So after a photographer walks in and the cast poses for a few clicks, they walk to their rooms and we wait for the director (Alfonso Gomez-Rejon) and writer (Jesse Andrews). We had a short intro with them right before the interviews began, so as they walked in and took their seats, we began firing our questions…
What was behind your reasoning for wanting to direct this film?
Alfonso: It was a very original piece of writing and I wouldn't know what to expect when someone says its about high school … that you should read it [the script] and I would say why. You think of a high school movie and you think what it's going to look like also. Usually it deals with people I don't understand/I don't relate to, like these guys with letterman jackets. Plus, I’m Mexican in a town where you didn’t even have to learn English. The breakfast club specifically is a movie I carry with me and spoke to me and I hadn't seen anything [like it] since then. But when I read his novel, I really loved everybody and there was deep sense of compassion. I particularly loved Greg’s journey and it mirrored my own and or one that I wanted to take. So it was something I could throw myself into and make something from the heart and also something that had a very unique sense of humor.
So what was the thing that spoke to you? Did you think that you could be the narrator just like Greg…
Alfonso: [jokes] No. No, I’m not that smart or that funny. But his emotional journey was what I really respected and visually also it was an way to celebrate the movies. Once you start seeing the movie in your head, you’re kind of like “Okay, I’m hooked. I have to figure this out. How do I get this out of my system. I have to get the job.”
I spoke to Dan Fogelman a couple of months ago, and he spoke about helping you out during the screenwriting process. Can you talk about that a bit?
Jesse: Dan’s the reason this is all happening. I had written the book and it was going to be published. I’m already at a mind-blowing “holy sh*t! I’m a published author now, so I don’t have to be illegally disposing off garbage out of the back of trucks among other degrading jobs that I had to pay rent.” So at that point, I was represented by William Morris Endeavor, who continues to be my agent today. They wanted to package film rights to someone who would make them more appealing to a company, so they showed the book to a number of people and one was Dan. He read the book and said “I want to be a part of this and I think maybe the author can write the script.” and who knows why ... that’s an insane thing to think, but he felt like this has a strong voice and maybe the author should get the first crack at trying to coax that voice into a script. So with Dan attached, it became much more appealing. We hired him as a producer and me as a writer, then he really shepherded me through this process of writing the script. I first had to read some scripts. Or at least a script. I didn’t have Final Draft, I really didn’t know the form. I knew it was in courier, I knew you’d like capitalized some words if you think they’re really important, but I didn’t know the rules. Dan … his process was very organic and very like “I don’t want you to learn more rules than you have to.” And yeah, he let me make a ton of mistakes and some of them are still in there. They look less like mistakes than just like things that make this movie a little different from other movies. Thats how it works ... he says “some mistakes aren't mistakes, but you don't know until you make them”.
[To Alfonso] directing the young kids vs. directing the experienced actors. How different is it? With an experienced actor you could tell them a scene and then they would get it in...
Alfonso: No no no…
I’m totally off track?
Alfoso: You could have two 6 year old actors and they’ll both need different things.One actor may have a lot of training at a specific school and is married to that process. Another actor may just be another version of RJ (Cyler), no training, just raw talent that's what keeps them pure. Another person is someone that turns it off quickly and turns it back on. It’s as simple as some actors that like to talk and prepare, some people like to feel it and then get notes afterward. It’s the exact same way with teenagers or child actors. Some actors are so school that it’s about breaking them out of that and some are absolutely raw. It’s an intuitive thing. What does this actor need from you to make them more comfortable. I mean, Coven (American Horror Story) is an example of one day you can have teenagers, twenty something’s, Angela Bassett, Denis O’Hare, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Patti LuPone … all in one day and it is everybody needs certain things. What a twelve year old needs maybe exactly what an eighty-year old needs. So it’s just about what’s best for that individual.
So when you are putting your vision into them and the actor already has an idea and he comes back to you and asks if u wanna do it differently VS. an actor who is an empty canvas and ready to do what you want them to do…
Alfonso: Hmm.. they are all fascinating. The actors are aliens ... they are capable of doing so much … it’s such a mysterious process that I’m in awe of it.
Alfonso: It was a very original piece of writing and I wouldn't know what to expect when someone says its about high school … that you should read it [the script] and I would say why. You think of a high school movie and you think what it's going to look like also. Usually it deals with people I don't understand/I don't relate to, like these guys with letterman jackets. Plus, I’m Mexican in a town where you didn’t even have to learn English. The breakfast club specifically is a movie I carry with me and spoke to me and I hadn't seen anything [like it] since then. But when I read his novel, I really loved everybody and there was deep sense of compassion. I particularly loved Greg’s journey and it mirrored my own and or one that I wanted to take. So it was something I could throw myself into and make something from the heart and also something that had a very unique sense of humor.
So what was the thing that spoke to you? Did you think that you could be the narrator just like Greg…
Alfonso: [jokes] No. No, I’m not that smart or that funny. But his emotional journey was what I really respected and visually also it was an way to celebrate the movies. Once you start seeing the movie in your head, you’re kind of like “Okay, I’m hooked. I have to figure this out. How do I get this out of my system. I have to get the job.”
I spoke to Dan Fogelman a couple of months ago, and he spoke about helping you out during the screenwriting process. Can you talk about that a bit?
Jesse: Dan’s the reason this is all happening. I had written the book and it was going to be published. I’m already at a mind-blowing “holy sh*t! I’m a published author now, so I don’t have to be illegally disposing off garbage out of the back of trucks among other degrading jobs that I had to pay rent.” So at that point, I was represented by William Morris Endeavor, who continues to be my agent today. They wanted to package film rights to someone who would make them more appealing to a company, so they showed the book to a number of people and one was Dan. He read the book and said “I want to be a part of this and I think maybe the author can write the script.” and who knows why ... that’s an insane thing to think, but he felt like this has a strong voice and maybe the author should get the first crack at trying to coax that voice into a script. So with Dan attached, it became much more appealing. We hired him as a producer and me as a writer, then he really shepherded me through this process of writing the script. I first had to read some scripts. Or at least a script. I didn’t have Final Draft, I really didn’t know the form. I knew it was in courier, I knew you’d like capitalized some words if you think they’re really important, but I didn’t know the rules. Dan … his process was very organic and very like “I don’t want you to learn more rules than you have to.” And yeah, he let me make a ton of mistakes and some of them are still in there. They look less like mistakes than just like things that make this movie a little different from other movies. Thats how it works ... he says “some mistakes aren't mistakes, but you don't know until you make them”.
[To Alfonso] directing the young kids vs. directing the experienced actors. How different is it? With an experienced actor you could tell them a scene and then they would get it in...
Alfonso: No no no…
I’m totally off track?
Alfoso: You could have two 6 year old actors and they’ll both need different things.One actor may have a lot of training at a specific school and is married to that process. Another actor may just be another version of RJ (Cyler), no training, just raw talent that's what keeps them pure. Another person is someone that turns it off quickly and turns it back on. It’s as simple as some actors that like to talk and prepare, some people like to feel it and then get notes afterward. It’s the exact same way with teenagers or child actors. Some actors are so school that it’s about breaking them out of that and some are absolutely raw. It’s an intuitive thing. What does this actor need from you to make them more comfortable. I mean, Coven (American Horror Story) is an example of one day you can have teenagers, twenty something’s, Angela Bassett, Denis O’Hare, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates, Patti LuPone … all in one day and it is everybody needs certain things. What a twelve year old needs maybe exactly what an eighty-year old needs. So it’s just about what’s best for that individual.
So when you are putting your vision into them and the actor already has an idea and he comes back to you and asks if u wanna do it differently VS. an actor who is an empty canvas and ready to do what you want them to do…
Alfonso: Hmm.. they are all fascinating. The actors are aliens ... they are capable of doing so much … it’s such a mysterious process that I’m in awe of it.
Me and Earl and the Dying Girl is in theatres now.
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