[Eventually he took the bait. With his participation as star and co-executive producer, after various pitch meetings the modestly budgeted $7 million project secured the financing it needed.] If we had been trying to raise money for this without Phil, ... it would've been absurd. |
And then Phil walked into the room. I'm not certain exactly what he'd prepared - I think it was a scenario involving a death in the family - but he was a mess, bright red, sobbing, you couldn't even understand what he was saying half the time. But it was powerful. He was this 16-year-old ex-jock, and I remember very distinctly feeling that if I was going to act, I'd have to get serious about it. Because this guy completely gets it. |
And then Phil walked into the room. I'm not certain exactly what he'd prepared -- I think it was a scenario involving a death in the family -- but he was a mess, bright red, sobbing, you couldn't even understand what he was saying half the time. But it was powerful. He was this 16-year-old ex-jock, and I remember very distinctly feeling that if I was going to act, I'd have to get serious about it. Because this guy completely gets it. |
But at the end of the day, it was his call. So I would go off and do rewrites while they shot. |
Capote had these dueling motivations for being involved with this guy. He genuinely was fascinated with (Perry Smith), but he also saw him as a ticket to writing this great book. |
He achieved everything he ever wanted, and the cost of that ruined him. It was something he never came to terms with. He never did finish another book. The drinking and drug abuse increased, and it was the beginning of his long demise. |
He was enormously manipulative, very ambitious and not always truthful, |
He was enormously manipulative, very ambitious and not always truthful. I didn't want a biography that worships the title character. I wanted a movie that portrays the truth. |
He went to every fund-raising meeting vouching for a first-time feature director and first-time screenwriter. It was Phil who said, 'I believe in them; you need to trust me. |
He's also one of those friends who doesn't impress easily. And so if you get a good reaction from him, it actually means something. So it was important for me to hear from him something about the script, whether it was good or bad. |
His persona was what people responded to with shock, |
It's an incredible honor, and it's so unlikely. I took a stab at doing this, and it's been extremely well received. ... Phil has gotten an enormous amount of attention, all of it well deserved. I think we've gotten our fair share, and whatever shakes out in terms of Oscar stuff is fine. |
The first moment I saw Phil act is a really vivid memory for me, |
Yeah, look, he's known me since I was getting into car accidents ... Then I was an actor for years. And I wrote an outline, a pretty detailed outline, and gave it to him, and I'm pretty certain he has yet to read that outline. |