Young Film Script Writer's Q&A
Was scriptwriting always your thing, or was it a route to directing?
I honestly never wanted to direct. It was only when I started to work on Alexander the Great that I realised I had to direct. I saw something so specifically in my mind, I could not leave it to someone else. But I will always think of myself as a writer first and foremost. I think it shows in the way I direct - for better or worse.
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I honestly never wanted to direct. It was only when I started to work on Alexander the Great that I realized I had to direct. I saw something so specifically in my mind, I could not leave it to someone else. But I will always think of myself as a writer first and foremost. I think it shows in the way I direct - for better or worse.
The size. The scope. The fact that a character that unique has never been properly brought to life in film. I especially love the notion that he had conquered most of the known world in his 20s.
Can you describe the way it was received when you pitched it?
Oh, people love the pitch. Everyone wants to see the movie. Its just that no one wants to make it. The way I like to describe Hollywood today is this: everyone wants to make Deliverance, but no one wants to be Ned Beatty.
Can you describe what sort of shape Alexander the Great: The Movie would have taken?
I could have told you that a year ago. Directing has completely changed the way I write and watch films. My vision of Alexander has been completely blown apart. I am starting all over from scratch. Knowledge is death in my experience. The more I know about film, the harder it is to create freely.
Was it written with the actors in mind?
It was certainly written with Benicio in mind. He was the one who told me if I made a crime film, I could do what I wanted to do. I was very resistant to Ryan as Parker, but he would not take no for an answer. Producer Ken Kokin reminded me that the one actor I didn't want in The Usual Suspects was Del Toro. I cast Ryan based purely on the fact that he was the only actor we met who had the balls to do the role. I had drastically underestimated him and - in hindsight - had overestimated the actor I originally had in mind.
What were your principal inspirations for the screenplay?
The films of John Ford, John Huston, John Sturges and Sidney Lumet. Even at their most melodramatic, they are films that have an inherent reality - or at least an honesty - that I admire. I suppose that is the word I should be using instead of reality. Honesty. We wanted to make something honest. We also had a deep hatred for what the system had done to storytelling in the name of political correctness. I wanted to make a film in which violence was not a justified or qualified act. I wanted to make a film that was difficult to watch. I wanted to make a film about violence and criminals that had to be endured rather than something that entertained without consequence. Unfortunately, very few people in this country were in the mood to endure it.
Did you have to persuade anybody to let you direct it?
Artisan was very interested in working with first time directors and building relationships. They seemed to have no issue with my directing the film.
How much of a credit line did you get from writing The Usual Suspects?
Hard to say. Whatever credit I had is exhausted after this film. No one will give me the freedom Artisan did ever again.
Has its success dogged your steps to any extent?
Success is never bad in Hollywood. It is what you do with success that will dog you. Time will tell if this film will dog me or not.
What other thoughts on the movie business do you want to get off your chest?
The Way of the Gun is nothing if not an allegory for my struggles in Hollywood. It's all in there. You just have to listen.
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