Feature: Top 25 Interviews of 2014, By Patrick McDonald

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Eddie Redmayne, Lead Actor of “The Theory of Everything”
 

Felicity Jones, Stephen Hawking and Eddie Redmayne During the Filming of ‘The Theory of Everything’
Photo credit: Focus Features

Background and Behind-the-Scenes: This up-and-coming actor may garner a Best Actor nomination at the next Oscar ceremony for his righteous performance as physicist Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.” What is impressive about Redmayne, besides his high profile career, is his humility in the preparation to properly communicating the handicapped but brilliant Hawking. As a practitioner of the art of acting, he was passionate about his connection to his characters, and wowed me with his intellect and perspective.

Memorable Quote: ”When I met Dr. Hawking, he was down to using a sensor in his glasses, which his eye muscle controls, which stops on one letter at a time on his voice box computer – so it now takes him even longer to respond to a question. I spent three hours with him, and he maybe said ten sentences. So what I gleaned overall was a character image, he has one of the most charismatic faces. There is a joy of life, a vibrancy and a mischief to him that struck me, and that’s what I took away from our meeting. We did talk about his voice, before the machine. He told me that it became very slurred, and those were the specifics that he wanted accounted for in the portrayal. But basically it was his energy that I took away.” 

Click here for the full interview of Eddie Redmayne.

Richard Linklater, Director of “Boyhood”
 

Ethan Hawke and director Richard Linklater (right) on the Set of ‘Boyhood’
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

Background and Behind-the-Scenes: Richard Linklater is a director whom I gratuitously admire, for his personal filmmaking journey through the labyrinth of his American Dream. His latest film, “Boyhood,” on the short list for Best Picture at the next Oscars, is a meditative look at the life cycle, and filmed with the same actors over 12 years. My excitement in speaking with him, however, had to do with an earlier film of his, “Dazed and Confused,” a perspective on my era in high school circa the 1970s that felt like home. Linklater is a fiftysomething filmmaker who is just hitting his stride, and will influence the culture for hopefully many years to come.

Memorable Quote: ”I had ‘Boyhood’ fairly planned out, it wasn’t random at all. I’m a big structure and architecture guy. I knew what the last shot of the film would be at about year two. Patricia [Arquette, as the boy’s mother] remembered me telling her the whole character, that she was going to get educated and get divorced along the way. It was all structured, but the fun of it was it gave me the opportunity to think – shoot, edit and then think. [laughs] In comparison to making a film in a short amount of time, it was different. I used the time element to our advantage, to just let the film speak to me as to what it wanted to be. Also, as the actors aged, I got to see where they were going.” 

Click here for the full interview of Richard Linklater.

Zach Braff, Director and Actor
 

The Interviewer and His Subject, Zach Braff, in Chicago on June 16, 2014
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Background and Behind-the-Scenes: The personality and truth of Zach Braff shined, as he represented his independent film, “Wish I Was Here,” during a promotional tour in June. The film had a bit of controversy, as it was partially financed through the Kickstarter crowd funding website, and some outsiders protested that a known actor shouldn’t be using that resource. Braff was contrite about that circumstance (see the quote), and came off as I expected, as a breezy and witty observer of the show business scene. And as the picture indicates, one of my favorite celebrity pictures of all time.

Memorable Quote: ”[In response to being the first ‘celebrity’ to use Kickstarter] I’ve helped everybody by taking all the shit myself. So, you’re welcome [laughs]. The biggest lesson was that I know a lot about what I do, that I stupidly thought everyone knew. I know a lot about independent film financing and all of the many intricacies and roadblocks. I naively thought everyone understood that – 90 percent of the shit I took for the Kickstarter campaign was misinformation that I had to explain to everybody on Earth…I would have debated it, because it’s a new concept; is it right or wrong? Should celebrities use it? That’s a fine conversation to have discourse about, but the amount of misinformation about Kickstarter and this project that got thrown out there took an extraordinary amount of work to correct.” 

Click here for the full interview of Zach Braff.

Kevin Hart, Actor and Comedian
 

Kevin Hart in Chicago for ‘Think Like a Man Too,’ June 13, 2014
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Photo for HollywoodChicago.com

Background and Behind-the-Scenes: Kevin Hart was in Chicago promoting “Think Like a Man, Too,” the energetic sequel that featured Hart at his manic best. He was with his co-stars, Regina Hall and Terrence Jenkins (AKA Terrence J.), and the three conducted a lively interplay about the fun movie. Hart was the focus, as he is hot as a pistol, but also because he is humble and introspective. His sense of fame is that it’s a blessing, and he rides that wave with an eye towards keeping it real. He has natural wit, without being “on” all the time, like some comedians. He’s a true mensch.

Memorable Quote: ”Philadelphia [Hart’s hometown] breeds winners, in my opinion. The reason I say that is its a tough city. They are hard on their entertainers, whether it’s a sports team or stand-up. And when it gets to the point where they love you, they love you forever, no matter what you’ve taken them through. They will ride with you. To take the example of athletes, if they accept them and love them, the only time Philadelphians will turn their backs on them is when they feel like they’ve abandoned the city. That’s the only time. But if you stick with us – and we love you – and you retire a Philadelphian, we’ll celebrate you any time we see you.” 

Click here for the full interview of Kevin Hart, Regina Hall and Terrence J.

Actress Jenny Slate, Director Gillian Robespierre of “Obvious Child”
 

Director Gillian Robespierre, Actress Jenny Slate in Chicago, May 28, 2014
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Background and Behind-the-Scenes: “Obvious Child” was an “issue” film masked by romantic comic overtones, and the exquisite performance by Jenny Slate, as a woman who makes a definitive decision – and follows up with it – all while negotiating a new relationship. Writer/director Gillian Robespierre and Slate insisted on the rom-com elements of the film over anything else, but their wise and wonderfully wacky interview allowed for some expressive discussion. Slate is a movie star in person, without pretension.

Memorable Quote: ”For me, chemistry is about the kindness of the performer, and if they like to laugh a lot. When I first met Jake Lacy [Slate’s romantic interest in the film], it was very easy to joke around with him. If that happens that’s pretty much it for me. Chemistry in performance is an odd thing, because it’s completely different from meeting someone in life that you choose to partner with – you’re not saying your own thing, it’s something in a script and in character. There is a lot of focus, and because it’s a film set and a lot of crew are around, you don’t want to look gross when you’re kissing. [laughs]” 

Click here for the full interview of Jenny Slate and Gillian Robespierre.

Red Carpet Interviews, 50th Chicago International Film Festival
 

Oliver Stone at the 50th Chicago International Film Festival
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

Background and Behind-the-Scenes: The glitz and glamour of the Red Carpet is a freak-out for the interviewer, as three questions usually can’t penetrate any relevance – but that is part of the challenge. The 50th Chicago International Film Festival in October of 2014 brought several of the big time stars to that carpet, and despite the truncated length of our conversations, offered some interesting insights. Oliver Stone, Kathleen Turner and Michael Moore took their turn while standing on a loom of red.

Memorable Quotes: ”[Oliver Stone, on press coverage of the 50th Anniversary of the JFK assassination] The treatment was incredibly shabby again, and I felt that the coverage was more fair when the film first came out in 1991. The reaction to the film has always been intense, and ‘conspiracy’ in association with the film has become the media mantra. The point is the original information that was released about the assassination in 1963 was off, every single fact that the media said was a fact was off. The case was never made, and it’s going back to the original evidence that was never examined properly.

[Kathleen Turner, on the late Lauren Bacall, whom she’s been compared to] Lauren Bacall and I used to have a great game. Whenever we met each other at a restaurant or an event, she would always greet me with ‘Ms. Turner,’ and I would reply, ‘Ms. Bacall.’ That exchange would gravitate downward as our voices got lower and lower. (Deepens voice] ‘How are you?’ ‘Nice to see you.’ How low could we go? It was great fun.

[Michael Moore] Here we are, 25 years after ‘Roger & Me,’ in a very different world. If I had told you on this carpet in 1989 that we would have a black president from Chicago and gay marriage in Iowa, I would have sounded like a crazy man. Those are things I believed when I started my filmmaking, and they all happened. Back then I looked like I was on some left wing limb, but now I’m much more mainstream. The majority of Americans are evolving and progressing to what I’ve saying, not in the direction of FOX News.” 

Click here for the full interview of Oliver Stone.

Click here for the full interview of Kathleen Turner.

Click here for the full interview of Michael Moore.