What made the story right for a modern day interpretation?
Nicholls: I think if you pitch the story – an independent woman has to choose between three different contrasting men while maintaining her independence – I think that would feel very modern and contemporary.
Can you talk about that decision, and how you thought about the various meta elements of the project?
Theo Anthony: That idea of accounting for the act of observation in observing is something that I’ve always been drawn to, as a big science nerd!
What was the process of you discovering the source material and trying to get it produced?
DeCaprio: As soon as I read the novel I thought, “This is like a modern day Caligula.”
What drew you to the role of Gladys?
Anjana Vasan: My agent sent me the script and said Thea Sharrock wants to meet you, have a read, and Olivia Colman’s attached and before she could finish saying Olivia Colman I went, yes!
What was your original artistic challenge when you were approached with this project? A profile of one person is quite different than your previous work.
Ted Braun: The previous films I’ve done, feature documentaries I’ve done (Betting on Zero, which looked at allegations of global economic criminality, and Darfur Now, which looked at allegations of massive, systemic violent crimes in Sudan) were, in different ways, ensemble stories about people trying to expose wrongdoing.
The author of the book had a great line about your films: “Laughs are never free. There are always strings attached.” Can you speak about the humor in this film and its fine calibration, especially in its opening sequences?
Taika Waititi: I always thought that humor and comedy are very powerful tools and effective weapons against bullies and bigotry.
How did you come across the book and what compelled you to champion this project?
Coogan: I was in New York making a film. And because my career’s been in comedy—I’ve written a lot of television comedy— I wanted to find something more substantial, that had more substance.
What drew you to this story?
Adam McKay: We had done a movie with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg called The Other Guys, and the goal of that movie was to do a comedic parable of the collapse.
Stephen, you’re no stranger to bringing musicals to the big screen, and you’re no stranger to stories about teenage longing and discontent. How did you get involved in the project?
Stephen Chbosky: I saw the show about three years ago, on Broadway. And I loved it. I didn’t know anything about it when I saw it. And I loved the show.
How did your filmmaking process begin?
Stephen Basilone: When I started my career, I had a writing partner for a very long time and we started off writing features.
The following questions and answers are excerpted from a conversation that followed the NBR screening of Hold Your Fire. The film took place in my old neighborhood—I lived a block and a half from where those events took place, right on the J line. It’s a major intersection, a very busy hub. To me, this is […]
Can you talk about the germination of this idea, for you?
Jeymes Samuel: The film has been in my head since I was a kid.
Can you talk about working with your cast?
You have to have great actors. You have to cast great people to get great performances.
How did you find this story?
David Lowery: It was a true story about this guy whose life was too good to be true in terms of a narrative.
What were your first thoughts, after reading the script?
Simon Rex: I was just like… whoa. Whoa. WHOA!