Transcripts For KQED Charlie Rose 20161230

Why i wanted to dot play . Because i wanted to say one of the post famous curtain lines of all time. I wanted to say, the sun of a stole pie watch. Thats all. I mean that was it i knew the play was good but i wanted to be the guy who got to sit on a phone like this and say the son of a stole my watch. Blackout. Whats better than that . The best in film and theater when we continue. Funding for charlie rose is provided by the following and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and Information Services worldwide. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications from our studios in new york city, this is charlie rose. Moon light is the new film from writer director barry jenkin. It is an adaptation of terrell mccraneys plane in moon light black boys look blue. The film focuses on three pivotal time periods in the life of a young man as he comes to terms with his sexuality and struggles to find his identity. It is written the film has the best take on black masculinity ever. Here is a look. Come on, you just drove down here . Yeah. At some point you got to decide for yourself who you going to be. Cant let nobody make that decision for you. Remember last time i saw you . Who, you . I aint seen you in like a decade. Not what i expected. What did you expect . Rose joining me is the writer and director of the fillk barry jenkin and three of its stars trevante rhodes, that onliee harris an andre holland. Im pleased to have each of them here at this table for the firs time, welcome. Thank you for having us. They are raving about you. They are raving about you at other film festivals. What is it that you hope to accomplish with this film . You know, people have said that moon light is a story that doesnt get told often and characters that we dont see often. Theyre like voiceless. And so my greatest hope for the film and its what i have experienced at telluride, toronto and london, places far removed from the setting of the film. Rose which is miami, and inner city mime, just these four square blocks thark people can see themselves in these characters who they assume are nothing like them. And its been my experience that people are finding a way to genuinely empathize with the story were telling and the characters that were showing in the film. Rose you know mimey. Yeah, born and raised, yeah. And how did that shape this story . Hugely, you know. There is this almost sinethisia that happen when are you working in a place you know, the character says sometimes that breeze comes through the hood. And liberty city where i grew up is three miles from the ocean, so you can smell it. And i think knowing those kinds of things you go into a location with more confidence that it is going to have the same emotional currency as you felt growing up there. Trevante, tell us who shyrone is. He is a beautiful flawed individual who is coming to terms with finding out who he is, finding what love is, finding that relationship with his mother, just trying to understand life, really, in general. Rose tell me about his mother. His mother is paula who is a struggling single parent. Whos also dealing with quite a severe crack cocaine addiction as well. Rose now whats interesting about this is you see them in different parts of his life. How hard is that to pull off. You know, i thought it would be impossible, but you know. The mother stays the same. I wanted a foundation, a bed rock and nay onliee as paula was that bed rock but i wanted i think the time between the chapters is changing the character as these young men are shaped so much by their environment, that i wanted him to be a different person, same character but different person in each chapter. My hope was if we found actors who had the same feeling in their eyes that you could see the soul of the character across all three parts. And so far i think that is what people are experiencing. Rose andre, what was the challenge for you . Wow, one of the big challenges for me, i play ef kevin who is a childhood friend of shyrone and becomes the affection. The big challenge was at the end of the show seemingly out of nowhere, and we dont understand where why he has come back. And they are on screening to for a very long time working through a problemment we dont quite know what the motivation of the character is. So that was a big challenge was identifying what that was. But once we found it i think we. Rose coates said who has been on this program and is much admired throughout the United States and europe, he said barry has this ability to capture black folks in their ordinariness without making statements or declarations. So often art about blackness or lgbt issues engages in this debate about whether we are human or not. And barry just steps right past that. He is saying its not an argument worth having. He tells the viewer you have to accept this. You have to accept that theyre human. Yeah, i would wholeheartedly agree with that. And not because it is. Rose go ahead. I was going to say, terrell and i are from this neighborhood. We grew up in a particular way and both of our moms it is not a foreign concept to us, it is not even the point, we were just trying to get it right and accurately portray what we experienced growing up. I think when you do that you end up with something that is one, really specific and two universal because are you not thinking about this issue or that issue or. Rose we talk about masculinity and also about identity. Are they one and the same . I think for this character they are, they are one and the same. I think what happens is there is this performance of ms. You can lynnity that the world is projecting at you always. This is how a man walks, how he talks, how he speaks to another man, how he speaks to a woman. And i think when are you getting that sort of, that stim us stimulus so from the outside world you lose your grip on what your idea of masculinity. Is i think if you are a man growing up in the world we grew up in is very key to your identity. And it becomes harder to selfidentify, the more you are receiving this sort of like both positive and negative reinforcement of what mass you can hundredity should look like. Rose when are you thinking of playing at the age that you play him, and the connection to andre, did you look at the earlier pomances . No, actually, barry didnt allow it at all. We were both trying to find some sem ambulance of something from something, but barry fore bode it. He was really adamant about it as well. But i guess that was to kind of depict how we changed so drastically how we changed through our lives so it was an ingenuous thing to do, mr. Barry. I just feel like the world is shaping the characters so much that when you meet them in each chapter, he has become a different person. I wanted to keep the soul of the character, so you look in his eyes will you still see the little boy but he is a different person. And its great because he and andre worked to this point where that old person slowly comes back to the surface. Rose there is you come to the realization that shyrone is gay. Uhhuh. Rose how does that affect the relationship that paula has with him . I think she really cant accept it at all. She finds it disgusting, unpalatable. And it is part of her further rejection of her son as well am and also i think she genuinely fears for his safety and what that means growing up in the kind of community that theyre growing up in. Its not something that will be easily accepted by anyone in that community. Rose how did shyrones first sexual experience effect him . I think it confused him, profoundly. I think he i mean obviously he knew who he was and he knew but he didnt know that for one, this person who he felt this connection with was the d he didnt understand how or he didnt understand how to feel, i guess, i think. Rose how much because were you so close and you knew the author and you knew the neighborhood, did you have to direct more because you had such a deeply felt sense of this story . Its funny, no one has asked that questionment but i didment and i thought i would have to direct less. Thats what i assumed am but then we got there, and particularly when nay onliee showed up because we had an issue with remember visa and we shot the movie mostly in sequence. We were going to do her work across seven days and across three weeks but we did her work across three consecutive days. And directing someone who looks like your mom and starting to sound like your mom and is being your mom, it was intense. And i had to one compartmentalize my personal life, you know. And also it was impossible to keep it separate from the work. But i think it made the work better because we did some things that i hadnt considered but i think we were very inspired and it came from the character. Rose you obviously wanted her badly. Yes. Rose why was that . Well, because shes the only character that is in all three films. She is the bed rock of the piece. I thought also too, it would take a lot of skill to do the things she was doing which were very dark, and in some cases ugly. And yet still preserve the humanity of the character, for like someone as gifted and amazing as nay onliee harris to pull it off. Rose and how does kevin change . Kevin changes pretty drastically. Hes the guy who as barry said is acting out this sort of performance of masculinity particularly in the second story. By the time we find him in the third story he let go of that mask and has become much more vulnerable, open, awe then tib person and also found a way to reach out. Rose liberated. Found a way to reach out to this guy and draw himself out of himself. Rose what was the most challenging thing for you, barry. It was getting pases the initial hurdle of i thought i would hide behind the playwright because our lives are so similar. It is his diography, not mine. So i will keep myself out of it. And it was really difficult. It didnt take long but it was difficult to get to the point where no, this is my story. Rose what are the autobiographical elements for you. Everything involving the mother, the relationship between shyrone and paula. Rose that was you. It is a composite of my testify and terrell. How does he know the things he knows because some of these things i go tough with my mom and i hadnt talked about them often. I think getting to the point where i accepted i was going to tell the story and tell it fully, that was the biggest hurdle for me. Rose are you surprised by the reaction to the film. How do you measure the reaction . I wrote a journal about a week before the movie premiered at telluride telling myself what i thought of the film. What i was product of in it. And again, i decided that i was very proud of it. No matter what anybody thought i was proud of the work that we all did. Rose and are you finding that people want to communicate with you because this film. Big time. There are people we often say that. Rose why are you laughing. Same thing for you. People are just deeply moved to see themselves. Represented because they dont see themselves very often. And i think these guys are such a great job they are seeing it in a very true way and they come at me, oh my god, how did you know. This i didnt but im glad you saw it. Rose take a look, this is another scene. This is where there is a drug dealer played by marsala halle returning nine year old shyrone back to his mother. Here it is. What happened . Huh . What happened, shyrone. Why didnt you come home like you supposed to, huh . And who is you . Nobody. You found him yesterday. Found him in a hole on 15th. Yeah, the boys chased him, scared more than anything. Wouldnt tell me where he lived until this morning. Well, thanks for seeing to him. He usually can take care of hisself. He good that way. Little man,. Rose who did the adaptation. I did. Rose did you. So you wrote the script as well. Yain, and a wrote it really, really quickly because it just came pouring out of me, ten days, the first draft. Rose tell me, each of you, your reaction to this having experienced this film and the message of it and the sense of that you are part of something that resonates. Its been an extraordinary journey. Its so incredible to see people who you wouldnt naturally think are represented in the story be so deeply moved about it. It has the ability to strip back all the labels that we attach to ourselves, that society attaches to us and just connect really profoundly with peoples hearts and say that actually this is a story about humanity. And humanitys search for connection, love and identity. And that is a universal search. Rose and paula has the strength as well as a vulnerability. Yeah, absolutely. I think shes had to develop this incredibly tough exterior but underneath that shes fundamentally a woman in pain. Rose congratulations. Thank you. Rose to all of you. Thank you. Thank you. Rose there is much talk about future awards. And i wish you well. Thank you, charlie. Rose back in a moment. Stay with us. Casey affleck is here. He stars in dennette lonergans new film called manchesterbythesea. He plays lee chandler, an isolated janitor who is forced to return to his hometown after becoming the legal guardian of his teenage nephew. Tony scott of the New York Times writes that affleck gives one of the most fiercely disciplined screen performances in recent memory. Here is the trailer. You pick one guy to an island with you and you knew he would be safe, that he was the best man, that he would keep you happy, if it was between me and my father, who would you pick. Pie daddy. I think are you wrong about that. What happened to my brother . Lee chan letter. I dont understand. Which part are you having trouble with. I cant be his guardian. Your brother provided for him. I think the idea was you would relocate. Relocate to where . It was my impression that you had spent a lot of time here. Im just a backup. Nobody can appreciate what you have been through. And if you really feel you cant take this on, its your right. Where are we going, to the or nannage. Shut up, get in the car. Whatever you decide, he can always stay with us, if you want to come up weekends. Do you want to be his guardian. He doesnt want to be my guardian. We are trying to loose some kids at this point. Hello . Hello, lee . I just wanted to call and say im sorry. How is patrick doing. You actually had sex with this girl . You dont want to be my guardian, thats fine with me. All my friends are here, i got two girlfriends and im in a bands. You are a janitor in quincy, what the hell do you care where you live. I said a lot of terrible things to you. My heart was broken. And yours was broken too. You dont understand. Theres nothing there. You want me to call your friend. I dont know. What do you want me to do. Im not going to bother you, im going to just sit here until you are calm down. All right, im calmer now, will you please just go away. No. This is remarkable, and congratulations. Thank you. What is it about the film that you think is so compelling . I think you know, a movie is made by so many people, a lot, a big group of people. And theyre all doing their jobs. An even, you know, sometimes you start with just the first scripted and even a first rate script and a supertalented, experienced director, you still, you know, you dont know what you are going to end up with. And thats just because the nature of making movies. Everyone has to contribute and in such a way that it all amounts to something. And this, so its kind of a mystery. Maybe there are other people with more experience or just smarter or something can say this is how it gets done. This is why this worked. From the moment i read it, i was a little bit confused about why it worked so well. Yeah. It doesnt follow a formula in the telling of the story. It doesnt have the sort of the kinds of moments in it that you would expect from a movie like this to have. You sort of might expect these two characters who are forced together who have both suffered some loss to save one another in a very predictable way and to have some great cath art particular moment in the climb axe of the movie that results in the bo of them sort of moving on to warmer climbs, a happier place in life and it doesnt have that totally. So it is a unique movie in that way. I think that it works because a combination of all the little elements, all the things that everyone contributeds. Yeah. I dont know. But you play a guy who is mostly closed off. Well, i guess im playing a guy who is i never thought of him that way. How did you think of him . I thought of him as somebody who had foot strong feelings inside of him that he had to sort of bottle them up or else they would be he would just fall apart. He suffered a loss in his life that is so great, the kind of thing that most people wouldnt want to survive. And he survived it. And how is he going to carry on. He tries to kill himself at one point. And then he decides to live. But he lives in a in such a way that he doesnt have to think ever about his past. And he is doing that because he wants to hes a very responsible person. And he wants to take care of his brother who is sick. His brother passes away. And he has to take care of his nephew who is now, has no one to take care of him. And you know, i think that he is there are many scenes in this movie where i sort of felt like it was almost too difficult to contain the emotion and because the nature of the part. You know, and but the film has a lot of restraint and keny shows great restraint in the way that he shot it. And in our conversations about how to portray the character, it was clear that he wanted he wanted to have the character to be a very, very emotional person ount of sadness and shame andus grief and just sort of overwhelming at different moments. But always to keep a very tight lid on it. And let it only out in little in a few moments of the movie to just sort of lift the lid off and show what is inside of the pot and close it back. And that might be one of the reasons that its so its so emotional watching it. I have saw it is he Sundance Film Festival and the new york film festival. I was surprised at the amount of people i would hear crying in the theater. You know, no one really wants it cry in a movie theater, oddably making noises. So you know if thats happening, they are, its not something theyre in control of. And that means it is a really Emotional Experience for them. And so i guess it worked in that way. Rose do you look at this role, this role and when you read it and then when you and lonergan were there on the set and when you see how it unfolded, do you say yes, this is why i am an actor. Yes, this is what i have been looking for. This is the kind of thing that makes me feel whole . Yes. I do. I say that when i read it. When i read it i thought this is what i want to do as an actor. These are the kind of roles you wait for. Its complicated. You know, part of an big part of an actors job is to show up on set that day with the appropriate feelings, you know. You are sort of the character is supposed to be having for the scenes of that day. Someone else has written all the words that you are going to say. Someone else has decided where the light is going to be in the room. You know, this is your job is to understand what you are saying and what you are feeling and why. In some cases. In some cases are you supposed to just sort of have some strong feelings and you dont have to understand them. So when i read that i thought this is an opportunity to play a lot of different things. And to do in a style that i really like which is kind of naturalistic. It doesnt its not telling you in every moment exactly what he is feeling but is he having those feelings inside. And also the dialogue is the character is very terse. He speaks to people, hes curt and so its a chance to feel all the fill all the silences and one word answers with a lot of feeling, as a is up element to the things that are in the script, as a way of saying this is also what is happening inside but you cant write on the page. So and to work with someone like keny lonergan who is just one of my favorites. You can count on me and margaret, two actual real Master Pieces in my opinion, movies have i watched over and over again. So everything about it was an opportunity i said yes to. Rose that is interesting. You watch him over and over and over again. Looking for different meanings in the film, looking for different nuances, looking for. All of that. Looking for just sometimes just watching, seeing what happens, letting it wash over you. There are things to discover in a script or in a movie that is done with care and with deptd that you dont find at the first viewing or first reading. I find that over and over again. If you can if you read something once and you read it again, you dont find anything else, it is an indication that you might never find anything else, you probably shouldnt do the movie. When i read, i still go back sometimes to plays that kenny has written and find these things. Even a play i was in, i thought oh wow, there was a whole different take on that scene, you know, i could have explored. Rose and how does he how did he make how did he help make this performance that he that came out of you . He liked actors, and is he very patient with actors. And i think he is open to them doing things their way and bringing whatever it is, their own experiences to bear on the parts, talking to them about their life, what here is a scene where a man finds, goes to the hospital and the doctor tells him his brother has passed away. So you know, what is your first what is your impulse about this moment what is your instinct here. How should this be played. Rose did he ask you that or. No, he asked me. I think he likes to help. He wants to bring it. Rose you go to the hospital and find out your brother is dead. And you find out later that hes left you with a certain responsibility. Right, yeah, yeah. So he says, so first you think okay, well, who is this guy, and what is he bringing from his past to this moment. This is a character who he lost his children some years ago. And so hes going to react in this moment very differently. Well, how differently. What does that do to someone if they are and i think he doesnt want to deal with anybodys anyones sympathy. It is a reminder of things from the past. He doesnt want to he doesnt like the way, to feel like people are he doesnt want to let anyone in. He controls the situation. He drives the conversations so that they dont go into an area that is too painful for him. So those are the conversations you start to have. Rose but it turns out this is the best thing ever happened to him, to have him give him an opportunity. Uhhuh. Rose to recover. Uhhuh. Rose from what had been a devastating occurrence in his life. Yeah. Rose this presentedded an opportunity on whether he saw that at the moment or not. He saw it as a kind of reluctant responsibility. Yeah. I think he saw it as something he was incapable of doing. Im not exapable of being a care taker. Im not kanl of taking care of someone else. Rose because of what happened to me. Because of what happened to mement i cant do it and have i to find another way of taking care of this kid. Someone else is going to have to do it. I cant talk to this kid, do all the things a parent has to do. But he stuck with it. And it does i guess it results in a positive change for him. Rose congratulations. Its tbreat to you have here it is great to vay conversation with you. Thank you. Rose this say remarkable film. Thank you for coming. Thanks for having me. Rose appreciate it. Kenneth lonergan is here, his new il film manchesterbythesea stars casey affleck, Michelle Williams and lucas hedges. Affleck plays lee chandler a man who returns to his hometown to look after his nephew following death of his older brother, called a beautiful plee textured drama. Manchesterbythesea has been named best film of the year by the National Board of review. Here is a look. I dont understand. Which part are you having trouble with. Well be i cant be his guardian. Well,. I mean i cant. Well, naturally, i assumed joe had discussed all this with you. No. He didnt. No. I have to say, im some what taken aback. He cant live with me, i live in one room. Well, joe has provided for patricks upkeep, food, clothes, et cetera, and a house and boat are owned outright. I cant commute from boston every day until he turns 18. Rose i think the idea was that you would relocate. Relocate to where, here . Rose as you can see, your brother worked out everything out extremely carefully. He cant have meant that. Im please todz have kenner Kenneth Lonergan back to the table, when you watch that, what do you see, what do your eyes see. Casey and just how lost he is and how surprised he is and how just all the turmoil inside of him. And also josh ham eu8 ton who plays the scene with him is one of the my best friends and been in many of my plays. I just lover actors. I just just the way, just all the Little Things that are happening moment to moment, you just cant take in what is happening and josh is it the allly throne because he thought it would be fairly routine. Thats the kind of thing that makes scenes work for me. And the costume design certificate a good friend of mine, saw the film early on and i keep saying caseys eyes. And the scene particularly, this is actually the first scene we shot, our first day of shooting this scene. And it was, i felt we were on to a really good start. Rose on your way. Offer to a good start, yeah, i thought. Rose every good director i know loves actors. I mean you can be a good director and not love actors . I think so. I think it depends on what your interest is. I dont know that hitchcock famously didnt seem to like he said he didnt, it is unclear whether he did or not. Rose and he was a good director. Standly cub rick thought actors a little less interested in delving into the deptds of the performance but very interested in human beings. So i think it just depends. But i think most directors are very interested in the actors, primarily. Rose what do you like about manchesterbythesea as a movie. I like the tremendous effort the characters are making to do the right thing by each other. Even though they are carrying this terrible emotional burden around. Caseys character is so striken by what has happened to him. And eases still every step of the way doesnt want to just take care of his nephew but take care of him properly. It doesnt he doesnt start out wanting to have a personal relationship with him. He just wants to get him set up, you know, the premise of the movie is that caseys brother dies and he is given guardianship of his nephew. Which he doesnt want. But that part is very obvious in the story. But what is not so obvious sometimes is how he refuses to just send the kid awayment like he could easily send him to relatives in minnesota. He could send him back to his mother who is very troubled and problematic but hes sticking it out as best he can despite the fact that he is under, in terrible dur res for what has happened to him earlier in the story. Rose take a look at this and we will come back. Here it is. Things are a little bit up in the air. Can i take care of it as far as the general maintenance but that mot certificate going to go at some point. There is no allotment for a w motor. Do you know someone who wants to buy . Wait a secretary, im not selling it. Were going to northbound boston anyway. What . Since when are we supposed to be in boston. Take it easy. Whatever you decide, hes going to bleed you dry sitting there. What are with kru doing. He can always stay with us if he wants to come up weekends. Do you want to be his guardian . Well. He doesnt want to be my guardian. We are already were trying to lose some kids at this point. Jesus christ. I know that. Hes welcome any time. I understand. I know, thank you. So when lee left manchester. Yeah. What was his state of mind. Devastated. I dont know how much of the story you want to giveaway on the show. Not too much. But he left town because of an unspeakable tragedy and his life is essentially destroyedment. And i think if it were up to him he would just go. But his brother is not well, he has con guess tiff Heart Failure which is a chronic deteriorating condition. And requires help taking care of his kid and just generally help. So generally needs help. So he goes about an hour and a half away so he can be on hand if he is needed. And he goes into a kind of monday as particular existence in quincy in a town south of boston. D its implied in the storye and in the screenplay that he comes back periodically when joe has to be hospitalized and he discusses, he comes back to take care of the kid when there is no one else to do it. So he has been in touch but he has detached himself completely from the family and town that he grew up in. What kind of stories do you like to tell . I like to tell stories about people who are dealing with things that are too big for them. Rose like grief. Grieve. Grieve, the weight of other peoples requirements, the fact that the world never does what you want it to do death. Other people, generally. Institutional deficits, deficits with lawyers, deficits with doctors. Deficits with the law. Deficits just getting through life. Sounds like would you like to be, your characters to be in trouble. Yeah, well, it makes for drama. And comedy, so z. Its a little hard to imagine enjoying a movie where we are sitting around happily for an hour and a half. This is 2016. Yeah. Last time was 2005 within yeah. You have been working on the theater in between. Yes. Well, the film margaret my last film wasnt really completed until 2012 because of diftds in procedural problems with the editing and the studio and all of that. But yes, so i did, i wrote and directed a play in 200 9d called the starry messenger that Matthew Broderick did. I wrote and directed a play called medieval play which i did at signature theater in 2011. And last year i wrote a play which neil pepe directed at the Atlanta Theater Company called hold on to me darling so i have been pretty busy in the theater and writing this and working up to a direct this. Is it your goal to simply continue to go back and forth between theater and fill snm. I dont see why not am i really like them both quite a bit. They are very different. Theyre very challenging. Theyre very rewarding. When it goes well, it is just really exciting and gratifying and great to sit with an audience and watch everyone kind of participate. Is it different for to you watch, sit alone in a Screening Room and see a film versus watching it with an audience . Yes, its completely different. You can feel their own. You feel what is happening with the audience. You also want immediately pretend youre in the audience and you have all these criticisms you didnt have before. And then when it goes well and you can feel that its going well you feel really good about it. You see it from other peoples point of view the moment they walk in the room. What is the most satisfying thing about directing films . I guess just when you feel like youve more or less successfully put all the elements together. Youve got the shots come out the way you want. Anything, there are so many ere is the cast. The music,dit, so whenever any of those elements come together and make the scene kind of sing, then thats really a good feeling. And when it doesnt sing . Then its very very upsetting. And you just kind of its a nagging feeling that you just have to fix it. And it doesnt ever quite go away. There are little there is ten minutes worth of little fixes i would still like to make in this movie but at some point. You have to let it go. You have to let it go because your improvements stop being improvements and you lose the thread and you got to stop. You lose the thread meaning what, that show you can just overdo it and. You yeah, like you say. That shot is too long, that, that is the wrong take, and then and its at some point you stop hearing, if it is a symphony it is like trying to fix it note by note instead of hearing the sound and writing down what you hear. Take a look at this, this is another scene, here it is with Michelle Williams as well. I dont have anything to say. Okay. Just i know you have been around and i thought. Just to get patrick setted in. It seems like hes doing pretty good, huh, considering. I think he is, yeah. I guess you dont know this but i i really kept in touch with joe. Yeah, i know. To see patrick. Oh, okay, i didnt know. Is you could see him if you want. Could he ever have lunch . You mean us, you and me . Yeah. Theyre great. You love it. I love them. I love them. Theyre just so great. Theyre so, i dont know how they do it, its incredible feeling. And incredible emotional life and it just looks like two real people having a really, really difficult discussion. What goes in your head when are you cutting that scene, there are two people in conversation its so complicated that you have to just do it by instinct in a way. Four or five takes on either side. You have two shots, its also two cameras going at the same time. And each, there is no performance issues. Sometimes you just will start with a certain take that you like and build from there. You get one place that starts it. And once you have had that in place you can but you some what have to feel your way through. My editor and i jennifer lame, this was not that hard of a scene to easyity because is the performances were so good on all the takes. But we wanted, you know, we wanted the editing to be up to the level of the perform anses. And i think you just follow the path of what is happening in the situation as best you can. For instance, you can we can see her say do you want to have lunch or not. And i think its very important to see it because you see her make that decision. You see her, her head turns up and you see, she kind of blurts it out. And then you must see his reaction because the wind goes out of it when he has this beautiful reaction. So those are two shots you want. You put them in the machine and then are you off and running a little bit. Yeah. Its just interesting wherever you put the camera changes the feeling of the conversation a little bit. Its amazing what you can do, how many different ways you can do it. In a way you cant do it, you have to follow some instinct and the other funny thing about editing is you are in the editing room and will you walk, you 3u9 together a few shots and then you both think we hld on to him too long there. And you have no idea why but everyone is in the room, will agree with that, that it feels right to cut a little sooner or a little later. And i dont know what that is. I dont know if it is akin to a musical sense mentally. I think its probably music and experience too. I guess so. Or a sense of i mean i dont think are you born with it, necessarily, although i have been you just knew how their instinctive sense was so strong. Yeah. And its so important, i mean i guess it is also where, what the story you know, maybe you could go back and say okay, this is the story of a girl who builds up to ask her exhusband to have lunch. And then after that happens, it becomes a story of a man who is talking to someone in a way he cant bear and he has to get out of the conversation. And the next shot it becomes a different i think there mus be a narrative in the editing that you dont think through intellectualablyly but that are you following as you are following the conversation between the two characters. He is so damaged that he is scared of reconciliation. He cant talk to her t is too painful. He has lost her, he lost everything. And he he cant hes he is barely getting through the day just talking to other people and shes shes at the center of his distress. And shes she is not they still care for each other but the relationship is over. Do you ever want to make a comedy . Yeah, i would like to make a comedy. This movie has a lot believe it or not there are a lot of laughs in it. And i like humor just as much as anything else. And i like to put humor in everything i do. You know, that scene we just saw is pretty mel an alcohollee but there is quite a lot of humaner in the movie. Casey is funny, lucas is funny, cj wilson say wonderful actor. Keny never writes without some humor, hes funny. He sees the human situations, it doesnt undermine the drama it might make the tragedy felt even more. I think so. I hope so. I think you know, my goal, my goal is to have it seem like it could be real, or that it is real. And if its going to feel real it will have humaner in it. Very strange places. There are no jokes and they are pretty grim but i find in ordinary life anyway they dont last for long and they dont extend, you know, you and i might be in a no joke zone but someone backstage is not in the same zone. Much success to you. Thank you so much. Stuch a pleasure to be here. Manchesterbythesea is the film. In 1928 former journalist turned playwright ben hecht and charles mcar thawr wrote the acclaimed play the front page. A comedy follows a group of crime reporters in the press room of the chicago criminal courts building. Tennessee williams wrote that the play uncorseted the american theatre with earthy, twofisted vy tallity. The front page has been revived on stage and adapted to film numerous times since its 19d 28 debut, including the hit 1940 comedy his girl friday. The latest revival play is currently in previews at the broadhearst theater am im very pleased to have the director of the revival jack obrien and two members of its allstar cast, john goodman and nathan lane. What is it about the front page we have so many revivals. I mean what is the enduring. Well, the odd thing is, i dont think we have had i guess we have had a lot of revivals but its huge. It is like 27 people. Yes, i know. A lot of people. So you cant afford to do that play any more. Unless you get somebody like scott rudin or an institutional theater to do it. But there is oddly enough, its i dont think there has ever been anything before like it and there has never been anything after like it. Rose it meaning what . Its this cur whys combination of reality, these guys listened. They based the play on a lot of people they knew, disinlts that they lived through. Of their life. There were even lawsuits about it when it was originally done. But it just its the structure of it. The comedy. The veracity of it, the politics of it. It is a grab bag of everything that weve ever been to each other, know about, and still have not gotten over. What would you say, john. Its a Great American play that could have only been written here at that particular time when things were popping all over the place. And it covers a wide range of topics. But it does so with the human characters. Is never i havent done a style like this since i was at college doing restoration piece. Its different from anything i had ever done and im so glad i was asked on board because its a challenge. Its a challenge nightly for me. But its so much damn fun. Rose nathan . You know, most People Associated this with his girl friday which was a great idea by howard hawks to make Hilde Johnson a woman. And they created sort of the first screw ball comedy. But the play is not screw ball comedy. Its dark comedy mixed with mel o drama that show by the third act, spins into the edge of fares. And so its highly unusual because it was put together by jet harris, who was the producer and got the manu script gave it to george s kaufman, one of the great men of theater, director and writer and said fix this. So it las this very authentic feel because they came from that world. And it also has the hand of george kaufman, you know, it is a three act play structure and its very much in the tradition of his plays which has the first act is set up. The second act is complications and things start getting really funny and the third act is hilarious and everything you have seen pays off in a delightful and satisfying way. But it is interesting for an audience today that you know the best thing you can tell someone about a play is that it is 9d 0 minutes with no intermission. And they are thrilled. They dont care what its bment you mean im in and out and can i tell people i saw it. Tell people have i written and this is this is asking people to have a little patience. And its worth its worth it by the end because these guys knew what they were doing. And it is as john said t is the most fun ive had in a long time but it is it is technically a hard play to do. It is demanding. What does this say about people who are attracted to journalism and this kind of reporting . Well, im sure like to kill a mocking bird it lead people into the law. It lead a lot of people. To journalism, wanted topeople. Become a journalist because it was sort of i mean you know t was the first play that it is profain and people considered it vulgar. In 1928 to have a woman, a prostitute walk on stage and say ive been looking for you bas tards was unbelievable. It was shocking. You say directing him is is like its not directing t is a creative partnership. Yes, thats true. Is it true with all the actors, same is true with john or is it because you and nathan have done so much together. No, i think these are people at the very, very top of their craft. And you know, when you start out, you sort of feel your way. But like anybody, you know, you get to work with really good people. You suddenly push them out and see what they do. And then basically what you are, is their first audience. You listen them, you try to edit. You try to reflect. But you dont give them anything because theyre pouring it at you will all the time. Who is steve hartman. Sheriff hartman is he is beat hartman who in reality was peter b hoffman who threatened legal action when the play opened. He was sheriff of cook county under the administration of william hail, big Bill Thompson whose sole contribution was the phrase keep king george out of chicago. So true. Yeah, it is a lot of trophieding. Of back slapping chicago version of a good old boy. Not quite the imrietest bull be in the dressing room mir rover mirror. I wanted to see how stupid i could make him and still breathe. Which is not a good approach to anything. By you stuck with it. Ing in ever gained by playing things down. But hes in peril within and walter burns comes in the second act. Walter burns is such a tremendous character and it is sort of the relationship in the play. This bromance and father son relationship he has with Hilde Johnson his star reporter. Its based on walter howie who is a familiar us editor in chicago. He did some of this stuff to charles mcarthur, he gave him his watch and had him arrested for steeling it. And you know theres was an escape convict, based loosely on. But he fation fum us for telling men not to get so involved with women because it would distrack them from the story getting their work done and he also apparent leigh the legend goes that he got drunk one night and fell on what they called a copy spike and fell out his eye so he had a glass eye and ben hecht said could you tell which one was the glass eye, it was the warmer one. They say he dressed very well, he looked like a very successful local merchant and had a purring voice but that disguised the monster under feet. Great comedy is always about something certificate quus. Well, yes, i would agree with that. It has to be played that way. Certainly. I mean its got to be played and usually yes, and usually what, john . To take the comedy as seriously as a heart attack. Its lifeanddeath situations and thats what this is, certainly am and yes this play, if you you really have to there is no being relaxed about this play. Its the music and the music is very difficult. Its overlapping dialogue, its it demands a kind of precision and accuracy and vocal stamina and what you need to be heard and what doesnt need to be heard. And it never, its relentless there is only a couple of places where the play relaxes just for a minute or two and then it is a speeding train its unusual finding the place where one can breathe and relax to set up what is coming. You cant mound a play like this today but we just did. You just did because you had the reputation. We had the people, the right people within the reputation brought the people and the people brought the audience. Yeah, its thrilling. If you disn have a front page to attract them. Although i said somebody could write something fantastic and could you know t read it and say yes, i want in on this. But you need a lot of things as you just said, how difficult it is to take all of these actors and put them on broadway in a commercial project. But the great thing for me was watching this group of men and women watch each other act. It is such a such a joy and pleasure. And i get to do it nightly. Jefferson maiz is astounding. Hilarious. And brilliant it is i mean thats the joy of it. Its like putting together very quickly a Repertory Company and people reveling in, you know, its not about who has the biggest part, its getting to watch all these people work and interact with them. And the joy of doing that in a play like this. You dont have a national theater. We have never been allowed to have one because we dont support that in the arts here. Other stations do and so every once in a while a clar oncalm goes out where people think gee, i would like to have a little of that. Have i had a couple of those in my career. Both of you say this is why i got into this, life. Because of things like this. Yeah. An all the satisfaction can i feel. I took the amtrak from 1975 this is me on my wildest dreams, yeah. But just to we dont have a bad penny in the bunch and to watch him the men and women every night is just beautiful. I get very, very lucky especially in the theater where, whether it is the iceman comest or doing the nance, a new play, and the excitement of that. Or being able what is better than doing the front page with a company like this an old friends on broadway and people laughing their heads off. And getting for me, for meerks you know why i wanted to do the play, because i wanted to say one of the most famous curtain lines of all time. I wanted to say the son of stole my watch. Thats all. I mean that was it i mean i knew the play was good but i wanted to be the guy without got to sit on a desk on a phone like this and say the son of stole my watch. Black op. That is what life is all about. To have those moments currently in previews at the broad hearst Theater Opening october 209 and will run until january 29th. Thank you for coming. Loved being here. Thank you, john. Thank you, nathan. Thank you, charlie. For me about this program and earlier episodes, join us online at pbs. Org and charlie rose. Com. Captioning sponsored by Rose Communications captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org rose funding for charlie rose has been provided by and by bloomberg, a provider of multimedia news and Information Services worldwide. Youre watching pbs. Man its like holy mother of comfort food. Ion. Kastner throw it down. Its noodle crack. Patel you have to be ready for the heart attack on a platter. Crowell okay, im the bacon guy. Man oh, i just did a jig every time i dipped into it. Man 2 it just completely blew my mind. Woman it felt like i had a mouthful of raw vegetables and dry dough. Sbrocco oh, please. I want the Dessert First [ laughs ] i told him he had to wait