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John Krasinski (Away We Go, The Office) will be in Austin this weekend to premiere his directorial debut of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men as part of the Celebrity Guests Signature Series at the Alamo Downtown. I spoke with John by phone before his arrival in Austin, and here's what he had to say.
Tell us about your film Brief Interviews with Hideous Men.
It's a book by David Foster Wallace that I had read in college. Without being overly sentimental, it's basically not only been my passion to get it made into a movie, but it was also the thing that made me want to be an actor. I had been acting in college just for fun with friends, and after being a part of this staged reading that we did, it made such an impact on me emotionally. In one of those big ways it had a huge impact by how provocative and honest it was. It was one of those things where I really wanted to give acting a shot after that.
So then directing it -- I never wanted to actually be a director, and wasn't expecting to write a screenplay anytime soon -- and then both things happened very quickly because of this film.
I may not even direct again, you never know, because this one was such a clean experience. It was a long one, 7 1/2 years from the time I started writing it. I'm just really excited that it is out, and especially that it's coming to Austin. I hear from many of my friends that is the place to go if you have something that you think is pretty cool and want to show it to other people.
In writing the screenplay, what challenges did you find in adapting David Foster Wallace's Brief Interviews with Hideous Men for the screen?
There were plenty of challenges. The biggest one was editing. Editing the book, to reasonable works for actors to get hold of. Editing out that material almost felt almost insane in a way. I'm such a big David Foster Wallace fan, that to basically edit away pages and pages of text is quite scary. Only because you feel "why on Earth do I have the right or the responsibility to be doing this?" because he's such a great writer.
As far as after the script -- connecting all the guys and stuff like that was actually really fun, to come up with different places and structures to connect them all.
My overall goal was just to put his words into actors' mouths. Once you hear his words, it's just a totally different experience than reading it. I was really excited that we got a chance to do it.
How did you decide which of Wallace's 23 stories to cover?
It was just the interviews that we did, the rest of the stories are brilliant. I always knew that I just wanted to adapt the interviews, they were completely separate from the rest of the book. They very much lend themselves to being performed. I think David Foster Wallace being adapted is a scary prospect. I do believe that it's virtually unadaptable, except for this book. Because the way the guys are speaking definitely lends itself to being performed, it's a totally different experience hearing the words out loud.
The scene where Subject #42 (Frankie R. Faison) is seen standing in the men's room in the lobby of the luxury hotel where his father (Malcolm Goodwin) worked for decades as an attendant, silently witnessing the habits of captains of industry, broke the fourth wall in an unique way. How did this scene come about?
That is definitely one of my favorite parts of the film. It was one of the last things that we shot actually. We had to go back and shoot that scene after we had done the major production. I thought it was such an important scene to have. My reason for not shooting it in the beginning was that it didn't pertain necessarily to men and women. But in a way, that's why it's such an important interview to have in the movie because luckily men don't make their decisions just based on women alone - close, but not all of them. The fact that Frankie is talking about his relationship with his dad, is a great deal about what I think the movie talks about, which is where these guys are coming from. What they are honest about, what insecurities and vulnerabilities are they are trying to protect. I absolutely love that scene.
What are your favorite parts of this film?
I can think of one of my other favorite scenes in the movie, aside from a lot of the great performances that make me laugh, like Chris Messina (Subject #19) and Ben Schenkman (Subject #14) which I think is fantastic in the beginning of the movie. The interview for me that stood out the most when we did the scene reading that I think is cool and probably representative of the book is Dominic Cooper's interview (Subject #46). It is incredibly provocative, and incredibly offensive in the beginning and then revealing in the end.
I think it sort of represents what the book is all about, which is taking a character that's been delivered to you as a bad person - and he certainly is. Then to see the power of honesty, and how he desperately tries to fight against any urge to reveal his insecurities and his fears, comes out as anger, sort of vitriol. Once he reveals himself to have been abused personally, you see a whole other side of this guy and you realize that all his anger is very pathetic and sad, because he basically just needs help. He needs to find a new way to live his life. I find that is true for everyone. I think that we all have insecurities - obviously not to that level - and fears, and we try to protect them greatly. I think there is something in this material that really puts the power of truth on a pedestal.
I think that at the end of the day, the power of truth is one of the key themes in the movie, so that would probably be one of my favorites.
What made you decide to put a face to the anonymous interviewer, as that of Sara Quinn portrayed by Julianne Nicholson?
When I read the book the first time, for some reason to me it was very vivid that it was a woman doing these interviews. The way I first read it was that she had a lot more going on, than just clinical questions. The reason for that is you see in the book, after she's asked a question, these guys relate to her in a very interesting way. They are not relating to her as if she's been asking very clinical specific questions, or rather responding to obviously probing questions, questions that they weren't expecting to answer. Those questions have a lot more to do about how they feel about what they've done to women, and how they feel about their theories on women.
I found that to be something personal. Who would have the power, and the wherewithal to be asking these guys these sort of more intimate and personal and questions? That's where the idea of her being on a personal journey as well came in.
I was very lucky to talk to David Foster Wallace on the phone, before we started shooting just about two to three weeks away. One of the things we talked about is he started to explain what the book was to him. He said that he was trying to write a book about a character that you never see or hear from, but due to all the characters around her, you understand her. I thought, "Good, it's a girl -- I'm on the right track." I talked to him about the script, and revealed what we were doing. He said that was basically exactly what he was thinking for the book.
That was one of the greatest moments of my career, to be honest. To connect and to know that what we were about to attempt was something that was right down the same path that he was thinking, which was great.
The stories are often referred to as not being accessible? What would you say to someone reluctant to see this film due to the dark nature of it?
I think it's an exciting prospect. My whole reasons for doing the movie was for two reasons, and neither of them had anything to do with wanting to direct. The first reason was to bring what I think is one of the greatest authors we've ever had to a different medium, to the screen and to more people. And then the other thing I've always wanted was that there would be a conversation after the movie. Truly that's the big reason for making this movie is that the material, when I read it, created such a great conversation among people. There are many different facets to the way you are going to feel about this movie. It is a very unique experience, having everything to do with the material, and not how I directed it or anything like that.
I would say to those people, "go see it" because I would love to have them be a part of this big conversation that's going on with anybody who sees this movie. I think that whether you like it or not, the fact that you take it in is so important. It's the highest compliment you can give to an artist, and I mean David Foster Wallace, not me.
In today's world, there's very few movies out there that can create a big conversation about "How do you feel about men and women?" and "How do you feel about the bigger questions that are being asked?" It's definitely one of those things that I don't think you are going to come out of the movie saying that you either loved it or you hated it, I think there's more to it than that. I think it's really fun to hear what people think. Hopefully they can go, and be part of the conversation.
Slackerwood will publish a review of Brief Interviews with Hideous Men later this week.
Interview: John Krasinski | Slackerwood | __________________ Life won't be the same without you I say thank you, I'm a lucky man, I didn't know what life was, But now I understand, Oh this is love, l o v e , love, l o v e , love, precious love
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Repeat answers get boring for his devoted followers. Hahah.
