It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?
So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.
And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.
There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.
I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.
So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.
But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”
My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher
“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.
~ David Simon
That is really cool. Let’s hope that commitment translates to the performance.
Great article…I’m excited about the film…
Happyness is getting the full court press. Smith is a lock for a nom, methinks.
I think Smith may have finally realised his “Big Willy” schtick has long reached it’s sell by date. The only place he should ever be that lightweight again, is in a romantic comedy type situation (ala Hitch).
But I believe him when he says he’s ready to start giving real performances, on a consistent basis. He’s always had the talent to be a real actor. I think he just preferred the adulation and cross-over appeal that playing the clown got him.
Even looking at the stills for I Am Legend encourages me. With his gray hair and grizzled appearence, I get the impression that Smith is about to give his first nuanced and serious performance in an action hero role. He was 60 % there in I,Robot, but still threw in too many “aw hells” Big Will-isms for my liking.
At one point he said, to a burst of wild applause, that he had decided not to fall below a certain standard of quality every again.
I Am Legend must be one hell of a project then…
… the director tell him that the movie, even if he didn’t get to make it, had to be made by a non-American. “Americans have forgotten how to appreciate The American Dream.”
Two chicks at once?
Smith also spoke to his evolution by discussing how he’s learned to create a distance between “Will’s stuff” and his acting.
Oh, well I guess I Am Legend is off the hook after all.
But he read like a man, not like a charming young rogue. (He did make a couple of jokes about people in the crowd wanting him sexually
I wrote about a lot of these same points last night briefly, but I had to link to this today because it captures the mood of that room in a very precise fashion.
I’ll wait for the movie to check it out. Seems a little syrupy for me. After I, Robot Smith has a loooooooooooong way to go before I’m won over again.
Hop, he didn’t lose you after Bagger Vance? 😉
Anyhow, I’ve always liked Will’s choice in films (with exception to WWW and MIB2). Even when the films are far from perfect (I, Robot, BB2), they’re still fun to watch for me. He’s better at being a movie star than anyone else in the world – he’s willing to be open, but not to the point where he’s annoying you and disrupting the furniture in the room.
For some reason, after reading this article, I’m more keen to see Happyness too.