WTF with Marc Maron Podcast - Episode 822 - Sofia Coppola

Episode Date: June 21, 2017

Despite a surname that is practically synonymous with modern American cinema, Sofia Coppola didn't want to be a film director. She tells Marc about her early career ambitions and how they inevitably led her into the family business. The two of them also discuss Sofia's films, including The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation, Marie Antoinette, and her remake of a gritty 1970s Clint Eastwood movie, The Beguiled. Sign up here for WTF+ to get the full show archives and weekly bonus material! https://plus.acast.com/s/wtf-with-marc-maron-podcast. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations, how a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated

category, and what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly. This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. Calgary is an opportunity-rich city home to innovators, dreamers, disruptors, and problem solvers. The city's visionaries are turning heads around the globe across all sectors each and every day they embody calgary's dna a city that's innovative inclusive and creative and they're helping put calgary and our innovation ecosystem on the map as a place where people come to solve some of the world's greatest challenges calgary's on the right path

forward take a closer look out at calgary economic development.com path forward. Take a closer look at CalgaryEconomicDevelopment.com. Lock the gates! Alright, let's do this. How are you, what the fuckers? What the fuck, buddies? What the fucking ears? What the fuck, sticks? What the fuck, Knicks? How are you? What's happening? My name is Mark Maron. This is WTF, my podcast. Nice to have you. Today on the show, I will be talking to Sofia Coppola, which is very exciting because I enjoyed her new movie, The Beguiled, very much.

And I've liked almost all of her movies. Why not just say all of them? Why not be diplomatic, Mark? Well, to be honest, I haven't seen one of them. All right, but I've seen the other ones that I saw I liked. There's no reason to assume that I wouldn't like the other one. But this one was pretty beautiful and pretty challenging in a good way and kind of amazing because it forced me to go watch the original, which I believe I'd seen at some point in my life.

It would be hard to imagine forgetting that film, but I think maybe it was one of those films that I never saw in its entirety, but only saw parts of. The original Beguiled, I believe it was shot by, was it Don Siegel in the early 70s? Same guy did Dirty Harry with Clint Eastwood. Anyways, I'll look it up and talk to you about it in a minute and about other things. But I did want to share this email right out of the gate.

It just says in the subject line, just want to say thanks. Mark, after years of your promos, I've recently finally subscribed to Stitcher Premium to get access to your back catalog. Why did I wait? I've forgotten how good some of these are. The hour with Patrice O'Neill is life-changing. The perspective I have now on episodes with folks like Jimmy Fallon or Bryan Cranston makes them all the more fascinating. You've been a big part of my

life now for almost a decade. Listening to these backups is like looking at an old photo album, hearing the whole intro, hearing you speak of Boomer in the present tense, hearing you rant about various romantic interests you had at that moment. It's all great. Feel free to use this as a testimonial in any advertising you wish. I'd be flattered. And thanks again for the laughs, the tears, and the twice-weekly dose of sanity. Love you, brother, Dan. Well, Dan, it just so happens that that fits right into me telling people yesterday we posted an episode of the new podcast miniseries Classic Showbiz with Cliff Nesteroff. Go check it out. And if you want to hear more, more of those or any of the stuff I just talked about, you can get it on Howl or the new Stitcher Premium service.

That's the whole damn shebang. The whole WTF catalog. All there. But the Classic showbiz stuff is great. Pow! Look out. I just shit my pants. Justcoffee.coop. That's a classic style ad from the old days of WTF. I'm actually not even drinking just coffee. I'm drinking some chicory coffee out of a mug that is the type that they have in diners some people use them

for promotional mugs but they're very specific type of mug none of this matters none of it matters i got a mug from stephen colbert holy shit the swag in the dressing room at the colbert show is a a bit beyond just you walk, it's like there might as well be a fucking Christmas tree in there. There was all kinds of shit. There was cheese that you could eat right there, nice sort of artisanal cheese

with a baguette and crackers. There was products from Lush, that healthy manufacturer of giant balls that you drop in the tub and bubble. There was all kinds, there was some socks. There was the mug. there was a t-shirt. There was like a bunch of different cakes and cookies and shit, man. By the time I got done with Colbert, I was like, I was in a sugar coma.

So that being said that I was there, it was interesting. You know, I did the today show, That being said, that I was there, it was interesting. I did the Today Show, which I've done before with Al Roker, my old co-most guest appearances on Conan guy. We were the go-tos back in the day, me and Roker. They had a guest fall out when they were in New York. They'd give us a call. What do you got, Maren? Got anything?

Got any half-done jokes that could find themselves as you chat to Conan? I do. Bring me in. But the Today Show was fun. I did that with Allison and Betty Gilpin. And then I did a bunch of serious shows over on Sirius. I did Bill Carter's show. I did Jimmy Norton's show.

I did the Entertainment Weekly show. I did a little thing for their new Beatles channel. And then I had lunch at Alex Guarnacelli's restaurant. Butter. Guys, I'm just, free plug day. I'm just trying to walk you through my day in New York. It was just nearby and fuck, it was good. She wasn't there though. I texted her. She was, you know, at a benefit of some kind. I love her. I love her cooking. That at a benefit of some kind. I love her. I love her cooking. That's all I'm going to say on that.

But then the exciting thing, though, was I'd never done the Colbert show since he's been there. I've never done any of his shows. I'd been on Letterman a few times, but I'd never done Stephen's show. And I've never really interviewed Stephen on this show. But I was excited to do his show because he's getting the hang of it, it and he's a very talented guy and he's a very sweet man, Mr. Colbert. And I've always felt that from way back in the day. We knew each other a bit way back in the day and I talked about it on my appearance on the Colbert show. Well, he brought it up, but we used to work next door to each other in an office back in 93 94 he was in exit 57 i was hosting short

attention span theater and he was always a very grounded uh kind of almost clean cut fella but the thing that was exciting about going back to the ed sullivan theater for uh the late show with stephen colbert is that I said, I'd been there before. Letterman, obviously, was a big part of my life. And I love David Letterman. I always was more than honored to do the David Letterman show. But this was going to that theater and doing a show that is hosted by a contemporary of mine, someone around my age, someone who came up with me at the same time we're not together but we were you know chipping away at show business at the same time he arguably was a

lot more present and you knew him a lot better than me but it was just kind of fascinating that were a couple of middle-aged guys who started out in roughly the same hallway in a way in television i believe we started out next to each other you know without with almost practically adjoining offices so i was sort of happy and proud of him and and excited to be there because we're contemporaries and he's driving the big ship he's driving the big theater he's driving the ed sullivan theater and that's a that's no that's a heavy legacy man man. And Stephen was great. It was great to see him, and I think we worked well together. I don't know. I've had an opportunity to build relationships with Conan, a bit with Letterman, and this is the first time I've done his talk show. And it is a very specific thing to do a talk show segment, a panel segment. And I think we did good. I think

we both had a good time and I think it went well. Feeling each other out on the stage at the Ed Sullivan Theater. So if you didn't see that, you can go watch that now. I was there to promote GLOW. It's exciting. I hope it gets out. We're constantly on end of the world watch. I'm checking my phone. I'd like it if the world didn't end before GLOW premieres. Is that selfish that selfish is that self-centered i'd like the missiles to not fly at all but hopefully until after friday give give people a week to watch glow could you do that mr president so sophia coppola is here and the beguiled man this like i actually heard new film i uh i watched twice and i watched it twice in a theater actually so i saw it the way you're supposed to see it

i watched it i went to a screener and watched it and then i went to a little premiere thing that uh sophia spoke at at quentin tarantino theater, the new Beverly, and they ran it back to back with the original Beguiled. Now the original, like it was interesting for me to watch the original because I watched Sophia's first and then I watched the original before I talked to her. And the original is a menacing, macabre, Southern Gothic,

I would almost call it a horror story. And the new one, it's different it is the same story but it's it's it's approached very differently um there are elements for she went back and found the book i talked to her about that but you know as far as what she drew from the original movie which is a don siegel film clint eastwood's in it geraldine page is in it and it's really against character for uh for old clint i don't know i maybe this is either just before just after uh dirty harry maybe it was um shooting almost simultaneously it seemed but it was before clint had a certain angle and and

right at the beginning of the beguiled in the clint eastwood version the don siegel version you know he's just a shitty man just like and it just gets weirder and weirder with all the the effects and uh psycho weirdness from the 70s cinema you know everything is just loaded and it's in the south the story is about a a union soldier who soldier who is injured and stumbles upon a little girl picking mushrooms and is taken in at this small girl's school. Most of the girls are gone, but there's a few there. And right from the get go in the Segal version, it's menacing from all levels and all the characters are a bit fucked up. But in Sophia's, there's a beautiful kind of poetic feel to it there's a lyrical vibe to it it's all the camera work is all handled beautifully

it was shot in new orleans and colin farrell plays the union soldier but you don't know what to do with him from the beginning obviously the situation is loaded uh when a soldier is taken in by a girl's school with women from all ages present and you don't know what's going to happen or how it's going to go but if you've seen the original you've got a somewhat of an idea but i wouldn't uh judge you know don, don't go into the new one thinking that you know what's going to happen. Because the way that Sophia worked with this script and worked with this story was, you know, not until way into it do you really judge this dude. And it's kind of fascinating because how you judge him as a man or a woman is on you you know and how you judge what happens is on you and it will tell you interesting things about yourself as i told her

like i thought about the the movie for weeks in terms of that male character so i i i dug it a lot i really did and i like all her movies i actually you know they screened at the new beverly uh she she announced the film she brought the they you know quentin talked her into screening um some 1998 short film she did and god how old was she in 1998 i don't know let's do some math born in 71 81 91 so she was like 27, 26, 27. But it was her first film. It was a short film. And that was pretty cute, pretty good.

And a little dark. You saw the themes already. Virgin Suicide's a great movie. Lost in Translation. Loved that movie. How could you not love that movie? Marie Antoinette also liked it. Somewhere, I also liked with the Stephen Dorff fella.

I didn't see the bling ring. Did not see it. But I've always respected her. She's got a unique vision and she's committed to it and she's got a great eye and a great sense of story and she picks great actors.

And I think she's a wonderful director and I was thrilled to talk to her. Whew. It's hot in here, man. I'm starting to sweat. So The Beguiled opens in theaters tomorrow, Friday, June 23rd. And now this is me and Sofia Coppola talking here in the garage. Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence.

Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed, how a cannabis company competes with big corporations. How a cannabis company markets its products in such a highly regulated category. And what the term dignified consumption actually means. I think you'll find the answers interesting and surprising. Hear it now on Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly.

This bonus episode is brought to you by the Ontario Cannabis Store and ACAS Creative. It's a night for the whole family. Be a part of Kids Night when the Toronto Rock take on the Colorado Mammoth at a special 5 p.m. start time on Saturday, March 9th at First Ontario Centre in Hamilton. The first 5,000 fans in attendance will get a Dan Dawson bobblehead courtesy of Backley Construction. Punch your ticket to Kids Night on Saturday, March 9th at 5pm in Rock City at torontorock.com.

Bodge. Can you hear me okay? I can hear you. I didn't know if i would be able to hear you but i can i'll try to project mumble yeah are you a mumbler i am really i texted your your cousin's been in here jason oh yeah we're not doing a show today with phoenix is visiting him my husband's band they're going to do jason today. Oh, so you came with the whole family to L.A.? Just him. He's on tour.

And they did the music for my movie. They did? Yeah. Oh, so they could. They did the score. But it's different than their. No, it's definitely different. Like, I watched a movie.

I watched your movie. I guess we can talk about the movie right out of the gate. You're used to that now. You've been doing the junket thing, huh? Sitting in a room. Yeah. Doing six minute interviews with 25 people. Yeah.

Yeah. I'm a little. I've been talking about myself way too much. Really? You don't like it? Who was doing the junket with you? Who was sitting there with you? Kirsten and Al have been doing it with me.

Kirsten Dunst and Al Fanning. So that's fun. But mostly it's on my own. And you just. I just did one for the show I'm in. And it's like, it's tedious because you can't, at some point your brain wants to lock into something you can say to everybody. But then you know,

if you just say the same thing to everybody, it's going to be the same article. But then on a deeper level, you know who's going to read all the articles. Yeah, that's true. I just try to do autopilot. You do? But then I just get bored with hearing myself say the same yeah yeah but uh so you've been in i won't be an autopilot this morning i i won't tolerate it i know you it won't happen when when

was the last time well we can like talk about life before so you don't you lived here at one point no in la or never in the 90s I went to Cal Arts I grew up in Northern California and they moved to LA Northern California yeah I grew up in Napa Valley with that with the whole clan up there in the big house with my parents and my brother yeah and our winery yeah yeah but again they write so you grew up in a farm almost. Yeah. But it's out in Napa Valley? Mm-hmm. Yeah, Rutherford, California.

And they're still up there? Yeah, my parents live there. The same house? Yeah, the same house I grew up in at their winery. That's nice, right? Yeah, it's really nice to be able to go up there. And I see friends that I went to first grade with. They're still there?

Everyone's still around? Yeah, a lot of them are. So you had kind of a relatively normal life growing up in terms of at least being in the same place. Yeah, people are always surprised that I grew up near chickens and I'm a country girl. What other animals are on the farm? There's a cow, but he's more of a pet cow. Do you eat the eggs from the chickens?

Yes, we do. And so you have a lot of chickens and then part of your life at some point was going out and getting the eggs. Yeah. You did it? Yeah. I mean, not regularly, but yes. Once or twice. Sounds like Marie Antoinette now. Yeah. But no, I grew up in the country. But we traveled a lot when my dad would go on location for films. We always went with him.

What was the earliest memory do you have of going on location? I lived in the Philippines during Apocalypse Now when I was four and five. He dragged you all there. Yeah, I thought it was fun. Well, yeah. We were in helicopters in the jungle. I probably had the best time of the whole group because they had a lot of stress with that. I know.

I saw the documentary. It did not look like a good time for your folks yeah yes so and then like all right so that was after the uh the godfather anyways but you'd always go you know wherever he was working if you were you know yeah he always took us with him so i would go to yeah i lived in tulsa oklahoma i went I would go to the local schools wherever we went. What was in Tulsa? What shot there? Rumblefish and the Outsiders. That was shot in Oklahoma?

Yeah, Tulsa, Oklahoma. I used to, I loved that movie. Yeah. Rumblefish. I love Rumblefish. It's one of my favorites. Mine too. It's a weird thing.

There was a period there where I was seeing it like once a year. Oh, really? Yeah, I had to. It was just like something I needed to do. Oh, wow. Yeah, that was always. It was just like something I needed to do. Oh, wow. Yeah, that was always my favorite of my dad's movies growing up and then I started to appreciate it.

The other ones? Why do you think that one was? Just because it was so, like the colors and it was a little more... I think it was made for kids. It was an art movie for teenagers, which I think is so cool.

There aren't that many of them. That's true. Certainly not them. I guess there aren't really any in general. Yeah, it always bugged me growing up that the movies made for teenagers always didn't look that high quality. Right. They were just dumb comedies, but some of those had a big impact on us.

I love John Hughes movies. Right. That's what I was thinking of. Exactly. But there were movies like, I guess Baz Luhrmann, when he did Romeo and Juliet, that was some sort of weird attempt at elevating the form for the youth. Yeah, that's true. I always appreciate when people do that, because a lot of times I thought, why do they have to have bad cinematography and bad lighting? Well, yeah, that was kind of a spectacle.

What was the other one he did? I can't remember, but Marie Antoinette sort of was trying to do a little of that, right? To connect with younger people. Yeah, yeah. I don't know what my thinking was. Yes, it was. It was definitely in a teenage girl feeling. Because she was a teenage girl, kind of, right?

Yeah. And I liked it. That must have been a fun movie to do. It was really fun. I couldn't believe that they opened up the Chateau Versailles for us. How'd you get that done? I imagine people have tried over the years. Yeah, I couldn't believe it.

We met them and they were very open to it. And I guess they liked Lost in Translation and they said they would let us film there. And then we pulled up all our trucks in front of the castle. I couldn't believe it the first day we were shooting there. Right in the front. Yeah.

And then I remember we were shooting in the Hall of Mirrors and all of our equipment was in the room next to it. It was like Marie Antoinette's real bedroom was where all our equipment cases were. It was so surreal. And Jason, who played King Louie, we did a Cribs episode. We shot him giving a tour of Versailles.

It was really exciting that they felt like they let the kids in to make a movie. Did you use that as promo? I don't remember seeing the Cribs episode. I don't know where it is. I have to find it. I think we put it out there somewhere. Yeah, that's kind of funny. You live in Paris now?

I live more in New York, but I stayed in Paris after Marie Antoinette, and then after a couple years, came back to New York. Yeah. How's New York doing? Oh, good. I live in the West Village. That's nice, right? Yeah. But you spent a lot of time in San Francisco, because I was there for a couple years. how's New York doing? oh good I live in the West Village that's nice right? yeah

but you spent a lot of time in San Francisco because I was there for a couple years your dad's office is in San Francisco right? yeah in North Beach I never really lived

in San Francisco I mean as a little kid but then we moved up to Napa when I was five but was that your city for a while? that's where I'd go see bands I mean luckily

we could go see bands in San Francisco and did you were you part of the scene there at all or you just go see bands? no I was And were you part of the scene there at all or you just go see bands? No, I was living up in Napa, but I would just go in and see bands.

I never lived there as an adult. No? It's a good city though, right? It's kind of weird. I never understand what's going on there. I lived there for a couple of years. Like most cities, you can sort of get a handle on

at least the economic dynamics or just what the tone of the city is but there i'm like what is going on here yeah i never figured it out either doesn't your brain try to do that though a little bit yeah yeah it is always kind of a mystery that place my brother lives there now but there is such a a mix of yeah you just don't like before the tech thing i was like where's the money coming from what's the history of this place and i guess it's available information but there was always such a profound freak element, you know, in a proud way, that there was this kind of like something untethered about it.

You'd walk around certain parts of San Francisco and you're like, what the fuck is going on? Yeah. And then there's the old guard society thing from another era that's still hanging on. But who were they, though? I don't know. Like, are they cowboys were they gold prospectors i mean it's always been sort of a a kind of a a magnet for all types of american

weirdness outsiders yeah yeah but like i don't know like i still don't know because i'm like not as compulsive as i should be in learning things like what settled that city and i know i must be the it must be the boats. Must be things coming in. Yeah, the trade. Must be the port. Yeah, the trade. I like that we're speculating over known things. One of my favorite things to do.

But then I like that my dad in the 70s said, oh, we're going to leave Hollywood and went up there. And then George Lucas. And then it became a kind of a hippie. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Right. Yeah. What was that?

Like in the early 70s yeah yeah so how is your dad he's good yeah is it all about the wine now pretty much yeah but he's still he just wrote a book about um electronic cinema and his ideas of film so he's still interested in that but he's yeah he's making wine yeah and into it and how long was it before like i i know that um you know it you you didn't set out initially to be a director you kind of like did other stuff but it was was that kind of a part of a resistance to the family business or did you just like want to do your own thing like i mean how long did it take for you to come around to be like no i'm gonna direct no i didn't it seems so obvious but at the time i was like i have no idea what i'm gonna do i i went to be like no i'm gonna direct no i didn't it seemed so obvious but at

the time i was like i have no idea what i'm gonna do i i went to cal arts and i wanted to be an artist i wanted to be a painter really did you paint yeah but very badly yeah and then um and then i went to art center i moved to art center and where's art center in pasadena right here yeah oh that's pretty famous place yeah yeah and then my painting teacher told me I wasn't a painter. Oh. And I was really upset, but I'm glad that they did. Yeah. And I met Paul Jasmine, the photography teacher there, and got into photography.

Really? Like, did you get into the history of photography and everything, or just shooting? Just shooting, and yeah, in the history, but more contemporary. Right. And I collect photographs. You do? Yeah, and so I love photography, and that yeah and i so i i love photography and that's um how i got into film through photography oh yeah you can definitely see that in your films

like who were like some of the photographers that like you know inspired you i love eggleston and lee freelander and um helmet newton and did you go far back like you know because like did you ever look at that Agier stuff? No, I was always more interested in more contemporary or, you know, 40s on. Yeah.

And, but I wasn't like consciously deciding not to go into the film business. Maybe I was rebelling. Yeah, a little. But, um. You would have had to lose

your last name to completely rebel. Yeah, that's true. My 10-year-old daughter is really into gymnastics. She said, I'm going to be the first athlete in our family. They're all artists. Oh, really? That's funny.

That's how she's going to find you. Look, that's better than drinking and being. Yeah, exactly. We'll see. If she's going to like, fuck you, I'm going to do gymnastics, you're doing good as a parent. That's true. I hope we can keep it up. Did you ever do like a show of your photographs and stuff were you like really pursuing it or no i worked for like magazines and

i did i did a group show in tokyo with some other people but um but i was doing more kind of portraits and fashion never like an art photographer but i don't know how i ended up i i was in my 20s just trying to figure it out and doing different things um but i was always kind of frustrated that i had a lot of interest but i didn't wasn't an expert at any and then i made a short film i had a little clothing company doing t-shirts and i was interested in different things and trying to figure out i didn't want to wake up one day and say oh i wish i had done something so i tried to try a lot of things you did some t-shirts how's that how's that line doing is it still it's gone no no it was a early 90s moment did it did it pick up

any traction um it did well in Japan and we left it there's yeah I was like California t-shirts but um no we had like a little fashion line but I tried different things and then I made a short film and um and I thought oh here's something that incorporates all the things i'm i'm into in music and photography and and you had to realize that on your own you couldn't you know look at it you know what you know what i mean like it seems so obvious but it never occurred to me i never thought i would be a director it's like but it's kind of kind of nice that like you know it would have been expected that you would have appreciated all that before because you grew up in it and you were living it. But then not until you made

your own thing, you're like, oh, you put music and it was acting. Yeah. I was surprised at how I knew how to do it because I didn't go to film school. But of course, I spent my whole life on my dad's sets and he was always talking about it. And we were, you know, with all these great people that he worked with. But was he constantly talking about it? Yeah. Oh, yeah. And about writing, too. I mean, as a little kid, he'd be talking about three-act structure. Sure. So I was learning all this all the time.

It was all absorbing. And I guess if you're on set wandering around the Philippines watching him direct that movie, you're like, well, maybe I don't have to go that far. Maybe keep it a little tighter. Yeah, exactly. I got my 10,000 hours yeah didn't you right just by absorbing it as a child yeah that's hilarious didn't you did you do like did you do television you didn't do much television no no i never have never at all oh no i did do it in the 90s i had

it um my friends and i did four episodes of a magazine show called high octane where we drove around in muscle cars and interviewed different people did it did it stick no we just did four of them and then for who um strangely comedy central but it wasn't really a comedy show it was a magazine right but um i think it was so you're driving around in big cars talking to celebrities yeah talking about like different you know artists and people that interested us who worked with you on that um i just did it with some of my friends. Yeah. Yeah. So I forgot about that.

It was long ago. But I guess the way I really got into film was I read this book, The Virgin Suicides by Jeff Eugenides. And I heard they were going to make a film of it. And I felt really protective of, I hope they don't mess it up when you have a book that you love. And so I started trying to figure out

how I would write a script to it. And I didn't have the rights to it. Someone else did. But I wrote the script as an experiment. And then I felt so attached to it that I found the producers and I asked them to read my script. And somehow they let me direct the film. And they let you direct it?

Yeah. And they used your script? Yeah, they read my script. It's an intense movie. What was it that compelled you like really just the story or just because it it's it's it's dark but has other elements i mean i love the book i love the way it was written and the mystery between the boys trying to understand girls and just that age and and kind of the the melancholy of being that age. And I just feel like he really captured the feeling of that.

In a very extreme situation. Yeah. But there's something romantic about it. I think when you're that age, especially like the idea of love and death, it's all kind of heightened. Right. But you don't actually follow through with it generally. No.

That's the difference. You take it to a limit. Yeah. actually follow through with it generally no that's the difference you take it to a limit and then yeah you can you can kind of exercise all that in in a story and not have not have to do anything that drastic well i think those dynamics are like those kind of happen through all the movies right really that you've done that the weird trying to understand men and women right yeah i think there's always a a mystery in that or something interesting like we can talk about loss and translation because that does it too I mean that outside of being about you know men and women to a degree they're also kind of meditations on celebrity in a way right yeah I'm

always drawn to some element of that probably just growing up around uh having a famous father and people reacted or something i don't know why but there's something i mean so in our culture yeah it is but like your sensitivity to it's going to be different yeah because you like it was just i imagine that dinners at your house in napa on some nights you were like you know what the fuck is happening look at who are all these people are like really famous and geniuses i don't know if i i think i just didn't register it they were just people they were just like the people that my dad worked with and but i mean in retrospect don't you think back and go like holy shit yeah there's some

i was seven funny stories yeah like what oh i don't know the people that came through their house there were definitely a lot of characters yeah and um i know we were talking about richard gear the other day and i remember being being, you know, like 10, and he was like skinny dipping in our pool, or, you know, like. It's appropriate. Yeah. Did he, he did a lot of work at the house?

Like, he would have readings and stuff there, or what? Or just. Yeah, yeah, when they would have, yeah, the actors would do readings, or he would always make dinner for lots of people. He likes to cook, huh? Yeah, he has, he can just like throw together a big dinner for lots of people he likes to cook huh yeah he has he he can just like throw together a big dinner for all these people like no problem which i is a mystery

to me it seems very important to him yeah it's the italian family thing and making people feel did you get any of that um i have the same you know wanting to you know on set to make everyone right like family and comfortable but i can't make dinner at the last minute for 20 people. You can't just whip up a pot of pasta and sauce? I wish. I feel it's too much pressure being Italian and not being able to do that well. I ask him, how do you do that? And he's like, you just feel it.

And I was like, I don't feel it. Tell me exactly how you do it. You just feel it. Yeah. I guess, I don't know. I think that's nice. I think it's a nice thing to be able to entertain a bunch of people spontaneously and having that be a lovely thing.

Yes. And not a stressful disaster. Yeah. Yeah. Like, oh my God, they're coming. Do we have everything? Right. Yeah.

It's a nice environment to grow up in. Yeah. So what I did, which was surprising to me, because I went and saw You're Beguiled, and then I felt compelled to watch the original yesterday, which is much more disturbing. Yeah. And I feel like I've seen it before in my life. Like, I don't remember, because when I realized it was a remake and I saw it was in, I think I saw bits and pieces of it flipping through. On TV or something, yeah. But I've seen a lot of Don Siegel's movies.

I've certainly seen most of Clint Eastwood's movies. But I don't think I saw that one, which is this weird outlier, really. It's a... It's a art film. It's definitely like a 70s art film, but it's also like, you know, kind of off-brand for Clint, I would imagine, at that time. Yeah. Right?

Yeah, very much so. And it was surprising. It was surprising to watch it for the first time coming out of your film because something about that movie i mean when i imagine you've been asked this before but what was it that made you decide to do that movie yeah i i had never seen the film people that really know movies it's a classic in that kind of genre but um my friend ann ross who's my production designer yeah she um she said oh i just saw this movie that beguiled this don siegel clinty's movie you need to see it i think you need to remake it and um and i was like oh haha you know i would never ever think of remaking

someone else's movie and then i watched it and it just stayed in my head it was so weird and not what i expected and it just um and it was so to me, the story of these women in a southern girl's school. And this enemy soldier comes in. And so I found the book that was out of print. Oh, the actual book it was based on? Yeah, it was based on a novel by Thomas Cullinan. And so I found a copy and started looking at it. And it's all written by the, each chapter is a different woman's point of view of this encounter.

Oh, and the characters. Yeah, the characters. So then I just started thinking about how I would love to make a new version that's all from their point of view and start in their world. And then this, you know, man, they haven't seen a man in years. And then an enemy soldier comes in and it's all very heated. Yeah. And so that was how I, and then Universal had it in their library

and I asked them if they would let me take it out and make a new version. What does that mean they had it in their library? They owned it? They owned it

because they had made the original film. And they still own it. So they still, they continue to pay licenses on, or? I think you just, I think you have to

buy it outright when you make the film and then it stays in your archive. Huh. So I asked them if they could take it out and dust it off.

So you had to dig up that book. And I guess that would explain the weird kind of subconscious voiceovers in the original, that you have these moments that must be right out of the book, in a way, or a way to accommodate the point of view thing. Yeah, the Don Siegel movie has a lot of voiceover and flashbacks, and you know right away he's a bad guy, where I wanted to be more in the woman's point of view of trying to figure out. Well, that was the thing. Because I left your movie.

I like your movies because they're provocative in a way that a lot of movies you watch and you get. And then you kind of catalog them either as good movies or like I kind of remember that movie. But it seems that certainly the last three movies that you do that I had that you did in my memory, you kind of walk out and you question yourself somehow and your life. And, you know, why did you have this reaction to these? Well, that's good. That's what you want. Yeah, of course. I'm happy people stays with them or you think about it. Well, that's good. That's what you want. Yeah, yeah, of course. I'm happy people stays with them

or you think about it. Well, the weird... Not wrap it all up. Right. The weird thing about your version of the film was that,

you know, somehow or another, like in Seagulls, you know, within two minutes, you're like, no, this guy's bad. Yeah.

He doesn't know. There's no gray area. Yeah. I don't know what genre it would be in. It seems... Is it a horror movie? What is that movie? It's a little bit more horror, but I like to just think of Southern Gothic.

Southern Gothic. Oh, yeah. Okay. That makes sense. But right out of the gate, you're like, holy shit, Clint Eastwood is not regular Clint Eastwood. Yeah. No, I don't know what. I'd love to know what they were talking about

when they first, when Don Siegel wanted to do that. That opening scene? Just that movie. Yeah. What provoked it? Yeah, yeah. I'm just curious how that all came to be.

But in your version, like once the turn of events happens. Yeah. And I don't know if there are spoilers with a movie that's being remade, but certainly I'll treat it as such. Yeah, it's still fun if the audience doesn't know. No, like I didn't see it and I watch a lot of movies.

And if I did see it, I didn't remember the original. But once the turn of events happen, I think the big difference is that whether it's a point of view thing or not, is that your McBurney by Colin Farrell is a sympathetic character. Whereas Clint's is like in no way, unless you're perverse. Yeah. You know he's a bad guy right from the get-go. Right. But this one, I feel like you're not quite sure it's that moment of like, oh, I want to trust him, but I know maybe I shouldn't. Right.

Yeah. But he's definitely, there was a weird turn in it. But my point was that after what happens happens, pretty far into the movie, really, was that like the beginning of Act 3 almost. Yeah. Yeah.

Even after that happens, even as a man, I'm sort of like, well, that's kind of understandable. I know. No, i think it's really different whether if a man or a woman watches it the you know how you relate to it i think it's really different like you know oddly you know that character and that you know and the power of of of sex and violence and all this stuff that's sort of the underlying themes of this thing are are are sort of um eternal issues within men and women and people yeah that's what i loved about the story

is because we can still relate to all those dynamics and then the power shift between the men the women in the story it's so you know a heightened version in this story but of who's you know it goes back and forth with who's in charge and is he a guest or a prisoner and i thought it was fun to get into all that. But in shooting it, like, because it's very apparent and over explained in the original movie. So what was the challenge of, you know, dealing with the book and the script, you know, when you were constructing the thing? Yeah. I mean, I wanted you to not be clear more in their point of view of, you know, can we trust this guy?

And, oh, he's charming. It's nice to have him around. Yeah. And going back and forth. And they're all just like, they're just like wet all the time. Well, yeah, they've been so cut off from. Right, right. And then they were like raised to be lovely ladies for men and there's no men around.

Right. And then he comes in and they're all, yeah, turned upside down. I love that you're like in the heat of the South and they're all repressed. Yeah. And Miss Martha Nicole's character is very religious, is torn between like she likes to have him around, but we shouldn't really keep this enemy here. Yeah. And so they're all kind of turned around.

And for him, it kind of starts out as like a fantasy that he has these ladies. Right. On lace pillows taking care of him. And then as it goes on, he's, you know, he's their prisoner. Kirsten Dunst's character. What's her name? Edwina. Edwina.

She was great. Yeah, yeah. Your relationship with her has gone on a long time. Yeah, she was 16 when we worked together the first time. On Virgin Suicide? Yeah. And then you used her as the lead. But she seems, as she gets older, to be evolving into this, like, there's a strange depth to her.

be evolving into this like there's a strange depth to her that you know that like is uh is it there's a vulnerability yet there's also like a uh like a something like a darkness yeah i mean i saw that in her when i first met her because she looks like this kind of pretty all-american blonde but then there was always something deep behind her eyes and she just is as a person and so i think it comes out more and more and I think she's surprising in this because it's a really quiet performance but she conveys a lot of,

I don't know, she's like the heart of the movie because she has so much vulnerability. And Farrell was really good. He can really do it when he wants to. Yeah.

Right? Yeah, and I think he, I'm glad he has a dark side and can tap into it. Yeah, pretty easily. Like, how long was it, how many people did you look at for that role?

I met a bunch of people, but when I met him, I had met him a long time ago, but when I met him for this, he's so charismatic and charming and he's so masculine. And Elle Fanning, she was the 11 when I did Somewhere. Right. So it was fun to ask her to... Now she's 11. That's not long ago already? Yeah.

She played the daughter she played the daughter and now she's 18 so it's her first kind of i don't know first but it you know seeing her as a young woman and playing yeah the bad girl and again in the seagull version you know that girl is really bad yeah like like it's pretty well it's pretty. Well, it's interesting. Were you conscious of that all these characters represented some strain of the feminine character? Like, they're all pretty well defined. I like that they were women at different stages of maturity. So they're relating to him at that level of where they are at that moment. And Elle's character is never, you know, she's just at that age where l's character is never you know she's just at that age where she's kind of coming into her sexuality and there's no men around and then he shows up and

she's um yeah you know beside herself yeah and she's always presenting herself as a yeah to him and and um and i love that she's just kind of in the book that character was really self-centered and her mother raised her to like get a husband. So there's certain women that are geared towards being attractive to men at all times. Right. And it's also part of that culture, I think. So, yeah, it was fun to see. It's a part of culture in general, kind of. Well, I feel like it's heightened in the southern ladies.

Right, right. It was shameless. Yeah. It was not coded. Yeah, exactly. Right. Exactly. So she's a full example of that.

And why the decision then? Like, I imagine you had to ask certain questions because the African-American, the slave in Seagulls, and I imagine in the book, was a pretty elemental part. Yeah. I mean, I felt like in the movie, movie she's the side character and i just felt like i didn't want to it's such an important subject i didn't want to just kind of brush over it lightly with the side character so i felt i decided not to have that character at all and just focus on the women and a lot of the slaves had left at that time so they're just really

cut off yeah entirely and they had to figure out how to live on their own. Because it seems like in the original movie there's just no relief from the menace of one character or another. And you chose to just focus on the ideas and what would be the legitimate

human feelings of all these women. Yeah, and it's just really about the women and the man coming in and focused on that dynamic. But how much of the Nicole Kidman character in the book was, you know, what had all that kind of like incesty, creepy, southern, gothic? Was it in the book? Yeah, it's in the book. And I just decided to keep that out because I wanted it to be about, you know, desire.

And it's not like perverted from some incest story. And, you know, like that it could just be that, you know, a woman has a desire that's cut off and she's very religious and there's no men around. And you just stripped it down. Yeah, she didn't have to be. Geraldine Page is just, what a, like, disturbing. Yeah. Yeah, it's much more disturbing, that character.

And I wanted that character to be to be you know not as crazy and more attractive and not just like but the woman who played edwina was that was that character seems out of all of them to be pretty pretty closest closest to the original right yeah yeah she was the vulnerable one and yeah and i like that about her and then kirsten made her version and i also like that some of the little girls are the smartest ones there because they're not jaded by desire in a way. Yeah, I love the little girl, Addison Rickey, who plays Marie, who comes up with the mushroom plan.

Yeah, she's great. I like that in their childlike minds, the logic is very pure. Yeah, yeah. They can see what's going on they're not clouded by like by a desire right which in the original the you know the 12 year old is completely smitten yeah yeah and i you know just come like but yeah because of that opening scene yeah but you did take like i was surprised that like you know in terms of setting that it seems like the tone is similar like you know in terms of setting that it seems like the tone is similar like you know right from the get-go that the two movies open with a similar shot

really yeah i think that they have like a war montage oh yeah yeah yeah they really established the civil war yeah yeah yeah but um and ours yeah we follow her to discover him i can't remember in the original maybe you meet him first. No, I think she finds him and it's a surprise. I think you did a great job just excising the backstories that were so heavy-handed in the original

that really don't allow the characters to be human in a way, right? Yeah, no, I wanted you to be able to relate to them even though it's a really over-the-top situation, but have them be human underneath that. And the actors helped with that. Right, but in even though it's a really over-the-top situation, but have them be human underneath that.

And the actors helped with that. Right. But in yours, it's not that over-the-top. It makes sense. Okay. In the original, once you see the flashback of what really happened in the battle with him, you're like, this guy's just shitty on all levels. Yeah.

I think it's much more intriguing not to know. Yeah. Like he cops the cowardice. Yeah, you don't know, oh, he's bad and they're good. Yeah, and then there's all the creepy shit. But the one scene that I thought. There's like psychedelic montage and lesbian fantasy. Yeah, the dream sequence.

Geraldine Page's dream sequence. Yeah. I think that was just a. Product of the era. Yeah, yeah. Or something Don was dealing with. How can I get two women to kiss? I wish Don was around to...

To defend himself? No, just to hear more about it. He made some good movies, right? Yeah, of course. It's interesting, though, too, after, you know, whatever Quint went through in those early movies, that he as a director is somewhat feminist, you know, in his movies. Yeah, that is interesting it's odd right like the ones he made himself are very sensitive to it yeah but yeah i like also in

the original and then we're going to talk about other things but in the original like the um the gore was like they had it in there like i was surprised because like in your movie they went for it well they went for it but it was almost ridiculous like blood in the 70s was just this weird red paint yeah that was everywhere but like when that thing happens it happens in the movie you're like oh my god well they tried their best okay you know at least there was but in yours like you're like you know it was very you know you had to do it real yeah i think i was trying to make it realistic so i so I like the movie. It's beautiful.

Thank you. It was shot beautifully. You won a big prize, right? Yeah, and Cannes. Thank you. I have no idea what Cannes is like. I've talked to some people about it. And you've probably been there a lot with your dad and with other movies.

Is it glamorous and exciting or is it just a big clusterfuck like a European version of South european version of south by southwest i've never been to south by southwest um really you elitist no i just missed it i would like to it's in austin right yeah yeah well they have all different south bys now they have the you know they have the film the television the music it's it's a big enterprise yeah i'd like to but yeah can it's always glamorous yeah. I mean, especially in the 70s. I remember going as a kid because it still had like hippies and black tie. And I remember Cheech and Chong, Up and Smoke. There's a huge joint on the Quazette and the people in tuxedos. And it was just a glamorous time.

That's a childhood memory, Cheech and Chong. They make an impact, Cheech and Chong. I know my brothers, my big brothers got to go and I wasn't allowed to go to Up and Smoke. It stayed with me. I had them here. Oh, yeah? Yeah. After they've gone through all they've gone through, and they were sort of trying to get

out in the world again. That's so cool. What was so funny, because I'm wearing these headphones, and I grew up listening to Cheech and Chog, is that the two of them talk like that. Oh, wow. So when you hear them interacting with each other, you're like, oh my God, she's a dog wrecker. It's blowing your mind. It was kind of.

That's so cool. But yeah, Cam is always exciting and glamorous and it's always kind of nerve-wracking to show your movie there. It's in this beautiful big theater with a great screen in the best way, but it's nerve-wracking because they're notorious for like booing

and being harsh and how did it like outside of winning best director how did how was it it went well

they reacted well yeah so that was a relief it was exciting it was the first time I've seen it finished and with the cast and so it was you know you're there

on the south of France yeah it was exciting Kidman seems to be really kind of working like she's out a lot yeah and she's doing

interesting roles yeah i'm always impressed that she does interesting parts and supports different kinds of movies and when i asked her to do this she you know a day later she said yes it wasn't a whole process she was really enthusiastic and it's cool to see all the different things she's doing yeah i've always loved her as an actress yeah me too and like there was this period where she wasn't around much. And now she's really kind of sinking her teeth into some real shit. I know, it's cool. Like the Lion movie, is that what it's called?

Yeah. She was great in that. Yeah. And is she a nice person? Yes, she's really nice. She's really warm. And she's so kind of regal and tall and imposing. So then it's always a surprise that she's so warm. Yeah.

What's your relationship with your movies and your old man? Do you show him? Do you ask him for advice? Yeah, this one I showed him when I was just finishing editing. So he didn't read it or he didn't know anything about it. He's like, I don't want to know anything until I see it. And I was wondering what he was going to think of it. I thought, oh, God, what's he going to think? And then he watched it and he really liked it. He's like, I don't want to know anything until I see it. And I was wondering what he was going to think of it. I thought, oh God, what's he going to think?

And then he watched it and he really liked it. He said, oh, Nicole's character was so brave that she had to figure out how to do that. I was really surprised. It's always fun to... Has he always been supportive? I imagine he has. Yeah, yeah. He's always been. When I was starting, he was more

anxious for me and trying to give advice. And now he just is just into how i do things after you win a couple academy awards he's like no maybe she's doing all right you got it you know i think your parents always worry about about you but but no he's sweet he was really he's really enthusiastic so it helped you know to finish editing knowing that it can't be that bad if he didn't he liked it sure well of course and and can you uh like you know throughout your your filmmaking career where was he i mean i don't want you know i'm not diminishing anything but i would have to assume like you know you know i asked the same question you know to you know to

jacob dylan you know because you get this this idea that's sort of like you know that you got to have your own life and you got to be separate and like when i asked him it's like i said does he you know you know he he his father's the greatest songwriter ever so he's like he asked he mentioned lyrics well yeah he's like well i have access to the greatest songwriter ever and you know we have a shorthand because you know like there's this assumption that there's sometimes friction i never got that with you but early on was he more um did he give advice around you know the actual act of directing i remember him coming on set when i was doing my first movie on virgin suicides and he kept saying you need to say action louder they have to know you're in charge and i was like okay like, let me do it my way.

and, um, yeah, so there's always, you know, that just kind of parent. Right. But,

but other than that, no kind of like, um, you know, shooting stuff or story ideas other than the third acting that you seem to remember. Oh yeah. No,

I mean, I always, before I do a movie, I sometimes I'll ask him just kind of refresher courses. Like on this, I'll ask about his rehearsal process. he always has a really interesting way he rehearses with actors. And just to spend time with the actors before. And he does like, he came from theater, so he did a lot of theater games. And he would, he said it was really important to get them together and have them make a meal together and make real food and eat together.

And that's something that he did in The Godfather where he had the family come together and make a meal together and make real food and eat together and that's something he did in the godfather where he had the family come together and make a meal and then he said ever since that improv that the actors just change their relationships with each other so so i've done that on film so i always like to talk to him about how he works with actors to prepare before the shooting i think that's really helpful yeah because like some people i get i've talked to walter hill and and maybe one or two other people that people are, I think directors really approach that differently. That like some directors with Walter, it was interesting because, you know, he was like, well, let me just dispel the myth that, you know, the director is some sort of hands-on guide with an actor. Because he basically said, look, you hire the person to do a job. And then they do the job.

Yeah, I know so much of it is just the casting. People are asking, like, how do you work with the actors? And it's like, I cast the people I think can do it, and then I let them do it. Right. Yeah. I think that's some sort of weird, I don't know where that idea of the director kind of like getting in and working with, I mean, there are scenes, though, when your father, you know, on Apocalypse Now, in that documentary, that I think your mother shot, right?

Yeah. Oh, my God. Yeah. I know. And they're still together. Yeah, isn't that incredible? It is sort of incredible. Yeah, they've been married for 55 years.

Well, it seems like at the core of it, your dad's a pretty sweet guy. Yeah. He got a little crazy for a while. What are you going to do? He's, you know, he's an artist. He got ups and downs, but he's sweet. But that scene

where he's like, I got to deal with crazy Marlon, and Dennis Hopper and Marlon Brando. He hasn't read the book. So, like, I imagine that

that thing was very hands-on. But, like, even though you're dealing with these great actors, like, you know, he had to, he had almost a,

there's that scene that always kills me is that John Milius, you know, talking about why he took the job. He says, like, Francis had convinced me this would be the first film to win the Nobel Prize. Oh, right. So good. So you're dealing with a guy that was like hyper. A lot of passion. I guess passion is a diplomatic word for it. But you generally just, you know, you have a meal.

And what do you do with that meal? Do you talk about the characters? Oh, no. In character. They do it in character. Oh, so that's the improv. Yeah, they're in character. And they make a meal together as a family or their group.

And like for our movie, we had them in a house. And Nicole's character was in charge of everything. And all the dynamics of the characters start to come out. So do like it's like rehearsals but they're more improv and it's just you guys there's no crew or nothing no it's just it's just them and me and it's it's fun we did yeah do you engage with them or do you just watch no i try to stay out of it or i'll whisper something to try something but no it's just more for them to to feel up being in the characters and they start to wear the corsets.

That's wild. There's something about, I would have never thought of it, but my dad said when you have food, it becomes like sensory. Sure. It connects you. Yeah. Yeah. And they're kind of bonded through that and start to feel like the characters in this,

it helps to do it in a setting. Did you have Southern food? I think they made breakfast together. Yeah. Like biscuits and gravy or no? No. Just regular breakfast? Were people eating healthy?

Because I think that would diminish. It seems like you have some actresses there that were sort of like, you know, maybe not bread. No. No, it wasn't two. Maybe that was wrong of me to say. No, I hear you. And you've done that with all your movies? You did that with Dorf?

Oh, yeah. I mean, we always try to do a rehearsal period where the actors spend time together. And when we were doing Somewhere, Stephen took Elle to do, he picked her up from school and took her bowling and to do things together. So that when we started filming, they had, you know, just kind of making a history. I think that was an interesting choice for, you know, for casting. Because, like, he's one of those guys that looked like it was going to be huge and then he's kind of been around i know i think he's such a good actor i think so too but um yeah i and he was so that guy and has a lot of heart but it's true he

didn't he hasn't had as many opportunities to do his thing yeah and that movie was sort of like heartbreaking just because of the nature of that. I don't, you know, a lot of times I talk about, you know, I think that people in show business get sort of dismissed by the culture in terms of like people who aren't enamored with celebrity think that like, what do you guys really do? Yeah.

Which really sort of annoys me because the process of making art or doing acting and doing direct, it's hard work. Yeah, and I think if you do it well, it looks easy, like anyone that's good at what they do, I think. I guess so. It annoys me lately that there's this idea that we're all slacking out here. Oh, really? Just sort of like, no, you here oh really like you're just like no you guys what are you just actors it's like yeah yeah we're keeping you know we're trying to balance we're

trying to have some culture going yeah but but in turn in that movie was that how much of that was from sort of personal experience i mean you know growing up in show business and you having done some acting yourself you know and knowing all these actors and having them in your family, you know, it seemed to be a very sympathetic and very specific, you know, portrait of somebody in this business. Yeah. Which I think is not easy to do necessarily. Yeah. I just, I feel like spending time with Chateau Marmont, I've seen those guys. There's a lot of, it was, it was a mix of a lot of different actors and stories.

But you never hung out there? I did in the 90s. I did. I did. And, and yes, it was a lot based on, but yeah, I knew people like that. And I wrote it right after I had my first daughter. So I was thinking about kind of the idea of being a parent. And you'd already been divorced once.

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My twenties. Yeah. Yeah. So I, luckily I didn't have kids that round but um but

yeah so this i was thinking about i just had a baby and i was thinking about i don't know being a parent and then those and just knowing kind of guys like that and sure and then there's of course part of my dad the character's not like my dad at all but just the when they go to italy i've had trips like that with my dad with lots of ice cream and yeah yeah it's sweet yeah but but like played up against the sort of like i don't know the the men like like even with you know the bill murray character in lost in translation it's like to be lost yeah but yet that huh i don't know you see that in certain people oh no definitely but you know but but also to be so you know like people know of you or they know who, you know, it's a strange thing to have a public personality. Yeah.

And yet, you know, behind it, there's just this melancholy or existential kind of like despair. Yeah. I don't know. I've seen that in people. Yeah. I think it happens in all occupations yeah but you know the public face is sort of like this strange thing that you have to you kind of have to be that guy yeah yeah people want you to be yeah well now working with those

two with scarlet at that point in her career and with uh with bill did you do the improvisations with them i don't think we did i I think Bill, they both showed up in Tokyo and we just were winging it. But the characters didn't know each other so it was okay. I think it's more in films where the characters

are supposed to have a history together. Right, right. And that one, they didn't know each other so we all kind of just showed up in Tokyo and hit the ground running.

And that was like, you got him at a good point. Like, he's such an amazing talent of some kind. I know. What a talent. I know. What a trip. I know. I was so happy when he showed up.

Yeah. And I love when he sings, to give him a microphone. We actually all went to karaoke. That was fun. Oh, you did? Yeah. On some downtime? Yeah, when we were prepping.

It was fun. Yeah, but it's always fun to be around Bill Murray. It is, right? And he's touring right now. Have you heard about his music tour that he's doing? I didn't. He's, I don't know what they're called, but he has like a four-piece classical music group and he's singing like Van Morrison songs.

Oh, really? Yeah. I heard one song and it was really touching. Yeah? He's a lot of heart. Well, that's the thing. He's, you know, and a heavy heart somehow. Yeah, Yeah.

You know, like it's a it's very interesting that what that that part of him that he's able to put out there, you know, if cast right and just in general that, you know, I don't know what the word is, but. Lovable. I guess it is lovable. I'm looking Groundhog Day. He said when he's downtrodden. Yeah. I don't know.

There's something lovable. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know, there's something lovable about him. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like, he just can't get a leg up in a way. And he's immediately sympathetic somehow. Yeah. Even when he's playing, you know, he doesn't really play assholes that often, no. Scrooged, maybe.

Scrooged, and also that one with Melissa McCarthy. But that guy had a lot of heart, too. Yeah, he always has heart. Well, I think so, right. I think that's the trick with him, is like, no matter how much of an asshole he may be, there's that thing he has. How did you direct that Christmas special? How did that happen? Oh, how did that come apart?

I think I was, I love when Bill sings and I was saying, oh, I wish you would just do a week at the Carlisle singing old standards. I'd just love to see Bill singing, you know, Chet Baker. Right, yeah, yeah. singing old standards. I'd just love to see Bill singing, you know, Chet Baker classics. Right, yeah, yeah. And then our friend Mitch Glazer, who's a writer that works with Bill a lot,

they were talking about doing some kind of show and we thought, oh, can we incorporate the music into that? And we thought, oh, maybe we'll do

a Valentine's special. And somehow it turned into a Christmas special, but Bill and Mitch were talking about doing some kind of a TV thing and that's how

we put it all together. So what happens now? You're going to have a big premiere tonight? Yeah, our movie, we have our premiere tonight and then it comes out this weekend.

That's exciting, right? Yeah, yeah. We shot it last fall in New Orleans. It's been, we've just finished. Now the premiere, does the whole family go?

No, my parents are in Europe. They're not around, but I have a lot of cousins that are coming. Is Nicolas Cage coming? Oh, I wish. He's living in Las Vegas. I invited him, but I don't think he's here. Do you like, I always wanted to think that you guys are all in touch a lot. I just saw him.

I was in Las Vegas for some thing for the movie. And he took me out. He took me and Kirsten out in a stretch limo. And we went to a lot. I just saw him. I was in Las Vegas for something for the movie and he took me out. He took me and Kirsten out in a stretch limo and we went to a show and it was really fun. Yeah. He's a character, huh? Yeah. He's really fun. And Jason, like he's got a kid now and you guys. He has three. Three? Yeah. When did that happen? I know. Was there a new one? Yeah. There's a little boy now. Yeah. That's cute. And yeah, my daughter and his daughter are close in age and they're pals. So it's been a while since the last movie. You do spend time between movies, huh?

Yeah, it takes me a while because I write the script and I never really know what I'm doing when I finish a movie. It takes a moment to figure out what I want to do next. And then I write the script. And by the time you get it together, it takes a few years. I try to have a life in between. You do? Well you have kids. Yeah I have two kids.

And you're in New York and you're married to a musician. Yeah. And you know there's life to be had. Do you go see music? What do you do?

As a grown up. I don't know what to do as a grown up. Do you? I don't know it's all a blur. I feel like dinner with people

and you know I imagine kids make it a little more like immediate. Yeah. Kid stuff. Yeah, but I don't know. We hang out with friends. Yeah. Because I was just in New York and I just like, I decided I needed to go to Lincoln Center and see jazz

and you can just do that there. I have to do that more living in New York. I don't do it and now I'm like, I'm at this age where I'm like, am I missing something? Because like, I don't know. life is pretty fulfilling. But there seems to be these things that are supposed to be really amazing. And did you enjoy it? Yeah, I loved it.

Are you kidding? It's like a bunch of dudes with horns up there. I know. I have to do that. I feel like New York has so many, just always something going on like that. And your grandfather was a composer, right? Yeah, yeah. Do you have memories of that?

Had that being important yeah i mean i went and saw him uh conducting he did the performance in front of napoleon i saw that when i was in college really yeah it was like a big deal yeah it was at that that era because i saw it at the i saw it at the um coliseum in rome and right your dad put it together right you know he re-edited it in a triptych. I remember it was a big deal. Yeah. I guess they preserved it.

Abolganza's Napoleon. Yeah. I remember it became Red, White, and Blue at one point. Yeah. With a live orchestra conducted by Carmine Coppola.

Yeah. I don't know how that came together. I remember seeing it like, wow. It was a silent movie and there was a whole orchestra. Yeah.

And I think he did Koyaanisqatsi. Didn't he produce that too or no? Yeah, his company. And they're still a company. They do your movies sometimes? American Zoetrope, yeah. What else do they do? Do you have, are you?

You know, not so many other projects, but we always have little things going. Do you remember the time we directed a musical? My dad, One from the heart and they showed it at radio city i remember yeah that was i love that movie the style of it yeah they were shooting it they rebuilt las vegas in a sound stage right here in hollywood right and i remember that at the time he's like i have this amazing technology where you can watch the take right after on video yeah it was digital it was like the first time that was what was it what's the lead in that

uh uh terry gar and freddie forest and that's the best i love that soundtrack album it's great with tom waits yeah i have that it's a great it's great just to listen to that soundtrack were you on set for that yeah i was i was roller skating around the lot that's so what happened to fred forest I haven't seen him in a long time. I don't know. He's a good actor. Yeah, he's great. All right,

so do you have anything else in mind in terms of like what you're going to do next? I know you're in the middle of this thing. No, I'm just excited for this to come out

and summer vacation. I think it's amazing. Who was the DP on it? Oh, he's so great. Philippe Lessord. He's a Frenchman it's good to have a french cinematographer yeah man all that like mist and the what kind of trees are those uh the big oak trees with uh spanish moss yeah yeah and he had a lot of like smoke machines

going we shot on 35 millimeter film which was exciting but that's all shot on 35 yeah yeah huh and i hope people see in the theater because I think it's... I need to see it in the theater. Yeah. You can come tonight or this week we're showing it. You're showing it a few times? Yeah. Oh, it's going to be at the New Beverly with a double feature with the Don Siegel movie.

It is? Yeah. When? Wednesday. Quentin Tarantino is hosting. Oh, can I get into that? Yeah. Of course.

Is it all sold out? I'm sure I can get you... I'm sure I have a ticket. Yeah? Yeah. That's on that? Yeah, of course. Is it all sold out? I'm sure I can get you. I'm sure I have a ticket. That's on Wednesday? Yeah. Double feature. Double feature. Because I want to see the Don Siegel movie in the theater.

Oh, my God. Yeah, come. I'll find out what time. We'll set it up. Well, I think you did a great job. Thank you. It's exciting to meet you. It's exciting to meet you, too.

Do you think we covered it? I think so. Yeah, we got it all? For most of it's exciting to meet you too do you think we covered it I think so yeah we got it all for most of it where'd you shoot this thing in New Orleans oh it almost looks like

the same house from the Don Siegel movie oh I loved we couldn't get that house but you tried I tried to figure it out

but it's been restored but we shot it in an old plantation outside of town and then we shot in New Orleans. How long were you down there? We were there from October to early December.

And how was that experience? Have you been there before? I've only been there for a couple days at a time. I went to Jazz Fest before, but I've never spent time there. I love New Orleans. Everyone's so nice there and good food. It's another one of those cities where you're like, right when you get there right when you get there you're like this is its own place yeah there's nowhere else like it right it's so distinct the way it looks and the feeling it's kind of a weird magical thing

it is i love it i think and it was fun to come with kids too and i thought it'd just be like you know drunk people with plastic cups because we stayed in the french quarter yeah but um but it was really fun and everyone there is really friendly. Do you bring your family on set with you like your dad did? They came to visit but they stayed in school in New York

but they came over like Thanksgiving. So your dad would just take you out of school? Yeah. I can't multiply. I never learned how to multiply. It's really pathetic.

Yeah, we just would leave school and it was fun though. It was always fun to go on location. And to go to school wherever you were? Yeah, I went to like just the local school

wherever it was. That's so wild. I guess family was always fun to go on location. And to go to school wherever you were? Yeah, I went to just the local school wherever. That's so wild. I guess family was always... That was the priority. It was very important to him. Do you think it was all in... Was it because he liked having the family together or he needed to have you guys there?

I think it's... Yeah. I never thought about that. I think it's, yeah. I never thought about that. I think it's the Italian thing of keeping the family together. But he told me, and I don't remember when he was in Cannes for Apocalypse. Now there's a, you can see footage of his press conference and I'm on his lap. And he said, I just thought that they'd be, you know, less harsh to him if I had a kid on my lap.

A shield. Yeah. So I was like, thanks. And were they? I don't know how it went, how hard a kid on my lap. A shield? Yeah. So I was like, thanks. And were they? I don't know how it went, how hard a time they gave him. I think it went well. I don't know. But it was, you know, a little close to the Vietnam War time to be making something about

that. Oh, yeah. And it just seemed like, like, it seems like he's relaxed, you know, since that movie, certainly. Oh, yes. Yes. I mean, like, it must have been a process. I can't. Yeah. No, he's more mellow now and he likes wine yeah all right it was good talking to you sophia thank

you awesome i very much enjoyed meeting sophia coppola and talking to her. Very nice. And very amazingly talented. And I love the new movie, The Beguiled. All right. Go to WTFpod.com for all that. Get on the mailing list. I can't play guitar. It's hot in here. I haven't showered since I got off the plane.

So I stink. I haven't changed. I have to decide what I'm going to wear to the premiere tonight of GLOW. That's right. Going to a premiere. Gotta wear something. Maybe they're going to take some pictures of me. Who thought

this shit was going to happen to me? I'll tell you who didn't. Me. Boomer lives! Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly, host of Under the Influence. Recently, we created an episode on cannabis marketing. With cannabis legalization, it's a brand new challenging marketing category. And I want to let you know we've produced a special bonus podcast episode where I talk to an actual cannabis producer. I wanted to know how a producer becomes licensed,

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