

Warren Littlefield, Jeffrey Donovan, Bokeem Woodbine, Cristin Milioti, Jean Smart, Jesse Plemons, Kirsten Dunst and Noah Hawley at the PaleyFest NY celebration of “Fargo” on October 16, 2015. Photo copyright Jay S. Jacobs.

Turns out that Fargo is not even trying to continue the first season storyline.  Other than the basic setting, quirky vibe, and a couple (so far) of recurring characters, the second season is completely separate from the first go-around.  Much like American Horror Story, the series is doing a pretty much complete reboot, starting off with a fresh and different plotline and characters.  It is similar in feel to the last season, but at the same time, totally different.

Season two is a period piece, going back to the polyester-wearing, big-hairdoed world of 1979.  Back to the days of gas embargos, Three Mile Island, Superman, Iranian hostages, paisley shirts with big collars and the last days of disco.

Executive producer Warren Littlefield, the former head of programming for NBC (Bob Balaban played a funny, fictionalized version of him in several episodes of Seinfeld) loves the changes that Fargo has come up with for the second season.

“This year, our thematic is quite different,” Littlefield explained to me before a recent PaleyFest event celebrating the new season in New York.  “It’s 1979 and we really played along in holding up a mirror to what was going on in America at the time.  The thematic is the Walmart-ization of America, big business gobbling up mom and pop businesses.  In our world, that means the Kansas City crime syndicate is going to do a hostile takeover of the Gerhardt crime family.  They resist.  Stuck in the middle: Ed and Peggy Blomquist, hairdresser and butcher.  And a war erupts.  We think we’ve enveloped a lot of what was going on in the country at the time.  We love that the DNA I think can be true to the Coens’ vision.  But only part.  It’s a different story, different time period, and yet it’s still Fargo.”

“I just think there is nothing like it on television,” agreed actress Cristin Milioti, who plays the cancer-stricken wife of the local state police chief, played by Patrick Wilson.  “There’s nothing like it.  It’s so remarkably unique.  It honors that dark and weird world of the Coen Brothers’ Fargo, while remaining its own entity, which is so hard to do.”

Of course, being Fargo, it’s got its own little oddball twists and turns, like UFOs and a supporting role of an visiting, eccentric soon-to-be-President Ronald Reagan (played by cult-fave Bruce Campbell).

Jeffrey Donovan at the PaleyFest NY celebration of “Fargo” on October 16, 2015. Photo copyright Jay S. Jacobs.

Campbell’s old Burn Notice co-star Jeffrey Donovan has the more significant role as the oldest son of the Gerhardt family.  Donovan is also intrigued by the series’ new direction.  “Noah wanted to tap into the late seventies, which is like you say about the Walmart-ization of the mom and pop shops.  This year to an extent flows on ’well, let’s look at gangs.’  Let’s look at the mob, the mom and pops, just like any other corporation.  I thought that was fascinating.”

“It’s a different story, first of all,” agreed Kirsten Dunst, who plays hairdresser Peggy Blomquist.  “It is period.  A different cast.  It feels like more cast members almost I think this season.  It has a different feel, how they cut it together.  It’s more comedic, I want to say.  I feel like it’s more of a comedic tone.”

“There is that, and America as a throwback,” Donavan continued.  “I don’t think guys are like this anymore, and I don’t think they are allowed to exist anymore.  It was an era where you wore the line of the law in the back yard and you thought it extended outward.  So it’s a really unique role.  I’ve never played this kind of guy before.  And obviously to come off of Burn Notice and play something like this was very exciting.”

It was in the 1970s that the American dream of building a small business to support your family, hopefully for generations, started to crumble.  Little local stores and restaurants started getting muscled out by huge chains, who had the financial means to undercut and outlast their competition.  Things became a little bit more convenient – perhaps – but personalized service and a sense of community was stomped into the dust.

“It’s a small-town look at grand themes,” Donovan said.  “When you talk about ’Walmart-ization,’ what you’re really talking about is: How does one CEO, or the word of people, decide that the bottom line is the really important thing, therefore how do we lower our bottom line?  The bottom line can be lowered by sending things overseas.  When you walk in the doors of Walmart, 99% of it is made overseas, where there is very, very cheap labor.  There’s no atoning for the lives you are destroying when you do that.”

Kirsten Dunst at the PaleyFest NY celebration of “Fargo” on October 16, 2015. Photo copyright Jay S. Jacobs.

“The mom and pop companies [are] going away,” Dunst agreed.  “I know it’s that way.  Even in New York, I was talking to someone today about my [old favorite] local place, but places like that don’t exist anymore.  It’s all Starbucks.  It’s just the environment we live in.”

“When you look at Fargo, I think Brad Garrett’s character Bulo, and Bokeem [Woodbine]’s character of the enforcer, they say it’s all about the bottom line,” Donovan continued.  “It’s all that matters.  They don’t care who dies, who lives, as long as it makes money.  Cold, calculating times, it’s a really interesting thing to display.”

Donovan’s mother is played by former Designing Women star Jean Smart.  Her husband has just suffered a debilitating stroke, so now it comes down to mother to keep the family together against the outer forces that want to destroy their family business – which just happens to be organized crime.

Jean Smart at the PaleyFest NY celebration of “Fargo” on October 16, 2015. Photo copyright Jay S. Jacobs.

“It’s fun to play her,” Smart said.  “She’s torn between being a mother protecting her children – she’s already lost at least one – and also doing what needs to be done to keep the business together.  She’s not an easily intimidated person.  She’s a mother, so…  That’s her weak and her good spot.”

“I think Noah writes so beautifully for women,” Milioti said.  “He writes really strong women.  Unfortunately, that’s a bit of a rarity.  Not a bit of a rarity, it’s an extreme rarity nowadays.”

One of the more complicated female characters is Peggy, played by Dunst.  She seems to be a sweet, naive and pleasant small town woman – fairly happily married and hoping to eventually open her own hair salon – whose life is thrown into complete chaos after a late night auto accident.

“She has tunnel vision about going to this seminar,” Dunst said.  “I think her tunnel vision about that now becomes this accident that happens.  She becomes a terror within that.  She’s just shifting to something else.  In a way it brings her and Ed together.  It’s almost like a love story, in a twisted way, about how far you’ll go for somebody.  They’re like the uncool Bonnie and Clyde.  That’s what I think.”  Dunst laughed.

Jeffrey Donovan at the PaleyFest NY celebration of “Fargo” on October 16, 2015. Photo copyright Jay S. Jacobs.

Milioti had previously been the female lead in the popular Broadway musical Once before making her mark on television as the titular mother on the last season of the popular sitcom How I Met Your Mother.  She plays a mother also in Fargo, (and like her How I Met Your Mother character, this mom is also fighting a life-threatening disease), but otherwise the characters could not be any more different.

“I think there was way more beneath the surface than you initially meet,” Milioti said about her character.  “She’s very easily written off as a homemaker, and she’s ill, but that’s the tip of the iceberg.  Still waters run very deep.”

In fact, in one of the little winks at the other Fargo worlds, Milioti’s daughter is a little girl who will grow up to be the character that Allison Tolman played in the first season, and her husband is also a significant cog in the story.  The first season also had some little Easter eggs towards the movie – a businessman played by Oliver Platt made his fortune after finding the money buried in the snow by Steve Buscemi in the film.

Littlefield enjoys the fact that the show has this tightly interlocked history. “In year one we certainly gave a nod to the movie,” he said.  “In year two, we give a nod to year one.  If you remember, Lou Solverson, who was played by Keith Carradine in year one, is now played in year two by Patrick Wilson.  He’s 35.  He’s come back from Vietnam.  He thought he left the madness behind, when in fact it’s right at his doorstep.  That’s our connection to the previous year.  We like connectivity, but they also stand on their own.  If you’ve never seen the Coens’ movie… shame on you….  But here they don’t have to see the movie.  They don’t have to see year one.  They can just come to it fresh and enjoy our Fargo world.”

Bokeem Woodbine, who plays an arrestingly friendly hit man targeting the Gerhardt family – he may become the new season’s breakout character, as quietly unnerving as Billy Bob Thornton was last year – also enjoys the interlocking worlds of Fargo.

“The mythos of Fargo,” Woodbine mused.  “The legacy of Fargo.  The world of Fargo.  I believe that we are contributing a very intrinsic and integral aspect to Fargo.  We are going back in time.  We are planting roots and sowing seeds.  I almost want to say that one could watch season two and then watch season one and be entertained.  Or you could watch season two and then watch the movie Fargo and then watch season one.  So I do believe that it is a necessary part of Fargo in its entirety.”

Milioti admitted that when she worked with Ted Danson (who plays her local-sheriff  father in this season of Fargo) she had somehow never seen anything he had done before.  She was impressed by the guy’s work and asked him for his reel so she could see some more of his work.  Danson had to explain to her that he had once been the star of a popular series called Cheers and had done dozens of films and series since then.

Jesse Plemons, Jean Smart and Jeffrey Donovan at the PaleyFest NY celebration of “Fargo” on October 16, 2015. Photo copyright Jay S. Jacobs.

It’s an extremely strong cast, one that is a pleasure to work with says Smart.  “It was great.  Of course I didn’t get to do scenes with everybody.  There were a lot of actors I never saw except in passing sometimes in the make-up trailer.  ’Hi!  How are you doing?’  But, it was incredible.  There’s a really amazing cast.”

That amazing cast gets repaid by getting the opportunity to act at the offbeat pace of Fargo.  The show has a very quiet, polite, almost mundane conversational vibe – everyday people speaking smartly but normally – which is suddenly interrupted by extreme acts of violence or off-kilter plot developments.

Woodbine loves the dichotomy of this.  “Oh, it’s amazing how much pleasure you can get from interjecting the absurd into the mundane if you will,” Woodbine said.  “Because in life, I’m sure you believe, we all have had moments where we almost feel as though maybe somebody might be filming us.  Something so bizarre will happen, or a sequence of events, you can’t believe almost that you’re actually experiencing something like this.  It seems like it’s out of a movie.  I’m sure you’ve had experiences like that in your life.  I can’t believe this is actually happening.  This is so weird.  I have as well, had moments like that.  Fargo somehow captures that.  They somehow have figured out how to put on film those bizarre moments.  The humor of the gods.”

Donovan agreed with this.  “It’s fun to play in any world where authenticity is rule one,” Donavan said.  “Then if you can find darkness and humor, and you’re still in the same scene, that’s pretty enjoyable as an actor.”

Kirsten Dunst, Noah Hawley and Cristin Milioti at the PaleyFest NY celebration of “Fargo” on October 16, 2015. Photo copyright Jay S. Jacobs.

Even the women, who have less of a part in the more shocking moments, enjoy that wild and unpredictable feeling of volatility.

“Peggy doesn’t really get [too many scenes like that]…,” Dunst admitted.  “Well, I do, but I don’t really get the major action like that.  I do more… well, you’ll see.  I get to do some really weird things.”

“I don’t really have much of a part in the… well here I’ll say… in some of the violence,” Milioti allowed.  “But it’s an amazing line to toe.”

“It’s an interesting tightrope for them to walk,” Littlefield agreed.  “Because, first and foremost we are a drama, but also crazy, crazy things happen.  As we unravel them, in the cold of winter in our frozen tundra land, that’s where real people are.  That is sometimes tragic and sometimes very funny and sometimes both at the same time.”

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 25, 2015.

Photos ©2015 Jay S. Jacobs.  All rights reserved.

Justin Bieber, Fifth Harmony, DNCE, Flo Rida, Tori Kelly, Walk the Moon and Nick Cannon All On Board For 2015 HALO Awards Concert Event

Just today, Nickelodeon announced the exciting concert lineup for their 2015 Nickelodeon HALO (Help and Leading Others) Awards.  The HALO awards are an annual celebration honoring young community leaders from across the US, who do extraordinary work to make lives better in their communities.

Among the celebrities on hand to perform for these exceptional teens are Fifth Harmony, DNCE (with lead singer Joe Jonas), Flo Rida, Tori Kelly and Walk The Moon.  Stepping into the role of host again this year will be creator and executive producer Nick Cannon.

The night will also offer a special appearance by pop superstar, Justin Bieber who will become the first ever recipient of the HALO Hall of Fame Award, for his work with Make-A-Wish and Pencils for Promise.

“There’s no better way to begin the holiday season than by celebrating the amazing work of these four teens and our first HALO Hall of Fame recipient Justin Bieber at the Nickelodeon HALO Awards,” said Cannon.  “Justin’s commitment to granting wishes for kids is unparalleled, and his ability to inspire and lead others through his positive actions is at the core of what HALO is all about.”

Also on hand for the star studded evening, from Nick’s hit series Bella and the Bulldogs (Brec Bassinger, Coy Stewart), Instant Mom (Sydney Park), 100 Things to Do Before High School (Isabela Moner), Every Witch Way (Rahart Adams) and Make It Pop (Megan Lee, Erika Tham, Louriza Tronco, Dale Whibley).  The Nickelodeon stars will be put to the test in a series of in-show physical challenges that will help raise money for the organizations of the HALO Award honorees.

Check out more on this year’s four impressive Nickelodeon HALO Awards honorees:

Ethan Cruikshank, 16, Mechanicsville, Va. – A guitar player since the age of seven, Ethan Cruikshank was inspired to start Music to My Ears after his school cut music education funding.  Since then, Cruikshank’s music program has helped over 100 kids across four states by providing free music lessons through volunteer teachers and distributing instruments to those who can’t afford them.

Riley Gantt, 15, Sherman Oaks, Calif. – Riley Gantt’s organization Rainbow Pack was born out of her desire to provide kids with the supplies they need to do their homework and be successful learners, regardless of their economic circumstances.  With funds raised through fundraising, grants, social media and school supply drives, she has successfully donated over 9000 backpacks filled with school supplies to kids in the Los Angeles area.

Joshua Williams, 14, Miami Beach, Fla. – Joshua Williams’ commitment to eradicate hunger started with a roadside donation to a starving man when he was four and a half years old.  Through William’s organization, Joshua’s Heart Foundation, he designed a food distribution system in local churches, schools and community centers, and continues to raise awareness of hunger and poverty at speaking engagements.  He has distributed over 1.1 million pounds of food in South Florida, Jamaica and Africa to date, and helped feed over 50,000 people nationwide.

Ruchita Zaparde, 18, Plainsboro, N.J. – After a family trip to India exposed Ruchita Zaparde to the plight of widows and the difficulties they faced, she started Sew A Future to help those women achieve financial stability by becoming seamstresses.  Zaparde identifies widows in need in India, delivers sewing machines and supplies, and connects the kids who are fundraising in the U.S. to the recipients.  Over 200 families have been raised out of poverty with the gift of a sewing machine, thanks to the fundraising efforts of over 1400 students in 30 states.

Now in its seventh year, Nickelodeon HALO Awards will air on November 29th, 2015 @ 7 PM EST on Nickelodeon channels.  The evening promises to be another awesome and exciting show filled with fun, excellent music and a lot of inspirational stories.  You don’t want to miss it!

Jean Reno

Jean Reno

The French Acting Legend Pursues Justice In The Promise and The Last Face, Travels Through Time In The Visitors 3 and Talks How He’d Love To Be A Star Wars Jedi Knight

by Arlene R. Weiss

French actor Jean Reno is best known for his iconic role of Leone “Leon” Montana in Director Luc Besson’s hit cult classic film, 1994’s Leon: The Professional.

Reno’s electrifying and dynamic portrayal of the heroic Little Italy, New York hit man with a heart transformed Reno into an icon among film critics, fans, and many esteemed directors and filmmakers. In the action-thriller film, Leon takes in and protects Mathilda, (played by a very young Natalie Portman), a twelve-year-old girl orphaned when her family is murdered by a corrupt DEA Agent.

For his role as Leon, Reno was nominated for a Cesar Award for Best Actor, France’s most prestigious award for an actor in film achievement (the French equivalent of an Oscar).

At the time, Jean Reno was already a major star in France and Europe, having crafted an extensive and stellar acting career on stage and screen.

Leon: The Professional brought its talented star international acclaim, which caught the attention of U.S. and international audiences – and filmmakers who wanted to see more.  Hollywood came calling the very next year in 1995, with Reno’s American major film debut in the romantic comedy French Kiss, starring with Kevin Kline and Meg Ryan. In 1996 Reno landed the major role of IMF Agent Franz Krieger, starring opposite Tom Cruise in Director Brian De Palma’s blockbuster hit, Mission Impossible. From there, Reno’s career took off as an international star.

Jean Reno in “Leon: The Professional.”

Reno is a multi-faceted, classically-trained theater actor of immense emotional depth and range. His esteemed canon includes a diversity of roles and genres, encompassing drama, comedy, historical and war-based, animated films, crime and action thrillers on stage, screen, and TV.

Jean Reno grew up and was raised by Spanish parents in Casablanca, Morocco. Reno studied drama and performed in a diverse range of theatrical productions at the National Drama School of Casablanca. At nineteen years old, the young Reno decided to move to France and pursue an acting career there.

First, Reno studied at the Cours Simon Drama School in Paris. Then, through the late 1970’s and early 1980’s Reno continued honing his craft. He began his career acting in a series of small roles in French films, stage productions, and TV shows. From 1977 to 1981, Reno also toured Europe in all of the theater productions of esteemed French theater director Didier Flamand’s Theater Company.

In 1981, Reno’s future as an actor was charted on a course for much better things. It was then that Reno met and struck up what would become a lifelong, and wonderfully creative professional collaboration with young French film director Luc Besson.

Besson was also just embarking on his career as a writer, producer, and director.  In 1981, Besson directed the film short, “L’avant Dernier” and cast Reno.  Then in 1983, Besson directed the post-apocalyptic film Le Dernier Combat (The Last Battle), again casting Reno in a starring role. In 1985, Luc cast Jean again as a charismatic character known as The Drummer in the charmingly eccentric, quirky pop-culture confection Subway.

Jean Reno and Rosanna Arquette in “The Big Blue.”

In 1988, Besson directed his first major English language film, the critically acclaimed, introspective and meaningful Le Grand Bleu (The Big Blue) and cast Reno in one of the starring roles.  The film portrayed a fictionalized account of the friendship and rivalry of real life champion free divers Jacques Mayol and Enzo Maiorca (changed to Enzo Molinari in the film). Reno’s sparkling and exuberant portrayal of Enzo Molinari was tremendous, a larger-than-life Italian athlete with a gusto and love for food, family, and life.  The film received numerous accolades including screening at that year’s Cannes Film Festival. The movie officially made Reno a star.

But Luc Besson had even more in store for Jean Reno, who continued to be Besson’s incredibly talented creative muse.  In 1990, Besson wrote and directed the hit action thriller, La Femme Nikita, in which Reno’s immense portrayal of Victor the Cleaner nearly stole the movie. Besson was so fond of Reno’s portrayal as the vicious hit man Victor, that Besson was inspired to expand the role. Only this time the hit man would evolve into a more sensitive and humane character.

Besson wrote an entire movie around this “cleaner,” as a starring vehicle for Reno. Besson invited Reno to his home in Paris for dinner where he presented the script wrapped up as a gift to Jean. That script was for 1994’s Leon: The Professional, the film and role that would at last garner Reno the international recognition and acclaim he deserved as an actor of immeasurable artistry.

Reno has since portrayed some of his most indelible, acclaimed, and creatively challenging and fulfilling roles.

After French Kiss and Mission Impossible, in 1998 Reno starred as heroic French Secret Service Agent Philippe Roache in Director Roland Emmerich’s blockbuster, Godzilla.

In 1998, Reno starred in one of his greatest and most memorable roles in Ronin, directed by the esteemed John Frankenheimer.  Reno enigmatically portrayed the French mercenary Vincent, embarking on a dangerous and ambiguous mission. Reno joined an all-star cast, starring opposite Robert De Niro, Stellan Skarsgard, Sean Bean, and Jonathan Pryce.

Jean Reno in “Ronin.”

In 2000, Jean starred in one of his most challenging roles as Detective Pierre Niemans in the psychological, horror crime thriller The Crimson Rivers.  For his role as Detective Niemans, Reno was nominated for a European Film Award: Jameson People’s Choice Award – Best European Actor. Reno reprised his role for the film’s equally riveting 2004 sequel, Crimson Rivers II: Angels Of The Apocalypse. 

Reno possesses an immense and wonderful flair for comedy and has starred in many of Hollywood’s and France’s most successful comedies.  He also has the distinction of starring in France’s all-time top grossing film ever, 1993’s time travel comedy Les Visiteurs (The Visitors).  He also starred in the film’s 1998 hit sequel Les Visiteurs II: Les Couloirs Du Temps (The Visitors II: The Corridors Of Time).

Les Visiteurs was so successful that an American, English language remake was made in 2001, Just Visiting.  The hilarious and enchanting Just Visiting starred Reno as well as his Les Visiteurs creator, writer, and cast mate Christian Clavier. Malcolm McDowell and Christina Applegate also joined in on the fun adventures through time with Reno.

In 2001, Reno starred as Detective Hubert Fiorentini in the fan favorite action comedy cult film, Wasabi, which was written especially for Jean by Luc Besson. Reno also portrayed gendarme Gilbert Ponton with Steve Martin in the 2004 mystery comedy The Pink Panther and its 2009 sequel The Pink Panther 2. In 2012, Reno served up a deliciously charming and witty soufflé as a top rated chef struggling to keep his three star rating against a scheming CEO in Le Chef.

Jean Reno in “Le Chef.”

Jean has portrayed a treasure of roles which showcase his nuanced artistry and deft ability to immerse himself in subtle characterization, exuding immense emotional complexity and depth.  In 2006 Reno inhabited one of his most unforgettable roles in the historical war film Flyboys. Reno beautifully portrayed real-life Lieutenant Colonel Georges Thenault, the heroic mentor and commander of the courageous Lafayette Escadrille.  The Lafayette Escadrille was the brave, all-volunteer squadron of American flying fighter pilots who helped France in their fight against the Germans during WWI.

That same year, Reno performed in one of his favorite films – director Ron Howard’s riveting blockbuster film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code – as determined Police Inspector Captain Bezu Fache.

Tom Hanks and Jean Reno in “The Da Vinci Code.”

In 2010, Jean sublimely portrayed the brave, emotionally torn, and compassionate Dr. David Sheinbaum in the haunting war drama, La Rafle (The Roundup). The film depicts the true story of the mass arrest of Jews in Paris and their deportation to the Nazi concentration camps that was conducted by the French police during WWII.

More recently in 2013, Reno starred in his very first English language TV series portraying the emotionally complex and heroic Detective Jo St.-Clair in the weekly crime solving thriller, Jo.  Jo, which is filmed entirely on location in Paris, was created and written by Law and Order’s Rene Balcer. Its stellar writing showcases Reno’s superb acting which elevates the series. Each episode focuses on a different murder mystery solved by brilliant sleuth St.-Clair.  But the series also delves into St.-Clair’s emotional struggles to reconnect with his estranged daughter while conquering his own personal demons and grappling with a tenuous friendship with a former childhood friend who is now a crime boss.

Jean is especially proud of his voice acting work, imbuing his rich and expressive vocal characterizations into several major animated films.  He performed the voice of Mufasa in the French-language version of Disney’s The Lion King in 1994, lending emotional depth and rich gravitas to the royal lion patriarch.  In 2006 he performed the charming role of Le Frog in the animated adventure comedy, Flushed Away, performing with an all-star cast that included Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, and Kate Winslet.

Jean Reno making “Flushed Away.”

Reno, who still very much enjoys performing live theater, is especially proud of his theatrical work and often returns to the stage.  Reno did just that this past March 2015, when he and longtime friend and creative collaborator Richard Berry, who directed Jean in the 2010 crime and action film, 22 Bullets, performed together to sell-out crowds in the comedy Nos Femmes at the Theatre de Paris.

When Jean Reno isn’t busy acting – which isn’t often since his eminent thespian skills are also constantly in demand for numerous commercials including Bentley Motor Cars, UPS, Toyota, and a Japanese Brand soy sauce – he’s a successful entrepreneur and businessman with his finger on the pulse of pop culture.  He has his own line of designer eyewear eyeglasses and two perfumes for women.

Reno is also a devoted foodie and connoisseur of fine dining and cuisine. He has his own line of olive oil produced from his farm in Provence, France. Reserve Jean Reno Olive Oils are available through D’Artagnan Gourmet Foods here in the USA. Jean is also the President of The Les Amis de Moulin Cornille Olive Farming Cooperative in Provence.

Currently, Jean Reno is busy at work, shooting three new films, all planned for release in 2016, which he graciously took time to discuss with me.

However, Reno is most at home when he is talking about his favorite topics of pop culture, travel, and food.

On a beautiful autumn day, right before the October 27th, 2015 release of Leon: The Professional on Sony Pictures’ Blu-Ray, 4K Restoration Supreme Cinema Series, Jean Reno graciously spoke with me about a delightful hodgepodge of topics including his new films and where to get the best paella.

Jean Reno and Natalie Portman in “Leon: The Professional.”

First, Reno and Christian Clavier are teaming up again to film Les Visiteurs 3: La Terreur, the second sequel to 1993’s time travel comedy Les Visiteurs. The film premieres April 2016.

Reno is also just wrapping up production on The Last Face, directed by Sean Penn. The film depicts the emotional and moral conflicts of doctors working in Africa’s Sierra Leone during political conflict.  Reno stars alongside Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem.

Reno has also just been cast in the history-based drama The Promise, starring with Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac. Reno plays an emotionally-conflicted French Admiral caught up in the last days of The Ottoman Empire. The Promise is just beginning filming in Spain.

Hi Jean. I want to congratulate you on the many new film projects you are working on for 2015 and 2016. You have Brothers Of The Wind coming out this Christmas 2015. You also have the 2nd sequel to 1993’s time travel comedy Les Visiteurs, Les Visiteurs 3: La Terreur coming out April 2016.  What heroic and comedic adventures through time will your character – Comte Godefroy de Montmirail – be sorting out this time around?

Arlene, this time Les Visiteurs 3 will be traveling during the time of the French Revolution called “The Terror.” This is a very dangerous time for the aristocracy and the Comte Godefroy de Montmirail. The comedy is full of danger.

You’re also in the The Last Face with Sean Penn directing.  What can you tell people about your character and the film’s storyline? What was your creative experience working with Sean Penn?

The Last Face is a movie about Medecins du Monde trying to save people in Sierra Leone, in the middle of tribal wars. Sean Penn is a very talented and sensitive director. It was such a great pleasure to work with him, and be part of the cast as well, with Charlize Theron, Javier Bardem, and Jared Harris.

It’s just been announced that you have a pivotal role in the anticipated The Promise co-starring with Christian Bale and Oscar Isaac, directed by Terry George, who you worked with in 2004’s Hotel Rwanda.  You have a very profound and compelling role, playing a deeply conflicted French Admiral who faces life threatening danger in the last days of the Ottoman Empire. What is it about this film that creatively speaks to you and what drew you to the story and your character?

I am a friend of the Armenian community of which I am very close. I played an Armenian in Le Premier Cercle. When Terry George asked me to be part of The Promise, I accepted it. I have a very small role in it.

Jean Reno stars in “Le Chef.”

You’re also shooting The Promise in Spain and Portugal.  What restaurants do you plan on enjoying?  Where can you get the best paella, one of my favorite dishes by the way with lots of shrimp, sausage, and mussels?

It has been a long time since I have been shooting in Spain. I will be shooting in Madrid soon and I will let you know if I find an exceptional restaurant. The real place to eat an authentic paella is in Valencia.

Do you have any pets, cats or dogs, and if so, do you take them on vacation with you and your family?

I have no pets because I am traveling all the time with my family and we don’t want to leave the pets alone.

When you’re traveling or on holiday, what are your favorite beaches?

We have a peaceful place in the South of France where we are traveling for the holiday. I do prefer boats rather than beaches.

Do you still go free diving to see sharks, which you started doing after learning free diving for your role as Enzo Molinari in The Big Blue?

I stopped free diving a long time ago. I love to spend time with my children and walk with them along the water.

This past March 2015, you and your longtime friend and creative collaborator Richard Berry performed in the critically acclaimed stage production, Nos Femmes to standing ovations at The Theater de Paris. How artistically fulfilling and challenging was that experience, as well as doing theater again, and do you have plans to do more theater, including here in the States?

I like doing live theater. It’s so different than doing a movie. Performing theater is a different discipline. I enjoyed being in Paris during the play Nos Femmes. I am actually looking for a play in New York.

I very much enjoy your beautiful piano playing in 1988’s The Big Blue as well as your musicianship on the drums in 1985’s Subway playing in the film’s fictional band. You also rocked the house last year singing some scorching rock and blues onstage at New York’s Beacon Theater with your friend Johnny Hallyday. Are there any other musical instruments that you play and what are your favorite styles of music?

I like to play instruments. I think life without music will be sad and pitiful. I do play guitar, piano, and a little drums. I do not consider myself a musician. I like all kinds of music. My preferences go to the 70’s. Among this I like to listen to all kinds of music, including jazz and classical.

You also have done voice-acting work for several major animated films, including the charming Le Frog in 2006’s Flushed Away.  You also voiced Mufasa in the French Language version of Disney’s The Lion King and you are just tremendous, adding such gravitas to the role.  What are the creative challenges in creating and conveying your emotions and character development through voice acting?

I like to do voice acting. I consider it as a real work. The fact of making your voice a vehicle to give an animated character some sensation and feelings is a very good exercise. The voice is a wonderful instrument for an actor!

How did you get involved with olive farming and producing your own line of olive oil?

I started to make my olive oil in the south of France. The olive tree is a noble and historical tree. For me I am fascinated by this tree.

What are some of your favorite foods and restaurants here in the States?

I have a lot of favorite restaurants in New York. All kinds of food, speciality, and style.

I would love to see you cast in the new Star Wars trilogy as an esteemed Jedi Knight or hero.  How would you feel about being offered a role in Star Wars if you got the call from George Lucas?

If I got a call from Georges Lucas and was offered a role, I would open a bottle of champagne!

You’ve creatively collaborated with Luc Besson on so many wonderful films which Luc directed, wrote, or produced.  How did Luc first learn of your acting talents and begin working with you, and of your many films with Luc, why do you think that after two decades, Leon: The Professional is such an iconic role and film of yours that continues to resonate so emotionally and powerfully with people?

I think it’s very difficult to keep a high creativity all life long for a film director. You will have some peak as a creator and Leon: The Professional is one of them. In the USA it is a cult movie. I like very much that movie. Natalie Portman was fantastic in it!

Copyright ©2015 Arlene R. Weiss/PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 28, 2015.

Photo Credits:

#1 ©2015. Courtesy of Jean Reno.  All rights reserved.

#2 ©1994. Courtesy of Sony/Columbia Pictures.  All rights reserved.

#3 ©1988. Courtesy of Weintraub Entertainment.  All rights reserved.

#4 ©1998. Courtesy of Metro Goldwyn Mayer.  All rights reserved.

#5 ©2012. Courtesy of Cohen Media Group.  All rights reserved.

#6 ©2006. Courtesy of Sony/Columbia Pictures.  All rights reserved.

#7 ©2006. Courtesy of Paramount Pictures.  All rights reserved.

#8 ©1994. Courtesy of Sony/Columbia Pictures.  All rights reserved.

#9 ©2012. Courtesy of Cohen Media Group.  All rights reserved.

Mario Batali, Daniel Brühl, Sienna Miller, Bradley Cooper, Uma Thurman and Sam Keeley at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Jay S. Jacobs. All rights reserved.

Bradley Cooper, Sienna Miller, Daniel Brühl, Uma Thurman, Sam Keeley and Mario Batali

Burnt Offerings

by Jay S. Jacobs

“In France, cooking is a serious art form and a national sport.” That quote, made by pioneering celebrity chef Julia Child, has just become more prescient in the modern world.  It is no longer merely a statement about France – this simple fact has gone world-wide.

Bradley Cooper knows this. He worked in kitchens in his younger years. Then, about a decade ago, he played a lightly fictionalized version of celeb chef Anthony Bourdain in the short-lived FOX series Kitchen Confidential, a somewhat light but deeply shadowed  look at life behind the scenes with a fine restaurant’s kitchen staff.

His latest film, Burnt, returns Cooper to the kitchen. A somewhat more somber film, though in many ways very funny, the movie fillets the highs and lows of high cuisine. Cooper plays Adam Jones, a formerly beloved chef whose Paris bistro crashed and burned under the weight of his substance abuse, his womanizing, his self-doubt and his destructive streak.

A few years later, Jones tries to revive his career and open a chic London eatery, with the help of his eternally patient former partner, played by German actor Daniel Brühl. He slowly goes about rebuilding a perfect staff, hiring a single mother named Helene played by Sienna Miller, old friend David played by Sam Keeley and Michel, a former employee he later screwed over, who is played by Omar Sy.

As he scrambles to get a foothold in the competitive gourmet world of London, and perhaps to even get that evasive three-star review in the Michelin guide, the chef has to overcome his own personal demons, self-doubt and anger issues to find personal redemption.

Daniel Brühl, Sienna Miller, Bradley Cooper and Uma Thurman at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Jay S. Jacobs. All rights reserved.

We were recently invited to a New York press event in which the stars of Burnt talked food with celeb chef Mario Batali, who also worked as a technical advisor on the film.

Mario Batali: This is just like Sunday supper at my house. We hang out like this. We talk a little stuff about business, then we really get down to what we’re looking for. The question for the cast is what initially attracted any of you to this project. Do you actually like food?

Bradley Cooper: Very much.

Mario Batali: Excellent.

Sienna Miller: Yeah, it turned out that we were all pretty into food, by coincidence. We were around this incredible food as we were cooking it, and we were being fed it. That was a huge perk of doing this film.

Bradley Cooper: And actually the cast. The fact that it was always going to be conceived as an international cast was very alluring. We shot it in London. That was a really cool aspect. Very true to kitchens. There’s always tons of different languages going on. It was a really awesome aspect of it.

Mario Batali: Did you learn anything? In all of the intensive practice, was there anything that you learned as either a maitre d’, a chef, a cook, or a critic that you were surprised by or otherwise perplexed? Was it all so obvious, or are there nuances that you guys understood or started to capture?

Daniel Brühl: I was attracted by the film, because I opened a restaurant myself five years ago. Because my acting skills weren’t so good, my acting skills and my cooking skills were so bad that I decided to open a place. What I learned is that we are very far away from getting a Michelin star. The perfection, the level of quality in this restaurant where I was trained – Marcus Wareing’s restaurant in London – was just incredible.

Mario Batali: It’s fastidious. You did a very good job of capturing the exasperation with the talent, and yet your complete faith behind it which was evident without having spoken so often. It was really very real, because that’s how the front of the house treats a lot of us cooks in the back. Thinking, yeah, all right, have your little fit. Come on, come on. You did great that way. I was really interested in it.

Daniel Brühl: Thank you.

Mario Batali: So in terms of being the critic Uma, you walk in with a brilliant and supercilious wave that I imagine you go into a lot of places. When they bow down to you, you did such a great job. Was it hard to pretend to be a critic, or was it a natural thing? When you’re talking about food, she talked about food in the right way. It wasn’t just like “blah blah blah…”

Sienna Miller, Bradley Cooper and Uma Thurman at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Jay S. Jacobs. All rights reserved.

Uma Thurman: Well it was just a lot of fun. The cast was already assembled, to join everybody. I liked the exasperation with Twitter and Yelp. I thought that was funny, the idea that the irritation that the crowds… the popular demand… was over superseding opinion. This question is good for you actually, as a professional in the arena (to Mario) did we capture the…

Mario Batali: Well completely. The pressure is so on. As much as the social media forms a lot of the general opinion, it’s still the main critic of The New York Times, or The London Standard, or the papers that people read, that really give you your bona fides. You could have a lot of Yelps and people are like, “Yeah, whatever. Those are all your cousins and we know it.” That doesn’t diminish the value of Yelp to a consumer who is travelling around the world. But when you have four stars here, or three stars in Michelin you can… it’s like F-you to anyone who ever challenged you as a chef. You could say, “Look, here’s the paper of records saying exactly what matters to us.” That’s a really big part of our business. As the young chefs try to figure out how their part of the piece – Sam your character is a testament to just how hard they’ve got to work. How much apparent suffering they have to do, was that part of your situation?

Sam Keeley: Yeah, I guess so. I spent a lot of time in Marcus Wareing’s restaurant in the Berkeley and studied one chef in particular. Just watched him and learned his story, about where he came from. These guys are in it because they’re so passionate. They work insane hours, obviously as you know, and for very little money. They just want to get it right. They love the food and the whole thing behind it. I studied this one guy, Jake, who was younger than me, but was Marcus’ right hand man. He would run the kitchen when Marcus wasn’t around. It was fascinating to see.

Bradley Cooper: Oh yeah, I remember that kid.

Sam Keeley: He was a really quiet kid, but when he switched it on he was just this animal in the kitchen. They’re all covered in burns and slash marks from knives.

Mario Batali: I still have them, even now. Every now and then, something tricky can happen. In the screaming and passionate scenes that Bradley did so well, did it feel like you were being yelled at, guys?

Sam Keeley: Well, yeah.

Mario Batali: Sienna mostly, with that embarrassing turbo situation? I mean you guys are actors, so you know what’s going on, but how did that capture anything in the Wareing kitchen? I imagine he’s a little calmer, than maybe our script led everyone to believe. Is that true?

Sienna Miller: He probably has his moments, but it has leveled out. I think he can definitely go there.

Mario Batali: I think what happens as chefs mature, they realize that yelling is not the most effective way to change the behavior of the people that are working with you. In fact, a quiet lecture delivered sotto voce, yet within earshot of the people that you work with, might shame you more quickly. When I used to yell at someone, I would always have to go back and apologize because I felt like an idiot. Then, of course, I’ve diminished everything I just yelled about into a whimpering little apology and say, “Hey, you’re doing okay anyway.” So effectively the yelling was such a crucial part of it. Bradley, you felt pretty jacked up about it because you did the thrill pretty well on that. Did you talk to Marco Pierre White at all about that?

Bradley Cooper at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Bradley Cooper: I did yeah. And Marcus and Clare Smyth at Hospital Road and Gordon Ramsey.

Mario Batali: Who is actually the PhD student of all PhD students of yelling chefs right?

Bradley Cooper: But what’s so interesting is I just love the family of it all. You worked under Marco, so did Gordon and so did Marcus. I think Marco – and he will say it openly – has changed a lot over the years. Has calmed down a lot. But, no, there’s tons of stories, which you know more than anybody. I think the movie was actually pretty tame.

Mario Batali: Well, compared to Marco’s worst days, yes. But I think it captured probably more of the 21st century vibe right. I mean that was 1985 and Marco would literally take scissors and cut guys chef coats up while they were on them, like: “You don’t deserve this!” Snip, snip, snip. What crazed mind comes up with this way of torturing people. It’s such a cruel thing. Yet the pressure and the intensity when the Michelin guy is in there. I think, without wrecking the movie, there’s a scene where there is some sabotage that is so well done and so well thought out that it’s just like: wow that’s a pay off that I thought was great.

Bradley Cooper: Also, I always thought that how erratic that the Adam character becomes into the kitchen, it’s all geared towards himself. It’s all based in self loathing, that he screwed it up.

Mario Batali: Well, right. That’s fundamentally why chefs yell, because they realize they did not train their staff properly. The reason they’re mad is because they should’ve known to train them for the inevitable fact that at 7:30 you have to move much faster than you do at 5;30. You have to accept a window of acceptable variation. If you don’t do that, you’re mad at them. But they’re just 17-year-old kids. They’re 22-year-old kids. You have F-ed up. You feel so bad about it you’re lashing at everybody that you can. How was the food on set?

Bradley Cooper: Unbelievable.

Mario Batali: Like you ate their real food?

Bradley Cooper: We were cooking. In the way that they set it up, Marcus created the dishes. Then we would have recipes, these were all set by the commis and then all of the other cooks were actually…

Mario Batali: Commis are not Soviets. They’re the lesser level of chefs.

Bradley Cooper: All the other cooks, they were not extra actors. They were cooks, people that work in Michelin star restaurants around London. We were cooking the food, we were eating the food, too. We were testing it constantly. Then we would actually in between takes eat a lot of the meat. Ricardo was just doing brilliant work in the grill.

Sam Keeley: (jokes) Because the catering wasn’t that good.

Mario Batali: They are craft services all over the world but they’re not three-star Michelin restaurants, right? Did anybody take home any recipes that they’re going to cook at their house now?

Sienna Miller at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Sienna Miller: Yes, turbot. (laughs) I have eaten much more turbot than I ever thought I would, and can fillet it which is exciting! I can buy a whole one and take it home. That’s a good new skill. Also I can make pasta, so I’ve been making homemade pasta.

Mario Batali: You did an amazing scene where you were rolling it out with such aplomb. She knows how to do it.

Bradley Cooper: Yeah, she really did it. She really did that in the scene. That was fantastic. You have no idea how hard that is to act, number one, but then make pasta while you’re acting.

Mario Batali: Because at that point she wasn’t acting. She was just making the pasta.

Sienna Miller: (in a hippie voice) I was just being, man…

Bradley Cooper: (laughs) That was just the wonderful thing for all of us… that we actually got to do the work. For an actor that’s always the easiest thing, if you’re actually doing it.

Mario Batali: When the chefs that were actually helping you execute the mise en place, were they the same ones every day or were they…?

Bradley Cooper: Same ones.

Mario Batali: So they didn’t have a job for a month?  They were only with you?

Bradley Cooper: That’s right. That’s right. It felt like a real brigade.

Mario Batali: That’s exactly what a real kitchen feels like.

Bradley Cooper: Everybody got to know each other. For example, when we had that scene when Adam berates everybody, you know they’re all there and it really was good…

Mario Batali: And they’re like, “Yes. Somebody else is taking it right now.”

Bradley Cooper: Silently, though…

Mario Batali: When that stuff goes on, that’s all you’re really thinking about. You’re just trying to get as close to the corner and as away from the center of attention as possible.

Bradley Cooper: Of course.

Mario Batali: Because obviously when someone makes a mistake, the whole kitchen pays for it. How much awareness do you now have in a dining experience when you’re sitting at a restaurant table? Here’s what happens in my family. We’ll finish our appetizers, and we’ll be done and for five minutes they’ll watch us. Then a busboy will come up surreptitiously, quietly, just getting ready to clear the table. For some reason my wife or my son picks a little something off the plate. The whole team has to back out again, because you can’t clear the table while they’re still eating. Do you ever notice anything about that in restaurants when you’re going around?

Sienna Miller: The thing I heard that was the most extraordinary thing was that if you’re at a table of people, five of you. You’ve ordered different things. Your main courses are ready and they’re on their paths, if someone from that table stands up to go to the bathroom and it takes more than two minutes every dish has to be thrown away. So I just know that if I’m at a dinner table and there are people, I’m like if we’re waiting you do not leave the table. You just stay there.

Mario Batali: Right. In New York now you have to go like 400 yards away from the restaurant if you want to have a cigarette. It could be a month before they come back and you’re waiting for the entrées. A delicate piece of fish can’t hold on two minutes. Certainly a ravioli can’t either. You’ve got to throw it out and restart it.

Bradley Cooper: I never thought about the smoking thing. You’re right. That’s got to be a nightmare.

Mario Batali: They go so far away, because we make them go so far away. Like: “Yes,  you have to go to Washington Square Park – the very center. You can’t possibly smoke in front of this. My guests are very upset with you.” Now what do you think about when you have to wait a few more minutes at a reservation…? Uma? You guys never wait for reservations.

Uma Thurman at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Uma Thurman: Not with you, Mario.

Mario Batali: But is there any sympathy toward the situation? You guys have seen it now from a very different way. I would say that among the people at this table, all of you at any of my restaurants have always been incredibly respectful and most delightful, so you’re welcome back at any time.

Bradley Cooper: Thank you.

Mario Batali: But there are people that throw a little fit. They tend not to be the famous people. They tend to be the entitled people. Have you ever seen anything like that at a restaurant? Will you ever in the restaurant’s defense come up to them and say, (clicks tongue) “Please?”

Sienna Miller: It’d be weird to get involved at that point, with a complete stranger. But they definitely get a bad look.

Mario Batali: Right. That’s good, that’s good enough.

Bradley Cooper: It’s been a long time since I’ve seen it, but I remember when I was a kid being at a seafood restaurant. The guy actually did it to me. I was a prep cook. He asked me what I put in the crab cakes. I didn’t understand what he was saying. He really wanted me to say as many ingredients as possible, to tell me that my crab cakes weren’t well made, because the more you put in them, the worse it is.

Mario Batali: Right. Anything but crab is always a mistake.

Bradley Cooper: And I thought what an asshole….

Mario Batali: He didn’t trip you up, though.

Bradley Cooper: No. I didn’t really answer him. Then he just explained how smart he was about food.

Mario Batali: That’s something about New York and London, I imagine.

Bradley Cooper: No, this was Somers Point, New Jersey.

Mario Batali at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Mario Batali: Obviously a training ground for New Yorkers. Where they learn how to be New Yorkers. Let’s go down and embarrass the busboy at the crab place first and see how it feels. Oh yeah, I did. Great, let’s go get on the train and be tough to somebody. Now we’re in Manhattan, here we go. As you go out to eat at the fancy Michelin star restaurants, a lot of the trait is in the tasting menu. And the Michelin critics’ alleged behavior, which you had to be able to figure out as well as you could in the movie. Are you more prone to ordering tasting menus or a la carte now?

All: Tasting menus.

Mario Batali: And why is that?

Sienna Miller: The experience. You want the whole experience. If you don’t have the time… obviously, it depends. But if you’re going to go to a restaurant that has that option, you’ve gone to a really great place. You might as well commit.

Bradley Cooper: It would be like going to the theater and saying I don’t want to see Hamilton. I’d like to see Kinky Boots, please.

Mario Batali: When you’re there…

Bradley Cooper: That’s what I’m saying. When you’re there, you’re like actually tonight…

Mario Batali: Can I skip the second half?

Bradley Cooper: Just a couple of monologues by Noel Coward will be good. I don’t know where Hamilton and Kinky Boots came from. (laughs) That’s so random.

Mario Batali: They’re both fantastic musicals here in New York! Bradley’s auditioning for one of those two apparently. Alright so that’s enough of my questions, let’s hear what you guys have to ask…

Brad you do an amazing job of conveying your character’s complex inner life. How did you relate to him personally? What did you draw inside of you to portray that?

Bradley Cooper: I had a tremendous amount of research. Being able to speak with people in that world. Then, just the script was fantastic. If I had to relate to anything, that idea of the trying to have a goal that you’re setting out to do. An obsession to do the best you can at that, I can definitely relate to that. More than any other character I’ve played, I really saw how different I was from this guy. He lost the joy in what he did. That’s a hell of a thing to lose, as I’m sure you concur, because food is so joyful. If you’ve lost joy in cooking, then wow you are lost. That’s where he is for so much of the movie. Then characters like Helene really re-inject him with the thing that he lost back in Paris.

Mario Batali: I have one question before the rest. My wife wants to know. She knows you didn’t shuck a million oysters, but did you shuck ten of those oysters?

Bradley Cooper: Oh, probably sixty.

Mario Batali: She said “I saw a lot of arms without any bodies, so I was assuming that it was a prep cook.”

Bradley Cooper: No, it was me. There was no double in the whole movie. In fact, they did this thing where the guy loosened about ten of them in the beginning, but we got through them in like half a take. So I was like oh. Then I had this stupid idea that I would bring the bag out which wasn’t pre…

Mario Batali: It looked good though.

Bradley Cooper: No, it was good, but that was the first day of shooting. As you know, I have shucked oysters when I was a prep cook. If you’re ever going to slice your hands, it’s going to be while shucking an oyster. I really thought, I even said to John, I said, “Bro just to let you know if this goes south. You better find a lot of other stuff to shoot.”

Sienna Miller and Bradley Cooper at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Jay S. Jacobs. All rights reserved.

With the food aside, this is a film on many levels of recovery and also reinvention. Talk about how you saw your character. Particularly Mr. Cooper, with the recovery, it was not just from substance abuse. It was from a lot of other things too.

Bradley Cooper: In terms of what I was just commenting on before, I think that we find this guy… he’s white knuckling it. He pitches to Tony how he has all the answers and he knows exactly what he’s going to do. But he has absolutely no clue really, because he’s the same guy he was, just minus all the things he did to inoculate himself from his emotions. You’re watching this guy actually spiral even further and further down in the movie, the way that I saw it.

Sienna Miller: For me, I really liked the humanity of this character and how honest it was. She is a single mother. She is doing her best. She’s passionate about cooking, but she’s juggling a lot of balls. Everything seems to be compromised at a certain point. She’s trying her best. I wanted it to be a very real person. I didn’t want to wear makeup or portray it in any inauthentic way possible. The women that I’ve met that work in these kitchens, it’s a very male dominated environment. They have to be really tough and strong. She’s got depth and she’s got pain and it resonated.

What was it like to have to say “yes chef” when everything inside you wanted to “go fuck yourself?”

Sienna Miller: That’s the nature of being in a kitchen, I think. A lesson anyone with the head chef is going to experience. Oui, chef.

I thought the movie was very much like a sports film in another way. It has the arc of the comeback story, the competition. Did any of you feel the same way? Did you get passionately into that competition?

Bradley Cooper: It’s funny you say that. In no way would I ever compare it to Hoosiers, even though that movie is unbelievable. But we were talking about how I loved when Gene Hackman moved to this town living in Barbara Hershey’s house and helping her. He walks out when she’s tilling the field at one point in the middle of winter, and just realizes that he is just so not in his element. Where was he before? We talked about that specific aspect of the character, because that character is a little similar to Adam Jones, in a way with his arc. I really love the idea of: What does he do at night? Adam Jones. Because he’s not sleeping with women. He’s not doing drugs. Well, he’s definitely not getting 12 hours of sleep, either. What does he do? That’s sort of what Hackman does in that house. We had him walking around London, looking in shops, constantly obsessed. What made me think of that was Hoosiers. The Reece character, you have this nemesis, this other guy who’s competing and hiding just how competitive one is. But then we see that little of slice of his personal life. He’s completely destroying his restaurant, just because of a decent review that his old partner got.

There’s a beautiful connection between creating a meal and creating a relationship, also sense memories when you eat specific meals. What are your favorite meals that might draw a sense memory out for you?

Sienna Miller: It’s so hard. We’ve obviously been answering a lot of food questions. There are so many different types of food, but for me there’s something really comforting about my mum’s roasted chicken.

Daniel Brühl at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Daniel Brühl: Yesterday I had a fried black rice. I’m half Spanish, my mother’s from Spain. My mom does that a lot, too. It was spectacular at a restaurant called Estela. Boy, crispy fried black rice is just… (mimes ecstacy)

Sam Keeley: |A classic Sunday roast is always going to have something that reminds you of home and comfort and being a child, I guess, which is lovely.

Bradley Cooper: The thing about food is if you throw out any food I’ll tell you what the memory is. That’s the great thing. It really is true.

Mario Batali: Sunday gravy.

Bradley Cooper: Oh yeah, Grandmother. Actually pulling it out of the freezer. Freezing my hand because it was so cold, because we used to freeze the gravy for the week and make it on Sunday, then we just stacked the freezer with it.

Sienna Miller: That’s the thing about food though, it’s just so much more than eating for me. I think for anyone who appreciates it and lives to eat, which somehow all of us pretty much do, but the idea of everybody getting together around food. What that does for relationships and friendships. It’s like the most joyful thing about being alive, so it’s a difficult question to answer because of that.

Mario Batali: A family meal share was probably the most crystallized moment when you were finally on the team. That was when everyone realized, oh yes he’s going to have dinner with us. There was a satisfaction on the whole team, very much like when you have dinner with your family and everyone all of a sudden shows up. Oh wow, we’re all here. This is something really remarkable. Nutrition becomes more than just comestible. It becomes emotional. There’s something to that shared experience. Particularly when you go through a dinner service and work so hard together. With people who you don’t even have to love every day, but you need them then. At the end, you can look back at each other and say: “Yeah, we did it.”

Bradley Cooper: Do you do that in your restaurants?

Mario Batali: Yeah, always.

Bradley Cooper: Because I’ve never had that experience. We never had the family meal.

Mario Batali: In all of our restaurants because we’re lunch and dinner, we have breakfast, lunch and dinner family meals. You can just stop in. The late dinner family meal is like the 12:30 leftover bits of steak put in the pasta with everything. That’s the best one.

Actually Mario this question is for you but the other members of the cast can add in as well, after an entire day of working with very expensive ingredients and all sorts of fancy techniques when the chef goes home and cooks for himself what does he like to eat?

Sienna Miller: Oh that’s a good question.

Mario Batali: I like very simple things. It’s almost always based on product as opposed to technique, so simple duck egg from the farm market, over easy with a slice of fontina and as it is in season right now some shavings of white truffle, just make you feel like, “Yes I’m alone, but I’m the king of alone.” For me it’s the simple stuff or whatever. You make a quesadilla and you put some interesting stuff on it you’ve got. Leftovers play a big part of my favorite things to eat, because you’re not going to sit there and grill a whole steak at 1 o’clock in the morning. But if they had steak at the dinner table at the house – because I’m home at 6 o’clock every night for dinner – and then I go back to work, I know what there is in the fridge when I’m thinking about what I might make when I get home.

What do you think about the whole thing about chefs being rock stars these days? Are any of you so enamored with chefs that you felt like this is somebody really cool that I’d like to meet?

Mario Batali: When I became a chef in 1978, in New Brunswick, New Jersey, at Stuff Your Face Restaurant, cooking was what you did after you got out of the army before you went to jail. Because it was a task that anybody could do. Peeled potatoes would be a part of that world. In the subsequent 30 years, as we’ve watched, food has become more than just something you ate on your way to the theater. or after the game, or between something in the opera. Food became the centerpiece. Whether it’s because it’s entertaining to watch people cook, or entertaining to go to their restaurants, we’ve elevated the players. Whether it’s the wine maker, or the chef, or the maitre d’, or the bartender, mixologist or whatever. They’ve been elevated because it’s really fun and really relaxing to watch someone who really knows what they’re doing do it. Even if you never intend to ever do it just like that, like porn, you just happen to watch it. I might never do it like that, but I’ll probably watch it again. The same thing with food. The whole fascination with nutrition and satisfaction come together in one place. It’s a fascinating thing. So of course chefs are… but I think the next rock stars are going to be the farmers.  Who allows the chefs to be the greatest? It’s the one who produces that particular gem lettuce, or that kind of oyster, or this delicious kind of beef, or this magnificent chicken that tastes so much better than all of the chicken you’ve ever tasted. Their ascendency I think is imminent, that’s because we need to understand that we need to get back into our agriculture a little bit. That heroism will be remunerated by paying them the proper amount to get the really good chicken.

Bradley Cooper: But do you think also the term rock star? When I was just doing research, White Heat, that cookbook (by Marco Pierre White) that the photographer had taken a bunch of photographs of this young chef. There’s that one photograph where he looks like Jim Morrison, with the cigarette dangling. You just think: oh there’s this sort of mythical figure. Really it was like a moment in time.

Mario Batali: When people saw that, they suddenly thought: Hey, maybe being a chef is kind of cool.

Bradley Cooper: Right. Exactly. That changed.

Mario Batali: Before that it was in the back of the house. It was ugly, dirty or… you know, the Italian guy in the t-shirt smoking a cigarette out by the dumpster.

Bradley Cooper: Right. To have a guy like that talk about food in such a passionate way, you’re like: Oh, that was a whole new thing.

Mario Batali: Well that was like my first new mentor, Marco Pierre White. I remember just thinking the world is now suddenly something far more interesting. He would take little tagliatelle, take oysters, put them in a little bit of the broth and a little bit of butter, then caviar and some raspberry vinaigrette and then put it back in the shell. You’re like mom never made spaghetti like that. It was so intoxicatingly interesting.

Bradley Cooper: This is a guy who got three stars and at that time had never cooked in France. [But] He was making French cuisine.

Mario Batali: English born, never been to France. Got three stars, and the youngest…

This question is for the movie cooks on the stage, being around food so much while you were making the movie, did any of you gain weight? If you did what did you do to lose the weight or to not gain the weight in the first place?

Sam Keeley at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

Sam Keeley: We all had to be pretty careful about the amount of butter that was on the set. All that stuff, but you’re constantly eating, they’re constantly eating, the chefs, constantly tasting. Myself and Sienna were by a particularly tasty station.

Sienna Miller: I was drinking that beef sauce. It’s basically butter, but I just had a spoon.

Sam Keeley: So we just had to be careful with it, yeah.

Sienna Miller: At the same time, you’re working so intensely and its physically really exhausting to be in that environment. It’s boiling hot. So the kind of anxiety and adrenaline and focus that that takes is probably burning off the beef sauce.

Bradley Cooper: I was in the process of losing weight to do a play. I was trying to lose like 40 pounds for The Elephant Man, so it was kind of a nightmare to do a cooking movie in between. If you do watch the film again, you’ll see scenes where my face is like two inches wider than other times. We shot out of sequence. But it was nice. It was lumbering. I’m glad that I had that weight actually. It worked, I thought.

Mario Batali: I gained two pounds watching the movie.

What scene or part of the movie did you think was the biggest challenge and what was the most fun?

Sienna Miller: The biggest challenge for me was the scene where Bradley and I had that confrontation where he called me an infection. (laughs) There was just something about the atmosphere on that day. I think having worked together so intensely on American Sniper, we’d got to a level of trust with each other as actors, where we could just get quite deep quite quickly. It felt very intense. Very real. I think it just really affected the environment. One of those things, it was cathartic and very interesting and very dark, but hard to go through that with someone that you know, with your friend. We had enough of a good relationship and of a good understanding of each other to be able to avoid each other for the rest of the day, without having to apologize, or explain why. But it was just a pretty real moment. Then at the end of your day, you’re like that was a great day. That’s the weird thing about being an actor, the horrible stuff is what makes you feel good. The best part of it for me was the training, learning these skills and being around this incredible cast. We all became really close. We laughed a lot. We worked in a kitchen. We were chefs. We really did it. There were no doubles, as Bradley said. To have that experience of really living another profession is one of the most exciting things of our job, I think.

Uma Thurman: I just had one scene. (laughs) But it was a pleasure. It was just fun. I enjoyed myself.

Bradley Cooper: Yeah that scene was pretty brutal, with Uma.

Uma Thurman: Yeah, we fight the whole time.

Bradley Cooper: I think the scene with Matthew Rhys was probably the most shocking one. That’s at the end of the movie, when he shows up at his nemesis’ restaurant. It was late at night, we didn’t have much time and the bag thing just sort of happened in one of the takes. Then it just feels vulnerable when you’re doing something like that in front of 12 people that you don’t know at all, the chefs in Reece’s restaurant. But ultimately it was beautiful because Reece – Matthew Rhys, who plays Reece – was just incredible. We didn’t really know each other at all and then the next thing you know he’s caressing me and trying to calm me down. We’re bonded forever. Matter of fact, I haven’t really seen him since. I look forward to seeing him tonight because we just looked at each other after and were just like why we both love doing what we do? Is it to be able to really put yourself in imaginary circumstances and hope that accidents like putting a bag on your head and realizing you’re going to kill yourself happen.

Bradley Cooper, Uma Thurman and Sam Keeley at the New York press conference for Burnt. Photo ©2015 Jay S. Jacobs and Brad Balfour. All rights reserved.

I had no idea, until I saw the movie, this idea about food trends that can come back after a few years and everybody will say, the way you were preparing that is all wrong. Are there any food trends today that you dislike or think are stupid? And for Sienna and Uma, being fashionable people that you are, how do trends influence that?

Uma Thurman: I think it’s very important to avoid trends. That’s just because I’m me, because I’ve been doing it for so long. (laughs)

Sienna Miller: Yeah I don’t really follow like, oh that’s the cool thing to wear. I have an aesthetic that I like. I’m sure it’s the same as everyone sitting at this table. You wear what you think is nice and what makes you feel good. And food trends: No, I think I’d try anything. There’s nothing that I feel [weird about]. First of all I’m not particularly aware of them.

But they make a big point in the movie of saying…

Sienna Miller: Well the Sous Vide. Yeah I think that food Sous Vide stuff is delicious. But I also like barbecue stuff so….

Bradley I love how messy your character kept the suite in the Langham. Does that mimic at all how you are with your real hotel room? And what did you learn about cooking that you will take with you?

Bradley Cooper: No I’m the opposite. I would feel horrible if I had left the room like that. Spoon. We were talking about this yesterday. I always thought spoon was the sort of bastard child of the utensils, but it’s the optimal most worthwhile and an essential element to any cook if they’re going to cook. I did not know that before. Also the great thing, I loved how Marco and Gordon talked about plating food. Once you make a choice live with it, if you ever see a chef…

Sienna Miller: … Adjusting…

Bradley Cooper: … it’s over. They were so clear about that when I was plating food in the movie. I thought that was really interesting. You have your vision, improvise with it and then that’s it. (to Mario) Would you agree with that?

Mario Batali: Oh completely. Once you second guess yourself in any craft you’re done.

Sienna, of the tricks that you learned as a chef, is there one thing that you’ll take away from this set as far as a food hack or a kitchen tip that you’ll be using for the rest of your days? And maybe Daniel about getting a table?

Sienna Miller: I think just learning. They taught us how to cook fish, which is a simple delicious thing, but really easy to get wrong. I now have a pretty solid and well rehearsed technique as to how to cook fish pretty well. It’s impressive. I have a dinner party, so that’s nice.

One of the things that keep coming up in the movie is that there is a lot of emphasis placed on quiet, respect and validation for one’s work. Who or what gives you validation or pride in your work? Also, can you talk about John Wells’ directing style?

Bradley Cooper: Personally I’d say having a good day’s work. Feeling like I have given it my all. Being with people like the people up here. Feeling that we actually created something together. That gives me great fulfillment. Somebody like John Wells creates an environment where that can happen. For example, when I was just mentioning the scene with Matthew Rhys, I mean you have to have a director that knows exactly what he or she wants and is really inviting the collaborative experience. For me, all the years that I’ve worked, the best directors are the ones that are the most collaborative, always. He was like that. Always willing to hear from everybody. Treated every single person with the same value. The real cook who was in the back, if he had an idea [Wells] would listen to it just as much as when I said something. Those aspects of a director, you want to gravitate towards people like that.

Sienna Miller: Yeah. I think the validation question is complicated, because it depends. It really has to come from somewhere in you. I’ve certainly had experiences in the past where I felt like on that particular day maybe I didn’t show up to the degree that I wish I had. It’s hard to feel fulfilled, regardless of what the response is to that. I think you really have to know that you’ve done everything you can to put everything you can into what you’re working on. That in itself is validation, because ultimately it is a question of taste. These things do ebb and flow. People like stuff and don’t. I read reviews of films that I adore and they are terrible and vise versa. It’s just not personal. Everybody has their own opinions. You have to just turn down the noise on too much praise, or criticism. Just do your best.

Uma Thurman: I find that other actors and other creative people in films too, when another actor is nice to you, it’s very moving. You’re sort of surprised, like: Oh really? Thanks! People really understand what it’s like. Its most impactful sometimes.

Sam Keeley: Finding truth in moments is always a lovely thing. It could be anything, but if it’s a genuine thing, you guys will feel that as a result and resonate off of you. Then the audience will feel it. I think that in itself, even if it’s not fireworks, is validation enough to make you go and do your job right.

Mario, you spoke on the three-star Michelins. How does one become one?

Mario Batali: Well the Michelin guide is very anonymous. We never know who they are. They present it a little bit in the movie like they could’ve figured it out. Maybe in Europe it’s a little bit different, but the Michelin guide in America is a little harder to figure out. Because like Del Posto has one star, and The Spotted Pig had one star. So if you come from another town and you’re using the book, you’re thinking, well I just went to the Del Posto, let me go to The Spotted Pig. You might be surprised, or even discomfited by it, because it’s an entirely different experience. So the judging is something we’re always trying to figure out. We don’t really get to question them, but it’s certainly a prize. One of the things that we do in the restaurant business is if we’re not treated well in a guide book we tell all our friends “No one reads that fucking book! Who cares?” But if you’re in the book: “Oh, yeah, this is probably one of the most influential books.” We’re always trying to crack it, but at the end of the day – and that goes back to the validation question – we’re really cooking for ourselves in our kitchen. We’re really just trying to figure out how to share that experience in the best way. We find it exciting knowing and paying attention to every cook in the world. Finding out what they’re doing and what’s going on in the ingredients. A lot of customers come in and they don’t really care about any information at all. They want something to eat. They really want to talk with their friends. They really don’t want to talk to a waiter, or hear about the chef’s passions, because they’re just there for something. Finding a way to bridge all of those options is having great front of the house staff who can read the customer and say these people are really interested, maybe you want to go talk to them. Or maybe these people don’t really want to hear about anything. Don’t go near their table. They’re busy. That’s what the guide book rewards, our ability to make that experience seamless for any level of different kinds of groups of people that come in. Fundamentally, we’re cooking for ourselves. We’re building a restaurant so that we are most impressed with what we do. That’s the validation, when we look and other chefs come in and say, “Wow that was a good thing. That was a great thing.”

What kind of tippers are you? And Mario what do you think of Danny Meyers’ no tipping policy in restaurants?

Mario Batali: Let’s hear about the tippers first. I’ll bet you these are all very good tippers.

Sienna Miller: England is really bad with tipping. It’s just not in any way a part of the culture that it is here. Often it’s included, but it would be 10%. If it’s not, you can be as generous as you want, but like, in a taxi you don’t have to tip. It’s just different. I guess that wages are maybe higher and it doesn’t balance out the same, but here, yeah that’s where people make their money, on tips. So you better be conscious of that.

Daniel Brühl: Same in Germany. It’s 10%, so it always takes me a day in to understand. I always get these strange looks the first day I’m here.

Mario Batali: As soon as the American waiter hears your European accent, they’re like: Oh, here’s one for the house. To that answer, that’s why Danny Meyers is taking this on, because what they’re doing is they’re changing the minimum wage. It used to be that you could pay a waiter $4 or $5 an hour and they would still make 70 or 80 or 100,000 dollars a year, because they would be remunerated by great tips. The idea of the good side of that is that you’ll work hard, because good tips are clearly a part of good service. The other side is that the whole team is working just as hard. A team player guy like Danny Meyer, it would seem that everyone should share in the upside. They should all be a part of it. Danny’s trying to get his hands and his heads around keeping the restaurant business sustainable. Meaning that the business can profit and continue to do what it does in any way against the different things that are changing in the world. While we try to figure out how to equitably distribute any money for the people that are deserving of it. It’s a double sided knife, a three sided coin, and a five sided conundrum. He came out first, and that takes a lot of balls. I look forward to seeing how he figures it out. Of course, my team has been working on this for five months, but we were not prepared to come out as the leader of the pack in this. We’ve got to really think this out and really do town hall meetings, not only with our staff, but with our customers, to figure out exactly what they think is good.

So Del Posto might follow suit?

Mario Batali: I would say if there’s a first one, that would be the easiest one to do because it’s a pris fixe menu there. Del Posto will probably be the first one that follows some kind of a line, what we’re going to call servito incluso.

Just to follow up on your question, Bradley you’ve come out in support of Jennifer Lawrence’s comments about wage equality for women, which actually kind of parallels your character’s growth in his relationship to women, treating them as equals. Would you like to comment on stepping forth?

Bradley Cooper: Thank you, but there’s nothing to really congratulate. I mean if anyone is to be congratulated its Sienna, who took a stand, a very huge stand. (to Sienna) Not to put you on the spot… anyway. All I was saying was that it’s a tricky thing to talk about money. I’m never aware of what anyone else gets, unless you’re approached to give some of your money. Because to make a movie is getting harder and harder. People are paying less and less. People are always taking pay cuts. That’s my experience. So the only time you ever find out about somebody else is if you have to divvy up the pie differently so someone will come on and do it. But you’re not aware of what other people are getting also, so why not just be transparent and say “Okay, here’s the pie. Let’s divvy it up talk about it.”

Mario Batali: Wage equality is unassailable, just like marriage equality is unassailable. These are things that in 40 years we’ll look back and be like: wow, that’s just like not letting people on the bus. It’s inevitable that its going to happen. It’s just a question of who’s going to take the heat on the first day, or the first prize. Then it’ll all settle out. It has to. It’s natural. It will be equilibrium.

Copyright ©2015 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 25, 2015.

Photos ©2015 Jay S. Jacobs and Brad Balfour.  All rights reserved.