People We've Met: Angelina Jolie, James Caan and other stars we spoke to in 2011
Joe Neumaier remembers talks with Michelle Williams, Drake Doremus, Joe Berlinger and more
Thursday, December 29 2011, 6:00 AM
Kevin Hagen/Kevin Hagen for the New York Dai
Director Angelina Jolie with Serbian actor Rade Serbedzija, who starred in her film 'In the Land of Blood and Honey.'Sometimes, when speaking with actors and filmmakers, it’s the more, the merrier. Ideas can bounce around and the topic becomes bigger than just movies — though there’s plenty of that, too.
In March, Keanu Reeves , Vera Farmiga and James Caan sat and discussed their indie dramedy “Henry’s Crime.” The dynamic was fun, with Reeves — a wry guy who uses that “Bill & Ted” baritone to disarm — deferring to the once-and-forever Sonny Corleone on moviemaking matters.
Farmiga’s directorial debut, “Higher Ground,” was creating buzz then, too. But Caan regaled with tales of a life lived large, being box-office gold back in the day and his own directing debut, 1980’s “Hide in Plain Sight.”
In June, Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky — the filmmakers behind one of the year’s best documentaries, “Battle for Brooklyn” — talked about good and bad changes in the borough they love and live in. Joining them was Daniel Goldstein , one of the most impassioned voices in Hawley and Galinsky’s film about the fight surrounding the Atlantic Yards project.
The first thing Galinsky noticed when we all sat down? That I was holding a coffee from a local deli, not a Starbucks “Venti.”
In early October at the Hamptons Film Festival — an autumnal event that’s one of the most vibrant movie gatherings in New York — I had a series of rambling, hilarious chats with “Like Crazy” director Drake Doremus and the co-star of his thoughtful romantic drama, Anton Yelchin .
Like a pair of goofy, quick-witted brothers who love to be seriously silly, Doremus and Yelchin bounced from topic to topic, from movie to movie: Yelchin’s “Star Trek” role led to ’70s sci-fi which led to Lars von Trier, and on and on. That conversation is surely still going on somewhere.
Also that month, the singularly sensational Michelle Williams had much to say about the golden age of starlets as represented in “My Week with Marilyn”; the importance of Brooklyn to her life and art, and the real magic of movies (she was on a break from re-creating the land of Oz on a soundstage in Detroit). As she heads to what’ll surely be a third Oscar nomination, Williams still appreciates finding her heart’s desire in her own backyard.
In November, I caught up with Joe Berlinger , co-director of the extraordinary “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory.” His film was instrumental in freeing the men known as the “West Memphis 3,” and he had a lot to say about how movies can bring about change, even if that isn’t the actual intention when the cameras start rolling.
Speaking of change, earlier this month, Angelina Jolie , sitting with the co-star of her directorial debut,“In the Land of Blood and Honey” — veteran character actor Rade Serbedzija — was chatty, smart, sexy and, yes, sweet. The superstar effortlessly segued from what her gripping film means to the Bosnian people to how to get kids thinking about the world.
And a few weeks ago, Metropolitan Ave. in Queens was the setting for a walk-and-talk with writer-director Michael Cuesta , for an upcoming feature on his film “Roadie,” currently on VOD and in theaters Jan. 6.
Cuesta was talking the morning “Homeland” — the Showtime series for which he directed the pilot and finale, among other episodes — was nominated for a slew of Golden Globes. But you’d never know it from his easygoing manner: Cuesta is from Long Island, and is still a local guy. Listening to him discuss the people he makes movies about, it’s clear that homeland, to him, means New York first and foremost.
