Gus Van Sant Talks About The Feud And His Show On G.I. Joe Passes On Matt Damon – The Hollywood Reporter

Over the course of his 40-year career, Gus Van Sant has acquired a certain edge: independent provocateur, Palme d’Or-winning filmmaker, and “the nicest man in Hollywood,” according to the late Robin Williams.

A label that has always eluded the 71-year-old director, despite his line of work, is Angeleno. Van Sant built one of the most eclectic resumes in modern cinema while living in Oregon, his chosen home state until a few years ago. “There were a lot of water problems toward the end — tsunami years at the beach house, floods on the river in Portland,” he says, now safe more than 700 feet above sea level in his modest mid-century home in the Hollywood Hills. . He now calls it his primary residence. “Finally, I just sold everything and never went back.”

Van Sant’s artistic choices, not unlike his decades as an outsider to Hollywood, defy most conventional paths. After attracting the attention of studios and audiences by writing and directing low-budget films (Cowboy Pharmacy, My Idaho), became a popular acting director – driving Nicole Kidman’s career-boosting car, To die forand the 1997 hit Goodwill fishingthe latter of which earned him his first Academy Award nomination for directing (the second was for… Milk) – just to fool the critics with a remake of an Alfred Hitchcock film mental patient And a trilogy of unwritten features. So, while it may surprise some to hear that Van Sant’s most recent work is as a house manager and executive producer on a Ryan Murphy miniseries, that probably won’t be the case.

Cabot vs. Swanswhich releases January 31 on FX and Hulu, is Murphy’s second release runner Commercial franchise. A rare television foray for Van Sant — who spent a six-year break from movies working mostly on his other main goal, painting — the film recounts, taking many liberties, how a short story derailed writer Truman Capote’s warm relationship with feminine power. Manhattan society brokers in the 1970s. “There wasn’t much when I signed up,” says Van Sant, reclining on a living room sofa covered in old Pendleton blankets, an homage to the Oregonian who also serves as fur keeper for Burroughs and Leo, the Australian shepherds he was with. He shares his home. “Then there were scripts and Naomi Watts was on board and Ryan was casting all these people. It’s a fun way to work.”

I’ve read that the writing part of filmmaking, at least recently, is your favorite part of the job. What would it take to make you say yes to a directing gig?

For me writing And The steering is the most exciting. You control everything. You decide what happens. But I’ve written a lot of written material for other people, and those jobs tend to be the most successful. (He laughs.)

So why is this?

I was at dinner withrunner showrunner) John Robin Baetz. He was discussing things he was working on, one of which was with Ryan Murphy. When I watched Ryan’s work, I always thought they had their own set of directors that they hardly ever used. Then I thought: “I wonder if they will let someone from the outside guide them?” When John told me it was about Capote and the Swans—a period of history I was familiar with, and I remember reading that article that got him in trouble—my question turned to asking if he would let me direct. I wanted to direct all eight films, and they decided that I would direct six films instead.

Why not do all eight?

People tend to avoid doing that many episodes, and now I realize why. You’re stressing yourself out. We were stuck to a schedule that was really tough. So, six was exhausting.

You and Ryan have very different styles. How would you describe the collaboration – did you have carte blanche to create the aesthetic?

I thought Ryan was going to be on set, but he wasn’t, and there was no agreement about it. “I’ll just take care of the flowers,” he said. He had a spotter from his camp who kept all his lists of backstage ideas and requests, but he only came to the set for one day.

During promotions for Goodwill fishingRobin Williams has referred to you as “the nicest man in Hollywood.” How could a director gain such a reputation?

I don’t think I’m mellow. I just think and work silently and figure out what’s happening in the scene. I think that’s when Ryan visited runner“He wondered why he was so quiet. Film sets are known to be loud, but if they’re working properly, they’re quiet so the actors can do what they’re doing. I’m not one to give explanations that aren’t asked for. I trust the actors’ instincts.”

What are Robin’s instincts?

Robin had a lot of ideas. His only problem was that he wanted to do too many takes – slow, fast, funny, funny fast, funny slow. …He knew that in editing they needed this kind of thing. But if I get a good one, I try to stop. He would get me to seven or eight by simply begging, “Please, please? One more time? One more time?”

If Gus Van Sant’s regular set was quiet, which one of yours was the loudest?

this. Robin was just telling jokes. David Cronenberg came in one day and said, “Oh my God, it’s really noisy in here.” So, I’ll let it get louder. It’s just that I’m not the one making the noise.

I was one of the many directors who threw their hat in the ring for Fifty Shades of Grey Adapt to the feature and you submit something you photographed. what does that mean?

It was one of the sex scenes. I thought it was a way to get the author (L. James) to see my enthusiasm. It’s difficult, in the escalation phase, to make people understand where you’re going if you’re actually making the film. Some people make sizzle reels. Maybe this was the way to go. But Alex Pettyfer really wanted to do it, so I thought, “We could just do a scene.” And we did it. We showed them.

Who was his partner in the scene?

I forgot her name. Ugh! She was in Nip/tuck, I suspect. She’s done some good work.

Are there jobs or projects you didn’t get that you’re still thinking about?

No, but there are projects that many different directors have tried to adapt. Those types, they’re tempting, if only because they seem like they’re not over yet. (Patrick Susskind) Perfume It is an elusive piece. Master and Margaritathe Russian novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, wasn’t done – but Baz Luhrmann was trying.

What are some strange offers you’ve received?

after Cowboy Pharmacy, which was my first really visual film, I started getting these offers from studios because the film had Matt Dillon in a role that he’d never done before. They were trying to make GI Joe In approximately 1990. At the time, the movie was a quote-unquote action movie, so the directors were getting paid 10 times that amount. They had a script, and they wanted me to direct it. But it wasn’t that they wanted me as much as they wanted me to attract actors like Matt to these films. They needed big actors, but the actors didn’t want to be involved in weird action movies. They’re still weird, but they’ll do it now because there are no other options.

I’ve broken down the backstory of the remake shot for shot mental patient On a podcast a few years ago. It sounds like you were about to call the studio trick when you asked to do this. Is this really what happened?

This was during the period they were remaking it Flintstones And The Addams Family -All these things. As Paramount wanted to do Seconds, a Rock Hudson movie, but putting Brad Pitt in it. During those years, Universal would open up the library to me, and I’d say, “If you want the story to be the same, just with a modern cast, just remake the movie like a Xerox. Maybe that’ll make money.” They thought this was the silliest idea they had ever heard. but when Goodwill hunting He was nominated for an Oscar, and they started preparing all new deals. You know, so they can go to other executives and say they have your next shot. I said to my agent: “Tell them to remake the movie mental patient. Don’t change anything. Copy the film and make it in color, with a new cast. They’ll know what I’m talking about.” The message read: “We think this is a great idea.”

When did it get serious for you?

When they said yes. (He laughs.) Then I had to decide if I actually wanted to go through with it. But I had legitimate curiosity, so I did it. The critics killed me.

Has there been a critique or review over the years that you disagreed with very much?

Like with TitanicWhen did James Cameron want a journalist to rewrite his review? Nothing like that. Sometimes it’s unfortunate. on Search for Forresterthe critic looked in New York times, Stephen Holden, was just having a bad week. “This is 100 percent bullshit,” he was saying. That’s what he said! (Holden referred to the film as “100 percent phony.”) The film did not perform as well as it could have. It did well, but it didn’t get respect, because I think that review set a certain tone.

Do you think you have been in cinema prison before?

Not prison, but I’m a wild card because the stuff I made is just all over the place. It’s not like David Fincher’s movies, where it’s always this certain level of quality. Real movie prison loses so much money that you won’t get any money for your next movie. Now they have computers, and computers have a number for you. I have my ups and downs, but most of my films don’t cost a lot of money. I always feel like I’m being watched.

You released Elephant in 2003, a few years before it was revealed that one of your collaborators, JT Leroy, was a sham—Laura Albert writing as a gay man and sending her friend out into the world to pretend to be JT. Did you have any idea at the time?

No, I just believed them. We chose JT’s first book (pleasant) for about $1,000 and were developing a script. A year later, friendships were made with Madonna, Bono, Lou Reed, all these people. He was busy…or rather, she was busy. I was legitimately surprised when the whole thing came to light. JT lived with Carrie Fisher for a week, and Carrie called me when it all happened. We’d say: “It can’t be Laura writing that stuff – we knew her as ‘fast’ – no, she’s stupid!”

There’s a lot of dialogue now about who gets to play what. Do you think Sean Penn could portray Harvey Milk if you did it? Milk today?

That would be different, wouldn’t it? I really don’t know. There were a number of straight actors, like Tom Hanks Philadelphia – To win an Oscar for a gay role. But we were about to get… not so good.

I’ve worked with a lot of talent over the years, just as they were about to become household names. Who is the person you can say is going to make it big?

When I first met Matt Damon, that wasn’t the case Goodwill huntingit was for To die for. He auditioned for Jimmy (the role that eventually went to Joaquin Phoenix), who was supposed to be 16 years old. Matt may have been 24 and really trying to get the role, but he was all-American — and too well-adjusted to believe that Nicole could be seduced by the character as a means to kill her husband. But after the first reading, (late producer) Laura Ziskin turned to me after he passed and said, “This is a movie star.” I was like, “Really?” (He laughs.) I can’t name things like that.

This story first appeared in the January 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to subscribe.