Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with Elston Gunn's interview with the director of THE MATADOR, a comedy about assassins starring James Bond and Greg Kinnear. I saw this flick recently and it is really damn good. But you're not here to read about my thoughts, so here's Gunn with his chat with the director! Enjoy!
ELSTON GUNN INTERVIEWS THE MATADOR WRITER/DIRECTOR RICHARD SHEPARD
In 1991, Richard Shepard made the David Bowie, Rosanna Arquette-starrer THE LINGUINI INCIDENT, a quirky romantic comedy that Shepard himself said "turned out neither very romantic nor, unfortunately, very funny." In the years following INCIDENT Shepard had written and directed low-budget thrillers and TV odd-jobs, persevering until Pierce Brosnan's production company, Irish DreamTime, read his hitman comedy screenplay and wanted to make it. THE MATADOR, starring Brosnan, Greg Kinnear and Hope Davis, premiered at Sundance in January, garnering rave reviews and a deal with Miramax to distribute the film in the U.S. Brosnan's performance as Julian, an ornery hitman in the throes of a midlife crisis, was just nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press for a Golden Globe for Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy.
[EG]: Is it odd to see that THE LINGUINI INCIDENT is considered somewhat a cult film after what you felt it did to your career? A friend of mine required the guys she dated to watch that film as a test. If they liked it, they passed.
[RS]: Well, it does have its fans and I very much appreciate all eight of them. The script, which I co-wrote, was actually pretty darn funny, I wish I had a chance to direct it again and actually do it justice. The version that exists is flabby and not nearly as funny as it could have been. That said, I like Bowie in it, and Andre Gregory and Buck Henry are pretty darn funny. It was so long ago. I was so young and nervous. It's like it wasn't even me.
[EG]: What influenced you to cast David Bowie in that role? Are you a fan of THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH or THE HUNGER?
[RS]: I loved Bowie's music. I also like those films a lot one of the only pleasures in a movie that was completely painful for me to make.
[EG]: You have a piece in Filmmaker Magazine where you talk about being in "movie jail" after THE LINGUINI INCIDENT. What kept you going? When did you decide to write and direct a smaller script?
[RS]: For two years I couldn't get any work after LINGUINI INCIDENT. I couldn't even get a low-budget softcore porn film. It was so humiliating to go from directing a movie to being so broke that I had to shoplift to eat. Finally, after I had convinced myself that the movie would have been a hit if they used my cut of the film instead of the producers cut I decided I was going to kill the producer. I spent months intricately plotting his murder. And when I finally shared my master plan with my then girlfriend she so freaked out about how perfect it was, and how intent I was on doing it, that she begged me to make another film so I wouldn't end up in jail. I wouldn't do well in jail.
[EG]: One can take a look at your filmography and realize you enjoy kidnapping/missing person or robbery plots. Is this for marketability or are you subconsciously drawn to those themes?
[RS]: Well, from my previous answer you can see I have an interest in the dark side. But, actually, I do like genre pieces for starting off points for interesting character pieces and different sorts of film. I'm not so interested in a straight ahead drama, but throw a woman being buried alive into it and then you've got something: OXYGEN.
[EG]: Was the concept of THE MATADOR born out of shooting MEXICO CITY, since both films take place in that town? What is it about Mexico City that inspires you?
[RS]: I shot MEXICO CITY as a million-dollar thriller and wrote it from a complete "gringo" perspective of Mexico being unsafe, et cetera. Of course, I went down there to make the movie and realized that while Mexico City is dangerous it's also beautiful, fantastic, fun and alive. As I was shooting that film I vowed to come back and make another film that more accurately reflected the city. Plus, the tequila is good.
[EG]: Was the script a lot of fun to sit down and write? Did you like hanging out with those characters?
[RS]: Oh yeah. When I was writing Pierce's character Julian I was completely enjoying his sexual life and his rudeness and complete inability to have manners or social graces. It was a blast tapping into that side of me. People ask if I'm more like Julian or Greg Kinnear's straight-laced businessman Danny's character, and I say I'm a combo of both of them. When you're writing you have the freedom to go anywhere and do anything and still end up back at the Starbucks where you started typing.
[EG]: So, you sent THE MATADOR as a writing sample to Brosnan's production company trying to get the gig writing THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR sequel. What happened from there?
[RS]: Fucking unbelievable. I assumed no star's agent would let a star play a character that sleeps with men and women, is rude to children and is a sick, twisted fuck. And, of course, that is exactly what Pierce found so funny. He was always being sent these straight, smooth parts and he wanted something where he could talk about looking like "a Bangkok hooker on a Sunday morning after the navy left town."
[EG]: Any rewrites after he picked it up?
[RS]: Not a lot of rewrites. I cut some jokes that were maybe too sexually explicit for anyone to really have to hear. I might include a few on the DVD.
[EG]: Kinnear and Davis were your first choices? Did you have them in mind while writing it?
[RS]: No, though I always liked both of them. I really thought I'd have to make the movie for $200,000 grand with theatre actors or sock puppets or something. That said, once Pierce came on board I thought of the stars who I might get, and Kinnear and Hope were at the top of my list. Kinnear can play comedy and drama and you can actually buy him as someone from the Midwest. Hope is just so fucking funny. She steals every scene she's in. I was very lucky. The movie has no car chases, so the thing that seems to keep audiences interested are the characters -- the actors.
[EG]: You also have wonderful character actors in supporting roles like Dylan Baker, Philip Baker Hall and Adam Scott. Did the cast make things easier for you?
[RS]: Well, certainly as we've gone to all theses amazing film festivals, Sundance, Toronto, London, Deauville, Austin, Denver, etc, audiences have completely responded to the human element of the story. They think Pierce is a sick fuck, but they laugh at him and eventually find themselves warming up to him, just as Kinnear and Hope do. Having great actors like Dylan Baker and Philip baker Hall in the smaller parts just adds the the richness of the storytelling. But, of course, even when I was making tiny movies I always got to work with great actors. MERCY was made for $52 grand and I had Sam Rockwell, OXYGEN had Adrien Brody and Maura Tierney. I have always been lucky with cast. I love actors.
[EG]: I love the iconic image you brought to the screen of Pierce with the crew cut, mustache, gold chains and pot-belly. The speedo scene is hilarious. Did you have that specific image in mind the whole time?
[RS]: Thanks. I really want to change Pierce's smooth ultra-cool look. The mustache was heavily important. I also love the skinny body with pot belly look -- I told Pierce that the first time I met him and he looked at me like I was talking Swahili. But he had a great sense of humor and was really willing to try anything. The underwear lobby scene was not in the script. It was something I came up with two days before we shot. One take.
[EG]: Is it true that you and the entire crew grew mustaches?
[RS]: There is a crew photo of us all with mustaches but no one can seem to find it. I urged people to grow them as a sign of solidarity with Pierce so his upper lip would not be lonely.
[EG]: I read an article where the writer thought you were making a statement about the cult of celebrity with THE MATADOR? Do you agree with that?
[RS]: Well, I like that theory. Certainly Hope and Greg are somewhat turned on by having a hitman in their house. It sort of breaks up the ordinary, just like seeing or meeting a celebrity. In their world, a hitman is just as odd as a movie star. I also like that Pierce is just as fascinated by their normal life. He stares at their Christmas tree like it were a UFO.
[EG]: Were you nervous about the fate of the film when the Weinsteins split from Disney/Miramax?
[RS]: It was in our deal when they bought the movie at Sundance that they would take it to their new company and the folks at Disney would contractually back the terms of the deal if their new company had problems. But we were excited to have it go with them. Harvey may have his "Scissorhands" reputation, but on this he's been great, and the movie being released is the one I shot, and his passion towards the project is definitely for real. But it's fucking scary, man. It's a hugely competitive marketplace, and this is a slightly odd film. I'm going to Mexico when the movie opens and getting drunk.
[EG]: Odd film or not, Brosnan was just nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance in your film. Congratulations. How does it feel?
[RS]: The fact is Pierce took a big risk doing this film, and it's so great and gratifying to see him rewarded for it. It would make for better press fodder if I said he was a bastard, but the truth is he's a great guy and I'm so happy for him.
[EG]: What can you tell us about SPRING BREAK IN BOSNIA? Will you shoot that next year?
[RS]: After Sundance Warner Independent asked me what I wanted to do next. Mark Gill, the head of the company, was a big fan of THE MATADOR, so we presented him with this true story that was in Esquire about these journalists who go hunting war criminals in post war Bosnia and get mistaken for a CIA hit squad. It's funny, dangerous and political. The goal is to shoot next summer. They've just given the thumbs up to my script so we are about to go out to cast.
[EG]: You also shot the pilot for CRIMINAL MINDS, which was picked up for the second half of the season. Are you working on anything else at the moment?
[RS]: I'll be directing another pilot in February for Touchstone. It's a great situation for a NY independent filmmaker. CRIMINAL MINDS is the gift that keeps on giving. Six weeks of work and as the pilot's director I get a check every time a new episode is shot. Gotta love that. It gives me the financial freedom to turn down the horrible sequels of bloated Hollywood movies that I'm being offered and concentrate on more challenging material like the Bosnia film.
THE MATADOR opens in New York and Los Angeles on December 23 and nationwide in January. Watch the trailer at the film's official website.
