When an actor does Macbeth on stage, they get to experience the character straight through. How was it playing it in a film?
It’s just a normal thing, really. It’s such a rare opportunity to do something in chronological order when filming; it just never really happens.
There’s a lot of complexity there. Did you really see it as love story? I kept questioning whether he loved her.
Absolutely. And her too. How much did she know? She must have sensed something.
Ms. Varda, you say very early in your film that “chance” is your assistant. JR, would you say that you agree with that philosophy?
JR: Yes, definitely and that’s why we got along well.
How did this project start, and how did you come to the story?
Hanna Bergholm: It started when the screenwriter Ilja Rautsi contacted me, and he told me he had this one sentence idea in his head: A boy hatches an evil doppelgänger out of an egg.
The film is based on a book of short stories by James Franco. Can you tell us about how the project developed?
Coppola: James and I met up randomly – I had seen him at a deli and then later that night I ran into him again.
The following questions and answers are excerpted from a conversation that followed the NBR screening of The Miseducation of Cameron Post. How did this project start? Desiree Akhavan: I was sent the book and I loved it. I really loved it. I gave it to my girlfriend at the time, who read it and loved it. And, […]
Just as in the last film, this one starts with an incredible burst of sound, accompanied by some text, that really grabs the audience and lets them know they are in for an incredible experience. Can you talk about that decision?
Denis Villeneuve: When making movies, you try to plan as much as possible in the screenwriting. Even so, there are elements that come to life as you’re shooting. And similarly, in post-production, sometimes unplanned things happen, too.
Can you talk about the collaboration between the two of you in terms of writing, producing, and performing this?
Rafael Casal: Yeah, Diggs, can you?
Daveed Diggs: I mean we’ve been working on this for ten years at this point with our two producing partners the whole time, Jess and Keith Calder.
What was your script development process, and what was your reaction to it on first read?
Darren Aronofsky: All of my work outside of filmmaking is environmental work. As a parent, I’m very concerned about the future.
How did you end up bringing it to the screen?
Daniel Pearle: Jim Parsons read the play and he had just started his company, That’s Wonderful.
You’ve been with this project for 18 years. What’s the process been like?
Phyllis Nagy: Until the current team came aboard, there was me and a computer that sat on idle for five years
What compelled you to make this film?
Vanderbilt: I’ve always been fascinated with journalism and I always sort of looked at it as the road not taken.
What was the process of making this film?
Meryl Streep: It came together very quickly because Steven Spielberg was making another film with everything ready to go in Italy, except the lead wasn’t cast yet.
Can you talk about the evolution of Caesar’s character from Rise of the Planet of the Apes to this film?
The approach to the role for me has always been to think of Caesar as having a human mind within an ape’s body.
When was it clear that there was enough here to make a compelling feature?
Amanda McBaine: I love the word clarity; it’s not something you really have until you premiere your film and you hope people respond.