Happy Sad Confused - Alan Rickman

Episode Date: June 22, 2015

Mr. Alan Rickman is one of the best actors of our generation and has one of the most unique voices in film history. Mr. Rickman joins Josh to talk about the process of both directing and acting in his new film A Little Chaos, the transition from working as a graphic designer to becoming an actor full time at age 25, where his portrayal of Bill Clay in Die Hard originated, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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It's been completely revised and advertisers like it when we have the most up-to-date answers. Plus, you're also going to get a chance to win that $100 gift card. Once again, that's podsurvey.com slash happy. Thanks for helping us find the best advertisers so that we can keep happy, sad, confused, absolutely free. Hey, guys, welcome to another edition of Happy, Sad, Confused. I am Josh Horowitz, and this is a podcast. Probably not your first podcast. Hopefully not.

But actually, that'd be a wonderful thing. Oh, my God. Thank you for. listening to your very first podcast and making this it. I'm honored. See, we're having a dialogue. Or I'm going insane and talking to the voices in my head. Same difference. Welcome to this week's episode of the show where I talked to cool actors and directors. And in this case, this week, one and the same. Because my guest on this week's episode of Happy Set Confused is Mr. Allen Rickman. Oh my God. I know. Can you believe it? Alan Rickman. Isn't that crazy?

I know. Clearly nothing better to do. No, he's actually been very busy. He is out on the stump, putting the good word out on his film that he acts in alongside Kate Winslet and has directed, called A Little Chaos. It is a beautiful film, great performances, as you would expect, from something helmed by one of our best. And it's a beautiful love story. It takes place in the gardens of Versailles in the 16th century. I think I have the right century. 16th century. So beautiful costumes, beautiful scenery, beautiful acting, and Alan Rickman's voice for at least a good portion of the two hours. And for two hours, you get Kate Winslet. So how can you go wrong, right? That opens this coming Friday, June 26th in a limited release, I believe. Try and see it on a big screen if you can because it looks good. And you should want to go see good movies and big movie theaters.

We talk about that, actually, in this conversation. What an honor to talk to Alan Rickman. Kind of an intimidating guy, by the way. If you guys have listened to the show in the past, you know, a lot of the people I talk to, I have relationships with over the years that I've, you know, gone to know, and they're super gregarious with me and friendly in general. And Alan was, I would find it weird to even call him Alan. Mr. Rickman was. He's super nice. But he's got that voice.

He's got that body of work. He's got that gravitas. so this was it wasn't a tough one I would say but it was it was challenging in that way because you have to kind of get over the hump of like trying to have a real conversation with with an intimidating presence like Alan Rickman it's it's a tall order so hopefully I did an okay job I think it's going to be fun for you guys that enjoy his work and you know we talk about Harry Potter films we talk about Galaxy Quest we talk about die hard we talk about his directing we talk about a lot of things this is a nice long juicy conversation

with one of the best actors working today. And here's a fun fact. We talked about this. Do you know Alan Rickman's film debut was like at 40 years old in Die Hard? It's crazy. Yeah, crazy the things you learn when you're doing research.

Anyway, I'm not going to say much more except to say, enjoy this conversation. Go check out some good movies in theaters, by the way. If you guys have not seen Inside Out yet, go see it. It's one of Pixar's best.

Go see dope, by the way. Smaller film. Well worth your time. Go see the overnight with our buddy, Mr. Adam, Scott. Hi, Adam, if you're listening. Really funny, really great film with Adam Scott and Jason Schwartzman. And it's fantastic. And I loved it when I saw it at Sundance. And I would definitely recommend it to you guys for a bit of depravity and fun and character study and all that

kind of jamboree. I don't know what I'm talking about. Let's get to Alan Rickman. He's much more eloquent than I am. Enjoy. Thanks again for stopping by today. It's always a great pleasure to see you. And I was talking to you, as you sat down, about, it's been a long press tour. I can tell it's long because you were the other day inhaling helium with Jimmy Fallon. So clearly you're at the end of something. I needed something to inhale.

Something to keep you going in the home stretch. Talk to me a little bit about, you know, it's one thing to promote a film as an actor. It's another one you are a kind of. writer and a director? Does this feel like it's your baby and you have to sort of like guide it home a little bit more than you would as an actor for hire as it were in a film?

I guess there's that sort of responsibility although I have to correct a few things. One is it's Alison Deegan's script and we kind of were a bit sort of engineers with it a little bit of me and Jeremy Brock

and I suppose Is it a baby? The weird thing is at the moment that you watch it at various screenings and little bits and pieces and it's like it's left me and that's in a very good way.

It's not something that I'm holding on to. Right. I suppose the metaphor would be that I'm watching it walk now. Right. And you're watching it through other people's eyes and hearing other people's interpretations, which has got to be exciting. I mean, I would think it breathes new life into something that, you know, at various points in an edit room or whatever, you're so close to that material to suddenly see it from somebody with fresh eyes has got to be a fascinating process.

Well, you know, I'm a great fan of going to the movies with, like, let's say, 300 other people and the lights go down and you're in the dark and somebody is saying to you once upon a time, whatever it is. And so I know we live in a time where that's harder and harder to achieve and harder and less and less are people aiming for it because, you know, the common wisdom is that all the great writing is being done for television, which is fine. Right.

As long as there's a conversation between the two somewhere. But with a film like this, you do hope that people don't put it on pause every 20 minutes because they think I'll get a glass of water or the phone's ringing or whatever. You can't control that. So what's really rewarding to me is to be at a screening of this with a full house

and to feel silence to send. Interrupted, I hope, by laughter. And you do occasionally hear snuffles. But the silence is the important thing because you can feel the once upon a timeness of it really taking hold and people are being transported. Does that apply in a comparable way

to your experiences on stage when you are hearing silence? Yeah. Similar, yeah. Except on stage you can do something with it. How so? Well, you know, you're in charge of the atmosphere, I suppose, to some extent.

And the film, I find myself weirdly, you know, you go to one screen, and then you might go to another and you're walking thinking, gosh, I hope Kate's as good in that scene tonight as she was last night. Yeah, she is. Right. That's not a concern.

So that's a relief. Yeah, I would think so. So since we have some time, I want to backtrack a little bit on both the acting and directing front. I mean, for instance, I've seen the winter guests and it's been a while since the winter guest, which was your first directing and last directing effort.

The double-edged sword of being on something as great as Potter was, I think, sounded like the biggest. obstacle to getting the time that you needed required to helm a film again. But I was directing in that period. You were directing theater, yeah. So was film directing, has it been an ambition from the start once you got into film?

Or was it something that organically just came up as the years went on? It did just sort of happen, but it's a bit like theater directing. You know, you have to acquire a mixture of nerve and will and idiocy or something to put yourself in that position. Yeah.

And I think I gathered courage gradually by working with other directors that I admired and noticing that they didn't mind being vulnerable. And when I or any other actor would say, ask a question, in many ways, the most encouraging answer you would get would be, I don't know.

I was going to ask that because I've talked to a lot of film filmmakers, and I've heard different answers to this, about what the attitude on set. Because some people say you go on set and you have to portray that even if you don't, that you have all the answers. And there's some that say that's the worst possible idea, go in and admit that you need help and need collaboration from all fronts. Do you fall on one side or the other or somewhere in between? Well, at some sort, I don't think there's not a plan. The thing about making a film as an actor or as a director, I think, is it's such a moment by moment experience.

You know, you don't know in a two-hand, like Kate have, Kate and I have in the film, long scene. The winds change, and now we're going to get a plane coming over every 30 seconds. What are you going to do about that? And it's my job to figure out what to do. And so there's lots of unknowns. I think a lot of the questions are answered if you have solid enough pre-production. You're around the table with all these unbelievable. experts. That's the good thing about making a film. You're surrounded by people who know what

they're doing. Amazing, to an amazing degree. And to not exploit their gifts is, would be a tragedy to utilize them. Also, they're very, you know, they're very slow to criticize you. They're always, always support whatever stupid thing you've just said. And so you have to notice that and encourage them to be helpful and say, well, that might not be the best way of going about that. I mean, I believe I have some of the right answers, but not necessarily all of them. It's okay to question and provide alternatives.

You are the final arbiter. That's true. Yeah. You know, you will have to go, no, I don't agree with that. Is it odd to be directing when you are in a costume such as the one that you're wearing and this? Does it feel like an out of, body thing like I should be wearing director

garb right now but I'm still an actor on the scenes I mean the thing is there's enough I suppose you don't have to go back too far you go okay I'm not going to complain about this because there's this guy called Orson Wells who did it all

you know and was like on the phone trying to get the costumes I think for chimes at midnight and then the costumes didn't arrive so they did it all in towels or sheets or something so and he's in it and their great movies and so you go well let's not it's not such a big problem i've only done it once on film this is the only time i'm playing louis the 14th and it was a useful thought that

pushes a little closer to now and louis the 14th might be a movie producer or director one of the wiser decisions for any director if they've the opportunities probably to hire Kate Winslet if they have the chance because she is virtually... I can advise people in that direction. Was that something from the very start of the development of this? That seemed... At the start of the development

when I was first reading it and I wasn't free to direct anything, she would have been way too young. So in a way, it happened the way it was meant to because I can't imagine anybody else playing it. And it had to wait until she was of a certain age to be she's playing somebody

who couldn't possibly have existed sure we have to make you believe that she could have in the middle of stuff that really did happen this is the movie it's here's a piece of fantasy shafted into reality Kate has those qualities she'll make you believe that this was

in fact people do come out saying she really existed why don't I know about her right she does the homework she's got the gravitas she doesn't mind and the humor she opens her mouth and you believe it which is what you want and she doesn't mind getting wet and dirty

yes and she does in this film definitely and that Matthias am I correctly pronouncing his he doesn't mind how you say it but it's Matias Matias yeah yeah who's somebody that I think I saw first in Ruston Bone and blew me away and people were catching on to this was that where you first encountered him and was he again Yeah, I think it was like an explosion into everybody's consciousness of seeing that film and his name was suggested.

I looked him up on YouTube because I thought, well, it's all very well suggesting his name, but he's Belgian and these people are all speaking the same language with the same accent and also he's playing a very famous Frenchman who's going to be speaking perfect English. Anyway, weirdly, I happened to be in Belgium at the time, and I was, and I YouTubeed him and found him doing an interview in L.A. for Rust and Bone speaking perfect English, but with an American accent, so I looked fine. And as it turned out, he was half an hour away at that moment in Antwerp. So we met the next day. Some things are meant to be, I suppose. You mentioned YouTubeing his name. Have you made the mistake? Have you fallen down the rabbit hole of YouTubeing or Googling your own name? Do you ever, is that you? No, and that's the truth. Yeah. No, that way illness lies.

Because, you know, and I know this is probably one of your least favorite subjects that it comes up often, is about your voice and the obsession with, I mean, you have an amazing, unique voice that is talked about often. Like, did you sound like this when you were like 12, when you were 14? When did the... No, any more than you do. I came out of the world sounding like this. It was very odd. I don't, I, to me, I sound completely different to whatever I have now got used to hearing in a year of editing. So I don't, I don't hear that voice.

Right. So it doesn't mean anything to me. Was there an awareness at a certain point when people started to talk about an obsession or doing imitations? Like, is that in recent times or is that something that you came, that you started to notice years and years ago, people talking about doing an Alan Rickman? well it's not something to spend too much time thinking about except when people like me remind you yeah I think

if Anthony Hopkins was sitting here now he's the most incredible mimic and my generation is very used to hearing people like him doing perfect impersonations of people like Olivier and Ralph Richardson and John Gilgood I hope these names mean something to the people watching this program. Or currently, Ian McAllen, a lot of actors impersonate Ian. Honestly, I don't know what comment I should make about it.

Okay, right. I think I can do about it. This is the way I speak. Do these actors ever do it to your face? There's like, I'm seeing Tom Hiddleston, who has done it for me and many others in a couple weeks. Has he ever done it for you to you? No. That's probably not wise.

He has not. Do you have any message I should impart to Tom? Way off? Take a break, dude? No. You're okay. You're okay. I don't have advice for other people.

Going back, in terms of your amazing filmography and career, I mean, the filmography, it's fascinating to think about. Your debut, of course, was in Die Hard, your film debut. And you were what? You were 39, 40, somewhere around then, which I can't even imagine happening now. today's climate, where this youth-obsessed culture, where people are plucked at, you know, at 15 or 16 or not at all. Do you think that, in retrospect, that helped? I mean, you didn't have to confront fame of the order of magnitude that you do until you

had lived a life. You were an adult. Well, I didn't, it's just, if there's a pattern to my working life at all, I didn't decide to train until I was 25 anyway. So, you know, I'd had a whole other career as a graphic designer before that. Sure. So here we are with a bit of hindsight, and you look back and go, well, things happen the way they do. You're not always, certainly not, don't feel your sense of your hands on a steering wheel.

It's just a sort of a compulsion once you've dealt with the art school bit, which seemed necessary. Right. And now, here I am years down. the line directing a movie and I could not have thought of doing that without the art school bit. So things happened for a reason, I guess. When you made this shift at around 25 from graphic arts to acting, was it seamless? Was it the first time you were employed in the first couple times? Did it feel like I have an aptitude for this? They are recognizing my talent. This will go fine. I can make a living of this. Or was it, did it feel like there were years of struggle and

questioning? Well, what I did was applied to Rada, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. And that still feels like one of the hugest achievements is getting in there. It's validation that it's, yeah. And having to get a scholarship because I had already had funding to be an art student so there was never going to be any funding and there certainly wasn't any money in my family that was going to support this so i had to audition twice and to get a scholarship and this was in the days after i'd finished the training when when you came out you had to do 40 weeks um in regional theatre in order to have an equity card um you were not allowed to work on film television or in the West End without really special dispensation. And so there was a sense of

an apprenticeship and you weren't thinking career moves. You were just thinking stay in a job. Sure. And then like every actor at that time, we'd probably tell you the same story. There were many months of being out of work when I came back to London and or went backwards and forwards to the regions. So, um, there's a lot of muscle memory of in work, out of work. Yeah, and I would think that, I would think it also that must, it must help give you some perspective when, you know, here you sit today and you're recognized constantly and validated constantly,

and people, you know, and rightfully so, commend you on this amazing body of work and knowing you're the same person you were then. I mean, give, you know, give or take, obviously many different experiences, but perception of you is so different. It's just a fascinating thing to think about that you could have stayed with a different career track and this kind of...

Well, my training certainly as a graphic designer gave me an ethic about typography because this is before computers. So you really had to and we had a really brilliant a rigorous head of department called Ed Wright.

And so it was like a small religion, the spacing between letters. And we had to hand-set type. We weren't just sitting on a computer saying, oh, stretch that pee a bit and squish that, and that will be fine. You know, you really, we have to measure and then balance. And so, and I've always found that rather beautiful. Yeah.

So, and the same was true at Rader, I think. There isn't gradually an ethic because of some, you know, our lives are measured out by teachers, I think. People, you go, that teacher then, English teachers at my old school, Ed Wright at Outschool, and a couple of others. And then various teachers I had at Rada, and gradually you assemble yourself because you test yourself against what they're telling you. Sure. I guess I now have a set of beliefs and by and large that would be you hand yourself over completely to the character you're playing you're part of a what you're trying to be is the most efficient aid channel you can be between the writer and the audience that actually it's not about you and you must hand yourself over to that and if the equipment doesn't fit so. somehow, then you have to work on that bit of equipment, if it's your voice or your physique or whatever. You have to work at it. So when you start to do film, did you find that you needed

to develop a whole different set of skills, where did you have to kind of start from scratch in some respects? Yeah, because when I was doing die hard, I'd never made a film before and I'd done some television, but I'd never worked under that sort of pressure in Hollywood. Yeah, it was such a heavy spotlight on what you were doing and so much at stake. And I only knew to approach it like I'd approach a theatre play. So John McTiernan said fairly early on, he said, I've learnt with you,

I have to have everything ready for the first take. Because I was like a greyhound out of a trash. And I really had to learn what I was supposed to do would take two, three, four, five. I've got nothing left. What do I do now? Now what? I did it.

Where did, as much as I love your portrayal of Hans Gruber, I also love your portrayal of Bill Clay in the film. Where did that voice come from? Where did that pleading, poor American come from? Was there any inspiration for that? In a way, you know, that was all about, I think many people tell very various stories about how that happened. but the truth of it from my point of view is

I was being fitted for a load of terrorist gear and I looked at the guys who were going to be playing my henchmen and I said, why am I wearing this stuff when look at the size of them wouldn't it be more interesting? This is me thinking I'm in a play and I've got a right to say something about the plot. So I'm saying, wouldn't it be more interesting

if I wore a suit? And then if, and also I said, If I wore a suit, there could be a scene where I met him and then I could pretend to be one of the hostages. Right. Whatever anybody else tells you, that's what happened. That's what you remember. Then people tested me out on an American accent.

And I just had, unless I know what's specific, I just have an American accent. I don't know what it is or where it's from. But, yeah, I went away and I came back from, I went away from L.A. came back, ready to start shooting. and I was handed these pages of a script and suddenly I was being fitted for an Armani suit

so it pays to think about it and anyway it was a good idea. Yeah. This might seem like a silly question but I kind of also appreciate it. Maybe it's not calling it a cameo but in the third diehard film you appear for like about three frames

when your character is referenced. Did you have to like say yes to that? Did you have any control over that? Did you... I can't remember now. I think they just used a still, didn't they? Yeah, I think it's like, it's literally just a couple seconds of you falling. That, obviously, that shot.

Was there ever any insane idea of to, oh, we found Hans Gruber's hair, we're going to clone him, we're going to bring him back from the dead? Or he fell into an awning. I'm saying, if we're cloning dinosaurs, we can clone Hans Gruber. I think the awning would have been a better idea. You know, he bounced. Oh, I see. Oh, brilliant. See, this is the kind of idea that people need to bring up.

Robin Hood obviously made an impact and continues to make an impact for my generation and generations since that have watched it. I mean, the performance in that is fascinating in that you clearly, you went for it. Like, that was a performance where you were able to kind of go big

and it was justified in the context of the film. Did that feel risky at the time? Did that feel like I'm really putting myself out there? Or this makes sense for the kind of character I'm playing? You look at what you have to say. And if you have to say, I'm going to cut your heart out with a spoon and you think

well he's saying it as if he means it clearly this person is insane that was not the time to underplay undersell that one no I'll be going for it with this one yeah um Galaxy Quest is probably a perfect movie it's one of my favorite movies

I agree we all love that film who were in it it's fantastic and part of the the amazing cast that was assembled That's like from disparate kind of disciplines And part were they all Apart from Tim Allen Everybody grew up in a theater

Interesting yeah Think of Sigourney and Rockwell Etcetera that's true Trish Loop everybody was a theater actor Interesting So Missy pilot Rika Colin Tony Yep Did you

I mean I would think Are you able to For a performance like that Tap into friends that have grappled With the kind of the stuff that that character dealt with the typecasting The Living in the Shadow of a character Is that something that was...

No, I just think all the information was there in the script as to what to play. It didn't take a huge leap of imagination to think, what would it be like to have played Richard the 3rd and now find yourself wearing a rubber head? That's, yeah. And when we shot the convention scene, and I'm sitting next to Sikorni

and all these people are coming up in their dreadful copies of our costumes, and we're signing people. pictures. Flinging it up. Security lent over and said, this is a bit closer to come. Oh, no.

Did they ever tell you in the script did it ever describe what Gravthar's Hammer was? I don't know. This is a mystery that needs to be solved. It's a perfect phrase. It really is. If someone assassinated me here right now,

would you avenge me by Grabthar's Hammer? I'm not going to say that phrase. I'm not asking you. Somebody will put it on their answer. I just want to know in theory, would you avenge me? I'm sure I would. Just make a poor journalist happy for a moment. Harry Potter clearly changed the lives of many people, audiences, and the actors involving, the kids involved, that clearly changed their lives.

Do you feel like, in retrospect, it changed your career, it changed your personal life in any discernible way I don't think so I think it gave me a bit of a structure to the year because I was only shooting at seven weeks a year

and it meant that I could think about doing some of the mad things I did in between time like 45 weeks of the year it's time to do a lot

of other things so if I wasn't on stage for six months in London. Then I was doing it in New York production of private lives or I shot

Sweeney Todd and Love Actually and Bottleshock and Michael Collins and Sense and Sensibility Yeah No actually those were Those were before

But the others were all during that period Was there any hesitation And taking it on knowing I know that only a few The books have been published by them But you knew it was potentially going To be a commitment for some number of years.

Three, it was all I knew. I didn't know what was going to happen after the third. Yeah. Not really, no. I just thought it's a great character and fascinated to see where this story goes. And it's also going to be done because of Joe Rowling's insistence

by an entirely British cast. And you kind of felt you owed it to the British film industry. And the only thing was, you thought, how come Britain isn't paying for this? Why isn't Britain getting the profits? It could have funded many a country. Did, um, you worked with several amazing filmmakers

throughout that process. That was part of the beauty of it is that some came and go and had different takes. Did you find that you jelled in particular, not to diminish any of the others, but with any of them in particular, that you felt like it jell? with your style, your sensibilities?

Well, two of them I'd worked with before, McNewal, and I had done a film called Awfully Big Adventure, and Alfonso Quaron and I had done, there was a series done for Showtime of film noir's back in the mid-90s, and Tom Cruise directed one, and I think Tom Hanks directed one of them, and Alfonso directed one,

which I did with Laura Dern and Diane Lane. So I knew he was one, wonderful. Yeah. And that meant there was a short cut, I suppose, to working with Alfonso and with Mike. Although I had a really good time with Chris Columbus and a very differently good time with David Yates. I mean, it takes a, talk about an interesting set of skills, but to work on that scale and

to still be able to create emotionally powerful stories that aren't just about spectacle. and we're seeing a lot of spectacle nowadays in the multiplex. It's a great achievement when... And also, the thing is about in the history of cinema, when we started, we were going off on location. By the time we finished, we were on a piece of old grass with this kind of green stuff all around us, and you never knew what was going to be put in.

So that's how much CGI developed over that period. When you were walking the street and, like, a 20 school children come or happen to be walking towards you does that elicit fear or excitement or because there's going to be a lot of emotion if they recognize you a lot of intensity of an experience for them

no because I'm not wearing a black wig do you not get recognized by kids really I mean sometimes sometimes but those are the ones who really look hard it's an outline and if you're not if you're not

presenting the outline. That was what Rafe and I always knew was the kind of refuge because we both had very strong disguises. It's remarkable to see what's come of the kids in their

adulthood to see the kinds of careers that have crafted, and personally how cool they are all are. Emma, for instance, I mean, it's become she's like a feminist icon. I mean, I think she really is. Is that something that surprises you

that excites you you have a very unique vantage point on their evolution as human beings a relief as much as anything else because... Could have gone another way well you just you know you watch that situation and as much as I was only doing it and the rest of us for seven weeks

they were doing it 52 weeks it was this was their life from 12 to 22 and you would watch it from the sidelines at times and try to throw the odd lifeline in because there was so little

time for that and it's only in recent years that for example I've managed to sit down in a cafe in New York with Daniel at one point he was down the road in one theatre and I was up the road in another

huge pride to go and see him in the musical had a succeed or was And you see, what is he, it's how dare he be dancing as well as the New York dancers because he worked at it. I was going to say, this goes back to what you were talking about, work ethic. I don't know where it came from, if that's hereditary, if that's just the kind of family or whatever. But he is, yeah, he's not relying on anything.

I mean, he's relying on obviously some gifts, but he's trying to expand them in a very aggressive way. So I feel relieved that I'm not part of something that ruined three young people. That's going to be a much different kind of interview. Do you remember that franchise that ruin those children? Were you acting as a kid at all? Were you in school plays and that kind of thing? Oh, yeah. My school had a very strong drama tradition.

And was the notion in your family, in your immediate environs, of becoming a professional actor, something that was even tangoism? No, because the school also had a very strong academic tradition and I think everyone had been horrified. They're not now. There's lots of young actors coming out of there.

In fact, Hugh Grant went to the same school and Lily Cole now that it's gone co-educational. So, you know, I'm sure agents are rushing to see the end of term plays now. Right. A lot of scouting there now. No. When I was 18, was I going to go to art school or university? We were talking about this a little bit before

and just the way that a film, like, a little chaos, the place it can find in a market today. And, you know, I'm a lover of all kinds of films. I like blockbusters. I like small films. I like it all. It is a scary time in some respects because I worry about the place for smaller films. And I think a lot of people do in a multiplex.

Yes, we can get it on demand. We can get it on our, you know, iPads or whatever. Is that something that concerns you about losing the theatrical experience? My experience of this film, when you say small. Yeah, I don't want to, because you had some, there were some tough scenes. This ain't no small film for a start. And I don't mean that, like there's anything wrong with it being small or big, but it's not. On the other hand, it is deeply personal.

And at root, it is a love story. And whether that, love stories are huge. It's huge to put a thing to people on the screen. so the themes are very big and yes it will be seen as a small independent film or for some reason or another those labels will come out

sure the first time it was shown in it it was to 2,000 people on the biggest screen I've ever seen in my life and it survived and 2,000 people sat there absolutely wrapped what I know is that stories do that

and I know eventually somebody's going to be watching it on their iPhone or iPad, let's hope. At least that. At least it will be a little bit bigger. You don't want to see the Gardens of Versailles on a three-inch screen. No, and I've already had to have the conversation over the phone about the airplane version and that, you know, we can't show Matis's rear end and, et cetera. So, you know, whatever is what the word you wind up saying.

Because you think you I least now have the strength of knowing that whatever they do to muck about with it something of it will determinately remain funny and moving and will take you somewhere you didn't expect to go

and men are very moved by it that's the other strange thing there's a scene in it that's only women talking about stuff in a locked room and I've now lost count a number of times men said I found that seemed terribly moving

out of guilt or what, I don't know but anyway, I wouldn't legislate for whether this film is small or big or who's it for or who ought to see it or who won't or too many fences being put up

this is true. This is true. I mean I'm curiously what your appetite is in terms of pop culture do you watch a lot of film? Do you see go to the theater a lot? I go to the theater a lot because that's like the source to me

um S-O-U-R-C-E and what are the can you count any recent experiences that reaffirmed yeah fun home I saw off at the second time recently I've worked with Sam the director he directed the last thing I did on stage

yeah one a bunch of Tony's the other day right yeah it's remarkable and talk about big, small, whatever, you know, I know that there will be people coming to see that show because it won the best musical Tony Award. I know that within three minutes, they'll be going, this is about what?

It's kind of a good thing, actually. And there may be the odd seat clanging up. But on the other hand, they may stay there. And they may be given an experience that they couldn't possibly have legislated for. And it's a beautiful piece of work by the writer, the director, the composer, and the actors. Is another play imminent for you?

Do you have something on the docket, whether in London or here? Yeah, it's always like lurking because it's what I do. But it's organizing your life. And at the moment, plays you have to commit to a long time in advance. Right. Films ask you to be available tomorrow. And so I have a film coming out in September, I think, called Eye in the Sky and about the use of drones against terrorists.

And I've said I will do a film which is currently just waiting for its last usual story, the last bit of funding. So in other words, I have to wait until we know whether that's happening or not. So I can't commit to a play until I know which way those bricks are being put together. Is the criteria changed? Is it changing or is it remained the same? Is it... The parts are older.

What's that? The parts are older. That's annoying. How dare they recognize the passage of time? That's not cool. Are they as interesting? Are they... Do you find when you move into a different age racket or whatever and you start to see,

I'm not the son, I'm the father, etc? They ought to be. I think certainly, it's easy for me to gripe if it were a gripe. what it's like for women. Sure. In the film business, you know. And unfortunately, it's like, if you're Kate, great, because you'll get the top five pieces of material, but hundreds of other great actresses

that don't have that, whatever, what you want to call it, are stuck. Yeah, but, you know, I'm sure Kate's aware of the fact that, you know, when I worked with her first, she was 19. I'm sure she's very aware of the fact that she is not 19 now. She looks better than ever

She's acting better than ever And anyway, why aren't there stories About people in their 50s and 60s? I trust it won't be 15 or 16 Or whatever, how many years since winter guest For another directing effort At least that's not the intention God knows where I'll be in 15 or 16 years

As your fingers crossed You'll be fine That's the show show guys, I'm Josh Harrowitz. This has been Happy Say I Confused. Hope you've enjoyed the show. Hit me up on Twitter. Joshua Harowitz. Go over to Wolfpop.com. Check out all the amazing shows

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