Ahoy, squirts! Quint here to introduce our own MiraJeff who got a chance to conduct a great sit down interview with Jeff Daniels. If I've said it once I've said it a hundred times, but Daniels turned in one of my all time favorite film performances in THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO. He's an extremely talented actor and I'm very excited to see both GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK and THE SQUID AND THE WHALE. I'm seeing the latter very shortly, actually. It's playing the Austin Film Festival... at the Paramount theater, the great old movie palace in downtown Austin, with Daniels there, no less. I'll admit... I'll probably have a tear in my eye seeing Daniels stand in a movie palace... in front of a giant silver screen.
Alright. Enough of my gaiety. Here's MiraJeff's interview. It's a good one! Enjoy!!!
Greetings AICN, MiraJeff here with a belated piece I’d like to call Jeff on Jeff. Several weeks ago, I had the incredible opportunity to sit down with Jeff Daniels, star of both The Squid and the Whale, and Good Night and Good Luck. Now, while I have been fortunate enough to interview a litany of celebrities since I started writing for AICN and yes, the school paper, I have never been lucky enough to score an exclusive one-on-one interview. This means that one day, while you are scratching yourself, reading Bill Simmons’ column on Espn.com, you get a phone call from a PR firm that invites you to get off your lazy ass, leave the dorm, and hang out in a hotel room with one of Tinseltown’s coolest actors, Jeff Daniels. You know, that guy in Speed who also played one half of Dumb and Dumber. So I shaved, showered, and after a very anxious subway ride, found myself sitting across from the man himself, who was sprawled out on a comfortable-looking couch, wearing a corduroy jacket. After I introduced myself and our esteemed website, the following ensued:
Jeff Daniels: You guys get nasty in some of those screenings.
AICN: Only some of us. The older, bitter writers.
JD: Alright, we’ve seen it. It sucks!
AICN: Not this one. Not this one, actually.
JD: Sometimes, when they screen it in Van Nuys to test the waters and you guys just jump down it. It’s great, it’s absolutely great.
AICN: There are a couple guys who are pretty tough but I’m the baby. I’m the rookie on staff. I should also tell you that this is my first 1-on-1, so forgive me if I’m nervous.
JD: Oh don’t be. I’m easy.
AICN: Yeah, I’m glad it was you. Well I guess I’d like to start by asking how you got the script. How did the project fall into your hands?
JD: Um, they were having trouble casting the male lead. The script had been around a couple of years. Laura has been attached for a long time. There were guys who were dropping in, dropping out. And my agent called so I read the script. He got it from Peter Newman, the producer. He’s known Peter for years. And he says, “If you come and meet Noah, you might be able to steal this. It’s a great role and it’s a very smart script.” And actors are looking for that kind of thing all the time, especially if you’re not A-list, you never see it. You go to the indie world just to stay entertained. It’s an added challenge. So, flew out, met Noah, first thing I said to him was “this is very funny.” And he goes, “thank you. You’re the first actor who’s told me that.” And I said, “Well it’s true.” We went through it and we were on the same page from the first moment on. And then talked the money and let me do it.
AICN: What attracted you to the role of Bernard?
JD: I didn’t know how to do it. It was complicated. I kept waiting for that scene where he became sympathetic, in a studio kind of way. Where we liked him. Cold, hard-ass, but heart of gold underneath. And then he’ll go back. But it was never there. And I thought, oh great. Great. Like a novel. Like people are. Like human beings really are. With strengths and weaknesses. And Bernard is who he is. And as I started to work on it, you know, he thinks he’s right.
AICN: Do you like playing that stubborn sort of character who is very egotistical?
JD: Yeah, but it’s so easy to do because he was oblivious to how people perceived him. How he came off. He’s the victim. He did everything he could to save the marriage. “Not my fault. It’s her fault. She’s the one who cheated. I’m the good guy here.” And that’s not something you pretend you are. That’s how he feels, you know. And there’s pain in that. And the more he tries to hang on to that, he hangs on to it. Even as he’s laying on the gurney and going in, he’s still that guy. The funnier it gets the more painful it gets. So I really believe it was easy to play.
AICN: There’s a scene in the movie with you and Anna Paquin where you get physically intimate with each other. How did the two of you prepare for that scene?
JD: Um, we both looked out the window to make sure there weren’t any geese. Because that would’ve been a different scene. That would’ve made it strange. But Anna has obviously grown up since we made Fly Away Home. And I like Noah’s line which, when he told me in rehearsals, “by the way, that student’s gonna be played by Anna Paquin.” And Noah said, “For those of you playing at home…” Shit! I love that when people see that they go, “Oh Jesus, oh God!” because it makes it that much more disgusting.
AICN: What was it like working with a first-time director like Noah?
JD: As a writer, there weren’t any… I was very impressed with the script. I was aware of his New Yorker pieces and stuff and so I was just going, “oh man, this is… how can I help?” That was the attitude there. As a director, you just hope that he knows enough about camera. When you start working with guys and, I’ve done Imaginary Heroes with Danny Harris, and these young filmmakers, I mean, that’s the thing. You instantly become the most experienced person on the set and you hope that their passion of filmmaking is supported by a knowledge of some sort. And Noah, he had a great cameraman. He had Wes’ guy, Bob Yeoman, I think his name is. We only had 23 days. So when that happens, you have to shoot the story. You can’t get crafty, you can’t become, “watch me direct the camera!” You can’t do that. You don’t have time. So you shoot the story which is a great lesson for any filmmaker or director. In that way, you put the focus not so much on the director, though there were choices made. 16mm, grainy, you know, handheld. But it put the focus on the writing and the performances and the direction of the actors and most importantly, the story. It all worked.
AICN: Did you do this one before Good Night, and Good Luck?
JD: Yes.
AICN: That was another great movie and you’re great as, is it Sig Mickelson? Is that his name?
JD: I think they settled on Sig Mickelson, yeah. Is “Sig” Jewish?
AICN: Uh, I think I had a grandfather named Sig.
JD: Oh really? I got an email saying, “by the way, you’re character’s name is Sig Mickelson.” Good. Perfect. Great. What else?
AICN: What was it like being on that set?
JD: It was, you know… I had met George. And you do these movies to work with people, to meet people. He’s such a great star and having been with a few A-listers, you really see. There are people who can handle it. People who believe they’re really larger than life. And there are people like George who go “look this is [great], you know, for whatever reason, and I’m milking it for all I can. But… I love directing.” And he’s really good at it. And in a lot of ways, he reminded me of Clint. He knows camera. He knows what he needs. Shoot this. Moving on. He knows actors. He knows what to say. He knows what not to say. He knows what he would wanna hear, what he would need to hear, and he also knows, “I don’t need to say this because that’s the last thing I would want to hear.” He hires good people and he expects them to do their jobs. It was the most professional set. I hope, if he ever gets tired of being a major film star, that he directs more because he’s really good at it. He’s really good at it. It was a lot of fun. The overlapping dialogue… to be able to do that like you would a play was a lot of fun.
AICN: I understand you’ve written a couple plays yourself. Can you tell us about them?
JD: I have a theater company, Purple Rose Theater Company in Michigan. It’s 15 years old. I’ve written ten plays. We’re doing a play, I hope, in January that’ll be #10.
AICN: Is that Gastardis?
JD: Yes. It’s a pretty angry play about the state of the new American play. The way it is- how it’s getting ignored and trampled and disrespected. It’s also about post 9-11 and politics and culture and how safe we want to be now. We all want to be safe. We don’t want to be anything else but safe. We want our culture to be safe. Our art to be safe and pleasant. Don’t be disturbing. That scares me. People can get elected by scaring people and using fear. We don’t want anything fearful or scary in our art anymore. Nothing but happy endings, please. So it addresses all of that. It’s an award-winning playwright screaming about that. That’s basically what the character is. And it comes from… Lanford Wilson came to our theater company a couple times. We commissioned him. And I literally remember picking up Lanford at the train station and seeing this Pulitzer prize-winning playwright, you know. We’re neglecting some of our great American playwrights. I’ve enjoyed doing it though. I’ve turned myself into a playwright because of the theater company.
AICN: I’ve got to touch all the bases while I’ve got you here. You also did the Capote movie, Have You Heard. And you’re Alan Dewey in it? Is that right?
JD: Yes.
AICN: On set, were you guys aware of the competing Capote project?
JD: Yeah, we knew there was another one.
AICN: Did that force you to do anything differently?
JD: Nope. We shot ours as if… At the time we were shooting, it was like whoever gets theirs released first is you know, the winner somehow. And for whatever reason, we’re pushed to a year from now. I’ve heard great things about Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s performance, which is terrific. He’s a great actor. I know Toby Jones who plays Capote in our film- I was five feet away from the guy and I swear to God… Truman’s alive.
AICN: I hear he’s excellent.
JD: Yeah, amazing.
AICN: What kinds of research did you have to do for that?
JD: Ah, we read the book and there was some, a lot of police records and stuff that Dewey had done or been involved with. We just went through all that kind of stuff. Basically read the book from Dewey’s point of view and when he’s mentioned. And Doug McGrath had done a ton of research. We talked about Capote and what he felt about Dewey and how he liked him and all that. We got that kind of stuff figured out.
AICN: Did you ever talk with Chris Cooper about the role?
JD: No. No. No, and I’m pretty sure that I did it differently than Chris.
AICN: I’m excited to see it.
JD: It’ll give you guys a chance to compare. I don’t know why they both made the same story. I don’t get it, but oh well.
AICN: What about RV and your return to comedy, which I’m sure fans of Dumb and Dumber are looking forward to?
JD: Um yeah, there’s some lowbrow in this one. I had never worked with Robin before and Barry Sonnenfeld directed, who knows how to do, you know, comedy. Cheryl Hines is in it. Kristin Chenoweth’s in it. We’re for real.
AICN: Cool cast. What’s your role?
JD: Well the story is Robin and his family take an RV trip and things get out of control. Along the way he meets the Gornicke family, Travis and Mary Jo Gornicke, who live in their RV with their 3 kids. We home-school our kids. We’re from Texas. Howdy. And we’re waaay too friendly. Waaay too friendly. We’re the people that invite you over for dinner in our RV and we all eat and we dominate the conversation with how we met and it’s just excruciatingly boring. And then before you leave, we’re gonna sing you a song. And I pull out the guitar and banjo and harmonica and we sing some song like The Never-Ending Song of Love. And the whole family gets up. It’s like, who’s that Sound of Music family? The Von Trapps? But we’re the Gornickes. And we have choreographed moves and little outfits and the song takes six minutes. It’s a long time to stand there listening.
AICN: And you like performing too. I heard you’re playing at Joe’s Pub in October.
JD: Joe’s Pub in October. I’ve got a CD.
AICN: Cool.
JD: I think what the world needs is another actor/singer/songwriter. But I had fun with it. It’s a way for me to raise money for my theater company. The CD sold over 11,000 I think now, which for a web site, JeffDaniels.com… We’re on iTunes now, CD Baby. The proceeds go to the theater company. I’ve gotta raise half a million a year for that place. So that was the intention, you know, when they push me out on stage so that basically people could pay money to see a train wreck. And it started to work. And now I just enjoy it. Now I can go out and sing songs like “If William Shatner Can, I Can Too,” which just rips on everybody. Russell Crowe, Barry Bonds, all of us. “Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh. Don’t scoff. I could be the next David Hasselhoff.” I mean it’s all a celebration of, that we’re exploiting what we do.
AICN: Now I’ve also read that you’re a huge baseball fan.
JD: Which is true.
AICN: I’m interested because I’m a Sox fan. And you’re from Detroit.
JD: White or Red Sox?
AICN: Red Sox. I’m from Boston. So who do you like to win it all?
JD: Well, I’m a Tigers fan so we’ve kind of, we’re going through that annual September thing where we’re bitter and angry so we turn to the Lions. Um, I was gonna say the White Sox but they’re folding right now and I don’t get it. I don’t know enough about Cleveland’s pitching but there’s nobody hotter right now.
AICN: Yeah, but it always comes down to the Sox and the Yankees.
JD: No it doesn’t, unfortunately.
AICN: Hopefully it won’t.
JD: For those of us who live west of you know, Cambridge and fuckin’ Westchester, yeah it doesn’t always come down to the Red Sox and Yankees. In fact, I’m one of the guys that said, I hope A-Rod blows his knee. Not a career-ender but… And I hope Manny gets completely depressed and decides to quit playing. And I hope Schilling you know, decides to quit baseball and run on the Republican ticket or whatever party he is. I hope you guys get so dysfunctional that you go away for ten years. That’s how Detroit Tigers fans feel. We’re out here just bitter and angry
AICN: I know how you feel.
JD: You don’t.
AICN: Well, last year I did.
JD: But, I gotta say, even though I could care less about the Red Sox and Yankees and the whole East Coast baseball kingdom, it was so great to see you guys finally win. I mean I’d never seen a city and fans celebrate and weep openly so much and so often. It was really something.
AICN: It was one of the only times I’ve seen my father cry.
JD: Yeah. It’s great. But we’ll see. You may not win again for another 86 years or whatever it was. I don’t know. We’re just so pissed off at ownership, at everything. We’re just going “god dammit!” I thought this was gonna be the year that we maybe got the wild card, and then next year we’d take a run at the division. And maybe it still will be but…
At this time, Jeff’s publicist interrupts, which was fine, because I’d already had about 10 extra minutes with him.
J’sP: Are you ready to go?
JD: I don’t know. I’ve got another half hour for the Red Sox.
J’sP: We’re out of here.
AICN: Listen, I really thought you were great in The Squid and the Whale and good luck with all the awards buzz.
JD: Aw, I appreciate it. Good luck with the website. It’s really a great thing. You know, all those guys, everything is so marketed and all that stuff, and you guys really cut through all that. It really is a good thing.
AICN: Thank you. I’ll tell Harry that you said that. I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.
JD: It really is true.
That’s it folks. See, even Jeff Daniels appreciates the hard work we do here at AICN. So does director Richard Shepard, who I had the chance to speak with after a screenings of his film The Matador, which I will review soon enough. I apologize for how long this interview took to get up on the site, I just wanted to give you guys a chance to see Squid and the Whale and Good Night and Good Luck, so you’d know I wasn’t just kissing Jeff’s ass for his solid performances in both films. Keep an eye out for my upcoming reviews from the New York Film Festival. ‘Til then…
