Post by sculpturedsound on Jan 28, 2005 20:08:52 GMT -5
There's this book called "Rebels on the Backlot" that was posted about on Yankee Racers, it deals with stories of about 6 different directors, and Wes is mentioned. The book is actually pretty interesting, don't know how much of it is true.
It says in the front that quotes from it can be re-produced if you're reviewing it. Well here's my review:
Rebels on the Backlot by Sharon Waxman is an interesting read, featuring stories of six major directors (Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh, David O. Russell, and Spike Jonze) and what they went through to get their films made. The book goes behind the scenes and exposes what really goes on when trying to get a film made, touching on everything from finances, to casting, to trouble in Hollywood, and how these directors did it their way. Other directors are also mentioned, including Wes Anderson, who as the books tells us, apparently had some trouble on the set of The Royal Tenenbaums:
They speak of Rushmore a tiny bit and then "...when it came to casting his next film in 2000, The Royal Tenebaums, Anderson had his pick from many serious actors who wanted to work with him. Gene Hackman, however, wasn't one of them. Anderson set his sights on getting the great actor to play the title role of Royal Tenenbaum, the satorially slick and blindly self-centered head of an odd Manhatten clan. After pursuing Hackman for more than a year by phone and by mail, the actor finally agreed to do the part. But the relationship remained imbalanced; apparently Hackman felt he had deigned to take the role, and he wasn't going to deign to take direction. And perhaps the introverted Anderson had something to learn about communicating with a giant of Hackman's stature. Either way, Anderson had to find roundabout ways to get his point across. Finally he resorted to reverse psychology. He would ask costar Anjelica Huston, "Could I have a word with you?" She'd go speak to him privately, and Hackman would get curious and follow along. This tactic annoyed Hackman, who was no dummy. After Anderson had pulled Huston aside, he then said to the director, "Hey, Wes, can I have a word with you?" He pulled Anderson into a closet on the set (it was the game closet in the Tenenbaum House) and started screaming at him: You don't get to pull actors aside and give them direction! What do you think you're doing? The laconic Anderson tried not to react.
"Why are you doing this, Gene?" he asked.
"Because you're a ****," Hackman snarled.
"You don't mean that."
"Oh yes, I mean it, you're a ****."
Anderson sighed. "You're going to regret these things you're saying, Gene. You don't believe them."
The next day Hackman showed up in a macho get-up - long leather coat, baseball cap, and cowboy boots - and skulked around the set. Then he apologized. Hackman's agent, Fred Spector, commented on the actor's behalf that he might have been occasionally testy on the set. "Difficult as he might have been, they got through it. Gene has been known to lose his temper and he feels badly about it," said Spector. "I don't consider that to be anything negative. It's part of the process. I believe he'd work with Wes again if he had another part that interested him."
Wes Anderson is mentioned a few more times in various parts of the book. If you found that story interesting you will also love the various stories of the other directors covered in the book. In other words, go buy it!
Is that a good review?
****The expletive used by Hackman in the above anecdote starts with a "c" and rhymes with runt.
It says in the front that quotes from it can be re-produced if you're reviewing it. Well here's my review:
Rebels on the Backlot by Sharon Waxman is an interesting read, featuring stories of six major directors (Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh, David O. Russell, and Spike Jonze) and what they went through to get their films made. The book goes behind the scenes and exposes what really goes on when trying to get a film made, touching on everything from finances, to casting, to trouble in Hollywood, and how these directors did it their way. Other directors are also mentioned, including Wes Anderson, who as the books tells us, apparently had some trouble on the set of The Royal Tenenbaums:
They speak of Rushmore a tiny bit and then "...when it came to casting his next film in 2000, The Royal Tenebaums, Anderson had his pick from many serious actors who wanted to work with him. Gene Hackman, however, wasn't one of them. Anderson set his sights on getting the great actor to play the title role of Royal Tenenbaum, the satorially slick and blindly self-centered head of an odd Manhatten clan. After pursuing Hackman for more than a year by phone and by mail, the actor finally agreed to do the part. But the relationship remained imbalanced; apparently Hackman felt he had deigned to take the role, and he wasn't going to deign to take direction. And perhaps the introverted Anderson had something to learn about communicating with a giant of Hackman's stature. Either way, Anderson had to find roundabout ways to get his point across. Finally he resorted to reverse psychology. He would ask costar Anjelica Huston, "Could I have a word with you?" She'd go speak to him privately, and Hackman would get curious and follow along. This tactic annoyed Hackman, who was no dummy. After Anderson had pulled Huston aside, he then said to the director, "Hey, Wes, can I have a word with you?" He pulled Anderson into a closet on the set (it was the game closet in the Tenenbaum House) and started screaming at him: You don't get to pull actors aside and give them direction! What do you think you're doing? The laconic Anderson tried not to react.
"Why are you doing this, Gene?" he asked.
"Because you're a ****," Hackman snarled.
"You don't mean that."
"Oh yes, I mean it, you're a ****."
Anderson sighed. "You're going to regret these things you're saying, Gene. You don't believe them."
The next day Hackman showed up in a macho get-up - long leather coat, baseball cap, and cowboy boots - and skulked around the set. Then he apologized. Hackman's agent, Fred Spector, commented on the actor's behalf that he might have been occasionally testy on the set. "Difficult as he might have been, they got through it. Gene has been known to lose his temper and he feels badly about it," said Spector. "I don't consider that to be anything negative. It's part of the process. I believe he'd work with Wes again if he had another part that interested him."
Wes Anderson is mentioned a few more times in various parts of the book. If you found that story interesting you will also love the various stories of the other directors covered in the book. In other words, go buy it!
Is that a good review?
****The expletive used by Hackman in the above anecdote starts with a "c" and rhymes with runt.