Director Alex Gibney Goes Gonzo on "Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, His Life and Work"

Feature Interview by Brad Balfour

At a time when we need counter-culture heroes more than ever, Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney's "Gonzo-The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson" explores in a relatively unvarnished fashion Rolling Stone magazine's late wild man of journalism and a counter-culture icon. During Thompson's heyday, he challenged assumptions about journalists and politicians alike in both his writing and drug-infused lifestyle. When he hit his stride, his rambling "Fear and Loathing" essays in Rolling Stone provided a counter-culture journalistic response to the world's insanities at the time.

While Thompson was hardly a model of virtue—a gun-toting, foul-mouthed, intoxicated madman who so declined creatively and physically that he committed suicide in 2005 at 67—he became a mythic figure of his time ("Doonesbury" creator Garry Trudeau's even based Uncle Duke on Thompson's alter-ego Raoul Duke). What saved him from irrelevance was both his remarkable prose and insights into the hypocrisies of both mainstream political and culture figures as well as those on the cutting edge.

Though not quite as politically charged as his two previous films, "Taxi to The Dark Side" and "Enron: The Smartest Guys in The Room," veteran documentarian Gibney manages to connect Thompson's vision and history with Gibney's own dark outlook on American society today. In some ways, Gibney sees his semi-cynical take on human behavior as mirrored in both Thompson's work and life as well. Before a small roundtable of journalists, Gibney recently discussed his experience with Hunter's life and death.

Q: Did you ever meet Hunter S. Thompson before making this film?

AG: No, so I was the perfect person to do the film because I didn't know him from Adam. I read his work—I knew Hunter's "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" and the "Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail" books from long ago—and had followed the exploits of the Good Doctor from time to time, so I was amused.

But it just seemed to me, when I was approached to do the film by [Vanity Fair editor] Graydon Carter and the folks at HDNet, that it would be interesting to do a film about a guy who didn't play by the
journalistic rules at a time when the journalistic rules were being used against journalists by people in power.

When he died, it was right around the time it was revealed that Jeff Gannon, the sometime male prostitute, was posing as a White House journalist, and had been given a press credential by the Bush administration to ask these kind of puffball questions: "Oh Mr. President, isn't it terrible the way these people are treating you?"

You need a Hunter to dig into stuff like that—somebody who's not afraid to insult, make fun of, so it seemed like a good time.

Q: Both you and Thompson seem to have shared a similar sense of political awareness and concern.

AG: The political element in Hunter's writing was certainly there. But it was also frankly—he was just so funny. I thought it would be fun to have some fun with Hunter. In my office there are two cutting
rooms: one I used for "Taxi to the Dark Side," and one for "Gonzo". So it was nice to be able to go back and forth.

"Taxi" was very, very dark, and actually some of that darkness helped rudder the Hunter film in a darker direction at times. But [doing "Gonzo"] was also a respite from "Taxi" because initially, the attempt with "Taxi" was to try to put some of that dark comedy that had been in "Enron" into "Taxi," and there were elements that'll probably be on the DVD extras or whatever. But in the film itself, once this poor kid's legs get pulpified by these much bigger guys in a prison in Afghanistan, there wasn't much room for humor, and properly so.

Q: There seems to be a parallel between the Dick Nixon administration and George W. Bush's administration.

AG: Hunter, personally and in his writing, intuited the great contradiction in the American character, between this sense of possibility and idealism, and the dark side, or what he called "Fear and Loathing."

What both Nixon and Bush were able to do effectively was to stir that sense of fear and loathing in a certain portion of the American public, to remind them how afraid they should be, and how people were trying to take stuff away from them.

That's how they would get elected. Not by appealing to a sense of possibility or idealism, but to appeal to their sense of fear and rage,and sometimes to inchoate rage. And that's something that Nixon did very well, as did Bush.

Q: Are there any journalists who are writing today that you consider comparable to what he was doing?

AG: Well, he was such a giant. At his height, from 1965 to 1975, he had it all: the sense of humor, the sense of anger, and the peculiar kind of literary excellence; he just had this way with words that was extraordinary. So he was a blogger, really—in particular, the "Campaign Trail" book was a precursor to blogging—but he blogged at a pretty high level in terms of the use of language.

But there are people who use anger today… I would say Jon Stewart and [Stephen] Colbert have a kind of anger about the way things are, but they express it through satire and comedy, and also by using real events that they say, "Oh, look at this! Look what they said two months ago! This person's a liar." And that's what you need.

You feel the evidence of Hunter's influence, but you don't see somebody who's doing it like Hunter was able to do it. You know, the channel is so bifurcated now. Rolling Stone was an underground magazine when Hunter was writing for it, but it was also a national magazine—everyone was reading it. It wasn't just. "Oh my page opens to this blogger or that blogger." He had this broad sweep of people.

Q: What about some of Hunter's contemporaries like "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" author Tom Wolfe?

AG: Wolfe was interesting. He had a more ironic sense of detachment. With [bohemian writer Ken] Kesey and "The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test" he did hang out with those guys for a while, but… yeah, Tom Wolfe was another character like that—somebody who combined journalism and literature.

Q: Was there anyone you would've liked to meet besides Hunter?

AG: I would've loved to have met Kesey ["One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"]. We're doing a film now about Kesey and the [Merry] Pranksters, and he was apparently an extraordinarily charismatic guy.

Q: How was it interviewing politicians like former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern?

AG: He was a very decent man, and you felt like you were getting the truth [from him]. It was a weird day, because in the morning, I interviewed him—in the same hotel suite—[that I interviewed former Republican presidential candidate] Pat Buchanan in the afternoon! And Pat came in, and was like, "Where's George?" He wanted to hang with McGovern—the guy who he had beaten to a political pulp in '72.

And [former President Jimmy] Carter was fascinating. We had thought we would have had a tremendous amount of difficulty getting to Carter,but he accepted right away and gave us a lot of time.

He told us a very funny story that we couldn't put in the movie, for no particularly good reason. But Hunter had gone to interview Carter after this University of Georgia thing in '75, and he spent three days with Carter and Roslyn and hung out with them. Just the idea of Hunter and Carter hanging out for three days…

Anyway, Hunter had this fantastic interview, and he was going to go back to Woody Creek [Colorado] and write it up, and then went on vacation or something. When he got back, he realized he lost the
tapes! So he calls up Carter's people and goes, "You know, I fucked up, I lost the tapes. Can we do it again?" By this time, Carter's taking off, so they're like, "I'm not sure we want Hunter… we want to control the message a little more," so they put him off.

Then he finally went down to wherever they were traveling around in the country, and he was trying to hunt down Jody Powell [Carter's assistant]. He finds him in his room and Powell won't answer the door,so Hunter lights a fire under his door—literally—and starts burning down the door! Carter had to be called from upstairs to come and calm Hunter down, help put out the fire [laughs].

Q: Did Hunter get a chance to talk with Carter further?

AG: Not as much as he wanted. He certainly didn't get his three days again.

Q: Did Johnny Depp regale you with any Hunter stories, since the two were so close when you were working with on the film?

AG: [Laughs] They were very close. Working with Johnny Depp was a brief experience, but it was a good one. It was the kind of thing where, under tremendous pressure, he comes into town, does his thing, and goes out again. So, there wasn't a lot of hang-time.

But Johnny loved Hunter. He feels deeply connected to him because there was a room in the basement of Hunter's house called "Johnny's Room"—it was a small, garret-like room with a cot and a slit for a window, and that's where [Depp] lived for a month or so just before [making the film] "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas." You can see in the film, one of the interesting things that's shot, and it's in Johnny's house, in this bar, that was one of Hunter's favorite places; he's wearing Hunter's shirt.

Q: What was it like hanging out with [artist] Ralph Steadman?

AG: He is a fascinating character and was transformed by Hunter—by Hunter and maybe, the drugs. When he gave Ralph psilocybin I think his world kind of changed. It was so much fun to hang out with Ralph.

I went to his place in Kent [England] and he has this big studio in the back of his property, and you inhabit this world. You walk through four or five huge rooms filled with drawings and little artifacts from here and there. He has this wild imagination. He's a great raconteur and storyteller with a very dark sense of humor.

But it was great to see those earlier drawings before meeting Hunter—B.H. and A.H.—they're very sort of uptight. Now he has this ability—it's just like the poster, I mean he took that photograph of Hunter and said, "I'm going to defile it!" I had him sign a book for me and he signs it, and then he takes the pen and goes "thwack!"

Q: How much of Hunter's drug-taking has been exaggerated, or is it accurate? And how did it inform his writing? Do you think that's why his writing quality diminished over the years?

AG: Well, it enhanced it at first, and over time, it diminished it. I think the thing that really got to him in the end was the booze. He was drinking every day, all the time. But the early brushes with hallucinogens opened him up for free association and things like that. But a lot of people [did them] during that time—Kesey wrote "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" while he was on acid; or [Bob] Dylan, who claims he didn't use drugs, though I don't think so. But for a long time, the key drug for Hunter was speed, and then as it got into the '80s, it became coke.

Q: He wasn't much for deadlines.

AG: Deadline writer, right. Even though he almost never made a deadline, he'd go on these writing jags, and then he'd smoke a joint to get an idea while he was on speed, and then he'd be drinking. I think it was real, but at the same time, he was also doing it for effect. So it wasn't like the drugs were talking in the writing—that was Hunter.

For a long time he was a very disciplined guy. He was the guy who typed The Great Gatsby on his own just to feel what it would be like typing those words. I think he was purposely exaggerating it as well, so you would have this sense that he was this larger-than-life character. At the same time, he became a drug action hero because he had this capacity for ingesting this stuff that nobody else had.

As ["Boys on The Bus" author and former Rolling Stone writer] Tim Crouse says in the film, "You'd see it go in, but it didn't seem to have any discernible effect." I think that Hunter may have been bipolar, and that he was self-medicating to get this even keel. And over time, he would only get 15 minutes of lucidity in a day, and then it would go down.

Q: Was there anything you unearthed during your research that really shocked you?

AG: At four or five in the morning he would do these long, tape-recorded monologues. And he would take tapes that he had recorded out in the field and would play them, and make a little commentary about them, and then he'd play a little music, and that would become part of his tape. He would make a little "movie of the mind." We're going to actually release a five-CD box set of some of those tapes.

Q: Have Hunter's second wife Anita and his son Juan seen the film, and if so, how have they responded to it?

AG: I was talking to Juan last night, and he said he liked it very much. It was difficult for him to watch it the first time, through. I know Anita likes him. You know they all have little issues with it, but I gave them and the estate a lot of credit, because they really opened up this material to me, and I was an outsider. The one person I really haven't heard from yet is Sandy [Hunter's first wife], and I would like to.

Q: One of the biggest events in Hunter's life was his suicide, but you chose not to include a lot about it in the film. Was it the ultimate act of nihilism on Hunter's part?

AG: None of us ever really knows why someone commits suicide. Hunter was in poor health, the alcohol was really taking its toll on him, and his mood was getting darker and darker and darker. Some people say it was the Bush/Kerry election; well, maybe that was part of it. But I also think, physically and mentally he was just heading downhill.

Yet suicide is also a narcissistic act. We juxtapose Juan and Sandy, who have very different views about his suicide. Juan says it's kind of a mythic thing—that he knew how he was going to go out, he just didn't know when, and he chose a moment when everyone was there. Well, it's a little weird when you take a gun to your head when your grandson is in the next room…

Q: …And you're on the phone with your wife.

AG: It was the act of a narcissist, and it was also a guy who was thinking about his legacy rather than the people around him. So it wasn't a pretty picture.

Q: How did Hunter's celebrity affect him?

AG: It's sad that sometimes you get to that point where you become a celebrity. I have to say, as nice a guy that he was, I was a little astounded by all the attention paid to [the late NBC "Meet The Press" host] Tim Russert recently. Some people were saying, "It was like when JFK died." I don't think so. He was a talk show host! And he was a journalist, and the job of the journalist is to get the story, not to be part of this celebrity club so that you're honored by other celebrities.

That's the great trap, and Hunter fell into that trap, too. He had this celebrity club that would just come to his house in Woody Creek, and it would all be hangout time. I think it's a hard task when you become a celebrity and you still have to operate as a journalist. It's not easy to do, and I'm not sure how many people still do it effectively.

You can even see it with somebody like [CNN international correspondent] Christiane Amanpour. She's about as good an example as it gets of somebody who's still trying to do it, but she walks into places and she's this huge celebrity now.

Q: But Tom Wolfe seems to utilize that method quite effectively. He's dubbed it the "Man from Mars" effect.

AG: Right. Some people do that to great effect. Truman Capote was another one. What was that line from the movie with Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei?

Q: In "My Cousin Vinny?"

AG: Right. Joe Pesci was saying, "You can't wear that kinda outfit around here!" And Tomei turns to him and says, "And what, you blend?"

Capote never blended; Hunter never blended; Wolfe never blended. Their M.O. was to be the outrageous person that would make everyone feel comfortable, and I do think it worked for Hunter. But there's a difference between that and then just getting caught in kind of "celebrity hangout status." But yeah, it still works for Wolfe. I'm very amused in the film when Wolfe says, "Hunter was trapped in Gonzo," and here's this guy in this white Savile Row suit that he never takes off. So it's not like Wolfe has eluded the need to live up to his own image.

Q: What was your brush with celebrity status like at the Oscars?

AG: Well, I always take it with a grain of salt. I can remember walking the red carpet for the first time when I was nominated for "Enron," and I'm thinking, "Oh man, this is good! I've arrived. Everyone wants to talk to me." And this photographer beckons, and I'm ready for my close-up, and he says, "Will you get out of the way? Jennifer Aniston is coming!" Well, okay, I get it.

Q: And what about winning the Oscar for "Taxi"?

AG: Winning was great. There is a moment of heaven where you go down to the bowels of the Kodak Theater, and you go to this room where all these beautiful women in long gowns are handing you drinks and taking your picture. You go into the Press Room and there's this huge, cavernous group of reporters from all over the world. There's so many of them they have numbers like an auction, and they call out the numbers. And they said, "And now, who has a question for the Academy Award Winner: Best Documentary?" Zippo. You know, a documentary on U.S. torture policy, attacking Bush/Cheney. Questions? Zippo. So I got perspective pretty quickly.

The only thing I do remember from that night that was jaw-dropping just for that night was that when you walk around with that statue in that town on that night, it is a little bit like having Gandalf's staff.

Every door opens for you. I remember going to the Miramax party and stepping on the sidewalk right outside the Chateau Marmont, and there were a thousand photographers, and we had to get the bouncers to help us in because I was just blinded. There was one sheet of white—there's so many flashes and strobes going at the same time. It was intoxicating, but you realize it wears off fast.

Q: This film primarily covers the era from 1965 to 1975, which were pretty much your formative years. So how involved you were with the counterculture movement?

AG: Well, it was interesting. I had a front row seat to some of it—particularly the political stuff. My stepfather was a guy named Reverend William Sloane Coffin, Jr. He was the Chaplain at Yale, and he became this comic book character also in "Doonesbury"—the Reverend Sloan—and we used to have summit meetings at the house for people who would plan the next big demonstration. Now I was young, but still, it was pretty interesting.

Q: You had some pretty heavy hitters at your house.

AG: We did. I can remember when [former congressman and Atlanta's mayor] Andrew Young came and spent the night, and [Peace Corp creator] Sargent Shriver was there. And Bill had taught [former Nixon admin official] Jeb Magruder. So Magruder came by one day, [anthropologist] Margaret Mead came by, so did [pianist] Arthur Rubenstein. All sorts of wild characters were passing through the house.

Q: You mentioned the Kesey film, but do you have anything else you're working on as far as upcoming projects go?

AG: There's a film about the role of money in politics—it's about [the Jack] Abramoff Scandal—called "Casino Jack and the United States of Money."

Q: And what about plans to make a film based on the book "Freakonomics?"

AG: It's an omnibus film where different directors do portions of the book, so it's not "my thing." But I got fascinated with this section of the book about cheating in sumo wrestling.

Brendan Fraser Takes A Fascinating Journey to The Center of The Earth

Feature Interview by Brad Balfour

Even an old action flick veteran like Brendan Fraser (well, he's not really old, but he will be 40 this year) is thoroughly fascinated by the digital technology that has birthed a 21st century version of 3-D filmmaking. Of course, it's no wonder Fraser's enamored of this new technology, since he is the star of "Journey to The Center of The Earth"—the first full-length, live-action feature shot in digital 3D.

That's not to say that the Indianapolis-born actor needs the new variation on the medium to prove he is a hit-maker.

After all, Fraser quarterbacked the first "Mummy" film into a mega-hit that has now become a tentpole franchise with another sequel, "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," coming out later this summer. But even before he had those hits, he had been a comedic star, shepherding along such kid-friendly films as "Encino Man," "Airheads" and "George of The Jungle" into hits. Of course, he has an Oscar-friendly, indie film side, having starred in such critically acclaimed films as "Gods and Monsters" and "The Quiet American" as well.

The saga of making a modern digital 3-D version of Jules Verne's 1864 sci-fi classic "Journey to The Center of The Earth" really began with HDTV camera technology developed by director/producer James Cameron for his own productions. Obviously, it has roots in all the 3-D concepts before it, when shooting a 3-D film was expensive and dependent on special projectors to show the films.

That's why, in recent years, 3-D films have been mostly non-feature length docs shown in IMAX theaters. Once digital technology made it possible to manipulate the final results in computers without needing film, having enough theaters using digital projectors became the primary constraint in releasing digital 3-D movies—until now.

Indie filmmaker Paul Chart ("American Perfekt"), signed to write and direct the film, penned the original script. After the producers decided to shoot in 3-D, Chart left, afraid that it would become something more for a theme park rather than the epic action-adventure he envisioned. Special effects expert Eric Brevig (a visual effects Oscar nominee for "Hook" and "Pearl Harbor") was brought in to direct his first feature, and the script was heavily retooled to emphasize the new format.

Fraser became so passionate about this movie that he offered script revisions and a commitment that led him to become an executive producer on the film as well as its lead—the seismic scientist and maverick adventurer Trevor Anderson. He amply explained all this in a
very recent roundtable session.

Q: With such action film experience, what do you do to prepare for a movie like this 3-D production?

BF: Let me start from the beginning. I got the script. It was based on Verne's classic tale, "Journey to the Center of the Earth." Verne was arguably science fiction's creator. We've seen the film before; it's slightly, as the British say, "daft" [laughs]. I say that with affection. I didn't arch my eyebrow at it, I didn't turn my nose up to it, because I don't know an actor who doesn't like to work.

But the cover letter to the script said that this [version] was going to be shot in 3-D and I was like "What, huh?" I thought 3-D was when you wore red and blue glasses and watched the movie and it made you a little bit queasy after a while and you went home and said, "Why did I spend my money for that? Anyway, let's get back to paying taxes and stuff."

I wasn't sure what the technology held, [but] I was hooked [on the idea of it]. But I hadn't read the book as a teenager in school like I was supposed to [laughs]. So I went to a bookstore got the last copy of an anthology of Verne and thumbed through it as fast as I could. [But there were a few problems with the script I read so] I realized that the answer was right there in the book, like they say, in the world of the film.

Q: So what did you think was the problem?

BF: All you needed to do was flip-flop the relationships [from how they were described in the original book]. The professor has a nephew; he's his research partner. They have this theory, he's slightly mad but they must go and find out [if it is true]. Actual classic mythology has aid that Mt. Sneffels [a volcano with a glacier covering its summit in western Iceland] is a portal to the center of the earth.

Changing the gender of the guide [was also necessary]. I think, depending on who it was published by [in Verne's original "Journey..."], he was like either Hans or Hortz, or something like that. So we had the character become Hannah [Anita Briem]. In this version, you have this misfit trio of oddball characters who aren't going to get along that well. Textbook screenplay writing has it that you bring those people together to see them win and succeed by the end of the story. That's what we had to go for.

I pitched my idea to Eric [Brevig]. I showed up to the meeting with my copy of the book, and the screenplay, and said, "Look, I just read this and the screenplay." I also collect cameras, because I'm a wannabe nerd, and I had with me my stereopticon [a the mid 19th century
projector with two lenses that created the effect of 3-D for stillimages] just to prove that I knew about 3-D too [laughs].

I gave him my ideas that were basically to change the relationships around a little bit. It's all writing. All the set pieces [in the original "Journey..."] were great. I don't know about that, but those can stay in place, those are the big ticket items. But in the end, between you, me, and the tape recorders, we wound up writing it ourselves. Eric later told me he could have kissed me on the lips for it, because it solved all the problems of the challenges they would have been up against with how to get this thing green-lit and going.

I brought everything I had to a studio and talked to Cary [Granat, producer and co-founder of Walden Media], and said "Look, you've got to make me a producer. I put my neck out [laughs] and he said, "Okay I will do it." And I'm like, "Alright what do I do?" They were like, "Well, take it seriously."

A lot of those producer credits go out there to actors and they're kind of vanity titles. It's what you make of it, and in this, I was able to bring the considerable knowledge that I have learned in [the last few years]… At ShoWest [the theatrical exhibitor's trade show] they gave me a film achievement award even though it took me 20 years to get it [laughs].

Q: How has your journey—so to speak—been to this point?

BF: Interesting. I think in many ways I'm just reaching my stride. I feel like I have a lot left to do. I'm excited to see what the future holds, because clearly this movie is the first of its kind in history. Arguably, this movie can be an innovation in cinema technology that is on par with when the moving image was fused with an audio track. People said it will never take, no one will go. Oh well, sorry, it kind of did. And then color film came to the screen, they were like, "Why do you want to see it in color [laughs]." Then television was invented and again they went "We listen to radios."

Then they invented TV dinners and people didn't go to the cinemas anymore. Then someone got an idea and it was like, "I know, 3-D." We've had this bizarre stereoscopic image gimmick around for over a 100 years; then let's put that back in the screen and people will come back to the theaters and we won't go out of business. They did that and people came back; it was a little hokey. But in the end, they learned to just make better movies and people will come.

Oh, there was a gag I hope you got, maybe you didn't, in the movie, for those in the 3-D know. When Trevor opens the box he pulls out this wooden thing and says, "I have no idea what this is" and throws it over his shoulder. It's the stereopticon; it's what people used to put an image in front of and they go like, "Oh cool, the Grand Canyon. Oooh, naughty pictures from France."

I just want you to know that all of these advances have come to a point now, that I've learned so much with visual imagery and working with CGI, it went from 0 to 10 during my career. The 1992 film "Encino Man" [laughs]—go ahead, let it out, just get it out now [laughs]—I assure you, did not have one processed shot in it at all. It was a camera, tripod, a script, and three actors, well, two really, and Pauly Shore [laughs], and me with a squirrel attached to my head. That was it. That was a teen film.

Films like that aren't made for teens any longer. We've advanced so much, technologically speaking. I mention this is because if you think of the number of ways we can receive our media and the platforms on which they are delivered, they are displayed in auditoriums, on canyon walls, and even on your iPod.

What's missing is the magic that happens with the communal experience of being on a stage and telling a story and having people captivated at what you're doing, and they are doing it together. When you go to a movie, there's a barrier, something distancing between you and that experience. The experience of this technology, and this film, being the first of its kind, is important because the star of the film is the experience itself.

So you like the movie, or say you don't like the movie, fair enough... apples and oranges. You kind of can't say you didn't have a good time seeing what I saw. If you do, maybe you have one eye [laughs].

The three dimensions are something that has a "boo" scare to it. Something comes out at you. Thankfully, it's used judicially. The audience feels like we are all in this together, and the better you can have depth of field that just goes on and on and on, depending on how much the studio ponied up for some talented CGI artist to create a background that is just crisp.

Q: So what was your favorite scene?

One of my favorite sequences in the film is the raft sequence, with the storm fish and animals and the creatures are leaping from the water and we are battling them valiantly. During that scene I felt like I could see the curvature of the inner earth of the ocean. There's something poetic about that. I've never seen that before.

Q: What about the people who can't see it in 3-D if they only have 1-D projectors available?

BF: Get on an airplane go to the United States, England, is what I would say. You really want to see the experience of it in 3D. I haven't seen the film as a "Flatee," let's call it [laughs]. [Now I've] coined that phrase first [laughs].

Hopefully the film still works on a standard projection; at the end of the day that's what it's all about. You want people to walk away feeling they had fun, "I just killed two hours, yeah." It's an important industry question that was asked. I don't know if I have the answer.

Between the studios, the theater owners, they are all watching this film to see how it does, because it comes down to conversation; [that is if people talk about it]. The delivery system is reels, technology we've had for a hundred years. Anybody working in the popcorn counter can walk in, flip a switch, and make it go.

Truth is, it's pretty much the same thing with digital—you just press a button. But getting the theater owners to convert from analog to digital is something I want you to ask Eric Brevig about. He could give you a better answer then I can. But the answer is to be decided, to be determined. I had a meeting with Reel D this morning and there are 1,400 theaters in the United States alone.

We made this movie two years ago. It would have been ready last year, but the number of theaters was only half of what we have now. Why come out at a time when there aren't enough screens for people to see the film as it's conceived and shot and created and delivered to them in a way that it really wasn't meant to be? It's like I said before, it's about being there to enjoy it.

Q; What was it like acting in a completely CGI action film?

BF: The quick answer to that is: bruises and ice packs [laughs]. Crapped into a little metal thing on hydraulics attached to something called a gimbal that smashed me around [laughs].

Q: You worked on a few films in Montréal. That was where this was shot?

BF: Well, yeah, I worked there twice. "Journey to the Center of the Earth" was shot at Mel's Studios, a great facility with great crews, motivated and friendly; it's a nice environment. And I shot another movie there called *cough cough* "Mummy 3" [laughs].

Q: Will you take your kids to watch this movie?

BF: They may be a little too young…. One of my favorite things to do is to go see the families and their kids, and see little kids reach out and try to catch a blue bird and then see their dad go "Ahhh!" [laughs] when the dinosaur leaps out at them. See the little kid go, "Yeah!" [laughs]. They love it, you know.

Q: How much of a dream is it to be in a "GI Joe" film?

BF: [A dream] come true. I am a GI Joe.

Q: Who do you play?

BF: I can't say, but it's not Gung Ho… don't believe everything you read on the internet.

Method Man Gets High with "The Wackness"

Feature Interview by Brad Balfour

Though Method Man only plays a small role in one crucial scene, his presence in "The Wackness," adds a necessary touch of credibility to this indie film paean to New York and its homegrown hip-hop culture. Given that the story is told from a geeky white, Jewish, 18-year-old pot dealer's perspective (he's more into weed as a social statement than as a way to financially elevate him out of the 'hood), having a former Wu-Tang Clan member/founder performing even a small part--as Jamaican drug supplier Percy who has an approving encounter with Luke Shapiro (Josh Peck) and his sort-of customer/mentor, semi-partner Dr. Jeffrey Squires (Ben Kingsley)--lends the film a further authenticity.

Happening during the summer of 1994—when the streets of New York are full of a funky, soulful hip hop exemplified by Wu-Tang and the sweet smell of pot—"The Wackness" darkly celebrates a coming of age for both the 18-year-old Luke, and the middle-aged shrink Squires. Set against the backdrop of newly-inaugurated mayor Rudolph Giuliani's regime, when the law & order fanatic begins to implement anti-fun initiatives against such vile crimes as noisy portable radio play, graffiti-bombing and public drunkenness, the film celebrates a positive cultural abandon that seems sorely missing in NYC today.

Nominated for Sundance 2008's Dramatic Grand Jury Prize and winner of the Audience Award, director Jonathan Levine's touching film takes advantage of Method Man's expanding acting experience (he's been in films and TV shows such as "Oz,", "CSI," "The Wire," "Garden State," and "Soul Plane") to join the movie's other fine supporting actors such as Olivia Thirlby and Famke Janssen. From the seminal hip-hop collective he formed with Redman, DOB, and RZA, the former Cliff Smith has established a successful solo artist/producing career. But it was his time with that supergroup Wu Tang—on such albums as "Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers" and "Wu-Tang Forever"—that he made a mark in history that spurs on such films as "The Wackness."

Q: How was it revisiting 1994, this historical moment in hip-hop, through this film?

MM: Well I didn't get that until I saw the film. When I did my scene it didn't have music. I just had to draw off what I read in the script and the scenes that I shot. when i saw the movie, the music could have gotten a credit t was pushing the story along in certain areas--i had a feeling of euphoria; and I had a feeling of nostalgia when listening to the music in the film. I was like, damn that's where I was at in that day.

Q: How does it feel being an actor in a hip hop environment rather then being a hip-hopper affecting the environment?

MM: I've come a long way to start off. It's a little crazy to sit there watch this film and hear a song that I did playing in the background of my scene; it's silly in a way, for a lack of a better word especially when it's you watching it. I don't know about it for everybody else, but for me it was a little silly.

Q: Do you think director Jonathan Levine picked the right music for the soundtrack? Did you help him? You think you had an influence?

MM: I know I had an influence; he put my music in the film. I had nothing to do with putting the sound track together, that was all Jonathan.

Q: This film seems to be a tribute to NYC hip-hop as the roots as opposed to the West Coast.

MM: It's a tribute to the city actually. As far the west coast goes, we always had a lot of love for the west coast, that's why I didn't understand why there's was no Snoop Dog songs in there's when he came out in '94 they almost played the whole album on the radio.

Q; Were you happy to see this film portray an appreciation to the weed culture?

MM: Absolutely man. There is a culture out there of pot heads; we are growing bigger and bigger everyday. People are using it for medicinal purposes now.

Q; Were you happy to see this film portray an appreciation of the weed culture?

MM: Absolutely man. There is a culture out there of pot heads; we are growing bigger and bigger everyday. People are using it for medicinal purposes now.

Q: Was it interesting looking at pot through that your character's Jamaican experience?

MM: When you are there and you're seeing how the whole thing works as far this guy goes... I've lived most of this shit so, I've sat inside "gates," that's what we call them and shit; the dread, if he likes you and shit, he'll talk to you. It ain't just a hand-over-fist type of thing. You get to talking now and then. That's the connection between Luke and Percy. Percy trusts Luke. You don't get a lot of that so you want to keep the people you trust around.

Q: Was there anybody as a reference to get the character and accent down?

MM: Every Jamaican I ran into in my lifetime [was a source]; as far as the dialect goes, I had a good coach.

Q: You must relate to the concept behind the film, for this kid to use hip-hop and pot as critical elements in his growing up?

MM: The music definitely pushes the story forward and Luke as well. The pot definitely bridged gaps between him and his psychiatrist; him and his supplier; and him and his love interest. The coming of age thing, this is a dude trying to find himself. he way the pot plays into it is exactly as I told you...

He's asking questions, trying to find out were he stands with this girl and were he stands with himself. He's about to be a man and life sucks that's where the whole concept of the wackness comes in because right now everything looks "Wack" to him.

Q: Did you find it weird being in a film with both Ben Kingsley and and Mary Kate Olsen?

MM: With Sir Ben it was bug because he doesn't leave the set. he chops it up a little. He's a real, genuine cool dude. It helped when we started shooting the scene because I was so comfortable around him it was like a cake walk.

I didn't meet Mary Kate until Sundance and the first few interviews we did. Every running into her so many times you get to chatting and she was real cool and calm, and down to earth. doesn't get fair shake in tabloids She's a nice girl sweet girl.

Q: You don't get it much in the tabloids do you?

MM: I get a little controversy; it doesn't escape the urban network [laughs].

Q: How do you approach doing acting versus making music?

MM: It takes a lot more preparation. With music, It's just a vibe; I get a feeling then I sit down and I write what I feel. With acting, I go over certain things and do my repetitions to make sure I don't forget my lines then when I am on set, I see the other actors, and what I am working with. When we are shooting a scene, I see what the other actors are doing and see how I can play off that. In the end, it's silly too because it's just a bunch of grown ups playing pretend.

Q: Do you freestyle much?

MM: Not alot.

Q: When you write how does it work.

MM: Sometimes the music will give you the theme, other times you can be watching, like, a TV program and then it hits you, "I want to write about this." Then you sit down and jot like your first four lines and then you look for the proper beat that can match that and you continue writing the rest but in the midst of doing that you are jotting down little ideas on the side that you can put inside the whole stew once you start to cook it.

Q: What are your roots, both in pot culture and music culture--hip=hop's an amalgam...

MM: As for pot I love my purple haze [laughs]. The roots for me probably musically or culturally... I love anything my moms pops were listening to I had to adopt as my own. It's an abundance, from rock to hip-hop, pop to alternative, soul, blues, jazz, then everything gospel... It all incorporates into my everyday being or how I do my thing as far as writing or portraying list this Rastafarian on the screen. It's authentic because I've been there, and I draw own experience.

Q: Do you miss Wu Tang; it represented this community in hip-hop.

MM: Yeah we always tight-knit group we still are but it's a little different now since we got kids. We've moved on to other things and other chapters in the entertainment business. It gets hard to stay in contact but I think the unit as a whole is as strong as ever especially through our children who still scream "Wu Tang." And I haven't done a show yet by myself or with the whole crew that people didn't scream "Wu Tang."

Q: What about the new generation of hip hoppers; do you see an evolution--or not?

MM: We're recognized as big business but we're still not televise... our category.. at the Grammys. We're expendable now since so many people are doing it. It's like fast food; they're shipping it out so fast you can not grasp onto any artists long enough to even like 'em. By the time you do there's somebody comes out with the same sound or a similar song or dance mix or ringtone.

When I started out it wasn't about the jewelry you had on. I'm not saying you didn't have the yin and yang... You had to have that because Biggie [Smalls] and them was always fresh... They kept their jewelry.... [But] Wu Tang was always grimy with no jewelry; the best part about the whole movement was the lyrics—the lyricism was there. There was no denying that New York cats had that certain edge over everybody else.

Q: Wu Tang also understood that it wasn’t just about rap; it was about the music community in general.

MM: Definitely. That's why Wu Tang could go overseas with [bands like] Rage Against the Machine, or do shows with Marilyn Manson and the Red Hot Chili Peppers so perfectly because people can dig that group mentality [whatever the style of music].

Q: How did you make the transition for a musician to an actor, not as a star but as a character actor?

MM: I didn't go out looking; it was more thrown into my lap. I always thought of myself as a bit of a character anyway [laughs] I'm a Pisces and I've always had a bit of an imagination, I've always been a bit of a comic book fanatic. I used to watch the shows on TV and emulate what I saw, like what any kid does. If you can keep 30,000 people entertained for 45 minutes on stage then you can jump on the screen with one camera and do the same thing.

Q: What's your favorite comics?

MM: Anything X... Yeah, X.

Q: How you thought about writing one yourself?

MM: Maybe something might happen with this comic book thing; I’m trying to write my own comic book now, a joint called "Throwbacks."

Q: Are you writing or drawing it?

MM: I used to draw back in grade school but that’s as far as that went. We used to have a dope teacher named Ms. Gold. We had a comic book club after school, so I’ve always been interested in comic books.

Q: What do you think about how comics have evolved since your day?

MM: Well, I think they are prostituting them now. They didn’t start with the movies; it started with the variant covers. When it was a 100 million dollar business these dudes were raking in the dough. They would come out with seven different covers for one comic book. It devalued a lot of the books. Now it’s like what's that for?

Q: What else do you have coming up?
MM: I just did an episode of "Burn Notice" which premieres this month.

Q: How do you balance it all?

MM: I would do it all at the same time if I could but sometimes it's impossible. So I have to find out what's in first position and I make sure that get's done.

Q: How was the thing that affected you the most about this film?

MM: I tell Josh every time I see him. It's the part when Olivia calls him in the hallway for breaking his heart or whatever and he says "Nah, I want to hold on to this, this is real for me." Man, that's my favorite part of the film.

Josh Lucas and David Strathairn Lend Their Voices To "Trumbo"

Feature Interview by Brad Balfour

Though not quite the stars of "Trumbo," actors Josh Lucas and David Strathairn, join with Joan Allen, Brian Dennehy, Michael Douglas, Paul Giamatti, Danny Glover, Nathan Lane, Liam Neeson to lend a theatrical voice to this cinematic testament about the late screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. Based on a theatrical version created by Trumbo's son, Christopher, that had been staged in New York and Los Angeles several years ago, this film, built around letters Trumbo wrote to friends and foes alike, mixes documentary footage, historical archives and theatrical recreation to make an award-worthy release.

In the first flush of anti-communist Congressional investigations (witch-hunts really) led by Senator Joe McCarthy, Trumbo was arguably the most famous of the "Unfriendly Ten" screenwriters who were blacklisted in 1947. Until the early '60s, when Trumbo's name finally reappeared on the films "Spartacus" and "Exodus," he wrote under a pseudonym for a very few producers who were willing to help him.

Now through director Peter Askin's documentary, the dramatized readings from Chris Trumbo's epistolary drama have historical gaps filled in with newsreels, interviews, and the few film clips of Trumbo that exist. Not only does this documentary show how defiant Trumbo was, but how his insistent visibility eventually helped break the Blacklist More importantly, it illustrates how easily that slippery slope rolls forward once the process to erode civil rights gets started.

Since Trumbo was such a prominent figure in Hollywood over a half-century ago, it was important to discuss him and his legacy with Hollywood actors Lucas and Strathairn—not just because they portrayed him through his letters—but because both in their own unique way have been affected by his legacy. Both actors discussed their experience and his impact recently in New York City.

Q: Each of you brings something new to the Dalton Trumbo letters you read. How did you get into Trumbo’s head?

DAVID STRATHAIRN: Well, it’s a steep slope to get into his head actually, but I’ve done a bunch of readings of short stories and play readings, and that’s kind of the format. I tried to find some music to it so it’s listenable, and then what you’re saying starts to couple-up with that. When poets or writers read their stuff, it’s not performative and therefore, maybe not as engaging. So the challenge was how you give his aesthetic, plus present it in as clear a form.

JOSH LUCAS: I had a great experience last year, when I did [the play] “Spalding Gray: Stories Left Untold,” which was, in a sense, the same format as this, where you have actors performing as a character in a way. The way they structured that play was five actors played five different essences of Spalding, and that created the whole Spalding, cause Spalding himself was so complex, and I think there’s something quite similar here in that you have a character whose got awesome literary intelligence and intellect, but also anger, rage, and incredible humor.

To me, the reason why the film works in this format is because watching Nathan Lane do that piece on masturbation is amazing. And for me, it was about saying how do you relate this particular story in your life—who you are, and where you are—to what this man might have been going through, and this was the process that was fun for me. Particularly because my piece was somewhat romantic, and has quite a bit of pathos underneath it because he’s in prison as he’s reading it.

Q: Did you choose the particular letters of Trumbo’s that you read or were they assigned to you?

DS: They were assigned. Peter [Askin, the director] or whoever ], decided that these were the ones that were assigned. I don’t remember him saying why…

Q: The actors reading the letters seem to embody, to take a word from Josh, the “essence” of Trumbo, brilliantly conveying different aspects of his persona. What sort of research did you do to get yourselves into character?

JL: I think one of the things the film had to deal with in its construction was that there wasn’t a lot of footage on Trumbo, and much of it is used in the film, and I think that’s why actors were necessary to tell the story—to hear the letters, hear the writing and the incredibly razor-sharp nuances of how the letters are constructed like poetry.

So what we had to work with, for me at least, was not dissimilar to what you see in the film. But mostly what Peter [the director] wanted to do for us was to get our take on it, and not necessarily by any means try to be like Trumbo or sound like Trumbo, or move like Trumbo. Which is why its effective, moving from these personalities like Donald Sutherland moving into another actor like Michael Douglas, and the way that each person’s essence is so different.

DS: It was a great design. If you had done “Trumbo” the way that they had done a traditional biopic—to have one personality try to inhabit him—that’s an impediment to the material, because then everybody’s going to be focused in on how this particular person is inhabiting or presenting him.

In this way, you get a lot of different voices, and the variations—or the collage of people—is entertaining, and refreshing moment-to-moment, but it also in a way displays the universality of what he says. It’s a lot of people dancing on the same floor, and you can see how substantial that floor is.

Q: Many of the actors, including yourselves, convey much emotion when reading the letters. Did [Peter] and screenwriter [Christopher Trumbo] direct you towards this emotion?

DS: I don’t know how it happened for you Josh, but he just said “read it and hear it.” It certainly wasn’t “turn right, here” it was more “I can see where that’s going, do it again,” and it felt very creative and organic, with no sign posts along the way. Because the material speaks for itself—you release to it—and it is affecting. It’s always tricky when you’re presenting something like this to not be overbearing, or not be affected by your own particular stuff so you don’t trample, because maybe what he meant to be funny sometimes was also so full of pathos. It’s safe to be careful.

JL: Yeah, the guideposts were in the writing. No one was telling Joan Allen, “This is when you should tear up.” The writing is so good. It’s just infused with incredibly humor but incredible pathos.

I think there’s a moment in the film where Trumbo actually says, “All the greatest jokes have the greatest tragedy underneath them,” and so throughout reading it, there were still moments where you couldn’t help but be led a certain direction. And the way Peter was directing it—this sort of black box element of a group of actors in a theatre—was, “Let’s see what happens.”

Q: How familiar were you with the works of Dalton Trumbo before embarking on this project? Do you have a favorite?

DS: My introduction to him was “Johnny Got His Gun,” and then I had been in the development of a project years ago called “The Hollywood Ten,” so there was his presence in that. And some of his films—“The Brave One” and “Papillon” obviously—but not in as much depth as I’ve come to find out.

JL: Same for me. My parents were hardcore anti-war activists, so “Johnny Got His Gun” was essential, and obviously “Spartacus.” The letters were probably the most revealing, and I think that’s what the film in a sense is most concentrated on. And I think those letters are extraordinary.

Q: David, in your film “Good Night and Good Luck,” you’ve already broached this subject of the blacklist, Joe McCarthy's HUAC anti-communist investigations and the "Red Scare," albeit from an entirely different point of view.

DS: This [production] felt like you were in the street reading Dalton’s stuff. There was a little more grit and affect. [CBS newscaster and analyst Edward R.] Murrow was obviously insulated, but he got into the whole neurology of that time—pretty incisively—but he, because of who he was, responded in a different way.

So it was interesting to see that he had this forum where he could at any given time speak to three million people, whereas Trumbo—his megaphone was shredded, compared to the elegance of Murrow’s. But they were both coming at the same issues with I think as much passion, although their aesthetic definitely was different. When you read some of Murrow’s stuff, he was as razor-sharp about the issues… The two of them probably would’ve had a good talk.

Q: Josh, you said your parents had been anti-war activists. What insights did you gain from this, and is there a particular resonance in light of today, with the Bush administration’s (and the media’s) handling of the Iraq War?

JL: The integrity of what [Trumbo] did was pretty incredible. I grew up with that [as well], but in a time where it wasn’t as difficult to do, in the ‘60s and ‘70s, as it was for Trumbo.

So my parents weren’t exactly rare in a way that I think Trumbo was rare, and unfortunately I think we’ve gone backwards to a time where it’s become rare again, where its become incredibly difficult for actors or politicians or personalities or citizens period to stand up and say what they believe without having very difficult repercussions placed on them.

I just did a film with Susan Sarandon [“Peacock”] who talked about how there was a period of time where she felt like she was bashing her head against a wall in a very painful way, and there were repercussions. No one was blacklisted per se, but that was a big shift in the country, to go from a time with my parents where it was readily acceptable—I watched my father get arrested for trespassing consistently, and it was “cool”—as opposed to after 2001, where anyone who was protesting in that way, literally, [could] lose their jobs.

Actors who are doing it on a certain level like Sean Penn were genuinely being demolished for it in a public sense and yet in hindsight, it turned out well for them I think in a way, because it’s quite clear that, as in Trumbo’s case, they were in the right. But it takes insane courage, especially back then, to be one of the only ones to say “I’m not going to allow this,” and not only become broke for it, but go to prison for it when you have young children. That’s integrity.

Q: This film also celebrates a bygone era. It’s an epistolary film based on these beautiful, long-winded letters, whereas now we live in the era of text-messaging and abridged conversations.

DS: That’s a great observation because in a way it was a bygone era, but letter writing was amazing. People think of it as some archaic art form, but that was really how people communicated. I just did a play about Brutus and Cicero, “Conversations in Tusculum,” and they were like the original pen pals. They wrote volumes to each other.

JL: I don’t know about you, but I’m at a time in my life where when I text, I’m forcing myself to use full words [laughs]. And I’m forcing myself simply because it’s for me to do, not for the other person because everybody now is getting to know these abbreviated words, and the idea of sitting down and writing an elaborately, well-constructed, beautifully-worded letter to the phone company, it’s extraordinary.

DS: Yeah. So if the film just does just that on a historical level, great. To make people aware, of all the political resonances and personalities that are in it, [even better]. But that’s something that people sort of look back and say, “Oh yeah, people used to write letters and used to [mimics typing].”

Q: Did this project make you want to do more theater?

DS: Yeah, I just did one in March. But hey, I’m always looking to do theater.

JL: I haven’t done one in about a year myself, but it’s what you search for constantly. It’s a question of how you make a living doing it, and when do you find a piece that you want to put out into the jaws of the New York critics, because it’s a really difficult environment. It’s a very mean environment in a way, so it has to become something you have to do if you really love the piece.

Aidan Quinn Explores Academia, Science and Tragedy in "Dark Matter"

Feature Interview by Brad Balfour

The feature film debut of renowned Chinese opera and theater director Chen Shi-Zheng, and winner of the 2007 Sundance Film Festival's Alfred P. Sloan Prize, "Dark Matter" garnered critical praise, had a mini-theatrical release, and has a DVD out shortly. Inspired by a real tragedy, "Dark Matter" delves into the life of Xing Liu, a Chinese graduate student pursuing a science Ph.D. in the U.S. in the early 1990s.

Driven by ambition, yet unable to navigate academic politics and life in American academia, Liu is inexorably pushed to the edge until he totally loses his way. The forlorn and angry Liu responds violently when his chances for a Nobel Prize are dashed by his professor and advisor Reiser.

Liu's antagonist, Professor Reiser, is played by Irish-American actor Aidan Quinn who has handled a remarkable range of characters and roles as either the lead or support in dozens of films, plays and television shows. Born in Rockford, Illinois to devoutly Catholic Irish parents (his father was a professor), Quinn was raised in both the midwest and in Ireland. No doubt, that gave him the fiercely independent streak he has shown in his work over the years. His older brother, Declan, is a noted cinematographer, so being in the visual arts runs in the family. Since Aidan was 19, he has been acting; the Madonna-starrer "Desperately Seeking Susan" offered him a breakout role.

During the '90s, Quinn's career grew immensely as he worked alongside such Hollywood stars as Brad Pitt in "Legends of the Fall," Johnny Depp in "Benny & Joon" and Robert Duvall in "The Handmaid's Tale." One cache for him was to star in films that employed his Irish roots, such as "Michael Collins" and "Evelyn." Eschewing conventional stardom, Quinn has done such fine indie films such as Sundance Film Festival award winner "Songcatcher" and quality television in such as the mini-series "Empire Falls."

Though "Dark Matter" stars established veteran actors such as Quinn, Oscar-winner Meryl Streep, Blair Brown and Bill Irwin, it also expands the career of 30-year-old Chinese-language star Ye Liu (previously in such acclaimed films as Yimou Zhang's "Curse of the Golden Flower" and Kaige Chen's "The Promise") as the brilliant but hapless Liu.

Q: Though you've worked some of the best directors throughout your career, you've worked with a lot of first-timers as well. What is the appeal and how was it working with first-time film director Chen?

AQ: They're the only ones who will hire me. They don't care what the studio execs say [laughs]. I'm joking, but there is an element of truth to [these comments].

All kidding aside, working with Chen was wonderful. He had a very strong visual sense from his work in the opera, and a beautiful sense of drama. I haven't yet seen this film with a significant Chinese audience but I understand there's a lot more humor than we know about in it within the Chinese characters. He was lovely, he has a great personality. He's very supportive and tense in the right ways.

Q: Director Chen applies a lot of beautiful, theatrical touches to "Dark Matter," done in a short amount of time; so many elements were very operatic. Were you aware of that?

AQ: I did see it while he was creating it and he had a great relationship with his cinematographer. He was always thinking in those terms and they were working very quickly to get a lot of work done in such a short time.

Q: How long were you on set?

AQ: I was only on set for a couple of weeks.

Q: So what got you involved with this film?

AQ: Meryl Streep [laughs]. I got a call on a Wednesday. My manager said there's a film that's already filming in Salt Lake City. One of the supporting actors is doing another movie and it ran over so he can't do it, they're desperate. You would get on a plane tomorrow and you would be shooting on Friday. There's no money. It's low budget at scale for no money.

I told them to take a fucking flying leap at themselves [laughs]. My manager then gave me one more detail and she says "The star is Meryl Streep and she asked for you." I said, "When is the next plane?"

I didn't even know what it was about or anything. They were e-mailing me the script that afternoon, so then I read the script and of course I liked it. I got on that plane the next day.

Q: Why did Meryl specifically ask for you?

AQ: I had worked with her before, that's why she asked for me. We had done a movie called "Music of The Heart." You are always surprised working with Meryl because she is so fresh and surprising in all her choices, so it's always good working with her in that way. Liu Ye, what a joy to work with him, he was phenomenal. My first scenes after I got off the plane were with Liu Ye and he's a phenomenal actor.

Q: How did you read your character Reiser?

AQ: I read him as a human being who was in a position of power, a man who liked having his ego stroked. My father was an academic, I've been around academics, but without a doubt, Liu Ye publishing a paper and criticizing my character's great theory, not a smart move. I think he took in a way I think of "The door's not open, you're not welcome here," and he took it to mean father than what I meant. There is a protocol here.

There's no question that a lot of people tend to do better that follow the rules of praising and buttering up the people of power in whatever business you're in. Look at some of the actors who are big movie stars now, how could they get to be that? Certainly not on talent [laughs]. I'm not going to name names but you know who they are.

Q: Did you read much about physics to prepare for this role?

AQ: I read as much as I could in two days. I went on the internet, read articles, went to the library, I crammed it all. I read a lot on the plane. I was an expert in two days, that's all I needed [laughs].

Q: Since you were around the academic community, do you think it's endemic that this kind of jealousy happens among the ranks so to speak?

AQ: I don't think it's endemic; it's just very human. I think that jealousy is in all fields but I do think that there is something in the academic world because there is that little bit of sense where you're not quite doing full time what you dream of doing. However there are teachers that I met through my father in that is what they dream to do, that is what they were born to do, and that is what they should be doing. God bless them as they are obviously one of the most undervalued professions in the world.

Q: Liu's character published a paper behind Reiser's back and defies academic rules; instead Reiser embraced the character of Laurence, a more by-the-book student [Lloyd Suh]. Putting yourself in Liu's position, how would you have handled it—be more rebellious like Liu or more like Laurence, ingratiating of your mentor?

AQ: Well obviously if you look at my career, it's not on the Laurence side; it's more like Liu's side. I've always taken those paths, maybe to a fault.

Q: The Virginia Tech tragedy [which took place April 16th last year] delayed this film's release for almost a year ago; were you afraid of any backlash?

AQ: Unfortunately there's a plethora of violence to choose from, not just in universities but in high schools. I think it's a perfect time to show this film because you have the Olympics. You have China and Tibet. You have Chinese culture. I think it's perfect to show Chinese students trying to find its way in America.

Q: Was there any culture clashes on set?

AQ: Since Liu Ye's English was not the best and my Chinese was a little bit worse, I didn't understand what he was saying so that helped. If they were laughing at me, I didn't know it so that was good. Liu Ye has a tremendous talent. His ability to go from one emotion of wide eyed innocence and devotion to being completely devastating in seconds flat is astonishing and wonderful to work with.

Even though we didn't understand each other's language and were just gesturing to each other, we both were laughing and had a good time. I don't know what we thought was funny but we knew what we wanted the scenes to be about non-verbally so we had a good time working together.

Q: Did the distance of the language help in expressing the difference in attitude the characters had with each other?

AQ: Maybe, but I don't think it was that. I think that came with the script and the director and also with our two personalities and how they melded.

Q: This film deals with Liu's cultural displacement and his clash with American ways of behaving; it's a relevant theme—adapting to a new environment through immigration. Has this been a theme in other films you've done?

AQ: I think that was a theme in "Avalon," a great film I was involved in, about a Jewish family coming to America. It has happened with my family; we have moved back and forth to Ireland. I understand parents who feel not quite at home so in some ways we're not quite at home. But it is our home and it is who we are.

I definitely understand that. It's probably the reason I'm an actor because I was moving back and forth and having to change your voice because you want to fit in. As a kid you do that automatically within weeks because your heart, your ear, and your mind are more tuned to adaptability.

Q: Being that it is a hot topic, will Hollywood recycle this theme of culture clash and immigration?

AQ: Yes, I think that's how the world changes. Everything is changing at any moment. I may do an upcoming film about immigration because it is so prevalent. It is a global community that it's in everyone's faces all the time, how we are so inter-related, how everything we touch is from somewhere else. Nothing is local anymore. I think it's supersaturated our senses and it's coming out from writers and directors, those themes.

Q: Have you been to China?

AQ: No but I'd love to go to China.

Q: Have there been plans to go to China for this film?

AQ: Not that I've heard. I know that when we were making this film that there was the hope that this film would get to China. I don't know where it stands right now.

Q: You've done movies, theater, and television—do you have a preference?

AQ: No, it's nice to do it all. Of course there's probably nothing more satisfying for an actor when doing stage when the planets line up but I like it all. You can do work in film that you can't do in theater.

Q: What has been the best lesson you've learned as an actor both in the art and in life and who has been your greatest teacher?

AQ: If you're looking for great teachers and lessons in acting, you need to go no further than Meryl Streep, there's a classic example right there. She is like a witch and I mean that in the best possible way of how she could conjure up just in a relaxed and improvisational way authentic life into whatever character she's playing or whatever project she's involved.

Do you know how quick she learned Tai Chi? That's amazing. One of my friends has been doing Tai Chi for 30 years and he doesn't look nearly as good as Meryl does in this film. She learned in six weeks I believe.

Meryl is a pretty extraordinary woman. She's a perfect example of balancing a family life with a career, balancing being an authentic person and not having to "cow tow" to allow the corporate needs that are in our business. The corporate needs are becoming more intense.

I just did an interview at a news channel which will remain nameless where it seemed the requirement was that every woman had to have sexy long legs and short skirts. I'm for women dressing as sexy as you want but it seemed to be the school uniform over there. We live in strange times so if you could find a balance within these strange times, it's a good thing.

Q: Talking about balance, Some careers don't necessarily have to go out of date because you've gotten older. Do you see that as a change where you've gotten opportunities to do new things?

AQ: There are certainly opportunities like that but they are few and far between.

Q: You've worked with three powerful female actors in Meryl Streep, Sissy Spacek, and Bonnie Hunt; what was it like working with them?

AQ: Sissy was phenomenal. I worked with Sissy twice and I've worked with Meryl twice. They're both great, fun to work with, just great ladies and great human beings. Bonnie Hunt is so funny. She literally will have you almost peeing in your pants, she's just so damn funny.

We had a lot of fun doing that first "Project Greenlight" which was a bunch of crap. HBO was so upset that we all liked each other because all they wanted was conflict. All they wanted was us not liking the director or each other.

This is an example of how bad corporate media could become even in something like "Project Greenlight" which is supposed to be this great independent project with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. By the way, they never came to the set, I never saw them, not even once. It was their company, so fair play for them.

Anyway, Kevin Pollak is playing the Rabbi. I play the anti-semitic Irish fireman. It's raining and they're asking if I want an umbrella. I'm from Chicago, I don't need an umbrella. Kevin says, "I'm a Jew, give me three umbrellas."

He's telling this story to the cameras, and I'm sitting right next to him laughing. You could actually see part of my shirt in the scene. I'm shaking up and down laughing. Kevin's going to the camera and he says, "Mr. Method Actor, Aidan Quinn, he loves the rain," and they edited it like he was being serious. They took out the sound of me laughing. They took out me putting my head in just to make a little bit of conflict where there was none. That's what I mean about those kinds of things.

Q: Speaking of women in power, what was it like working with Madonna on "Desparately Seeking Susan?"

AQ: That was the most asked question of my career until about 15 years ago and I thought it had gone away. The funny thing about that question is that I never worked with her. My scenes are with Rosanna Arquette. That's why it's funny to me that it's the most asked question of my career because it never happened.

Q: Is there anyone you haven't worked with that you'd like to?

AQ: Oh god, there's so many. I've been fortunate to work with so many actors in my career.

Q: What films do you consider a benchmark for you?

AQ: I'm sure if I thought about it. That's one that's hard to answer without thinking about it. For me, it was when I did "All My Sons" which was an Arthur Miller play on PBS; "An Early Frost" which was the first movie ever done about AIDS—I was the first actor to play a person with AIDS, or in playing Hamlet, those are benchmarks for me.

Q: Do you see yourself doing more of your own productions?

AQ: I think that helps a lot. I know more and more actors that do that out of necessity. I always tell young actors when I have a chance to talk to them, "Do not think that you are going to have a satisfying career if you're just going to be a freelance actor.

"You're going to have to generate your own work by producing and writing with friends because if you're just waiting for the phone to ring from the corporate interest, more than likely they're not going to align with your own interest unless you're very lucky or you're in the top-10 box office stars where just about everything is offered to you and then you can pick and choose some good stuff. Other than that, it's going to be a struggle and a dance."

Q: Do you have your own production company?

AQ: I don't. When I grow up, I will [laughs].

Q: Are there under-the-radar productions that people should know about?

AQ: There are a tremendous amount of films being made that I have seen at film festivals around the world that are terrific, much better films that you are going to see at your local, neighborhood Cineplex. A lot of them aren't getting released. In the last 10 years we've seen this happen where the film world has become so corporate that there's a lot of great films dying on the [vine] where they may get a DVD release a year or two later or something like that.

I would just encourage people to try and support these kinds of films. I would encourage more women to be in positions of power so they can help these men decide what films to buy because a lot of them don't have a fucking clue. That's where I'm at.

Q: How important is it for you to choose projects that reflect your beliefs?

AQ: Too important for me unfortunately. I just can't see myself making a film going in that I know is going to make the world a worse place.

It's that simple, If you were to follow this story and be inspired by what it says, and if it's going to encourage more violence and more commercialism, I'm not interested. Now, if I am working less and less, I will become more interested.

Q: What do you feel needs to be changed in the film world?

AQ: I just did a film where three girls are the leads, and they're all 14 or 15 years old. They're three extraordinary, wonderful Irish actors, but they're unknown so when you go to sell that film, they are the leads. it's men that are buying the films 90% of the time even though women make up the choice of who goes to see the movies as a couple. They make the decision over the men 65% of the time .

Gender-wise, I don't think there's not enough balance in the film world. I think that's a major problem. Also it's become more corporate in the sense of what's wrong with making a little money where everybody gets paid and everybody has a job, but you have to make a $200 million dollar worldwide hit or else, why bother.

Q: And the name of this Irish film with the three girls?

AQ: "32A." It's a film that my sister [Marian] made. We shop it around and hear from executives "Oh we love it but it's not for us. Good luck with it." My sister wrote and directed it.

Q: This was a year where "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" were nominated for Oscars, and they weren't box office hits.

AQ: But who voted for them? The Academy members are not the corporations. They're not the studio heads. They're the actors, they're people like me. They're the guys that see good work and that's why those films are nominated because those are good films that need to be seen.

Q: Do you prefer doing independent films compared to bigger budgeted films?

AQ: Not necessarily. In general, the themes of a lot of independent films are a little more varied and interesting so, in that way, it's a preference. On the other hand, I've done plenty of big-budget movies that have great stories and, to be honest, it's a nice feeling to get paid.

Q: What's coming up for you?

AQ: I'm waiting for three independent films' financing to become real.

Q: With the digital technology where it's cheaper to make a feature now, do you see a rise of more independent films?

AQ: I hope so. I really, strongly hope so. The thing about that is that it just makes it more accessible but that also has a downside to it for actors like me that are used to getting a certain amount of pay because anyone can make a film and put it on Youtube, 60 million people see it and it's cheap so what do you need actors for?

That's why my union is battling the studio right now with the producers in trying to getting a piece of the new media because that new media, this new digital medium, is the future, there's no doubt about that.

Q: And you would do a film shoot in digital video or HD?

AQ: Oh yeah, I've already done it. Actors don't care where they work. They work in a pig sty. Just give them a good part, a little bit of food, and maybe a glass of wine at the end of the night, and they'll be fine (Laughter).

Q: Would you like to direct?

AQ: I would love to, when I grow up.

Q: What's it like being in a two-actor family?

AQ: My wife [Elizabeth Bracco], god bless her, has sacrificed her career for our family and our daughters, in particular my eldest daughter who is autistic. She took a few jobs, the last one being "The Sopranos" for the last season and a half in which she had a great part in and was wonderful for her to do. Our daughters are getting older so I'm hoping she'll do more roles.

Q: Is it easier for you to have someone who knows what you're going through as an actor?

AQ: I think so. She knows how it works and how you could run over time and all that stuff.

Q: Is there more awareness on autism with some films dealing on the subject?

AQ: Definitely. I mean we've gone from one in 10,000 children being autistic to one in a hundred. How did that happen? Think about it. There's only one thing that has changed radically and that is the amount of toxins being injected into our children by vaccines. To me, that's what it is.

Actor Michael Madsen at "The Boarding Gate"

Feature Interview by Brad Balfour

Since the early 1980s, actor Michael Madsen has defined the notion of "gritty," quietly stealing scenes in films from some of the most dependable leading men in some of the most heralded films of recent times such as "Reservoir Dogs."

With a sympathetic performance in "Thelma & Louise", Madsen began to establish his presence as something more than gorgeous actress Virgina Madsen's brother. Once he broke through as the memorable "Mr. Blonde" in Quentin Tarantino's seminal classic "Reservoir Dogs"—just replay that incredible ear-cutting scene in this modern Los Angelean noir classic—Madsen has appeared in over 100 films becoming an in-demand character actor.

Since then, he's become a cult film favorite, landing parts in movies that are on every genre geek's best-of list from "Kill Bill" to "Sin City." Though he's done nearly every kind of genre, he's been in a raft of crime and horror films from a creature flick like "Species" to the noir-ish "Mulholland Falls" to "Scary Movie 4" to a TV version of "Frankenstein."

In Madsen's recent theatrically film, "Boarding Gate"—now on DVD as part of the genre arm of Magnolia Pictures Magnet (www.magnetreleasing.com)—he stars as a hard-boiled corporate executive with a dark past and taste for S&M which he shares with the always-provocative Italian actress Asia Argento (who seems to be in a new release every other month such as the erotic "The Last Mistress").

Madsen likes to give it and get it and Asia, of course, provides it to him in spades. He's ultimately knocked-off, and the story then spins along the oblique spirals that director Olivier Assayas is known for—especially in his earlier film, the sci-fi-like "Demonlover." Assayas likes to use genres to make post-modernist commentary on the film medium itself and though "Boarding Gate" is the French auteurist most straightforward story, he still reflects on the genre through this film. Madsen offered his own spin on his career, this film and its director to a quartet of interviewers earlier this year.

Q: You're usually playing a tough guy; did take on the role of Miles Rennberg in "Boarding Gate" because of the challenge of playing against type?

MM: Olivier is a great guy. He gave me a chance to play somebody that I don't usually play. I didn't have any guns and I didn't do any harm to anyone.

Q: Was this character one of the most vulnerable you've played?

MM: It's the most vulnerable character I've ever played that actually made it into the theaters. I played an Irish-American prizefighter in a movie called "Strength And Honor," shot in Ireland, that I was extremely vulnerable in. I think it was one of the best roles I've ever had in my life but the picture kind of got lost and swallowed up by the whole publicity-driven money machine of Hollywood.

It got drummed out of a chance to make it out there. It doesn't have foreign distribution yet, so it's still out there. I'd say that "Boarding Gate" is probably one of the few times where I've been able to be asked to play somebody who is essentially non-threatening and gets to kiss a girl.

Q: How was it working with Olivier and collaborating with a director from another country?

MM: Well to be an American actor and to go to Paris and shoot a movie is pretty good. The whole mentality of somebody like Olivier is so artistically balanced. He's a quiet man. He's a collaborative man. Underneath it all you see that he knows what he's doing. A lot of American directors are just up their own asses and they're so formulaic about things.

He was willing to let me make stuff up and go my own way on certain things much the way Quentin [Tarantino] would let me do certain things. There are not many directors who would allow you to come up with something at the spur of the moment and not think that you're just fooling around but to realize that you actually intend for them to be in it as your character. Olivier let me do that.

Q: Like your S&M scene with Asia. What did you think about that scene?

MM: Well, when you have to do stuff like that in a movie, there's nothing erotic about it because you're surrounded by a crew. You have a microphone sticking into your face. If you're making a porno it's one thing, but that whole pretend, making love thing is kind of complicated and it's really not easy. It all depends upon who your co-star is and you've got to have somebody that you can really trust and you've gotta trust each other.

Early on, the two of us got together and we said "We have to do this stuff and we might as well be comfortable about it," and obviously we were, but that's a big thing with Asia. She's such a cool chick. Like I say, it's not too often I get a chance to kiss a girl in a movie. She was just so tremendous to work with.

The thing I like about her is that she just doesn't take anything too seriously but at the same time she takes it very seriously. There's a duality of conscience there where she's like casually "Ah, ok," but underneath that there's dedication. I think me and her are the same in that way, and we met each other on a common ground and it was what it needed to be.

Someone should find a screenplay for us to be like a "Bonnie & Clyde" type of thing or some sort of a thing like "Casablanca" where we could really be romantic with each other but have some heartbreaking kind of an ending. I'd love to work with her, that's what I'm saying. I think we had such good chemistry on screen.

Q: Was that your idea to use the belt in bondage scene an example of being able to be creative?

MM: It was just one of those things I thought of. I was sitting on the set and we were laughing and fooling around. I just took my belt off and I was whipping Asia with it. We were just playing like kids and I was sitting there and for whatever reason I put it around my neck and was wearing it like a necktie. I was joking that I would hang myself.

Then we suddenly realized that it would be an interesting thing to do in the movie, a sexual moment to have her hold the thing. It was something that accidentally came up that turned into something we used in the scene.

Q: So it wasn't like you just said, "Hey I have this idea, let me tell
you about it."

MM: When I cut that ear off in "Reservoir Dogs" I didn't know what to do with it. I had no idea what I was going to do with it. We didn't rehearse that scene because I didn't want to rehearse it. I knew what the parameters of the set were. I knew where I could walk and not walk and that's what I wanted to know.

So Quentin, being Quentin, said, "OK, let's shoot it," and we did. The first time I had that thing in my hand I walked off to the side with it and I just was looking at it and I was thinking in my mind, "OK, what am I to do with this fucking thing," and I know that they're rolling so I can't say it. So after telling you this now if you watch the movie and you look at me you can tell that's exactly what I'm thinking at that time, going "What the fuck am I gonna do with this ear"

Meanwhile, Quentin's over at the side of the camera going "Toss it! Throw it Michael! Throw it away! Toss the ear!" I didn't want to toss it. I was trying to think of something else to do, so I went "Hey, can you hear me," and I just spoke into it because the cop was sitting right there and I knew it would make him go crazy if I did that. Then I threw it, then I tossed the ear.

Quentin obviously didn't appreciate it at the moment and he said, "What are you doing," but then the next day after he saw the dailies he said to me, "Oh my god Michael, I watched this fucking stuff and you were talking into the ear, so it's staying in the movie." I said "Well I hope so, that's why I did it."

At the time they thought that it was something that wasn't going to be in the film, they saw it as being silly. It was an accidental thing. Olivier is like that, he let me do a lot of stuff. Those are the kind of things that make movie moments.

Q: How were you approached to do "Boarding Gate"?

MM: I got a call. I don't have agents because the whole thing is just insanity but I have a manager. From what I remember they called him to offer me the part and then I talked to Olivier because I couldn't believe he wanted me for the part. Then it took a while though, from what I remember it was almost a year from when I first heard about it until we finally got together to make it.

I love the guy. Seeing him again made me think again what a sweet man he is. I'd love to work with him again. It's better when you know each other, when you make another picture with somebody you've already worked with, things turn out well. It means you can do it again so much better because you already are over with all of the silly, get to know each other things that people go through. That shit's over with and we can just go on with it. That's why Ridley Scott probably uses Russell Crowe so many times because they know each other.

Q: Quentin and Robert Rodriguez use you a lot so does it get more familiar with each project?

MM: I just want some longevity, that's all I want. The trophies are not something that's come my way. Maybe that's not meant to be and that's fine with me.

Q: So what's the status of "Inglorious Bastards," Quentin's next film after The Grindhouse project?

MM: I was just at Sundance with "Hell Ride" and Quentin was there. We sat together at "Hell Ride" and I said to him in the dark, "What the fuck is going on with "Bastards?" He just said, "I'm writing it, I'm still working on it, don't worry about it." When it comes to him, it is Quentin's world, I'm just living in it so when he gets around to it, that's when it will happen. With him, you can't force anything to happen. He may never do it but then again he may start shooting it tomorrow, who knows with him [laughs].

Q: And what is happening with "Sin City 2?"

MM: That's up to Robert Rodriguez. I don't know what his status is right now. He had some troubles with some personal matters. I don't know. The only reason I did the first one was when he gave me the part at the premiere after party of "Kill Bill," he asked me to be in "Sin City." I told Robert, "I have only three scenes in the film, that's ridiculous, and I certainly don't need to get punched by Bruce Willis." Then Robert goes, "Yeah but you get to shoot him," and I go, "That's right, I can shoot Bruce" and he told me if I do it, I'd have a bigger role in the sequel. I said fine and that's why I did it.

I hope he follows through with that promise because I'd like to be in the next one but I told Frank Miller that I don't want Bob to get killed though. I drive Frank crazy. He came over my house and we drank a lot of tequila trying to convince me why Bob should not die in "Sin City 2." I think I talked him out of it. I hope so anyway.

Q: is being an actor something you've always planned on doing always been in your head?

MM: I wish I could say that I was some kind of genius and that I had a crystal ball, that I've always known it. All I can do is tell you the truth.

I wanted to be [legendary NASCAR driver] Richard Petty when I was growing up [laughs]. I did, I wanted to be a NASCAR driver. I don't think I've told anybody this before but I wanted to build race cars and me and my pals built a quarter mile drag cars with a road runner, we had a Super B with 440 Horse speed. We would do drags in that fucking thing. I was a gear head in high school. I dropped out of high school. I was an auto mechanic around 1976 and I worked at a Texaco station. Cars were everything to me, I lived it. I loved going to sleep with greasy hands, I could smell them on the pillow. I smelled of gasoline, it was heavenly to me. Then I wrecked a car, I had a really bad accident and one thing led to another.

I worked as an orderly as a hospital. I was a pipe fitter. I tried painting houses for a while. I tried to start my own house painting business. I worked for a landscaper. I worked construction. I drove a tow truck for two years in the snow in Chicago. I even shoveled snow off the roofs. I tended to run around with the wrong type of people and I got in trouble a few times, got locked up a couple of times. Sooner or later you had to come to your senses. I was really going nowhere fast. I even enlisted in the Marine Corps to get out of jail and they wouldn't even take me.

I had a history of asthma when I was a child. I also had recurring migraine headaches so bad that I couldn't see out of my left eye. I had a bleeding ulcer in my stomach. I tore cartilage in my knee from playing football, so I had all these health issues and the Marine Corps would not accept me. Then I figured there was nothing left but the hangman's noose for me, which I considered a few times.

I had this goofy idea in the back of my head because when I was a little kid I saw "Heaven Knows Mr. Allison" with Robert Mitchum. He's a Marine trapped on an island with Deborah Kerr. John Huston directed it. You know, that fucking movie just really did something to me. I don't know, I so related to Mitchum in that film. Then I had an idea that I could do that and I thought "What a job that would be."

My sister Virginia, she just got nominated for God's sakes a couple of years ago, she was taking acting classes. She was studying acting. She had Marilyn Monroe posters up on her wall in her room. She was fully into it. She was doing high school theater and everything.

I started remembering how much I liked Humphrey Bogart in "The Petrified Forest" and watched him play all these killers for Warner Bros, then all of a sudden he did "The Maltese Falcon" and he quickly turned it around. All of a sudden he wasn't the bad guy anymore. He made that switch from a heavy to the leading man.

I thought that was pretty cool. He got to kill Edward G. Robinson in "Key Largo," and you can tell how happy he was about it too. Jimmy Cagney of course, my God, remember when Rocky Sullivan goes to the electric chair at the end of "Angels with Dirty Faces" and Pat O'Brien tells him to turn yellow so the boys don't glorify him as a gangster? He just lets out that wail, "Don't kill me! Please don't kill me, no, no!"

Then you see the shadow on the wall and the lever going down. Oh my god, it would make the hair on my neck stand up. It is even now talking about it. The thing of it is did he chicken out for the boys so they wouldn't think he was a big shot or was he really fucking scared to die? That's the whole thing in that movie and it would make me crazy.

I went to the library and I got a biography of his. I read every book I could find about Jimmy Cagney and I finally found a book where somebody asked him about Rocky Sullivan and they went "OK, what's the truth when you played that scene? Were you doing it for the boys or were you really scared?" And he wouldn't answer it. He said, "I can't answer that question because if I ever did, it would defeat the purpose." I thought "My god, I can certainly make movies," but actually getting the opportunity to do that coming from my background was probably like a million to one.

My father reminded me of that back in the first days I told him when I first told him I was going to be an actor. It just kind of happened accidentally and I feel very fortunate to have found something to do with myself but I never had any formal training whatsoever.

I did go to Steppenwolf Theater for maybe two months. A lot has been made out of that but the truth is I didn't stay there long. I moved to California and was working at a gas station. I didn't realize I was working in Beverly Hills until I saw Jack Lemmon driving in for gas and Cicely Tyson and Warren Beatty. I met a girl who knew an agent and they took a chance on me. I auditioned for a television show and I got the part.

Q: What was the television show?

MM: It was "St. Elsewhere." I was the bad brother. It was a racial episode. I don't want the hospital to know that it's my father who was beating up my little brother so I say it was the black guys, they beat up my brother. Denzel finds out and catches me when I was about to say this bad thing. I say "He was beat up by the…" and Denzel walks in to cue the music. It was the big moment and I was caught in having to give up my father. Denzel was so cool, he couldn't have been nicer to me. David Morse was also cool.

These guys were veterans and who was I? I was a punk from Chicago. I was a fool kid. What the hell was I doing on this television show? I didn't know what the fuck I was doing. I didn't know what a mark was. They were just so nice to me and accepting of my circumstance. I was lucky to be working with guys like that from the very beginning.

Q: You have such a distinctive voice, literally…

MM: Yeah, I've been trying to figure that one out for years [laughs]. I sound a lot like my father. My dad has the same kind of voice but my mother claims that they accidentally cut one of my vocal cords when I got my tonsils out when I was a kid. I don't know what the hell it's from honestly. I smoked for twenty years. Maybe that did something.

Q: When did you start to develop that voice?

MM: I think it started when I was ten. I remember people coming to me when I was 10 asking me, "Jesus are you sick? What's wrong with you?" I thought I was fine.

Q: Have you ever thought about directing?

MM: I executive produced a cop movie called "Vice" that's came out in April, 2008 directed by Raul Sanchez Inglis. I got Andrzej Sekula [who did "Reservoir Dogs"] to shoot it for me. Andrzej is the man, I mean Jesus, what did I have to worry about when he was on set, absolutely nothing.

I want to direct. I've been directing myself for years. It doesn't seem to be a very difficult job. If the right
project comes along and the right situation, then yeah I would do it. I'll say it on the record.