"Hey, Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are on WTF with @marcmaron. I wish I could hear that on @Spotify."— WTF with Marc Maron (@WTFpod) January 6, 2020
You can!https://t.co/po5Ejz3KcN
All new WTF episodes are on @Spotify, including this one pic.twitter.com/UCet7vg1Eb
WTF pod
(partial, incomplete transcript)
"We're with the great Marc Maron. I'm a fan."
LDC He really is
The show is leaving Netflix. It's gone.
"I love this show. I've seen it 3 times, the entire series. It's my happy place. To see you miserable makes me feel not so bad." (laughs)
"But I love how you suffer some minor injustice in the world from another. Have it out with them. You suffer no fools. And then you invite them back to listen to your new turntable. 'We're equal now. we're all humans again.'"
That was an attempt, I don't know if you have the same problem, act like an asshole and then crawl your way back and hopefully they'll forgive you for it.
"I thought you were justified. I thought you were speaking for all of us. And then everything's OK."
So what just went on in there?
"We did a little Q&A. It's great to do it with Quentin. He does all the heavy lifting."
LDC He carries the load.
The last time I saw you was at Art Basel because my now ex had an exhibit.
"Oh it's your ex? You were so sweet. You were outside barking for her. Leading people in to see her art--"
I love her
"--I thought it was very sweet."
I still have respect and I love her, but I'm out.
"Let me ask you this: what did you think of her art?"
I liked it a lot. Because there's something about abstraction, either it's going to work or it's not. You're an abstract guy. You like abstract art.
"I like it. I like a lot of art. So does my man here."
The first time I met you, you were hanging out with Thomas Houseago.
"That's right."
He's your buddy. He's a giant sculptor, big sculpture.
"That's the one."
You both collect art.
LDC Yes.
Your dad was like a comic guy.
LDC Yes. He was a comic book distributor around Los Angeles and he used to take me in a station wagon called the puss mobile. A broken down, yellow station wagon. We used to go to Golden Apple, basically every weekend of my life was trucking around to comic book stores...selling Duran Duran posters.
Art Crumb stuff.
LDC All Art Crumb. My dad is actually friends with Art Crumb. He was the Zelig of the hippie culture. So I grew up going to the Doo Dah parade, hanging out with all these underground artists. That was to make a little cash. Although my future college funds was a box of underground comic books, that didn't exactly pay the bills. But that was my college fund, every No. 1 underground comic book. None of the Marvel or DC stuff which were actually not worth a lot of money. All the original Crumb art has really skyrocketed.
Do you have that stuff?
LDC I do have a couple, luckily. He is finally the man from the underground art scene that has hit the marketplace and become--
And Robert Williams is very bitter about it all.
LDC I collect Robert Williams too. That man is a god to me. You will hear nothing but wonderful things--
One of the chips on his shoulder is he never got established art success.
LDC The whole L.A. underground scene trying to make it to NY is a very tough transition.
Those guys get stuck in that kind of comic art, outsider art, graphic art, trippers. Guys like Houseago -- that's fine art shit. That's big time.
"Yeah, when it lands that way, sure."
Do you have a couple of those huge pieces?
"In fact, indeed I do. And I like them."
What kind of art do you gravitate to the most? You collect.
"I wouldn't say 'collection'. 'Collection' bothers me."
Not buying it as an investment.
"No, no never. Just certain things that move me and I like to be around each day, and might inspire my kids or something. Some of Thomas' stuff can scare them as well."
Do you do sculpture as well?
"I have been, on my own. Because what we do is such a collaborative sport, for the better, for the worse sometimes. I've seen performances improved, enhanced, like on this one. Or I've seen them take a beating. To do something that's just you and on your own and very solitary, I find very meditative."
That's the weird thing because you guys see what you do as art, right?
LDC Yeah, I hope so.
"We're not quite allowed, or are we?"
LDC I guess we're allowed to say that.
"Certainly entertainers, but are we allowed to say--"
LDC I think we can say that--
"Artists? Alright."
It's something you work towards, right? Do you remember your first jobs?
LDC Of course.
"God, yes."
It was TV right? Both of you.
LDC Both of us were television.
Did that help out in knowing this part in this movie? The whole TV world?
LDC I think for sure. What was so great about Quentin's script was the outsider approach that he took to the industry. Two guys that were -- certainly my character -- on the brink of extinction as the hippie cultural movement are coming into play. A remnant of old hat Hollywood cowboy television, and he hasn't made that transition, and as a by product, Cliff, my sidekick, psychiatrist, security guard, houseman is suffering the consequences. Roman Polanski moves in next door and that symbolizes everything that we aren't and are trying to be. We've been doing this for a long time. We've been very fortunate to be successful in what we do. But we remember those days, remember looking up to all these actors that were doing it.
Like who when you were starting out. Like what were your first TV gigs?
LDC I did one season of Parenthood, a spin-off of the movie Parenthood with Steve Martin. I had Joaquin Phoenix's role in the television version of Parenthood. So I actually studied Joaquin Phoenix's performance to get my first job.
"I do that today."
LDC Exactly. And then I did Growing Pains, a few season of Growing Pains, he was in a few episodes.
"I guest starred in Growing Pains."
With him
LDC I worked with Hillary Swank in my season but never with you.
At that point, obviously you wanted to be actors, were you studying to be actors? Were you actively working with people? Training with people?
LDC Other than drama class at school, no.
"I was. I came out from the Ozarks and I needed some. (laughs) I needed a little bit of polishing. Finally got a-- I can say Ozarks now cause there's a show to give some an idea of what that might be."
Is that a great idea? That show?
"Yeah. It's not so far off. They just left off the bible belt portion."
"I went on my first audition. Pretty excited about it. It was for a film. And I came back, and this agent who was trying me on as they did then, I said, 'How'd I do?' And she said, 'Have you ever thought about acting classes?' I'd been on them for 6 months."
Who were you studying with?
"A guy named Roy London. He was fantastic. He's not with us anymore."
A lot of big stars studied with that guy.
"Yeah, a few people."
And you just studied in high school.
LDC Yes, but then after a while I started studying with Larry Moss, who is an amazing coach too.
Do you use these guys now or are you done with it?
LDC I talk to Larry all the time.
"I talk to Leo and he talks to Larry for me." (laughs) "Gives me a few pointers."
What kind of questions do you ask him.
LDC He just pushes you. You need them. Kind of just drives me to make decisions. Like I said, I only got into movies because I was really lucky. That television show had me locked in for the season. It was really the late, great Alan Thicke and those producers who said 'Let the kid off the last few episodes so he can work with DeNiro.' And they didn't need to do that. And immediately I had this elitist approach about movies. And Alan was like 'You know we love you.' and I was like 'Oh my God, yes sir. I am so incredibly thankful you let me have that opportunity.'
You did 21 Jump St. too?
"I did that too. A very special episode dealing with suicide (laughs) I think it was even billed as 'a very special episode.' And maybe I had two lines."
LDC There was only one episode of that?
"With me, yeah. I guest starred. And I guest starred on 30-Something. I had one line 'yes or no', one word actually."
So you were at it a while. What was your first movie?
"I did a movie in former Yugoslavia."
Oh nice. Big budget film?
"Yeah. First time on a plane. First passport. Got to go out of the country."
You were how old?
"I was 38. Noooo (laughs) I was like early 20s."
You drove out here? You drove to L.A.? From Oklahoma?
"Yeah. From Missouri. Oklahoma via southern Missouri"
In a truck?
"A little beat up Datsun. A 300XL. With bumpers hanging off and loaded up so you can just see forward."
You finished college out there?
"I didn't finish. I did four years. (laughs) I didn't officially finish."
You just split.
"Done, yeah."
When you were growing up in Missouri, did you do acting there?
"Hell no, there's no acting there."
What town was it?
"It was Springfield."
And you grew up literally in the Ozarks.
"Yeah"
Are your folks still there?
"Yeah. Family -- brother and sister, they all live on the same street. Still go to the Ozarks for the summers."
Do you go visit?
"Yeah"
Do you bring all of your kids to the Ozarks?
"We would, yes, yes, yes. But fortunately, California's more of a draw. So they like to come here. So it's all right."
Yugoslavia, what movie was that?
"It's called Dark Side of the Sun. About a kid with a skin disease who can't go out in the sun." (laughs) ...
LDC I did a small part in Critters 3...
You guys both worked with Alejandro Inarritu. You did Babel with him and you did The Revenant. You both worked with great directors, but in terms of being something, that when you look at the script and you look at the vision of it, as being like 'Holy Fuck this is a real piece of art.' Would that guy rank up there with that. Where you don't know how it's going to work out.
LDC There was no way to foresee what he was going to do. The script was one thing and was this linear story of a guy surviving out in the wilderness, a great sort of revenge story. But what he did cinematically with that movie just blows me away...He improvised with Chivo, the great cinematographer, in trying to keep this linear, one shot idea...
And your thing with him, that scene on the bus where that bullet comes through the window. When you read that script, did you see how those stories were going to fit together?
"You trust him by his previous work. And also there was something in the way it was constructed. It was the end scene for me that made me want to do it. Because only going through that whole journey that he realized how close he came to losing everything. That's when the adrenaline is gone and he just breaks down from it all. I was moved by that. But as Leo says, you don't know what he has in his mind--"
LDC You really bank on the filmmaker. After having read so many great screenplays that have been turned to dog shit in the wrong hands you actually realize that the filmmaker is the one that elevates material and bring things to it you could've never foreseen.
Have you had a movie where you don't know how it got away from whoever it got away from? Where you watch the final thing and you think "WTF happened?"
"Yes, It's that horrible feeling when you're screening it with others. And the lights come up and everyone looks at you to say something. And you know, you just know 'Oh fuck'.
LDC Do you remember any of the lines that anyone told you?
"Well you know if ever they come up and say, 'We really like the music. Who did that, that music was amazing.' Then you know, dead give away."
LDC I remember going to the premiere, I won't mention the film, I just remember my friend going, 'Not my cup of tea.' (laughs)
"You know it's a turd though, you feel it, you just feel it. The first time you see it, all the work that went into it and you know it's a turd. It smells so bad. Nothing's landing"
You've been at it 10 more years than him so you've got a lot more movies.
"I've been at it a little bit longer but we kind of hit the same time. I had further ground to make up to get to where Leo started from."
It doesn't seem like you guys have to do this, you read a script and you know this is going to stink but it's only four weeks. (laughs)
"And its gonna get me the--
You don't have to do that.
"No, we've been pretty fortunate."
LDC Very lucky fellas
"Had to do it before"
You had to do it before?
"I just flashed on when we did the first screening of Seven. The premiere, of Seven, no one had seen it."
LDC Was this in New York?
"Yeah it was in New York."
LDC I think I was there.
"You were there? If you remember, the movie ends and they just flick on the lights and I look at people and they just slowly get up from their seats, no one's talking, and they just disappeared from the screening. I remember looking at Fincher going 'Oh my God, What did we do? What happened? I thought this shit was great'"
LDC I had a different memory of it. I remember people liking it. But yes, now as you're describing it, I remember that.
I talked with Ed Norton and he said that happened with Fight Club too.
"We had a great one. We had the best screening ever. We had it at the Venice film festival, they do this midnight screening. For some reason we thought it would be a good idea to smoke a joint before hand. And we go in, they put you up in the balcony, you sit next to the guy who runs the festival. Everyone's looking at you, they clap, you sit down. It's very formal. And then the movie starts. First joke comes up, and it's crickets, it's dead silence. Another joke comes up and it's dead silence. It's subtitles and it's not translating at all. The more it happened, the funnier it got to Edward and I. We were just laughing, we were the assholes in the back laughing at our own jokes -- the only ones. (laughter) And then it gets to Helena Bonham Carter's line when she says, 'I haven't been fucked like that since grade school.' And I watch the festival guy who'd been squirming the whole 30 mins just get up and leave. He doesn't say a word. Which makes us laugh even more. (laughs) We had a good time."
Do you remember the moment when you realized your life was never going to be the same again?
LDC Oh Yeah, a film called Titanic.
That was it
LDC That was it. I was off on location doing movies, right away. I was in my early twenties. I never bothered to look for a house so I stayed in my Mom's guest room. And then the movie started to come out or the buzz and I just remember 4 SUVs outside my house one day. I went to the liquor store to get a soda and there were the 4 SUVs. They just kept following me, every day of my life.
"To this day"
LDC OK, My life will no longer be the same.
"Probably more like Ford Explorers with black out windows."
And that happens to this day?
LDC No, it doesn't.
"It doesn't?"
LDC No. Not as much anymore. No, thank God. Usually there's this time when a movie is coming out or you're doing promotion when they're on you a lot more. But I've been able to escape a lot more, which is great. And walk around. And be outside.
You don't wear--
"I'm a little disgruntled with you in that case." (laughter)
LDC What? You have them waiting?
"Oh man."
LDC Really?
"Oh man. I'm just like trash mag fodder. I'm like, I don't know. My--
Because of what--
"Because of my disaster of a personal life, probably." (laughs)
LDC You've got a very exciting personal life. (laughs)
You've gotten into a confrontation with them before?
"Oh yeah. "
There's nothing you can do about those guys.
LDC Like Lil Kim said, 'The paparazzi's gonna get you one way or another.' It's been my motto. I figured there's nothing you can do.
But you've never had to go out with a fake nose or anything.
LDC We've tried all that stuff and it's all a failure.
"I've got some of those"
LDC You do?
They noticed?
"No, I've got some good getaways. But I will not reveal here because they're still in play"
In terms of just being able to disappear?
"Yeah"
You have a stunt double that you work with?
"No."
LDC None of that works. I've had so many who say 'Let me wear your hat. I'll jump out'
"Yeah you get--"
"None of that stuff works."
I don't remember who I was talking to, maybe it was Galifiniakis who was telling me about Downey had a nose or something made.
"Mel Gibson's got a brilliant rubber mask. He custom made them. Brilliant mask."
LDC But then they photograph that too. And they put them in the magazine with 'Mel Gibson with the fake mask'.
"He got a lot of mileage off it though, for a few years. It was just enough, real enough but off enough to make someone just want to walk the other way. There was something wrong, he just looked a bit creepy. Just make you step aside and not investigate."
I've seen the last two movies that you did, I watched Ad Astra--.
"How'd you do with that one?"
I liked it. Because I'm not a space guy in general and I entered it cranky. (laughter)
"Did it soften you in any way. Or just make you crankier?"
Of course it did. Because I thought, well this guy has really gone above and beyond to work out his dad stuff. (laughter) I just got to make a phone call, this fucker went to outer space to get some closure. (laughter) It had nothing to do with space.
"He could have stayed home and done a year of therapy."
One thing I never understood was what was his ship doing that was causing all the trouble...
"I'm not going to explain it to you"
You know though.
"No, I can't explain it. (laughs)
LDC That sounds like Inception for me. 'What happened?' I have no idea. Sometimes you are just focused on your character. Actually I do get involved with that, but when it came to Chris Nolan and his mind and how that was all pieced together, everyone was trying to constantly put that puzzle together.
I can't remember if it ever made sense, did it?
LDC It depends on the eye of the beholder. I guess.
My producer has a weird question I gotta ask you about this movie, he wanted me to ask you if your character actually got the part in The Great Escape and was fired or was that a fantasy that you were thinking.
LDC It was a fantasy. We actually had this whole section, that actually Quentin was talking earlier about that he had a 4 1/2 hour cut. The movie that you see -- this is all from the mind of Quentin Tarantino -- and there are so many other sections that he had to take out to sort of draw the story along. But there was this great moment with Al Pacino -- I spent 3 weeks with Al Pacino -- one on one, doing this whole history, Dalton's career, to the state of the movie industry, to the state of our culture. This sort of 'I could've been somebody, I could've been a contender, almost got The Great Escape but was the 3rd guy on the list, had McQueen dropped out I could have been this and this.' So we kind of put it in the Timothy Olyphant scene where we start talking about our careers and there's this sort of flash of Rick as that, as McQueen, as Rick Dalton would've played the McQueen, which is the star breaking turn.
"Leo describes it as a moment, it's like a 10-minute scene. It's fantastic, I do hope it makes it to the-- It's the bane of his existence. Everyone knows him as the guy who almost got The Great Escape and he gives this very sobering soliloquy on 'It was never going to happen, stop calling me that.'"
The actual heartbreak of show business is what you're playing. It's not something you've never seen before in other people.
LDC Brad and I were just talking about it in the Q&A. Although we've been incredibly fortunate and have had a long, successful career, we know this world. I've grown up around actors that almost got this role or that role. We know the dynamic of these relationships. I've got guys over the years who have been my psychiatrist, my security guard on location in Africa for 8 months, they've got your back. So even though Quentin gave us this amazing manuscript on our history, detailed from the figment of his own imagination, we implicitly knew this dynamic in Hollywood and this relationship that these two guys had. The first day on set, we just clicked. I keep telling the story but it's true. We were driving into the Lancer lot and Brad improvised this line, realizing I have a hangover, realizing I've gotten this bad news that my career is essentially over, and he just goes 'Hey, you are Rick fucking Dalton.' And as soon as he said that I was like, 'Oh, that's us.' (laughter) No matter what's going on, that's my No. 1 fan right there. And I go, 'Yup, I got it' and I go and have a disastrous day on set.
I even noticed that, when I was a doorman at the Comedy Store, people have satellite people that walk around as the extension of their ego, the ego's support system, you see it all the time in this town. At the center is this completely delusional person--
"Completely delusional, yeah" (laughs)
--that thinks they're really doing amazing things. (laughter)
"Oh shit, I was just calling your friendship, but you're so right." (laughs)
LDC Friendship with a paycheck. Like Cliff said 'I ain't got it so bad, I'll fix your antenna today but he's not so bad.' That was what I had to figure out about Rick Dalton, not only a pessimist but what a whiner he was. Quentin had this thing that I didn't really understand, that he was really feeling sorry for himself. Then he meets the little girl -- that was another scene that was cut out -- 'Aren't we lucky to do what we do.' Rick just doesn't realize that. All he obsessively thinks about is what could've been, he could've been a contender, he could've been this guy, and the whole industry sucks, the world sucks and these goddamn hippies. (laughter)
When you went into it what were you thinking? Who were you playing, like did you know the guy?
"Well he--
LDC You told me you got that line from somebody who said it to you."
"Oh this guy, Yes, when I first started, I had this guy. I was bitching and moaning in the mid-90s and I had this guy, total freeloader, you see him walking back and forth wearing my clothes, using my dryer, (laughs) eating the food, but he was there for me. And one day he said that to me, 'Don't forget, you're Brad fucking Pitt.' (laughs) And you know what? It soothed me. (laughs) I'm certainly striving for an ease in life. There was ease to this character that just didn't sweat the small shit."
In both these roles, even in Ad Astra, there was a control to it that I had not seen before. This guy was Zen and the Ad Astra guy was sort of repressed, but you were able to quiet down.
"This one was more, Cliff was just a guy who accepted his cards. It was all right with him. It was going to be OK. 'The world isn't against me. Even if I get shit on this day I'll deal with it. I'll clean it up"
And you can fight.
"And eat well, yes."
This is the first time you worked with Quentin--
"No, second."
What was the first one?
"Inglourious Basterds"
That was great.
LDC That was huge.
"Do your homework, don't you Marc." (laughs)
You were great in that, Brad fucking Pitt.
"Thanks man"
So you guys knew how he works. You're used to the process. Is he different than any other director?
LDC He's different. He's amazing.
He lets you riffle off?
LDC Yes and No. There's certain dialogue sequences he has in his mind. He's a writer director so he has certain cadence, almost a way of saying the line that he has in a vision in his head. But there are times like in the trailer stuff for example where he lets you riff, he lets you improvise, and a lot of the scenes with Brad and myself, we improvised a lot of that too.
"He's keeping a watchful eye on it. I find his stuff has a very specific music to it. I only found it with the Coen brothers as well. They're not militant about it. I'm just saying when the actors starts interjecting thus and thus clever little bits he thinks is interesting, it usually fucks up the music. On the other hand he will throw out lines and give us room to play."
LDC With directors like him and Scorsese, when you get guys who are true cinephiles -- and I mean world class. Like put-them-on Jeopardy-type cinephiles. Like 'name the editor of an obscure '32 French film, not the one who got fired' -- they know that name. Marty has seen every film ever made up until 1980. Quentin has got this crazy catalogue of not only music but television and kung fu movies and B films and out-of-print stuff. These guys watched movies all day long. They are absolute experts at the subject matter. So for me, like I knew this era of cinema but I didn't know all the types of films he was referring to and I didn't know the cowboy television shows -- Dead or Alive, I watched some of these -- Gun Smoke, Rifleman. So I had to get acclimated to this era of cinema, the era of television at that time. The guys that almost made it but didn't quite make the television into movie transition. He gave me this long list of actors to navigate and there was this one guy, Ralph Meeker, that I just cued into. That's the guy, he's not as bad as the other guys, he's got some great stuff in him but he just never got the chance to show it.
The melt down in the trailer you improvised that. Were you just a boozer, did you have deeper mental problems or did you even think about that?
LDC You knew that Rick was a full fledged alcoholic, that was the subtext of the script. I added a bunch of stuff that had to do with a guy who was having a full mental breakdown. He's dealing with his own mortality.
This is just a dumb actors question since I act occasionally, what do you do to stay in character. How do you put it in all place? Are you fully formed in it and then the camera stops and you can have a doughnut and then you're ready to go and you just remember the guy?
LDC You know very selfishly I'm obsessively thinking of what I'm doing all day long. What's so amazing to see the final product is, Brad and I met every couple of weeks and did a random scene together and then I'd have a week. So he'd have this whole other dynamic and story-line he was doing and I finished mine and hop in and out. What was so cool was to see the final product and see what Brad had created. And not even realizing what he was doing when he was doing it with me. Something that was so amazing that he pulled off and I wasn't even aware of it.
"You're supposed to be self-obsessed. You're not meant to."
"We went off and did our separate stories."
How do you hold on to it?
"I don't. You hear all those stories of 'Man, he couldn't let go of the character.' They say 'wrap' I am done.
In between scenes though.
"You do stay in the mode, the tone. From the beginning of shooting til the end you do stay in the mind set."
Neither one of you want to direct?
"No desire."
LDC "Not really."
Why?
"The time-suck, man. Jesus Christ! Two years at least. And you're relying on so many variables, the planets have to align. I'd rather spend the time in the studio or with friends. But on the other hand I do think there are so many good people doing it right now, I don't have anything to add."
LDC Maybe if there was a story that I felt like only I could tell. If it's very interesting. You're talking about trying to create a performance, selfishly just focused on you all day long, creating these moments with other actors, just thinking about the story. I can't imagine what it'd be like to be a director who has a hundred different departments coming up to me -- 'what color should this be', 'what kind of cuts would you like, what shot.' What?! Leave me alone! I just want to have this to focus on. It's a compartmentalization of the human mind and focus. I may be able to do at some point, but for now, let the guys like Bradley Cooper do it because he does a great job."
"He does a great job."
You guys are friends right?
"Yeah"
That movie was something. He really did something.
"Yeah, he did it . He's got it. He's got the goods. And good acting in it."
So you both seem to produce different -- you seem to take risks with different artistic stuff, in terms of the kind of movies you're getting behind. And you have a socio-political angle--
LDC Sociopathic political.
I think it's great, but I wanted to ask you how did you get involved with that Jim Jones documentary. Did you do that?
LDC Yeah, we did that.
That was crazy, man.
LDC It was an insane story. For some reason, there's been a lot of documentaries we've been gravitating towards. This really is the era of documentaries. I just did one with my father called Struggle, which he's in, about the whole underground art scene, this guru -- Szukalski, and his whole crazy journey. Born in L.A.
Was this your dad's idea?
It's been my father's and my idea for almost 20 years. We pitched it 15 times over the years. And now in this era, which is fantastic, we're talking about the transition of where our industry is going. I came in at Netflix: 'so there's this sculptor, everything is bombed during WWII, he ends up living in obscurity in the valley and has a resurgence and it's his life story' and Ted's like 'Great. Let's do it. Great.' What? What just happened? They greenlit the thing. So it's just been exciting to see all the really cool stories getting financed. It used to be these had to go theaters amongst hundreds of others and never get the play time. They have to win an Academy Award for you to see them. They have to be world acclaimed. Now, it's a draw to the consumer and millions and millions watch these documentaries as opposed to having to go to the theatrical system.
And they're educational. You did the 11th Hour some time ago.
LDC That's true. But way more people would have seen it if it was on a streaming service. Much like Before the Flood where I traveled for 3 years to every location on earth.
Are you able to stop it? The climate change.
LDC We're having a tough go there right now, pal. Tough go.
You did Richard Jewell too?
LDC Yes.
How did something like that happen?
LDC You get the rights to these stories, books, articles, working with producers. And then you hope for the right director to get involved or the right actor to get involved to green light the project. And then it's a go from there.
So you put that together, you're part of it, your company.
LDC Very intricately. The financing, the line producing. It's really the acquisition of cool ideas--
"One of my favorite films of the year. And one of my favorite performance of the year. He's amazing, Paul Walter Hauser. What a gem. And Rockwell and Kathy Bates too. Some pop and some come around later, and this one's getting a little love, right?"
LDC Yes.
"I just think it's one of the greats of the year. And Clint is still, still doing it. He's strong."
Have you ever worked with him?
"I haven't."
LDC J. Edgar. He's amazing.
He shoots quick, right?
LDC He does shoot quick. And he eats salmon and spinach at every meal. He's just like a superman.
Your production company, you did Moonlight, Vice, Big Short, Selma, 12 Year A Slave.
LDC Amazing.
A lot of Oscar winners, Oscar contenders. How do you decide?
"We follow filmmakers that we really respect. Before streaming, there was this period where big budget tentpole films or action films were being made and then films under $10M if you wanted to do something risky. And there was this whole gap in between. I found at that time, in the early aughts, that we were...we first got in trying just to help these people we believe in get their films to the finish line. There was this empty space, these films weren't getting made. That really opened up with this. We've still yet to make a dime."
Oh really?
"We're like, remember Walter Cronkite, CBS, they had to make 1% to keep the lights on. News was much better then because of it? We're kinda like that."
Seriously? With all those big movies? Why is that?
"I don't know. It's not my forte."
What have you got on the docket coming up?
"A film called Blonde, which is for Netflix, Marilyn Monroe, Andrew Dominik directed. And a big series The Underground Railroad, that's going to be cool. And so on and so forth."
Both you guys, you're both still vital actors, but do you see producing as a way...
"I like it because we get to be storytellers. We get to be part of stories we're not necessarily right for, but we get to put those out in the world. I'm sure Leo feels the same."
LDC I feel the same.
"I'm pretty proud of the stuff we get to put out that may not be there if we hadn't gotten behind in some way, or our team."
What are you doing now?
LDC Acting -- a film supposed to be in March, we'll see. Called Killers of the Flower Moon about the Osage Indian murders in Oklahoma in the '20s. It was J. Edgar Hoover's, one of his first cases. It had to do with these oil rights that the Osage were able to acquire and became the richest per capita people on earth and were systematically murdered. All true.
Who's directing that?
LDC Scorsese, and DeNiro is going to be in it as well. That's everyone.
Are you acting in something?
"Looking at doing something in the summer with Chazelle, the silent movie era."
LDC That's a great script.
What's it about?
"The end of the silent movie era, when talkies took over. It was the wild west at that time. People at the top were suddenly put aside and didn't play anymore."
That's Sunset Boulevard, right?
"Yeah."
Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt admitted to not entirely understanding their acclaimed films "Inception" and #AdAstra, respectively: https://t.co/KD12T32X8W pic.twitter.com/RhBIV5VF8I— IndieWire (@IndieWire) January 6, 2020
Maron asked Pitt about a point of confusion in James Gray’s “Ad Astra” script, mainly how a spaceship stranded near Neptune was able to send energy surges strong enough to impact the Earth. Maron said he did not understand this part of the film, to which Pitt replied, “I’m not going to explain it to you. … I can’t explain it either.” Pitt’s reveal inspired DiCaprio to get honest about Nolan’s 2010 science-fiction epic.
“That’s like ‘Inception’ for me. What happened? I have no idea,” DiCaprio said as the three men laughed. “You’re just focused on your character, man. I do get involved [with the story], but when it came to Christopher Nolan and his mind and how [‘Inception’] was was all pieced together, everyone was trying to constantly put that puzzle together.”
When Maron asked DiCaprio if the movie made sense, the actor responded, “Well, it depends on the eye of the beholder, I guess.”
Nolan’s “Inception” is celebrating its 10th anniversary this summer and continues to baffle moviegoers with its intricate dream-within-a-dream narrative. The ending also remains a point of debate nearly a decade later. Was DiCaprio’s Cobb still stuck inside a dream when the credits rolled? “Inception” co-star Michael Caine has said that’s not the case, as his character was seen in the final scene. “If I’m there, it’s real,” Caine said in 2018. “Because I’m never in the dream. I’m the guy who invented the dream.”
As for Pitt’s confession that he could not explain one of the major plot points in “Ad Astra,” that seems to be one of the reasons his “Hollywood” writer-director Quentin Tarantino ultimately did not like the James Gray space drama. The filmmaker told The Ringer earlier this month, “In the whole second half of [‘Ad Astra’], I don’t know why anything is happen. We’re just supposed to agree with them about everything that they say, but I don’t know why this is working or why that is working; why a mutiny on a ship that happened 15 years ago is now sending surges that has killed 40,000 people. We just go with it because they tell us that’s what’s happening.”
