Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with a little phone chat I had with Steve Buscemi for his latest directorial effort, LONESOME JIM, a dark comedy starring Casey Affleck, Liv Tyler and Kevin Corrigan. The flick has been making the rounds at art-house theaters all over the country. I really liked the movie myself. It's slow, involving and the humor is very natural.
I met Buscemi once before on the set of SPY KIDS 2 and I found him to be very reserved, but also very kind. I brought up BIG LEBOWSKI to him and he asked me what I thought the appeal was. He wasn't knocking the film, but just really curious why that movie more than all the others he's done gets such a large fan following. I told him that for me the appeal to LEBOWSKI was in the characters. It really does feel like I'm visiting old friends when I watch that film. Add on to that the Coens' brilliant, multi-layered script, you have a movie that can be viewed every day for a year and not get old.
Looking at LONESOME JIM, I can tell that Buscemi also appreciates strong character work as a director. None of the people in the film are two dimensional, none are perfect, all are quirky, but not in a cartoony way.
So, with that, here's my chat with the man. Enjoy!!!
QUINT: As a director you seem to be attracted to smaller movies with big, strong characters, not bigger movies with more subdued characters. Is that out of necessity because of the budgets you're working with or are those just the kinds of stories you like?
STEVE BUSCEMI: Those are the stories that I am attracted to. They're not always easily funded, but, you know, I'm fortunate that I don't depend on directing to make a living. I've been lucky that I've been able to do that with acting. The stuff I choose to direct could be a little bit off the beaten track and stuff that I really care about. They take longer to get off the ground and they're harder to do... I mean, you don't get much money to make them or that much time.
On all three films I've done, I have had at least the creative freedom to do what I wanted and at least attempt to make the film that I was trying to make...
QUINT: Without being strong-armed by a suit somewhere...
STEVE BUSCEMI: Yeah, without having a whole committee of people giving me their opinions. I mean, every film you do has a certain amount of compromise that goes along with it, with whoever is financing it, but the more money you have the less freedom you have.
QUINT: So, do you build your budgets by nabbing such good casts?
STEVE BUSCEMI: That's just standard business practice now. (laughs) It's so rare that you'll find a company that will be willing to put up money for a cast of actors that at least one name is not recognizable to take and put on the DVD. You know, that's okay as long as the person that you're casting and is helping to bring in the money is right for the part. There are plenty of great actors out there that can attract that attention.
QUINT: Well, I really liked Casey in the movie. I thought he did a pretty spectacular job with the way he underplayed the character. I just love seeing a kind of quirky character that does it so effortlessly that it doesn't feel like a gimmick.
STEVE BUSCEMI: Right.
QUINT: And I think he did a really good job of hitting that kind of realistic quirk.
STEVE BUSCEMI: Yeah, I thought he was perfect for the part.
QUINT: How did you settle on bringing him in on the movie?
STEVE BUSCEMI: Well, Casey was suggested by the screenwriter, James Strouse and the producer Galt Niederhoffer. You know, I didn't really know his work that much except for a few things that I saw him in where he just wasn't in the films that much. But then they held a screening for me of GERRY, the Gus Van Sant film, and I thought his work in that was excellent. And, you know, I also met with him.
The rest of the cast I pretty much knew, although I hadn't... Well, I had worked with all of them except Mary Kay Place.
QUINT: Who also did a great job in the movie. One of those character where you can't help but smile when you think back on them, you know?
STEVE BUSCEMI: Yeah. It was important that that character be real and not a caricature.
QUINT: Yeah, she's naive, but still very sympathetic.
STEVE BUSCEMI: Yeah. She's such a good actress that I knew once she was cast that I wouldn't have to worry about the part.
QUINT: I spent a little time in New Zealand and I met Liv there and I found her to be one of the most adorable people I've ever met.
STEVE BUSCEMI: She's really sweet, she's a hard worker and I think she's a good actress.
QUINT: Again, she's great in the movie. It's so important on a movie where the centerpiece is this relationship that progresses the film along to get someone who you feel for as an audience member... I consider it a Hug-Factor. It's like somebody that you find yourself wanting to walk into the screen and just hug them...
STEVE BUSCEMI: (laughs) Yeah, that was important to the story. I was really glad she signed on and stuck with it. You know, we lost the original financing. It went from a $3 million film to a half million dollar mini-DV movie, which I was very happy to do. I was just glad that we were making the film.
QUINT: What was your visual influence? How did you settle on the visual design of the movie?
STEVE BUSCEMI: Umm... just working with Phil Parmet, who I've worked with before, and our production designer Chuck Voelter... Just wanting to capture something that didn't bring a lot of attention to itself, but was just real and would just fit the mood and the setting for these characters. I never really go for anything too flashy anyway. Those guys knew my sensibility. A lot of thought was put into it.
We actually shot the movie in Jim Strouse's parent's house. So, right there it gave it a reality that was beneficial to all of us. You know, I mean we changed... we painted the walls, because I think they were too white. We maybe brought in some other pieces of furniture, but basically we just used what was in the house. We had to move out his parents!
We were only there... I mean, the whole shoot was only 17 days and we were there for about a week.
QUINT: Were there any cinematic influences to maybe the tone of the story?
STEVE BUSCEMI: I had people watching the films of Aki Kaurismaki, do you know him?
QUINT: No, I don't.
STEVE BUSCEMI: He's a Finnish director, sort of a Finnish cousin to (Jim) Jarmusch. I'd say that was the biggest influence as far as other films.
QUINT: I noticed that you're working the Coens again, or that you have worked with the Coens again on PARIS, JE T'AIME. Can you talk a little bit about that? The readership of the site love the Coen Brothers.
STEVE BUSCEMI: Yeah, it's a five minute film that is part of a whole feature of short films, all taking place in Paris and all having a theme that somehow connects to love or a love story... or something. I'm not quite sure what the original idea stemmed from, but just that we had to shoot it in Paris. The whole story takes place on the subway. It was fun.
QUINT: I also noticed that one of my favorite movies from my childhood is being remade, CHARLOTTE'S WEB, and you're doing a voice for the live action version being made. Paul Lynde's voice is so recognizable and perfect for the character of Templeton. Was there any sort of pressure going in to do your voicework for the film?
STEVE BUSCEMI: Well, they wanted me. They wanted my voice, so I just treated it like any other job and tried not to think about how it would stack up to Paul Lynde. I don't think there'll be... I mean, I don't think you can top what he did. He was just wonderful. I'm a big fan of his and of the work that he did in the animated version. This movie will be different from that, so it'll be its own thing.
QUINT: Did you work long on it or was it just an afternoon recording?
STEVE BUSCEMI: No, it was quite a few sessions.
QUINT: What else do you have in the works now? I read about something called INTERVIEW. Is that still going on?
STEVE BUSCEMI: Well... we'll see. We lost our original funding a few weeks ago. We have a company in L.A. that has shown interest, but has not committed... actually, we should know today if that company is in or out. If they don't do it, we'll find somebody else. Right now we don't have the money.
QUINT: What's INTERVIEW about?
STEVE BUSCEMI: It's a remake of a Theo van Gogh film, the Dutch filmmaker that was killed a year ago. Although, this is not about his life or a remake of the short film that he made that sort of caused a lot of controversy. This is just one of the films that he made that he himself wanted to remake in New York. It's basically a two-character piece about a political journalist who interviews an up and coming actress.
QUINT: Is there anything else that you've got cooking at the moment, either for you to direct or act in?
STEVE BUSCEMI: The last thing I acted in was Tom DiCillo's movie, DELIRIOUS. He's the director who did LIVING IN OBLIVION. That was with me and Michael Pitt and Alison Lohman and Gena Gershon... It's a really nice cast and really fun to do. I play a paparazzi in it.
QUINT: Any chance we'll see you working with any of the people who you're kind of a regular with, like The Coens or Michael Bay or Tarantino or Rodriguez?
STEVE BUSCEMI: Nothing slated. Nothing that I know about.
There you have it. Done and done. If you're a fan of the quiet and quirky, check your local listings. Hopefully LONESOME JIM is playing in a theater near you.
Keep an eye out in the next couple of days for word on two new regular columns here on AICN. I think both should have a decent following. Londoners also beware my coming. I will be there next week to raise all sorts of hell! 'Til then, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
