2007CELEBRITIES
HRN-1485
Toronto / Michael Clayton Press Conference
A01. HRN-1485
In: 00.00.01 Out: 00.00.59
B-Roll: Wide shot of stage introducing panel
A02. HRN-1485
In: 00.00.58 Out: 00.02.06
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy –
When I think ideologically I think Democrat republican social democrat I mean it’s not a we were just talking about this it’s not just a blue state red state political issue it’s a nobody’s really there isn’t really a political constituency for poisoning your children I mean that sort of runs across it seems to me more of a moral film not an ideological film the issues to me in the film are moral the moral choices characters are making they are not a they are not ideological
A03. HRN-1485
In: 00.02.20 Out: 00.02.56
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney –
Tony - I don’t know if it’s a it’s very easy to be ghettoized in America to say that your making a political movie we’ve had political movies we haven’t had enough of them this just doesn’t happen to be the case here it’s not the issue in this particular film it will be interesting to see how it is perceived if we get people try to box us in I don’t know
George – then you’d just start saying it’s a political film
Tony – exactly it’s a political film
George – and if they start laughing it’s a comedy
A04. HRN-1485
In: 00.02.55 Out: 00.03.28
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney –
Tony – The questions are different the questions have always been last week were very much about corporations and globalization and trying to put some sort of metaphoric a overview of the picture and I think those are legitimate questions I think Europe is the rest of the world is trying very hard to figure out what America is right now and who we’ve become so those are natural questions here I think here there’s it’ll be more character oriented
A05. HRN-1485
In: 00.03.41 Out: 00.06.32
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – you take it you start
Tilda – Coward, I don’t think it’s a film that’s neccisarily about laywers or about America as I speak as an Alien here I think it would be an insult to the film to say that it was I think it’s about human being perpetuated inhuman acts and I think it’s too sophisticated a film to suggest any answers but sophisticated enough to ask a very simple very um pressing question which is how is it inhuman acts and we know what these are we read about it hear about them see them being perpetuated every hour of every day um are perpetuated by love their wives and mothers and pat their dogs and um you know can laugh at jokes it’s a question and it’s a human question that could a excersise any one of us whether we were a chemical operation or a bakery or even in the film industry
George – Yeah I think that’s right you can take these characters and this story and take it into a medical drama or you can put it in a government drama I mean this is about flawed individuals one of whom sort of comes to realization that he’s looking for redemption which is always sort of interesting and decisions that are made based on your you know your own sort of self interest then at what point you keep moving that line of morality forward and I think that that’s always interesting story telling you know we’ve done it for years these kind of films and the reason we do them is because we are we do suspect corporate America and with good reason there have been some you know between R.J. Reynolds and certain a couple of places they done some pretty shady things and it requires a whistle blower along the way and we do suspect sort of trick problems some times in law firms all of those things are very real so I think that’s why it sort of resonated with me (talks) no this simply was a you got to remember this here’s a funny thing about everything sort of a weight gets put on it because of what happens with the film the truth of the matter is it ‘s really hard to find a good script in Hollywood you’d think that would be easy but it isn’t this is a great script and um you read the script and go this movie has got to be made what it talks about of course but it’s great characters it’s well crafted script and it should be made into a movie they’re not easy to get made you know in this day and age um first and foremost we wanted to get this film made to
A06. HRN-1485
In: 00.06.47 Out: 00.07.56
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – the love scene with Tilda
Tilda – so sweet so sweet
George – it was so so good
Tilda – So tender
Tony – it will be on the DVD
George – the rehersals those she’d knock on my trailer she’d come in let’s rehearse the love scene again
Tilda – for a price later
George – listen forst of all you love watching really good actors at their best you know I love watching um Tilda in a bathroom stall sort of falling apart always you know which I saw yesterday for a whole other reason no there’s something really beautiful about watching characters who are seemingly in control really not in control and learning a lot about them I love watching tom in the scene in the alley because he’s so simple and so good those are the scenes that touch me I love watching you know really to say something else people don’t talk enough about Sidney Pollack is a really good actor a really good actor I love him just saying you’re an asshole just like kills me really good can’t say that on T.V.
A07. HRN-1485
In: 00.08.01 Out: 00.02.26
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
A08. HRN-1485
In: 00.08.21 Out: 00.09.42
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – Listen I grew up in a family of my mother was a mayor my father ran for congress I’ve always been involved politically and socially in issues those always weigh on another part of my life it didn’t really inform much of what I was doing because this part is you know Tony wont want to really talk about things that he showed me before we started but there’s you know there actual law document actual law inter office memos that say between other if you recall this it’s gonna cost you 300 million dollars or if you don’t it will kill 300 people a year and a class action suit will cost 300 thousand and you’ll save this many people’s lives those were real documents that were past around and those documents to me were they informed me how I would play the part because you could justify it by saying you can lay off 30 thousand people and maybe a few people die from that so you justify it it’s all little incremental things but not you know that’s a whole other side of my life that I think is important it didn’t inform how I played the part
A09. HRN-1485
In: 00.08.55 Out: 00.10.26
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – you’ll have to tell me
George – Yeah what happened (talks)
Tilda – your blowing it dude right now (talks) just wait have patience
George – I have patience
Tilda – it’s coming
George – ok, now I know to look out
A10. HRN-1485
In: 00.10.44 Out: 00.11.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – ok I’ll do that’s good fun for me, um no I didn’t tweak anything Tony wrote a great part you know I’ve done just in the last 8 films I’ve been paid for 2 so it’s not like you do the movie’s you do the rest of them you do for as little as possible because you want to get the movies made it’s not like your gonna get rich off the good German or good night and good luck Syriana you do them because you want to get the movies made um it’s ok I do alright you know I’m doing fine but no it doesn’t allow me any leeway with him trust me he may be a first time director but he’s an adult and there was no me manipulating him I promise you that I tried
A11. HRN-1485
In: 00.11.53 Out: 00.14.03
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – he’s George Clooney he’s the a you know
George - 800 lb gorilla is that what your trying to say
Tony – hundred and yeah I mean he was the way he was the way the movie got made he was the principle partner in the film he’s the reason the film is getting made I mean who’s gonna argue with him there’s no one to argue with him past that point um I mean if there’s a fundamental conversation about how the film is going to go or something about how it’s going to be sold I mean he’s gonna have to be the person that I’m on the same page with so he was the security blanket for this film all the way through and and protecting the script and protecting the and quite honestly stealing my nerves sometimes to you know to remind me to remind me how cool and important what we were doing was and then finally being here right now and selling the film you know your not all here if George isn’t here he’s protecting me now I mean your seeing it right in front of you so and always
George – and also I think it’s important to point out and you guys know this sometimes it gets lost in the translation executive producer of the film is not producing the film those two produce the film they do the work they get the money they put the money together they actually day in and day out produce the film which is why if the film wins an Oscar the producer gets an Oscar the executive producers job is to look out for you know to help knock your way through road blocks so all my job was to do was whatever their vision was the film makers vision was to make sure that it gets realized whatever way possible that’s not very difficult when you have very smart people that’s their they did that not me (talks)
? – well not all executive producers are created equally and having George Clooney makes the producers job so much easier
? – George was an insurance policy for all of us in many ways
George – yes that’s me an insurance policy term life
A12. HRN-1485
In: 00.14.20 Out: 00.15.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – I don’t like symbolism with a big S I’m afraid like it’s it’s your catching someone at a lower than low point when he arrives at that field he’s you know in your normal film the hero drives along and they see redemption then they pull over this is someone whos gone way way past that exit and if you live in an unnatural world if your world has become completely unnatural which his life had it’s sort of like walking into church isn’t it you see something that’s really natural I think he sort of a I think he’s stunned to see something that reminds him that he’s a biological being almost sometime I mean it’s a very powerful in that way how we got the horses to stay still is a secret that we will not be sharing other films will steal our very elaborate technique no horses were even no horses were amused during that shooting for the film
George – it involved a staple gun oh take it easy
A13. HRN-1485
In: 00.15.39 Out: 00.15.56
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – about a girl
George – good good for you next question (talks) what the fucks wrong with you dude when have I ever answered a personal question in my life enjoy yourself have a nice day
A14. HRN-1485
In: 00.16.12 Out: 00.16.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – the truth is I’ve never had a designer I’ve never people ask me what I’m wearing on the carpet I say a suit you know it’s not my style you know it usually comes down to the brilliant wardrobe people and we’ve had brilliant wardrobe people along you know
A15. HRN-1485
In: 00.16.40 Out: 00.18.23
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – you know the big difference if I’ve been a writer sitting in a room for 20 years you know and every now and then they let me out and I go and watch and listen but it’s when you’re a writer your alone your by yourself and you don’t have anybody to help you out your really alone and the experience of making a film as director is completely the opposite all anybody wants to do is help you help you to death and and and if your smart enough to a get the right people helping you it’s a very very different experience I really enjoy getting out of my room let’s put it that way
George – what was it like working with him
Tilda – Tony not a first time film maker he’s been a film maker for many many years and he’s just directed this film for the first time and it feels to me and having heard him speak about how he writes that his screen plays are just evidence of the film he sees in his head so he’s been a director you know in the closet for a long time
George – it was also edited you know like good film makers I’ve woreked the best I’ve worked with Soderbergh the Coehn Brothers it was edited in his head and on paper in many ways before we started he had a lot of time to prep so it was a really you know it wasn’t this indulgent thing either a first time director who’s collecting a bunch of footage then bringing into an editing room and saying lets find a movie this is a movie that was so well prepared it was so well done from the very beginning it was like working with an old pro not old but you know
A16. HRN-1485
In: 00.18.30 Out: 00.21.53
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – As prepared as I was and as much prep as we did for this film that was the one thing that was open that was an open question as we got filming people kept people started coming asking me everyday what are we gonna do what are we gonna do and I didn’t have it we were in midtown and we were gonn shhot in New York we were filming at the Hilton and we were in that area and I thought really something I’m gonna get an idea here something somewhere I knew George had to be alone I didn’t know how alone I didn’t know how to do it I wanted something clichéd on the street we kept looking searching we tried a couple things we tried walking up the street a long lens shot it was really cliché honest to god I went home in the middle of shooting we had two days off at one point on the DVD this will be an obscure but the piano teacher I watched the ending of the piano teacher and he’s so incredibly odd and I thought we need something that’s that powerful and alone the cabs outside and we tried it once we tried it once as almost as a sketch it’s a complicated shot to do as sketch we tried it went back and looked at it and go wo this could really work we have to do it a different way and then we had to it was a very complicated shot to do for no money in New York City it’s a really really good police cooperation that again we only would’ve had because of George because the cops want to hang out with George and drive around the thing and put the siren on and they know George is in the cab so they’ll do it so we really caught a break and we did it a couple times it was really hard logistically do but that was a very late gamble
George – it’s also that thing that you like it’s sort of at the end of the like the graduate and after they finished and you have the ending and then you sit in the back of the bus and watch happily ever after and you watch sort of that ahh moment that I love seeing what happens after the climax
Tony – there’s one more thing I want to say about it because it’s too cool not to mention we’re sitting we’re sitting in the police car at front and George is in the cab alone obviously behind us we had this very static image that we’re trying to watch to try and check the camera Robert Ellis and I and we did it kind times and things were messed up because of traffic was messed up or the car didn’t move but on one I’m watching George and it’s pretty fasinating to watch and we’re there reloading the camera in the back and I said what the hell are you doing like what are you doing and he said I’m re-writing the movie in my head and I think if you watch the credits if you watch it that way it’s he’s playing the whole movie in his face it’s great theres an amazing piece of acting (talks) you know what I had lunch with mike Nichols I got to meet Mike Nichols like three months after we finished shooting Soderburgh set up lunch so I go meet Mike Nichols so we’re sitting down we’re having lunch I go look so I completely ripped you off from the Graduate and he said I completely ripped off Cream Christina don’t worry about it he said grand tradition he also mentioned a long good Friday you can go on and on there’s a lot of films that have that so I’m fully aware
George – if your gonna rip it off rip off the good yeah I send apology letters to directors every once in a while
A17. HRN-1485
In: 00.22.06 Out: 00.22.58
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – well there are 5 or 6 Lawyers in the world named Michael Clayton that I’ve had a little I’ve had letters from there not thrilled so I’ll be facing some sort of charges um what do you think
Tilda – I am the person on this panal that has had the least to do with this world I had no idea that it existed they had to really convince me that it wasn’t all a huge practical joke and a and we went to places like going to a zooalogical garden and look through glass doors and saw yeah yeah there’s someone in a suit like that yeah they do exist apparently they dress like that apparently they talk like that but I don’t so apparently as far as I’m concerned I’ve never been sued so I don’t know these people
George – you haven’t been enjoy
A18. HRN-1485
In: 00.14.20 Out: 00.23.23
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tilda – um about my character um dress sense maybe um I prepared for the role honestly by reading the script and turning up it was that simple um I ate a lot of pies but a part from that I really did nothing um I met Tony Gilroy I wanted to hang with him I read his script and that was as simple as that
A19. HRN-1485
In: 00.24.03 Out: 00.24.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – what makes me cry a lot the premier of Batman and Robin I cried that one got me there was a couple of moments in peacemaker that made me cry the beginning and the end
A20. HRN-1485
In: 00.24.35 Out: 00.25.26
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – I didn’t want to say that out loud (talks) no I’d like to take credit for anything written but literally I said it I didn’t veer from a single word you know when a scripts really well written it is actually very easy the hard part when it’s not well written you have to find ways to try and make it work where you have to make up things or fill in little bits and pieces I tried really this is written I had that experience a few times I had it with Scott Frank and I had it with Joel and Ethan on Oh Brother where it’s a script that’s really well written so your trying to serve the material that’s all Tony
A21. HRN-1485
In: 00.25.37 Out: 00.26.35
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – well we’re the same height Michael Clayton and I pretty much the same hair um I don’t know your hoping your growing everytime but probably not unfortunately all it really does is give you something completely different to play which I hadn’t had a chance to play before and I really liked the idea of it I don’t know your trying to grow but you never know if you are or not you just sort of make an effort you know if you work the funniest thing is you can be good in films if you have a good script and a good director but you can be really bad in films other wise it’s not necessarily actors you know the choices that actors make I’ve seen actors improve on things but ultimately if you don’t have a good script and you don’t have a good director there’s nothing you can do I mean that’s the bottom line so that s what it requires
A22. HRN-1485
In: 00.27.00 Out: 00.27.55
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – structure of film
Tony – the structure of the film as it exists was there from the very beginning ah it was always written that way you know the movies it’s a thriller but it’s not so much who did it it’s more a how and why they did it then it really gave a chance to appreciate that really finally in the film itself you move past the script in the film itself it really gave a chance to a to be over Michael Clayton’s shoulder and to go up that hill a second time and to really understand and appreciate that moment there’s a big moment that happens twice and to really be there the second time the valueof doing it that way really became clear once we made the film it was much more it turned out to be much more important than I thought when I wrote it
A23. HRN-1485
In: 00.28.42 Out: 00.31.13
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – well it has for the most part there not you know they’ve divested from doing much business there not everybody has it’s a tricky time right now because you know China’s finally stepping up a bit we got some real movement for the first time in two years we got a chance this week Mockumoon went there and had a meeting with Basheer Basheer’s gonna meet with the pope which is a very interesting meeting ah but you know listen I’d rather have people talking even if you don’t like them or think they’re unsavory which I do I’d rather have them sitting in a room talking France has been incredibly effective right now as they are also in the Iran issue Kushnire who I’ve spoken with a lot are doing an amazing job so we have we’re in a position right now where we’re in actually for the first time have a piece treaty among not just the government of Cartoon but with all of the warring parties so there’s a chance it’s not a very good one but it’s the first chance we’ve had in a long time ah and most of the countries involved have done a very good job in divesting in companies that invest in the Sudan so yes they have and they’ve done a very good job (talks) yeah you get most of them the truth is it’s a very difficult thing you know we talked about this before you can’t be topical in films because it takes you two years for everything to happen to write the script to shoot it and to get it out so usually it’s a little late by the time it comes out unfortunately it’s not late on this one because it’s lasted much longer than it should of but usually you find that preachy movies about anything can be too strident you find ways to try to deflect not go directly at it see unfortunately most of the scripts you get are direct very strident kind of piece and there not in entertainment and I find if your gonna do that then do a documentary if your gonna do thenmake it entertainment not of Darf 4 but do the constant Gardner the City of God that got really wonderful film find a way to make it entertaining and I don’t mean happy entertaining but make it entertaining make a film or go make a documentary one of the two
A24. HRN-1485
In: 00.31.27 Out: 00.33.06
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – they were thrilled
Tony – they really want to go on record a lot of guys want to come out and say that’s what they do um you know this is not a job description that law firms really have they’re no ad in the economist that says you know we’re looking for a fixer and the character in the film wasn’t hired for that job it’s something he evolved into when I went around there’s a lot of law firms in New York that a lot of Attorny’s and as I was working up the character what I would do which I do for research for any kind of movie is go to somebody who really knows about it and say here’s what I’m thinking about doing here’s my character here’s what here’s where they came from here’s what they do the money they make do you believe in that character and as I went around the reposes were really encouraging we don’t have anybody at our firm like that but we used to I don’t have anybody but I know a guy at another firm who we’re supposed to call if we have a problem we have a guy but he doesn’t look like George Clooney you know ah it’s not there are people who fix everything there are people the Hollywood Studio system has known for years Washington is full I mean any time you have money and problems put together someone is going to find a way to facilitate it easier than someone else and rich people are going to find a way to find a VIP room I mean there’s always a VIP there’s always a champagne room the guy even says there’s always a way but no one came forward and said they wanted to be the poster representative for Michael Clayton
George – Consultant
Tony – yes exactly we have no official Michael Clayton Consultant
A25. HRN-1485
In: 00.33.30 Out: 00.34.53
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tilda – Pass, irrelevant to me really um I’m it’s not a language I talk at all I’m afraid I think you need to hear from this one
George – I’m celebrity obsessed explain the question for me again because I was waiting for Tilda to answer (talks) but you know that’s in fairness it’s not about sort of now because if you think about it if you think about movie stars which don’t really exist anymore they sort of stopped with the advent of television really movie stars Clark Gable Spencer Tracy Bogart they really basically played themselves in all those movies you know we knew them as that there wasn’t no sort of like there was Lawrence Olivier who played a lot of characters but we didn’t take to him as much as you took to Spencer Tracy or Clark Gable or Cary Grant or Gregory Peck they basically played that same thing so in a way we’re able to break out from that a little bit more the unfortunate thing I think is your demystified because they know more about your life because there are so many outlets and things like that but in a way your sort of set free because you know there’s always gonna be there’s an awful lot of celebrities out there you were talking about this before the sort of sucking up the celebrity air that aren’t really doing anything you know there’s a bunch of them that haven’t done anything and are famous and you go well ok when that it sort of creates a sort of vacuum in a way Brad Pitt ok you know there are people it’s just that world where you go suddenly people are famous for not doing anything I used to think that was sort of hard to do I don’t you know maybe you guys have examples of times years past but it seems to be more now but you know this is a cycle yeah Andy Warhols 15 min
A26. HRN-1485
In: 00.36.10 Out: 00.37.28
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – inspired the story
Tony – it was an environment that I thought was interesting and hadn’t seen before I thought there was I found this character and the moment that I landed on the character and sort of put it down you put like a seed in the ground and you in this environment and this character it was an embarrassment of riches it was actually hard to reign the story in it took a long time to write the script because there were so many ways to go there was so much which makes you know that’s a really good feeling as a writer and I just you know I start pulling the string it’s the same way the only way that I know how to work you sort of start from something small you start you knit one row and you knit another row and you go wait a minute this is interesting over here you follow it and you make a big mess and then you have a big mess and you start to clean it up and it’s the same I don’t really have any other process then to keep moving one step in front of the other finally in the end you hope that what you think and you hope that the world around you everything sort of has informed it but um that’s I hoipe that’s an answer
A27. HRN-1485
In: 00.37.40 Out: 00.39.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Brad and George
George – you know I don’t like him I’ll tell you right off the bat he’s very short I don’t know if you’ve seen him very tiny he’s a tiny little fella no never any competition with my friends never you know it’s a weird thing but you try not compete in art cause it always seems sort of strange I couldn’t do the things he does ever you know so no no competition at all I feel some competition with matt Damon though cause I’d like to kick his ass I actually don’t feel it’s sort of an interesting thing about awards seasons which I’ve gone through now once and when you finish it you sort of get this feeling of silt that you were talking about at the beginning of the movie where a patina where you find yourself I’m helping the film and it’s a good thing but at some point your actually campaigning the idea that you should compare art and I always think that’s a dangerous place to go because I remember watching David Stritherron nominated for Murrow and phyllip seymor hoffman for Capote and they were people were arguing who’s given a better performance and you go have them switch roles you can’t compare art so there’s never any competition you hope there isn’t any (talks) I’ve never done it before ah I havn’t ever been asked I don’t know why they don’t think I’m smart
A28. HRN-1485
In: 00.39.40 Out: 00.40.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Favorite Brad Pitt Movie
George – Johnny Suede no let me think in fairness I’ll tell you what he’s a really brave actor which is an interesting thing people often don’t say that enough about him he does performances what he did in Snatch is just phenomenal he can do he’s a really brave actor I’m working with him right now on the Coen brothers movie and he’s doing stuff in it because he’s gonna steal the movie and I’m gonn murder him for it but there’s you can go through a list of them he’s great in fight club and all those films but snatch is just a phenomenal performance should have been nominated for it
Toronto / Michael Clayton Press Conference
A01. HRN-1485
In: 00.00.01 Out: 00.00.59
B-Roll: Wide shot of stage introducing panel
A02. HRN-1485
In: 00.00.58 Out: 00.02.06
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy –
When I think ideologically I think Democrat republican social democrat I mean it’s not a we were just talking about this it’s not just a blue state red state political issue it’s a nobody’s really there isn’t really a political constituency for poisoning your children I mean that sort of runs across it seems to me more of a moral film not an ideological film the issues to me in the film are moral the moral choices characters are making they are not a they are not ideological
A03. HRN-1485
In: 00.02.20 Out: 00.02.56
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney –
Tony - I don’t know if it’s a it’s very easy to be ghettoized in America to say that your making a political movie we’ve had political movies we haven’t had enough of them this just doesn’t happen to be the case here it’s not the issue in this particular film it will be interesting to see how it is perceived if we get people try to box us in I don’t know
George – then you’d just start saying it’s a political film
Tony – exactly it’s a political film
George – and if they start laughing it’s a comedy
A04. HRN-1485
In: 00.02.55 Out: 00.03.28
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney –
Tony – The questions are different the questions have always been last week were very much about corporations and globalization and trying to put some sort of metaphoric a overview of the picture and I think those are legitimate questions I think Europe is the rest of the world is trying very hard to figure out what America is right now and who we’ve become so those are natural questions here I think here there’s it’ll be more character oriented
A05. HRN-1485
In: 00.03.41 Out: 00.06.32
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – you take it you start
Tilda – Coward, I don’t think it’s a film that’s neccisarily about laywers or about America as I speak as an Alien here I think it would be an insult to the film to say that it was I think it’s about human being perpetuated inhuman acts and I think it’s too sophisticated a film to suggest any answers but sophisticated enough to ask a very simple very um pressing question which is how is it inhuman acts and we know what these are we read about it hear about them see them being perpetuated every hour of every day um are perpetuated by love their wives and mothers and pat their dogs and um you know can laugh at jokes it’s a question and it’s a human question that could a excersise any one of us whether we were a chemical operation or a bakery or even in the film industry
George – Yeah I think that’s right you can take these characters and this story and take it into a medical drama or you can put it in a government drama I mean this is about flawed individuals one of whom sort of comes to realization that he’s looking for redemption which is always sort of interesting and decisions that are made based on your you know your own sort of self interest then at what point you keep moving that line of morality forward and I think that that’s always interesting story telling you know we’ve done it for years these kind of films and the reason we do them is because we are we do suspect corporate America and with good reason there have been some you know between R.J. Reynolds and certain a couple of places they done some pretty shady things and it requires a whistle blower along the way and we do suspect sort of trick problems some times in law firms all of those things are very real so I think that’s why it sort of resonated with me (talks) no this simply was a you got to remember this here’s a funny thing about everything sort of a weight gets put on it because of what happens with the film the truth of the matter is it ‘s really hard to find a good script in Hollywood you’d think that would be easy but it isn’t this is a great script and um you read the script and go this movie has got to be made what it talks about of course but it’s great characters it’s well crafted script and it should be made into a movie they’re not easy to get made you know in this day and age um first and foremost we wanted to get this film made to
A06. HRN-1485
In: 00.06.47 Out: 00.07.56
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – the love scene with Tilda
Tilda – so sweet so sweet
George – it was so so good
Tilda – So tender
Tony – it will be on the DVD
George – the rehersals those she’d knock on my trailer she’d come in let’s rehearse the love scene again
Tilda – for a price later
George – listen forst of all you love watching really good actors at their best you know I love watching um Tilda in a bathroom stall sort of falling apart always you know which I saw yesterday for a whole other reason no there’s something really beautiful about watching characters who are seemingly in control really not in control and learning a lot about them I love watching tom in the scene in the alley because he’s so simple and so good those are the scenes that touch me I love watching you know really to say something else people don’t talk enough about Sidney Pollack is a really good actor a really good actor I love him just saying you’re an asshole just like kills me really good can’t say that on T.V.
A07. HRN-1485
In: 00.08.01 Out: 00.02.26
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
A08. HRN-1485
In: 00.08.21 Out: 00.09.42
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – Listen I grew up in a family of my mother was a mayor my father ran for congress I’ve always been involved politically and socially in issues those always weigh on another part of my life it didn’t really inform much of what I was doing because this part is you know Tony wont want to really talk about things that he showed me before we started but there’s you know there actual law document actual law inter office memos that say between other if you recall this it’s gonna cost you 300 million dollars or if you don’t it will kill 300 people a year and a class action suit will cost 300 thousand and you’ll save this many people’s lives those were real documents that were past around and those documents to me were they informed me how I would play the part because you could justify it by saying you can lay off 30 thousand people and maybe a few people die from that so you justify it it’s all little incremental things but not you know that’s a whole other side of my life that I think is important it didn’t inform how I played the part
A09. HRN-1485
In: 00.08.55 Out: 00.10.26
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – you’ll have to tell me
George – Yeah what happened (talks)
Tilda – your blowing it dude right now (talks) just wait have patience
George – I have patience
Tilda – it’s coming
George – ok, now I know to look out
A10. HRN-1485
In: 00.10.44 Out: 00.11.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – ok I’ll do that’s good fun for me, um no I didn’t tweak anything Tony wrote a great part you know I’ve done just in the last 8 films I’ve been paid for 2 so it’s not like you do the movie’s you do the rest of them you do for as little as possible because you want to get the movies made it’s not like your gonna get rich off the good German or good night and good luck Syriana you do them because you want to get the movies made um it’s ok I do alright you know I’m doing fine but no it doesn’t allow me any leeway with him trust me he may be a first time director but he’s an adult and there was no me manipulating him I promise you that I tried
A11. HRN-1485
In: 00.11.53 Out: 00.14.03
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – he’s George Clooney he’s the a you know
George - 800 lb gorilla is that what your trying to say
Tony – hundred and yeah I mean he was the way he was the way the movie got made he was the principle partner in the film he’s the reason the film is getting made I mean who’s gonna argue with him there’s no one to argue with him past that point um I mean if there’s a fundamental conversation about how the film is going to go or something about how it’s going to be sold I mean he’s gonna have to be the person that I’m on the same page with so he was the security blanket for this film all the way through and and protecting the script and protecting the and quite honestly stealing my nerves sometimes to you know to remind me to remind me how cool and important what we were doing was and then finally being here right now and selling the film you know your not all here if George isn’t here he’s protecting me now I mean your seeing it right in front of you so and always
George – and also I think it’s important to point out and you guys know this sometimes it gets lost in the translation executive producer of the film is not producing the film those two produce the film they do the work they get the money they put the money together they actually day in and day out produce the film which is why if the film wins an Oscar the producer gets an Oscar the executive producers job is to look out for you know to help knock your way through road blocks so all my job was to do was whatever their vision was the film makers vision was to make sure that it gets realized whatever way possible that’s not very difficult when you have very smart people that’s their they did that not me (talks)
? – well not all executive producers are created equally and having George Clooney makes the producers job so much easier
? – George was an insurance policy for all of us in many ways
George – yes that’s me an insurance policy term life
A12. HRN-1485
In: 00.14.20 Out: 00.15.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – I don’t like symbolism with a big S I’m afraid like it’s it’s your catching someone at a lower than low point when he arrives at that field he’s you know in your normal film the hero drives along and they see redemption then they pull over this is someone whos gone way way past that exit and if you live in an unnatural world if your world has become completely unnatural which his life had it’s sort of like walking into church isn’t it you see something that’s really natural I think he sort of a I think he’s stunned to see something that reminds him that he’s a biological being almost sometime I mean it’s a very powerful in that way how we got the horses to stay still is a secret that we will not be sharing other films will steal our very elaborate technique no horses were even no horses were amused during that shooting for the film
George – it involved a staple gun oh take it easy
A13. HRN-1485
In: 00.15.39 Out: 00.15.56
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – about a girl
George – good good for you next question (talks) what the fucks wrong with you dude when have I ever answered a personal question in my life enjoy yourself have a nice day
A14. HRN-1485
In: 00.16.12 Out: 00.16.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – the truth is I’ve never had a designer I’ve never people ask me what I’m wearing on the carpet I say a suit you know it’s not my style you know it usually comes down to the brilliant wardrobe people and we’ve had brilliant wardrobe people along you know
A15. HRN-1485
In: 00.16.40 Out: 00.18.23
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – you know the big difference if I’ve been a writer sitting in a room for 20 years you know and every now and then they let me out and I go and watch and listen but it’s when you’re a writer your alone your by yourself and you don’t have anybody to help you out your really alone and the experience of making a film as director is completely the opposite all anybody wants to do is help you help you to death and and and if your smart enough to a get the right people helping you it’s a very very different experience I really enjoy getting out of my room let’s put it that way
George – what was it like working with him
Tilda – Tony not a first time film maker he’s been a film maker for many many years and he’s just directed this film for the first time and it feels to me and having heard him speak about how he writes that his screen plays are just evidence of the film he sees in his head so he’s been a director you know in the closet for a long time
George – it was also edited you know like good film makers I’ve woreked the best I’ve worked with Soderbergh the Coehn Brothers it was edited in his head and on paper in many ways before we started he had a lot of time to prep so it was a really you know it wasn’t this indulgent thing either a first time director who’s collecting a bunch of footage then bringing into an editing room and saying lets find a movie this is a movie that was so well prepared it was so well done from the very beginning it was like working with an old pro not old but you know
A16. HRN-1485
In: 00.18.30 Out: 00.21.53
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tony – As prepared as I was and as much prep as we did for this film that was the one thing that was open that was an open question as we got filming people kept people started coming asking me everyday what are we gonna do what are we gonna do and I didn’t have it we were in midtown and we were gonn shhot in New York we were filming at the Hilton and we were in that area and I thought really something I’m gonna get an idea here something somewhere I knew George had to be alone I didn’t know how alone I didn’t know how to do it I wanted something clichéd on the street we kept looking searching we tried a couple things we tried walking up the street a long lens shot it was really cliché honest to god I went home in the middle of shooting we had two days off at one point on the DVD this will be an obscure but the piano teacher I watched the ending of the piano teacher and he’s so incredibly odd and I thought we need something that’s that powerful and alone the cabs outside and we tried it once we tried it once as almost as a sketch it’s a complicated shot to do as sketch we tried it went back and looked at it and go wo this could really work we have to do it a different way and then we had to it was a very complicated shot to do for no money in New York City it’s a really really good police cooperation that again we only would’ve had because of George because the cops want to hang out with George and drive around the thing and put the siren on and they know George is in the cab so they’ll do it so we really caught a break and we did it a couple times it was really hard logistically do but that was a very late gamble
George – it’s also that thing that you like it’s sort of at the end of the like the graduate and after they finished and you have the ending and then you sit in the back of the bus and watch happily ever after and you watch sort of that ahh moment that I love seeing what happens after the climax
Tony – there’s one more thing I want to say about it because it’s too cool not to mention we’re sitting we’re sitting in the police car at front and George is in the cab alone obviously behind us we had this very static image that we’re trying to watch to try and check the camera Robert Ellis and I and we did it kind times and things were messed up because of traffic was messed up or the car didn’t move but on one I’m watching George and it’s pretty fasinating to watch and we’re there reloading the camera in the back and I said what the hell are you doing like what are you doing and he said I’m re-writing the movie in my head and I think if you watch the credits if you watch it that way it’s he’s playing the whole movie in his face it’s great theres an amazing piece of acting (talks) you know what I had lunch with mike Nichols I got to meet Mike Nichols like three months after we finished shooting Soderburgh set up lunch so I go meet Mike Nichols so we’re sitting down we’re having lunch I go look so I completely ripped you off from the Graduate and he said I completely ripped off Cream Christina don’t worry about it he said grand tradition he also mentioned a long good Friday you can go on and on there’s a lot of films that have that so I’m fully aware
George – if your gonna rip it off rip off the good yeah I send apology letters to directors every once in a while
A17. HRN-1485
In: 00.22.06 Out: 00.22.58
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – well there are 5 or 6 Lawyers in the world named Michael Clayton that I’ve had a little I’ve had letters from there not thrilled so I’ll be facing some sort of charges um what do you think
Tilda – I am the person on this panal that has had the least to do with this world I had no idea that it existed they had to really convince me that it wasn’t all a huge practical joke and a and we went to places like going to a zooalogical garden and look through glass doors and saw yeah yeah there’s someone in a suit like that yeah they do exist apparently they dress like that apparently they talk like that but I don’t so apparently as far as I’m concerned I’ve never been sued so I don’t know these people
George – you haven’t been enjoy
A18. HRN-1485
In: 00.14.20 Out: 00.23.23
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tilda – um about my character um dress sense maybe um I prepared for the role honestly by reading the script and turning up it was that simple um I ate a lot of pies but a part from that I really did nothing um I met Tony Gilroy I wanted to hang with him I read his script and that was as simple as that
A19. HRN-1485
In: 00.24.03 Out: 00.24.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – what makes me cry a lot the premier of Batman and Robin I cried that one got me there was a couple of moments in peacemaker that made me cry the beginning and the end
A20. HRN-1485
In: 00.24.35 Out: 00.25.26
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – I didn’t want to say that out loud (talks) no I’d like to take credit for anything written but literally I said it I didn’t veer from a single word you know when a scripts really well written it is actually very easy the hard part when it’s not well written you have to find ways to try and make it work where you have to make up things or fill in little bits and pieces I tried really this is written I had that experience a few times I had it with Scott Frank and I had it with Joel and Ethan on Oh Brother where it’s a script that’s really well written so your trying to serve the material that’s all Tony
A21. HRN-1485
In: 00.25.37 Out: 00.26.35
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – well we’re the same height Michael Clayton and I pretty much the same hair um I don’t know your hoping your growing everytime but probably not unfortunately all it really does is give you something completely different to play which I hadn’t had a chance to play before and I really liked the idea of it I don’t know your trying to grow but you never know if you are or not you just sort of make an effort you know if you work the funniest thing is you can be good in films if you have a good script and a good director but you can be really bad in films other wise it’s not necessarily actors you know the choices that actors make I’ve seen actors improve on things but ultimately if you don’t have a good script and you don’t have a good director there’s nothing you can do I mean that’s the bottom line so that s what it requires
A22. HRN-1485
In: 00.27.00 Out: 00.27.55
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – structure of film
Tony – the structure of the film as it exists was there from the very beginning ah it was always written that way you know the movies it’s a thriller but it’s not so much who did it it’s more a how and why they did it then it really gave a chance to appreciate that really finally in the film itself you move past the script in the film itself it really gave a chance to a to be over Michael Clayton’s shoulder and to go up that hill a second time and to really understand and appreciate that moment there’s a big moment that happens twice and to really be there the second time the valueof doing it that way really became clear once we made the film it was much more it turned out to be much more important than I thought when I wrote it
A23. HRN-1485
In: 00.28.42 Out: 00.31.13
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – well it has for the most part there not you know they’ve divested from doing much business there not everybody has it’s a tricky time right now because you know China’s finally stepping up a bit we got some real movement for the first time in two years we got a chance this week Mockumoon went there and had a meeting with Basheer Basheer’s gonna meet with the pope which is a very interesting meeting ah but you know listen I’d rather have people talking even if you don’t like them or think they’re unsavory which I do I’d rather have them sitting in a room talking France has been incredibly effective right now as they are also in the Iran issue Kushnire who I’ve spoken with a lot are doing an amazing job so we have we’re in a position right now where we’re in actually for the first time have a piece treaty among not just the government of Cartoon but with all of the warring parties so there’s a chance it’s not a very good one but it’s the first chance we’ve had in a long time ah and most of the countries involved have done a very good job in divesting in companies that invest in the Sudan so yes they have and they’ve done a very good job (talks) yeah you get most of them the truth is it’s a very difficult thing you know we talked about this before you can’t be topical in films because it takes you two years for everything to happen to write the script to shoot it and to get it out so usually it’s a little late by the time it comes out unfortunately it’s not late on this one because it’s lasted much longer than it should of but usually you find that preachy movies about anything can be too strident you find ways to try to deflect not go directly at it see unfortunately most of the scripts you get are direct very strident kind of piece and there not in entertainment and I find if your gonna do that then do a documentary if your gonna do thenmake it entertainment not of Darf 4 but do the constant Gardner the City of God that got really wonderful film find a way to make it entertaining and I don’t mean happy entertaining but make it entertaining make a film or go make a documentary one of the two
A24. HRN-1485
In: 00.31.27 Out: 00.33.06
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
George – they were thrilled
Tony – they really want to go on record a lot of guys want to come out and say that’s what they do um you know this is not a job description that law firms really have they’re no ad in the economist that says you know we’re looking for a fixer and the character in the film wasn’t hired for that job it’s something he evolved into when I went around there’s a lot of law firms in New York that a lot of Attorny’s and as I was working up the character what I would do which I do for research for any kind of movie is go to somebody who really knows about it and say here’s what I’m thinking about doing here’s my character here’s what here’s where they came from here’s what they do the money they make do you believe in that character and as I went around the reposes were really encouraging we don’t have anybody at our firm like that but we used to I don’t have anybody but I know a guy at another firm who we’re supposed to call if we have a problem we have a guy but he doesn’t look like George Clooney you know ah it’s not there are people who fix everything there are people the Hollywood Studio system has known for years Washington is full I mean any time you have money and problems put together someone is going to find a way to facilitate it easier than someone else and rich people are going to find a way to find a VIP room I mean there’s always a VIP there’s always a champagne room the guy even says there’s always a way but no one came forward and said they wanted to be the poster representative for Michael Clayton
George – Consultant
Tony – yes exactly we have no official Michael Clayton Consultant
A25. HRN-1485
In: 00.33.30 Out: 00.34.53
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton –
Tilda – Pass, irrelevant to me really um I’m it’s not a language I talk at all I’m afraid I think you need to hear from this one
George – I’m celebrity obsessed explain the question for me again because I was waiting for Tilda to answer (talks) but you know that’s in fairness it’s not about sort of now because if you think about it if you think about movie stars which don’t really exist anymore they sort of stopped with the advent of television really movie stars Clark Gable Spencer Tracy Bogart they really basically played themselves in all those movies you know we knew them as that there wasn’t no sort of like there was Lawrence Olivier who played a lot of characters but we didn’t take to him as much as you took to Spencer Tracy or Clark Gable or Cary Grant or Gregory Peck they basically played that same thing so in a way we’re able to break out from that a little bit more the unfortunate thing I think is your demystified because they know more about your life because there are so many outlets and things like that but in a way your sort of set free because you know there’s always gonna be there’s an awful lot of celebrities out there you were talking about this before the sort of sucking up the celebrity air that aren’t really doing anything you know there’s a bunch of them that haven’t done anything and are famous and you go well ok when that it sort of creates a sort of vacuum in a way Brad Pitt ok you know there are people it’s just that world where you go suddenly people are famous for not doing anything I used to think that was sort of hard to do I don’t you know maybe you guys have examples of times years past but it seems to be more now but you know this is a cycle yeah Andy Warhols 15 min
A26. HRN-1485
In: 00.36.10 Out: 00.37.28
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – inspired the story
Tony – it was an environment that I thought was interesting and hadn’t seen before I thought there was I found this character and the moment that I landed on the character and sort of put it down you put like a seed in the ground and you in this environment and this character it was an embarrassment of riches it was actually hard to reign the story in it took a long time to write the script because there were so many ways to go there was so much which makes you know that’s a really good feeling as a writer and I just you know I start pulling the string it’s the same way the only way that I know how to work you sort of start from something small you start you knit one row and you knit another row and you go wait a minute this is interesting over here you follow it and you make a big mess and then you have a big mess and you start to clean it up and it’s the same I don’t really have any other process then to keep moving one step in front of the other finally in the end you hope that what you think and you hope that the world around you everything sort of has informed it but um that’s I hoipe that’s an answer
A27. HRN-1485
In: 00.37.40 Out: 00.39.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Brad and George
George – you know I don’t like him I’ll tell you right off the bat he’s very short I don’t know if you’ve seen him very tiny he’s a tiny little fella no never any competition with my friends never you know it’s a weird thing but you try not compete in art cause it always seems sort of strange I couldn’t do the things he does ever you know so no no competition at all I feel some competition with matt Damon though cause I’d like to kick his ass I actually don’t feel it’s sort of an interesting thing about awards seasons which I’ve gone through now once and when you finish it you sort of get this feeling of silt that you were talking about at the beginning of the movie where a patina where you find yourself I’m helping the film and it’s a good thing but at some point your actually campaigning the idea that you should compare art and I always think that’s a dangerous place to go because I remember watching David Stritherron nominated for Murrow and phyllip seymor hoffman for Capote and they were people were arguing who’s given a better performance and you go have them switch roles you can’t compare art so there’s never any competition you hope there isn’t any (talks) I’ve never done it before ah I havn’t ever been asked I don’t know why they don’t think I’m smart
A28. HRN-1485
In: 00.39.40 Out: 00.40.30
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Favorite Brad Pitt Movie
George – Johnny Suede no let me think in fairness I’ll tell you what he’s a really brave actor which is an interesting thing people often don’t say that enough about him he does performances what he did in Snatch is just phenomenal he can do he’s a really brave actor I’m working with him right now on the Coen brothers movie and he’s doing stuff in it because he’s gonna steal the movie and I’m gonn murder him for it but there’s you can go through a list of them he’s great in fight club and all those films but snatch is just a phenomenal performance should have been nominated for it
This reel is part of one of our Specialty Collections. Online viewing or downloads of low-res versions for offline viewing will be available for only more day, though. Online viewing or downloads of low-res versions for offline viewing has now expired, though, and cannot be viewed online. "Pro" account holders can download a low-res version for offline viewing.
Sign up for a "Pro" account to download this footage.
This reel is currently not available for online viewing.
Sorry, this video is temporarily unavailable for online viewing or download. Please try again later.
Restricted Material
Access to this reel with audio is restricted. It will be available for only more day.
Access to this reel with audio has expired.
| 00:00:04 0.4 |
A01. HRN-1485
B-Roll: Wide shot of stage introducing panel |
| 00:00:58 54.4 |
A02. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy – When I think ideologically I think Democrat republican social democrat I mean it’s not a we were just talking about this it’s not just a blue state red state political issue it’s a nobody’s really there isn’t really a political constituency for poisoning your children I mean that sort of runs across it seems to me more of a moral film not an ideological film the issues to me in the film are moral the moral choices characters are making they are not a they are not ideological |
| 00:02:20 136.4 |
A03. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney – Tony - I don’t know if it’s a it’s very easy to be ghettoized in America to say that you're making a political movie we’ve had political movies we haven’t had enough of them this just doesn’t happen to be the case here it’s not the issue in this particular film it will be interesting to see how it is perceived if we get people try to box us in I don’t know George – then you’d just start saying it’s a political film Tony – exactly it’s a political film George – and if they start laughing it’s a comedy |
| 00:02:55 171.4 |
A04. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney – Tony – The questions are different the questions have always been last week were very much about corporations and globalization and trying to put some sort of metaphoric a overview of the picture and I think those are legitimate questions I think Europe is the rest of the world is trying very hard to figure out what America is right now and who we’ve become so those are natural questions here I think here there’s it’ll be more character oriented |
| 00:03:41 217.4 |
A05. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – you take it you start Tilda – Coward, I don’t think it’s a film that’s necessarily about laywers or about America as I speak as an Alien here I think it would be an insult to the film to say that it was I think it’s about human being perpetuated inhuman acts and I think it’s too sophisticated a film to suggest any answers but sophisticated enough to ask a very simple very um pressing question which is how is it inhuman acts and we know what these are we read about it hear about them see them being perpetuated every hour of every day um are perpetuated by love their wives and mothers and pat their dogs and um you know can laugh at jokes it’s a question and it’s a human question that could a exercise any one of us whether we were a chemical operation or a bakery or even in the film industry George – Yeah I think that’s right you can take these characters and this story and take it into a medical drama or you can put it in a government drama I mean this is about flawed individuals one of whom sort of comes to realization that he’s looking for redemption which is always sort of interesting and decisions that are made based on your you know your own sort of self interest then at what point you keep moving that line of morality forward and I think that that’s always interesting story telling you know we’ve done it for years these kind of films and the reason we do them is because we are we do suspect corporate America and with good reason there have been some you know between R.J. Reynolds and certain a couple of places they done some pretty shady things and it requires a whistle blower along the way and we do suspect sort of trick problems some times in law firms all of those things are very real so I think that’s why it sort of resonated with me (talks) no this simply was a you got to remember this here’s a funny thing about everything sort of a weight gets put on it because of what happens with the film the truth of the matter is it ‘s really hard to find a good script in Hollywood you’d think that would be easy but it isn’t this is a great script and um you read the script and go this movie has got to be made what it talks about of course but it’s great characters it’s well crafted script and it should be made into a movie they’re not easy to get made you know in this day and age um first and foremost we wanted to get this film made to |
| 00:06:47 403.4 |
A06. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – the love scene with Tilda Tilda – so sweet so sweet George – it was so so good Tilda – So tender Tony – it will be on the DVD George – the rehersals those she’d knock on my trailer she’d come in let’s rehearse the love scene again Tilda – for a price later George – listen forst of all you love watching really good actors at their best you know I love watching um Tilda in a bathroom stall sort of falling apart always you know which I saw yesterday for a whole other reason no there’s something really beautiful about watching characters who are seemingly in control really not in control and learning a lot about them I love watching Tom in the scene in the alley because he’s so simple and so good those are the scenes that touch me I love watching you know really to say something else people don’t talk enough about Sidney Pollack is a really good actor a really good actor I love him just saying you’re an asshole just like kills me really good can’t say that on T.V. |
| 00:08:01 477.4 |
A07. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – |
| 00:08:21 497.4 |
A08. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – Listen I grew up in a family of my mother was a mayor my father ran for congress I’ve always been involved politically and socially in issues those always weigh on another part of my life it didn’t really inform much of what I was doing because this part is you know Tony wont want to really talk about things that he showed me before we started but there’s you know there actual law document actual law inter office memos that say between other if you recall this it’s gonna cost you 300 million dollars or if you don’t it will kill 300 people a year and a class action suit will cost 300 thousand and you’ll save this many people’s lives those were real documents that were past around and those documents to me were they informed me how I would play the part because you could justify it by saying you can lay off 30 thousand people and maybe a few people die from that so you justify it it’s all little incremental things but not you know that’s a whole other side of my life that I think is important it didn’t inform how I played the part |
| 00:08:55 531.4 |
A09. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Tony – you’ll have to tell me George – Yeah what happened (talks) Tilda – your blowing it dude right now (talks) just wait have patience George – I have patience Tilda – it’s coming George – ok, now I know to look out |
| 00:10:44 640.4 |
A10. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – ok I’ll do that’s good fun for me, um no I didn’t tweak anything Tony wrote a great part you know I’ve done just in the last 8 films I’ve been paid for 2 so it’s not like you do the movie’s you do the rest of them you do for as little as possible because you want to get the movies made it’s not like your gonna get rich off The Good German, or Good Night and Good Luck, Syriana, you do them because you want to get the movies made um it’s ok I do alright you know I’m doing fine but no it doesn’t allow me any leeway with him trust me he may be a first time director but he’s an adult and there was no me manipulating him I promise you that I tried |
| 00:11:53 709.4 |
A11. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Tony – he’s George Clooney he’s the a you know George - 800 lb gorilla is that what your trying to say Tony – hundred and yeah I mean he was the way he was the way the movie got made he was the principle partner in the film he’s the reason the film is getting made I mean who’s gonna argue with him there’s no one to argue with him past that point um I mean if there’s a fundamental conversation about how the film is going to go or something about how it’s going to be sold I mean he’s gonna have to be the person that I’m on the same page with so he was the security blanket for this film all the way through and and protecting the script and protecting the and quite honestly stealing my nerves sometimes to you know to remind me to remind me how cool and important what we were doing was and then finally being here right now and selling the film you know your not all here if George isn’t here he’s protecting me now I mean your seeing it right in front of you so and always George – and also I think it’s important to point out and you guys know this sometimes it gets lost in the translation executive producer of the film is not producing the film those two produce the film they do the work they get the money they put the money together they actually day in and day out produce the film which is why if the film wins an Oscar the producer gets an Oscar the executive producers job is to look out for you know to help knock your way through road blocks so all my job was to do was whatever their vision was the film makers vision was to make sure that it gets realized whatever way possible that’s not very difficult when you have very smart people that’s their they did that not me (talks) ? – well not all executive producers are created equally and having George Clooney makes the producers job so much easier ? – George was an insurance policy for all of us in many ways George – yes that’s me an insurance policy term life |
| 00:14:20 856.4 |
A12. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Tony – I don’t like symbolism with a big S I’m afraid like it’s it’s your catching someone at a lower than low point when he arrives at that field he’s you know in your normal film the hero drives along and they see redemption then they pull over this is someone whos gone way way past that exit and if you live in an unnatural world if your world has become completely unnatural which his life had it’s sort of like walking into church isn’t it you see something that’s really natural I think he sort of a I think he’s stunned to see something that reminds him that he’s a biological being almost sometime I mean it’s a very powerful in that way how we got the horses to stay still is a secret that we will not be sharing other films will steal our very elaborate technique no horses were even no horses were amused during that shooting for the film George – it involved a staple gun oh take it easy |
| 00:15:39 935.4 |
A13. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – about a girl George – good good for you next question (talks) what the fucks wrong with you dude when have I ever answered a personal question in my life enjoy yourself have a nice day |
| 00:16:12 968.4 |
A14. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – the truth is I’ve never had a designer I’ve never people ask me what I’m wearing on the carpet I say a suit you know it’s not my style you know it usually comes down to the brilliant wardrobe people and we’ve had brilliant wardrobe people along you know |
| 00:16:40 996.4 |
A15. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Tony – you know the big difference if I’ve been a writer sitting in a room for 20 years you know and every now and then they let me out and I go and watch and listen but it’s when you’re a writer your alone your by yourself and you don’t have anybody to help you out your really alone and the experience of making a film as director is completely the opposite all anybody wants to do is help you help you to death and and and if your smart enough to a get the right people helping you it’s a very very different experience I really enjoy getting out of my room let’s put it that way George – what was it like working with him Tilda – Tony not a first time film maker he’s been a film maker for many many years and he’s just directed this film for the first time and it feels to me and having heard him speak about how he writes that his screen plays are just evidence of the film he sees in his head so he’s been a director you know in the closet for a long time George – it was also edited you know like good film makers I’ve worked the best I’ve worked with Soderbergh the Coehn Brothers it was edited in his head and on paper in many ways before we started he had a lot of time to prep so it was a really you know it wasn’t this indulgent thing either a first time director who’s collecting a bunch of footage then bringing into an editing room and saying lets find a movie this is a movie that was so well prepared it was so well done from the very beginning it was like working with an old pro not old but you know |
| 00:18:30 1106.4 |
A16. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Tony – As prepared as I was and as much prep as we did for this film that was the one thing that was open that was an open question as we got filming people kept people started coming asking me everyday what are we gonna do what are we gonna do and I didn’t have it we were in midtown and we were gonn shhot in New York we were filming at the Hilton and we were in that area and I thought really something I’m gonna get an idea here something somewhere I knew George had to be alone I didn’t know how alone I didn’t know how to do it I wanted something clichéd on the street we kept looking searching we tried a couple things we tried walking up the street a long lens shot it was really cliché honest to god I went home in the middle of shooting we had two days off at one point on the DVD this will be an obscure but the piano teacher I watched the ending of the piano teacher and he’s so incredibly odd and I thought we need something that’s that powerful and alone the cabs outside and we tried it once we tried it once as almost as a sketch it’s a complicated shot to do as sketch we tried it went back and looked at it and go wo this could really work we have to do it a different way and then we had to it was a very complicated shot to do for no money in New York City it’s a really really good police cooperation that again we only would’ve had because of George because the cops want to hang out with George and drive around the thing and put the siren on and they know George is in the cab so they’ll do it so we really caught a break and we did it a couple times it was really hard logistically do but that was a very late gamble George – it’s also that thing that you like it’s sort of at the end of the like the graduate and after they finished and you have the ending and then you sit in the back of the bus and watch happily ever after and you watch sort of that ahh moment that I love seeing what happens after the climax Tony – there’s one more thing I want to say about it because it’s too cool not to mention we’re sitting we’re sitting in the police car at front and George is in the cab alone obviously behind us we had this very static image that we’re trying to watch to try and check the camera Robert Ellis and I and we did it kind times and things were messed up because of traffic was messed up or the car didn’t move but on one I’m watching George and it’s pretty fasinating to watch and we’re there reloading the camera in the back and I said what the hell are you doing like what are you doing and he said I’m re-writing the movie in my head and I think if you watch the credits if you watch it that way it’s he’s playing the whole movie in his face it’s great theres an amazing piece of acting (talks) you know what I had lunch with mike Nichols I got to meet Mike Nichols like three months after we finished shooting Soderburgh set up lunch so I go meet Mike Nichols so we’re sitting down we’re having lunch I go look so I completely ripped you off from the Graduate and he said I completely ripped off Cream Christina don’t worry about it he said grand tradition he also mentioned a long good Friday you can go on and on there’s a lot of films that have that so I’m fully aware George – if your gonna rip it off rip off the good yeah I send apology letters to directors every once in a while |
| 00:22:06 1322.4 |
A17. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – well there are 5 or 6 Lawyers in the world named Michael Clayton that I’ve had a little I’ve had letters from there not thrilled so I’ll be facing some sort of charges um what do you think Tilda – I am the person on this panal that has had the least to do with this world I had no idea that it existed they had to really convince me that it wasn’t all a huge practical joke and a and we went to places like going to a zooalogical garden and look through glass doors and saw yeah yeah there’s someone in a suit like that yeah they do exist apparently they dress like that apparently they talk like that but I don’t so apparently as far as I’m concerned I’ve never been sued so I don’t know these people George – you haven’t been enjoy |
| 00:24:03 1439.4 |
A19. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – what makes me cry a lot the premier of Batman and Robin I cried that one got me there was a couple of moments in peacemaker that made me cry the beginning and the end |
| 00:24:35 1471.4 |
A20. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – I didn’t want to say that out loud (talks) no I’d like to take credit for anything written but literally I said it I didn’t veer from a single word you know when a scripts really well written it is actually very easy the hard part when it’s not well written you have to find ways to try and make it work where you have to make up things or fill in little bits and pieces I tried really this is written I had that experience a few times I had it with Scott Frank and I had it with Joel and Ethan on Oh Brother where it’s a script that’s really well written so your trying to serve the material that’s all Tony |
| 00:25:37 1533.4 |
A21. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – well we’re the same height Michael Clayton and I pretty much the same hair um I don’t know your hoping your growing everytime but probably not unfortunately all it really does is give you something completely different to play which I hadn’t had a chance to play before and I really liked the idea of it I don’t know your trying to grow but you never know if you are or not you just sort of make an effort you know if you work the funniest thing is you can be good in films if you have a good script and a good director but you can be really bad in films other wise it’s not necessarily actors you know the choices that actors make I’ve seen actors improve on things but ultimately if you don’t have a good script and you don’t have a good director there’s nothing you can do I mean that’s the bottom line so that s what it requires |
| 00:27:00 1616.4 |
A22. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – structure of film Tony – the structure of the film as it exists was there from the very beginning ah it was always written that way you know the movies it’s a thriller but it’s not so much who did it it’s more a how and why they did it then it really gave a chance to appreciate that really finally in the film itself you move past the script in the film itself it really gave a chance to a to be over Michael Clayton’s shoulder and to go up that hill a second time and to really understand and appreciate that moment there’s a big moment that happens twice and to really be there the second time the valueof doing it that way really became clear once we made the film it was much more it turned out to be much more important than I thought when I wrote it |
| 00:28:42 1718.4 |
A23. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – well it has for the most part there not you know they’ve divested from doing much business there not everybody has it’s a tricky time right now because you know China’s finally stepping up a bit we got some real movement for the first time in two years we got a chance this week Mockumoon went there and had a meeting with Basheer Basheer’s gonna meet with the pope which is a very interesting meeting ah but you know listen I’d rather have people talking even if you don’t like them or think they’re unsavory which I do I’d rather have them sitting in a room talking France has been incredibly effective right now as they are also in the Iran issue Kushnire who I’ve spoken with a lot are doing an amazing job so we have we’re in a position right now where we’re in actually for the first time have a piece treaty among not just the government of Cartoon but with all of the warring parties so there’s a chance it’s not a very good one but it’s the first chance we’ve had in a long time ah and most of the countries involved have done a very good job in divesting in companies that invest in the Sudan so yes they have and they’ve done a very good job (talks) yeah you get most of them the truth is it’s a very difficult thing you know we talked about this before you can’t be topical in films because it takes you two years for everything to happen to write the script to shoot it and to get it out so usually it’s a little late by the time it comes out unfortunately it’s not late on this one because it’s lasted much longer than it should of but usually you find that preachy movies about anything can be too strident you find ways to try to deflect not go directly at it see unfortunately most of the scripts you get are direct very strident kind of piece and there not in entertainment and I find if your gonna do that then do a documentary if your gonna do then make it entertainment not of Darfur but do the Constant Gardener the City of God that got really wonderful film find a way to make it entertaining and I don’t mean happy entertaining but make it entertaining make a film or go make a documentary one of the two |
| 00:31:27 1883.4 |
A24. HRN-1485
In: 00.31.27 Out: 00.33.06 Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – George – they were thrilled Tony – they really want to go on record a lot of guys want to come out and say that’s what they do um you know this is not a job description that law firms really have they’re no ad in the economist that says you know we’re looking for a fixer and the character in the film wasn’t hired for that job it’s something he evolved into when I went around there’s a lot of law firms in New York that a lot of Attorny’s and as I was working up the character what I would do which I do for research for any kind of movie is go to somebody who really knows about it and say here’s what I’m thinking about doing here’s my character here’s what here’s where they came from here’s what they do the money they make do you believe in that character and as I went around the reposes were really encouraging we don’t have anybody at our firm like that but we used to I don’t have anybody but I know a guy at another firm who we’re supposed to call if we have a problem we have a guy but he doesn’t look like George Clooney you know ah it’s not there are people who fix everything there are people the Hollywood Studio system has known for years Washington is full I mean any time you have money and problems put together someone is going to find a way to facilitate it easier than someone else and rich people are going to find a way to find a VIP room I mean there’s always a VIP there’s always a champagne room the guy even says there’s always a way but no one came forward and said they wanted to be the poster representative for Michael Clayton George – Consultant Tony – yes exactly we have no official Michael Clayton Consultant |
| 00:33:30 2006.4 |
A25. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Tilda – Pass, irrelevant to me really um I’m it’s not a language I talk at all I’m afraid I think you need to hear from this one George – I’m celebrity obsessed explain the question for me again because I was waiting for Tilda to answer (talks) but you know that’s in fairness it’s not about sort of now because if you think about it if you think about movie stars which don’t really exist anymore they sort of stopped with the advent of television really movie stars Clark Gable Spencer Tracy Bogart they really basically played themselves in all those movies you know we knew them as that there wasn’t no sort of like there was Lawrence Olivier who played a lot of characters but we didn’t take to him as much as you took to Spencer Tracy or Clark Gable or Cary Grant or Gregory Peck they basically played that same thing so in a way we’re able to break out from that a little bit more the unfortunate thing I think is your demystified because they know more about your life because there are so many outlets and things like that but in a way your sort of set free because you know there’s always gonna be there’s an awful lot of celebrities out there you were talking about this before the sort of sucking up the celebrity air that aren’t really doing anything you know there’s a bunch of them that haven’t done anything and are famous and you go well ok when that it sort of creates a sort of vacuum in a way Brad Pitt ok you know there are people it’s just that world where you go suddenly people are famous for not doing anything I used to think that was sort of hard to do I don’t you know maybe you guys have examples of times years past but it seems to be more now but you know this is a cycle yeah Andy Warhols 15 min |
| 00:36:10 2166.4 |
A26. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – inspired the story Tony – it was an environment that I thought was interesting and hadn’t seen before I thought there was I found this character and the moment that I landed on the character and sort of put it down you put like a seed in the ground and you in this environment and this character it was an embarrassment of riches it was actually hard to reign the story in it took a long time to write the script because there were so many ways to go there was so much which makes you know that’s a really good feeling as a writer and I just you know I start pulling the string it’s the same way the only way that I know how to work you sort of start from something small you start you knit one row and you knit another row and you go wait a minute this is interesting over here you follow it and you make a big mess and then you have a big mess and you start to clean it up and it’s the same I don’t really have any other process then to keep moving one step in front of the other finally in the end you hope that what you think and you hope that the world around you everything sort of has informed it but um that’s I hoipe that’s an answer |
| 00:37:40 2256.4 |
A27. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Brad and George George – you know I don’t like him I’ll tell you right off the bat he’s very short I don’t know if you’ve seen him very tiny he’s a tiny little fella no never any competition with my friends never you know it’s a weird thing but you try not compete in art cause it always seems sort of strange I couldn’t do the things he does ever you know so no no competition at all I feel some competition with matt Damon though cause I’d like to kick his ass I actually don’t feel it’s sort of an interesting thing about awards seasons which I’ve gone through now once and when you finish it you sort of get this feeling of silt that you were talking about at the beginning of the movie where a patina where you find yourself I’m helping the film and it’s a good thing but at some point your actually campaigning the idea that you should compare art and I always think that’s a dangerous place to go because I remember watching David Stritherron nominated for Murrow and Phillip Seymour Hoffman for Capote and they were people were arguing who’s given a better performance and you go have them switch roles you can’t compare art so there’s never any competition you hope there isn’t any (talks) I’ve never done it before ah I haven’t ever been asked I don’t know why they don’t think I’m smart |
| 00:39:40 2376.4 |
A28. HRN-1485
Sound Bite: Tony Gilroy , George Clooney, Tilda Swinton – Favorite Brad Pitt Movie George – Johnny Suede no let me think in fairness I’ll tell you what he’s a really brave actor which is an interesting thing people often don’t say that enough about him he does performances what he did in Snatch is just phenomenal he can do he’s a really brave actor I’m working with him right now on the Coen brothers movie and he’s doing stuff in it because he’s gonna steal the movie and I’m gonna murder him for it but there’s you can go through a list of them he’s great in fight club and all those films but snatch is just a phenomenal performance should have been nominated for it |
Jump to this point
