So, you shot “Tully” and “The Front Runner” back-to-back, then?
Not literally back-to-back, but it sure felt like that. There was a point where both films were in the Avid at the same time, and there are actually shots from “Tully” in “The Front Runner.”
Oh, wow.
The big scene where Hugh Jackman is confronted with three journalists from the Miami Herald? After that, there’s this montage in which we see people waking up in the middle of the night, reacting to the news, getting on planes, etc. And we needed the shot of a lamp turning on to imply that someone was waking up. And we didn’t have it, but my editor, Stefan Grube, suddenly went, “Oh, you know, we just made a movie where it was a woman waking up in the middle of the night over and over [laughter].” Like that was literally the entire movie. And we just took one of the shots, put it in, and no one seems to have ever noticed.
Nice. The beauty of filmmaking, right?
I figure if Michael Bay can do it, I can do it [laughs].
What are some of your other cinematic influences that have shaped your filmmaking career?
The first time I saw “Dr. Strangelove” was a life-changing moment. There were all these great ’90s films that really changed my mind, like Linklater‘s “Slacker” and, obviously, “Reservoir Dogs” and seeing PTA‘s (Paul Thomas Anderson‘s) films. These are moments where I really realized I wanted to be a filmmaker. Alexander Payne. Seeing “Citizen Ruth” and seeing “Election.” But it keeps on changing. If you ask me now, it would be, probably, “Shampoo” or “Carnal Knowledge” or “Downhill Racer” or, I don’t know, ‘Ferris Bueller.’ And it’s all a mix, right?
What are your favorite films?
My favorite film is “Edward Scissorhands.”
Oh, that’s a great one.
I’m all over the place, too. I love Peter Jackson. Jim Jarmusch. I love Richard Linklater.
Linklater may be the most undervalued genius of our time. Like if you think about what he’s contributed with “Slacker,” with ‘Dazed,’ with the ‘Before‘ series, with “Boyhood,” with his animated films. So many different things. And [he’s] so important to so many different filmmakers. If he had just made the ‘Before’ series alone, that would be a career.
Oh, yeah. Totally.
Then to top that off with “Slacker,” the film that convinces so many independent filmmakers to actually try filmmaking. “Dazed and Confused,” perhaps [among the] top three high school movies of all time. Even the baseball movie, the one that no one ever even saw. “Everybody Wants Some!!” is absolutely brilliant. He just has such a specific voice of his own. He’s a guy who should be celebrated all the time.
The ensemble in “The Front Runner” is phenomenal and people you’ve worked with a bunch of times. What’s the approach, familiar, switch it up?
This is my ninth time working with J.K. Simmons [laughter]. He is clearly my muse. Vera [Farmiga] is absolutely brilliant. I don’t think you’re going to find a more fierce and nuanced actress. It’s interesting because if you look at “The Front Runner” and “Up in the Air,” Vera plays two sides of an affair. And she does it in a way that only she can, without judging the character. In a quiet fierceness; the nuance you just never expect in this role.
Do you plan on working with Charlize [Theron] again?
Oh my god, in a heartbeat. She and I are constantly looking for something to do together again. She’s literally just one of the greats. And I’ve been very lucky since the beginning of my career that actors that I admire say yes, starting with Robert Duvall on “Thank You for Smoking.” And then Clooney and Winslet and Charlize and now Hugh [Jackman]. Hugh is a movie star like no other. His decency is only somehow beat by his work ethic. And watching him do what he did in this film was a great privilege. It’s not like anything he’s ever done in his career. And frankly, I don’t know how he did it.
I was thinking the exact same thing. I think once the “Wolverine” franchise ended, he’s had an opportunity to branch out a lot and explore new roles.
Yeah. And Hugh’s the actor who reaches out from the screen and grabs the audience by the wrist and pulls them in no matter what, whether he’s P.T. Barnum or Logan. But he did something totally different [with this]. This is a really tricky role because, obviously, if the movie is a litmus test for what we believe is relevant and what flaws we’re willing to put up with in our leaders, there is this instinct to judge that character. And how do we judge it? How do we judge Gary Hart? He knew that would be the challenge of the role. And he found a way to play it where literally half the audience feels one thing, and half the audience feels another. And the audience will get into an argument after on how they feel about Gary Hart.
On top of all the research, on top of learning the accent, on top of learning everything about 1980s politics so that he could just go off-book and do press conferences and make speeches and, it’s one of the more remarkable things I’ve ever watched an actor do to play an enigma that we desperately want to understand. And he’s just leading us right up to the crack in the door but not totally letting us in. And you see that in Wolverine, right, because there’s no reason to like Wolverine, but we love Wolverine. It’s like one of those impossible things to play.
You directed a couple episodes of “The Office” and “Casual.” What’s your experience like in directing television compared to a feature film or a documentary?
I would say that the great difference is that movies are about endings. It’s the moment where the director shoves you out the back of the theater, and you are forced to reckon with your life through the lens of the movie you just watched. Television isn’t that way. Television is this continuing relationship with the characters. We return to it like a friendship. I’m about to start a new show with Diablo [Cody], and I’m excited to see how this writing and directing marriage that I have with Diablo Cody translates to television.
Wow. That’s fantastic. Are you allowed to disclose any details?
It’s on HBO with David Spade, and I’m not going to say much more than that, but the idea is fantastic. And I’m really excited. I can’t wait.
Congrats. Any other exciting projects on the horizon?
I had two movies come out this year [laughs]. What I’d like is to take a breath and see what’s gonna be next.
“The Front Runner” opens wide today, November 21, 2018.