What inspired you to tell a story in this specific genre, which is perhaps best described as a “sci-fi rom-com,” whatever that means!
Eleanor Wilson: That’s actually what the log-line for the film has always said! We started with the premise of, “wouldn’t it be funny if a couple went upstate to be off the grid for a week, and then aliens attacked?”
Was the El Capitan free solo climb always the thing, or were you interested in Alex more generally?
Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi: We were interested in Alex and interested in his process and interested in who he is as a human.
What was involved in the production of making such a visually and sonically rich film?
At the Tour de France we had a full ten cameras, and we were able to put a camera inside the car, sometimes two, and then at every stop along the way we had three cameras in every car.
What was the process like between you two as you developed the screenplay?
Well the the screenplay developed in a really, to use an overused word, organic way. I knew he was a fine writer. I gave him a premise that I had been sitting on for about a decade. He did the writing, but we developed the story and the feel and the texture of it together.
Why did you decide to shoot this film in black and white?
Alexander Payne: You know, it wasn’t ever really a decision—it just felt right. It had to be in black and white.
Mr. Kauflin, what was your reaction when you were approached about being in this film?
Kauflin: When Al asked me that, we had already known each other for a few years; he was a good buddy of mine. I knew he was a great drummer, and apparently he’s a good surfer as well.
How did you arrive at the very specific tone of the film?
Adam McKay: It was always going to have comedic elements to it. But in the editing process, the tone was very tricky.
Your characters spends a lot of time in an underground room, and doesn’t interact with a wide variety of people. But you still manage to develop a building sense of urgency. Can you talk about that process?
Adam Driver: There is a kind of decorum that comes with being in that kind of space that I really related to. There is a withholding of emotion, because you are there to do a job and not to insert your opinion or to have a feeling that you can express to your higher ups.
The film is freely adapted from a graphic novel. How did you approach the adaptation?
Kechiche: I came upon the comic book by chance and I was seduced by the drawings.
A.V. Rockwell: I really wanted to tell a story, especially for my first film, that recognized my coming of age experience in New York City…
Period pieces are notoriously cumbersome and expensive to make. Did you find that to be the case?
Thaddeus O’Sullivan: The biggest challenge in this context was really the whole Lourdes issue.
What made Michael the perfect director for this film?
I’ve been a longtime fan of Michael’s, and as a matter of fact, early on in the process I reached out to him in hopes that he might be able to get involved from the very beginning.
How did the two of you first connect, and when did you know that you were going to make this film together?
Jesse Short Bull: Laura and I first met in a parking lot of a hotel in Rapid City, South Dakota… and we met nervously, over a cigarette or two or three.
Can you start by telling us about your exposure to Flannery O’Connor throughout your life?
Ethan Hawke: I was first given Flannery O’Connor by my mother, who was trying to prompt the inner feminist in me. Because all I was doing was reading guys.
You’ve worked on Biopics before: for example, you edited RBG. How was making Frida different from those other experiences, apart from you directing?
Carla Gutierrez: I came to it with a personal connection. I mean, I think a lot of people have a personal connection to Frida’s art.