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Silver Linings Playbookactor/executive producer Bradley Cooper and writer/director David O. Russell
DAVID O. RUSSELL makes
bipolar disorder, dance
competitions, and the NFL
the stuf o romantic comedy
in Silver Linings Playbook, a
seriously unny eature with star
turns by BRADLEY COOPER
and JENNIFER LAWRENCE.
MIGUEL ARTETA interviews writer/
director RUSSELL and executive
producer and star COOPER.
Portrait by ELIOT LEE HAZEL.
T
ouchdown
D
AN
CE
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I
n 2010, David O. Russell had the big-
gest movie o his career with The Fighter,
his biopic o boxer Micky Ward, star-
ring Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams. The
film took almost $100 million in stateside
receipts, won Christian Bale and Melissa
Leo awards in the supporting categories at
both the Oscars and the Golden Globes,
and earned Russell his first Academy Award
nomination, or Best Director.
But now Russell has returned to the realm
o complex, sophisticated and seriously un-
ny comedies, where he first made his name.
Russells new film, Silver Linings Play-
book based on the 2008 debut novel othe same name by Matthew Quick is the
story o Pat Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper), a
Philadelphia high school teacher who dis-
covers his wie Nikki en flagrante with a
male colleague which causes him to flip
out and brutally beat the man. Diagnosed as
bipolar and put in a psychiatric unit (rather
than doing time), Pat is released ater eight
months and goes to live with his ootball-
crazed parents, Dolores (Jacki Weaver) and
Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), who are mostly
happy to have him under their roo even
though hes not taking his meds and is clear-
ly not yet stable. Though certain things set
him of and cause him to lose control again,
Pat has an almost scarily positive attitude,
insisting that, even though they are now
estranged and theres a restraining order
against him, he and Nikki will be reunited
soon. Hes looking or the positive in every
negative situation, trying to better himsel
reading, exercising in order to be the
man his wie deserves, trying to find a way
to beat this bipolar thing.
Shortly ater returning to his parents
home, Pat meets Tifany (Jennier Law-
rence), the young, recently widowed sister-in-law o his best riend Ronnie (John Ortiz).
Like Pat, shes on various meds, has no fil-
ter and doesnt conorm to others ideas o
what she should be. Though she initially
pursues him, Pat is set on getting back with
Nikki and wont let himsel deviate rom this
true path despite the obvious attraction
between these two damaged souls. Instead,
they decide to orm an alliance and pledge
to help one another: She promises to smug-
gle his letters to Nikki, who is best riends
with her sister Veronica (Julia Stiles), and in
exchange he agrees to be her partner in an
upcoming dance competition and train with
her prior to the event.
Silver Linings Playbookis that rare thing
an intelligent, grown-up date movie. Beau-
tiully written and directed by Russell, its
a redemption tale that uses ootball as an
analogy but then weaves a nuanced, sweet
and deeply human narrative that tran-
scends the simplicity o sports measures
o success and ailure. Its two leads shine
Cooper proves hes much more than just a
pretty ace, and Lawrence is electric as the
raw, tender Tifany. And the supporting cast,
rom De Niro and Animal Kingdoms Weav-er to Chris Tucker playing Coopers ellow
psych ward inmate, bring to lie the richly
drawn characters in Russells screenplay.
To interview Russell a 2012 honoree
at IFPs annual Gotham Indepedent Film
Awards and his producer/star Cooper,
Filmmaker asked Cedar Rapids Miguel Ar-
teta, another director whos been known to
mine di cult topics or comic capital. Be-
low, the pair discuss their creative partner-
ship, the directing card Russell always car-
ries with him on set, and when its okay toP
HOTOCOURTESYOFTHEWEINSTEINCOMPANY
Jennier Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook
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give an actor a line reading.
Silver Linings Playbook is released by The
Weinstein Company on November 21.
So, how did the film come about and how did
you guys get together?DAVID O. RUSSELL:
Well, should we talk about love first, or not?
[Laughs]
That is not for the interview. Filmmaker read-
ers have no interest in love.RUSSELL: Okay,
leave the emotions out o it. So, the year be-
ore he passed away, Sydney Pollack gave me
and Harvey [Weinstein] the book. [Sydney]
said, what a complicated tone it had. Holly
[Davis], the woman I live with, shes a big
reader, so she read the book first. She said,
I think youre going to really like this, be-
cause she knows my older son and some o
the challenges he and the whole amily have
aced rom mood issues. This was beore TheFighter. Then, ater The Fighter, I knew even
more what I liked about this [storys] am-
ily, the neighborhood, the house and all that
stuf. Im as interested in the people and the
urniture and the ood as I am in the story.
When wed scout locations, I remember I
stayed in the houses we would scout, and I
would be like, Oh, were not going to shoot
here? I really like these people. Thats how
we ound our [Philadelphia] Eagles expert,
actually. Anyway, Harvey finally came back
and said, Lets make this picture.
BRADLEY COOPER: I met David when we
had a phone call about this movie, Pride and
Prejudice and Zombies, at LionsGate. I loved
the script he wrote or that. Thats where he
and I met. And then that went away and we
sort o talked about a couple o projects. He
said, This is one o the things Im circling
why dont you read it? And so, I read Silver
Linings, and I liked it.
You read the book or the script? COOPER:
No, just the script. I remember thinking, Im
rom Philly, but Im not really right or thisrole. I think I was probably scared o it.
Well, you know, if youre not scared of a role,
then its never that worth taking, right?COO-
PER: I gotta say, I totally changed my whole
thinking. I remember Willem Daoe came to
our school and he said, I dont do a role that
doesnt scare me. When I dont think I can
do a role, thats the role I take. I remember
thinking, That doesnt make any sense.
Back then, I thought you [should] want to
take a role that you eel a connection to. So
I thought, God, I dont know, man. This
[character] was just so ucked up. It de-
manded really going to a lot o places and
knowing the movies that [David] makes,
I thought, Jesus Christ, Im really going to
have to go to those places and not act like
Im going to those places. So I wouldnt say
I was terrified, but... Then, when he let me
read it, he [didnt say], I want you to do thisrole. This is your movie. So I was like, Okay,
Im sure Ill never get this role.
David, when did you have the moment when
you were like, Wait a second, this is my part-
ner. I gotta go make the movie with him?
RUSSELL: Well, as we were approaching
production, certain situations werent re-
solving themselves with the studio and the
cast. My first impression o him was the
guy in Wedding Crashers. What I find excit-
ing, kind o like what we did with Christian
[Bale] and Amy [Adams] in The Fighter, is
I love when people think they know who an
actor is, but they dont. I relish that, espe-
cially when I know the person is real, you
know? I said to [Bradley], I saw you in
Wedding Crashers, and when I would see you
around town I would think, That is an in-
timidating guy, because the guy rom Wed-
ding Crashers looks somewhat like an angry
person. I believe that hes angry. In act, soangry that I dont know i I want to hang out
with him, you know? [Laughs] That was
one o the first things I said to him, and he
was very candid with me. He said that he
did use anger more at a diferent time in his
lie. And that candor opened up a door to a
huge hall o mirrors that had all this stuf in
it. Like, Oh, hes a really interesting person
who has gone through lots o transitions
hes not just the confident guy rom The
Hangover, the good looking guy. Then we
kept getting to know each other, and I ound
all these layers o this person that I related
to very strongly. Were both hal Italian-
American, so I made the story [about a am-
ily that was] Italian-American. Robert De
Niro and I had been speaking over the years
about wanting to work together. So ater [I
finished] The Fighter, I rewrote [the ather]
role or him.
Bradley, I know you loved working with Rob-
ert. You guys were amazing in Limitless. Was
he already cast when you came on board?
COOPER: Yes, I was the last one cast. I got
a call rom [David] as I was doing The Place
Beyond the Pines
Having De Niro there must have been a
huge asset. COOPER: It was huge because
I knew that I could easily believe that hes
my ather. [I could] say the word dad, and
have that anchor me. Knowing that I loved
Bob already was sort o a reebie; I already
elt so connected to him. And he knew my
dad, who had just passed. His dad had died
at the same age. We have a lot o similarities
in our histories that way. I was just so happy,
because I didnt know anybody else [on the
film]. I didnt know David, I didnt know Jen-
nier, I didnt know Chris Tucker. I think Bob
and Philadelphia, where Im rom, were the
two anchors. My mother grew up in a housenot that diferent than the house that Pat
Solitano grew up in.
And so, what was the first creative conver-
sation you and David had?COOPER: It was
really based around the opening monologue
that the character has in the hospital. In it,
he talks about how hes going to get his lie
back together. He basically runs through
what has happened that led him to this
place. Just hearing how David speaks when
he talks, and the rhythm o his voice, I elt
When you come o a se, heresall his scatered energy. Bu all hareally maters is his sory Im elling.I wan everybody o come in andfeel grounded.
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like I heard it in the way he was writing. I
called David and let him a message o the
monologue as Pat. I was like, How does
this sound? I remember [David] texted me
Yes! Yes! with an exclamation point. And
then we went through it and sort o modu-
lated it. We just read through the whole
script as Pat. I would ask him to read it and
I would read it sort o using his rhythms. He
has a very specific rhythm, and Pat doesnthave the cadence that I have when I talk. It
was just about finding that modulation. But
that was just the beginning stages. It was
just about finding that modulation. But that
was just [during] the beginning stages. And
then, we jumped into it and it really was on
set where we created Pat. That first scene
when he comes in to meet Dad [Robert De-
Niro], I did it much more troubled in some
takes. We actually used that more Asperg-
er-y [version o Pat], in the very beginning.
He walks in the door whats in the movie
now is that other guy.
Okay. [Laughs] Wow. COOPER: He
doesnt talk, and he hugs him and hes just
sort o like
Always suspicious? COOPER: Yes. That
was the other guy. David was like, I dont
know i a whole movie can sustain on that
guy. I mean, ater five minutes, that might
be enough. So, it was just about modulating
[the character].
Its interesting you wanted to hear David read
his dialogue, because a lot o actors dont
want to get a line reading.COOPER: Right.
But then there are a lot o actors who are not
bothered by that. Theyre like, Tell me how
you see it and then Ill interpret or not inter-
pret it. COOPER: Its a case by case basis.
I certainly am someone who, up until then,
would hate it i a director would give me a
line reading. But you know, Im investing in
a David O. Russell movie? So I made it very
clear to mysel that I am going to tack my
little tugboat onto this vessel and do what-
ever he says. And then, as I got to know him,
it became more o a partnership because I
never elt like he was giving me a line read-
ing. I elt like what he was doing was giving
me an insight. It never elt like made out o
paper mach, do you know what I mean?
When were in the scene, hes a character
in the scene. Hes talking to the other char-acters also, and youre incorporating that.
Thats the way he directs everybody. Its a
very unique way o working.
Watching the movie, I noticed that the cam-
era is very, very close to the characters.
RUSSELL: Yes.
And usually, when you do that, it ends up be-
ing not so elegant. To move a camera when
youre that close to an actor, and to have the
actors have the reedom that they need to do
that, is dif cult. So, thinking about the cho-
reography o the camera, the filmmaker in
me wondered, What happens in the morn-
ing? Is it a ree-or-all rehearsal? Or are
you, David, saying, Why dont you guys just
read it? Or, are you saying, Why dont you
guys just see what you do, and let me go and
change how you guys move? What hap-
pens first thing?COOPER: You know, theres
a ritual to it every day. Wed all get cofee.
Im not even a cofee drinker but I drankfive espressos that whole shoot every day.
[Laughs] Wed all get into the van.
RUSSELL: Heres the reason why I think its
important to get in the van. When you come
to a set or me, theres all this scattered en-
ergy. But all that really matters is this right
here, this story that Im telling right now.
So we all need to eel. I want everybody to
come in close and eel grounded.
Get it gelled beore you go out there. RUS-
SELL: Yes, yes, exactly. Dont be doing it inthe middle o a set, with all sorts o people
around. It just eels sae when youre in a
van, in a car. Its like a small thing. I do it with
the a.d. and the producer first. I go, Lets talk
about the day, how were going to do this, all
right? And then, I do it with the cast. We all
sit there and go, Lets talk about this scene.
It was like we were trying to fit a 38-pound
ball in a 25-pound bag a 33-day shoot.
And then you guys were like, Lets go.RUS-
SELL: We said, You know what? Were a
day-and-a-hal behind on the schedule and
three days back. It was kind o like a oot-
ball game. I go, I think I can see a chance
to make up some major yardage here. I
think we can make up like a day-and-a-hal
right now. Are you guys down or this?
And theyre like, [Pretends to spit] Okay.
[Laughs] So it was so like, although Anupam
Kher was like
COOPER: He was reaking out.
RUSSELL: He was like, Well, wait a minute.
Wait a minute. These are all o my scenes.
I was like, Its going to be okay. Its going tobe okay.
Is there a moment when youre doing this
stu and you say, We have it.? Was it clear
when you had it? RUSSELL: We would eel
good. I think we would eel like we got our
moments.
COOPER: The other thing is, we were on a
33-day schedule. Ive done movies where
theyve been that short o a schedule, and
you just hope, Did we get it? This movie,
I never elt like we ever tried to get it
I want to fnd the moments wherepeople are not talking, where peopleare just looking at each other. I think
theres a lot o gold in that.
HOW THEY DID IT
Production Format
35mm 2 per, with some 3 per.
Camera
ARRICAM Lite or 2 per, ARRIFLEX
235 or 3 per .
Film/Tape Stock
Kodak 5219 with some 5213 .
Editing System
Avid Nitris.
Color Correction
Conormed via Autodesk Smoke
2012, color corrected via DaVinci
Resolve, ilming out via ARRILASER
recorder 2254 Kodak negative /
printing on Kodak 2383.
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we tried to get every version we could in as
much time as we could. In the editing room,
David saw that there were potentially six
diferent movies in this movie six difer-
ent paths, six diferent arcs. I mean, we re-
ally would do every version. There was an
extreme version, a no-bullshit version, a
more modulated version.
And did that stay throughout the whole pro-
cess?COOPER: The whole time.
Because, you know, usually that happens at
the beginning o a shoot, the first week. COO-
PER:And youre just trying to get the scene.
And then youre like, This is the way. This
eeling or this character is what really eels
right. And you more or less start nailing it
down. But you were exploring diferent sides
to the character throughout, all the way to
the end? COOPER: The whole time. The
whole time.
So, within this environment o trust you were
like, Im not going to decide what is right.
Im not going to worry what makes it in the
movie.COOPER: Thats right.
You would just move on? COOPER: What I
worried about was giving him enough options.
RUSSELL: Low, medium and high. I have a
card o things that I [use to] try to remind
mysel, because the thing you always kick
yoursel [about] when youre in the editing
room is, Why the uck didnt I do this?
What else is on that card?RUSSELL: Have
we shot it in the most cinematically dynam-
ic way that we can shoot it? Is it everything
that it could be, quietly and emotionally?
COOPER: Is there a version where theres nobullshit at all, like a completely real version?
RUSSELL: Sometimes you want to try some-
thing very extreme. Sometimes you end up
in the editing room and you go, Oh, the way
to have done this scene was this way. And
sometimes you just want to try to shake your-
sel like a snow globe and say, Wait a minute.
Im looking at this the wrong way. What i I
looked at it all through this characters point
o view. We also would do the diferent emo-
tions. Do it so it eels unnier, which I dont
know how to do. I dont know how we did that.
And sometimes it eels sadder.
When youre working with a director, some-
times you can tell when they were like,
Thats the one, he loved it, right?COOPER:
Well, were both pretty enthusiastic people,
and its pretty obvious when we like some-
thing. [Laughs] Sometimes I eel like were
gold panners, you know what I mean? I
someone finds a little bit o gold, were not
shutting up about it. Thats part o what I
loved about him. Were all tired, were all
working really hard, so i we get some magic,
were going to celebrate it, you know? And it
was very much like everybody was celebrat-ing. Shelley [Ziegler], the first a.d., she was
crying a lot. And David Thompson, who was
the camera operator, would know. When
Bob came up the stairs, when he cried, that
was the last take o his close-up.
RUSSELL: It was a surprise. I was, Lets just
do one more, and all o a sudden was like,
What the uck is happening?
COOPER: It was amazing.
RUSSELL: He pulled that out as a surprise
on us. He wanted to do it real or you, and
he wanted to do it real or me because he
David O. Russell talks with Robert De Niro on the set o Silver Linings Playbook
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personally identifies with much of this ma-
terial for similar reasons as I do you know,
as a father. We identify. Weve been down
these roads with children, with family mem-
bers. And so, it was very personal to him.We had gotten to know each other over the
years, and he really wanted to fucking do it,
to memorize these long monologues. It was
important to him that he knew them, and he
worked tremendously hard. Actors, they get
older and after all the accolades they tend to
be like, Look, Im just going to show up
COOPER: Not this motherfucker.
RUSSELL: And I directed him very respect-
fully. I said what I thought [and then] left it
to him. Hes an intimidating human being,
and we were so blessed to have him there.
Hes such a warm, loving guy. We let our
hair down and we are warm and welcom-
ing, and that is the contagious thing. [When
we were shooting the scenes at the Solitano
household] we had a family vibe going. AndI remember saying to Bob, How do you
stand here all day like this?
COOPER: He stood for three days.
RUSSELL: That made me crazy. Heres De
Niros standing there in the corner before
we get to his part of the scene. Id be like,
I cant look over there. He was standing
there just for us
COOPER: For six hours.
RUSSELL: And then he said, Hey, all these
other people can do it and theyre not mak-
ing any money and they got no fans. He
goes, I can do it.
I am such a believer in the intangibles, how
the camera records the intangibles. I think a
camera records stuf that is not in the rame
RUSSELL: Like your soul.
Well, like something intangible that happens
between people. RUSSELL:Thats the magic.
I say to my cinematographers, I were go-
ing to tell a story, just photograph the actors
eyes. You dont even have to go to the long
shot. All were doing here is photographing
the actors eyes. Thats how we tell the story.And then that sort o non-verbal communica-
tion starts to happen. You become a witness,
as opposed to RUSSELL: Thats very well
said. Youre almost a participant, rather than
a more distant person.
COOPER: Listen, its less safe.
Yeah, its a lot less sae. RUSSELL: There is
something that should be on the card, which
would just be stillness. Which goes to what
you said about the eyes. In the editing room,
you edit the movie for three months andP
HOTOCOURTESYOFTHEWEINSTEINCOMPANY
Te last six hours o every day weremore productive than the frst six hours.Te last take o a scene would all o asudden just click.
Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook
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youre like, Okay, this is it. This is great.
And then, you go through another two
months o ripping it apart, and then all o a
sudden things happen where you say, Why
didnt I think o that three months ago? Its
so obvious that this is so ar superior to any-
thing we had beore. Its so very diferent
than what we had beore that I cant even
remember what we had beore. Thats justhow lie is. You have to get there by going
thereits not going to present itsel to you,
like you said. And the eyes thing is what hap-
pened like, in month eight or nine o editing.
I said, I think we gotta go through the whole
movie, guys. This is ater we had previewed.
We gotta go through the whole movie. I
want us to breathe. I want to find the mo-
ments where people are not talking, where
people are just looking at each other. I think
theres a lot o gold in that. And there is.
Every emotion exponentially grows. Every-thing in the movie lands ar more with that
seemingly small shit. Its a small thing, but
a huge thing. You have to ask [the studio]
to unlock the movie to do that, so I was like,
Well, I think we should unlock the movie.
I always feel like I do my best work the last two
hours of editing instead of the last six months.
Sometimes I get very bold. Im like, Fuck it.
Take that. RUSSELL: It was like when we
were shooting too. The last six hours o ev-
ery day were always more productive than
the first six hours. The last take o a scene
would all o sudden just click. I we ever had
a celebratory moment, which we did oten,
we would go, Wait a second, what have we
been ucking doing or the past 40 minutes?
All o a sudden, it would come.
COOPER: We would do the coverage. We
would get the wide and do the coverage, getsome pieces, and then it was, Lets do one
ucking gangster Steadicam, lets just see it
swim through the scene.
RUSSELL: You gotta make sure you end up
shooting it one way and then another way.
And thats another thing on the card: make
sure youve got the dog in the corner.
What? RUSSELL: You know, you gotta be
able to have something to go to. It could just
be Shea Whigham sitting in the corner. But
cover your ass so that you can cut it every
way you want to. Do whatever you want.
Get a couple o dogs.
COOPER: And then at the very end, strap onthe Steadicam and
RUSSELL: Let it rip. As i it was like a docu-
mentary thing.
AMANDA, 14SCREENWRITER
LEE, 14DIRECTOR
COURTNEY, 12PRODUCER
3 DistinctCareer
Goals
1 Shared
Passion
Lee, Amanda andCourtney are part of avibrant film communityat Regent University,with $4 million ofindustry-standardequipment at their
disposal. Here, theyare able to participatein many of the nearly100 film projectsper yearallowingthem to start theircareers while pursuinggraduate education.No matter what yourcareer goal is, if youhave a passion to workin film or television, wecan help you get there.Ready to get started?
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GO BACK & WATCH
THE TALENT GIVEN US Andrew
Wagner cast his own amily as a bick-
ering New York clanan older couple
and their unmarried daughtersthat
drives cross-country rom New York to
L.A. in this DIY dramedy rom 2004.
PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE An anxious and
psychologically troubled toilet-plunger
salesman (Adam Sandler) enduresphone-sex extortion and crashing cars
while romantically pursuing Lena (Em-
ily Watson) in Paul Thomas Andersons
2002 subversive romantic comedy.
THE GOOD GIRL Miguel Artetas
2002 comedy drama ollows a lonely
woman (Jennier Aniston) through an
unhappy marriage, an aair with an un-
stable younger man (Jake Gyllenhaal)
and the complications that ensue.
see page 78
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78 F IL MM AK ER FALL 2012
TOUCHDOWN DANCEfrom page 35
That must be great as a perormer, right?
COOPER: It is, especially because youre
almost dancing. Im someone whos always
aware o where the camera is. I actually love
that part o filmmaking, as opposed to be-
ing on stage. I love it. So, when you start
to dance with the camera operator to therhythm o the scene, its very exciting.
It is when it becomes like a unit. COOPER:
Yes. And we actually did have a dance scene
at the end o the movie, which we had no
time to shoot. It was ucking crazy. Theres
400 other actors as the audience, and were
sitting there trying to put this thing together.
You had your routine down by that point, right?
COOPER:The routine we had down, but how
do you film that dynamically and personally?
How many times have we watched Dancing
with the Stars and all these shows? You seehow people shoot dancing, but [here] you
have to watch these two all in love.
Well, it seemed to me like you took a per-
son out and put the camera in. COOPER:
Yes, thats what we did. Thats exactly
what we did.
You danced with us and then she was dancing
with us.COOPER: 100 percent correct.
RUSSELL: The dancing was the whole thing
to attack unto itsel. We had to find the right
choreographer
COOPER: Who was amazing, Mandy
Moore.
RUSSELL: Mandy Moore, right. Not the ac-
tress. She has done amateur Dancing with
the Stars contests in Colorado, so shes no
stranger to local dance contests, which is
what I wanted it to eel like. I wanted it to
eel like there were some ringers.
Right.RUSSELL: Who were like, Oh, these
are scary people, theyre rom Belarus. A lot
o them were rom Belarus, or some reason.
Theyre like proessional dancers, theyre like
assassins. I wanted our people to be kind
o like i you and me did it, you know? Thedancing in Pulp Fiction meant something to
me because its about this its about their
hearts and their eyes. And that, to me, was
the most important thing. [Bradley and Jen-
nier] danced to the camera or one section
o it, but the rest o it, I wanted to do in real
time, which Im proud we did. Its just about
being with them in a two shot.
And because the choreography in the studio is
also beautiul, did you choreograph the cam-
era movements? Or, do you have so much aith
in your operator as to the camera that you can
say, Okay, do it diferently, and something
else will come?COOPER:Oh no, its like, [Da-
vids] moving with the Steadicam.
Youre walking around with it?COOPER: Oh
yeah. Its very much the same way he is with
the actors. People are ducking, booms are fly-
ing. I mean, he is steering every aspect o the
ship. So, as youre editing the movie, youre
constantly trying to figure out how much itsgoing to cost to take him out o the rame.
David, the films background is particularly
alive, like your actors. Oten when you see
films, thats not the case. Is it just contagious
because the background extras are watching
you work? Or do you speak directly to them?
How do they come to lie?RUSSELL: Theres
some union thing you have to go through be-
cause otherwise it becomes an upgrade. This
was shot or the same budget as The Fighter,
which is not a lot o money, so you have to
[be careul about] suddenly [upgrading anextra, which happens] i you give them spe-
cific direction. But Shelley [Ziegler] is rom
Baltimore. She did The Sopranos a lot, she did
Boardwalk Empire a lot. She did The Fighter.
Shes antastic, and she knows what we want,
which is to make this eel warm and alive.
She gives people specific instructions so they
are doing specific things. That persons going
to the chocolate ountain. These people are
having an argument. These people are happy
to be there and are taking pictures. These
people are flirting with each other. This guy
wants to see that girl over there.
Alright, lets talk about Jennier Lawrence
because she is just amazing. From the mo-
ment she enters, youre already in love. Shes
got such an energy, a bolt o energy in her,
such a bullshit meter that is on. And then, the
layers in which she becomes like him out
o control but not, apparently, right rom
the start. COOPER: Her acility or emo-
tional depth at the drop o a hat is kind o
[amazing]. Ive done two movies with her
now, and the second movie [Susanne Biers
upcoming Serena] we did was equally aschallenging dramatically. I mean, she had
to go to some sick places. I remember [dur-
ing one scene] Im watching her and [as an
actor] Im eeling everything that shes do-
ing. I eel horrible and embarrassed and that
Ive hurt her [character] because o what
shes doing. [But] also at the same time as
a lover o this movie, [it was] so exhilarat-
ing. [Laughs] It was like, Yes, motheruck-
ers! David was like, Thats what Im talk-
ing about. [Laughs] I remember I wanted
to scream. She was so in the pocket. Shes
suchI mean, she embodies so many difer-
ent aspects o what youd think a woman is
as a male, as a emale, as a human being.
I mean, shes so sexy and then not. Shes
quite a stunning human being.
RUSSELL: You know, Jennier was some-
body who we all thought, Well, shes a
little too young. I didnt know much about
her she was great in Winters Bone butI thought, Well, why dont we read her? So
she Skyped her audition rom her parents
home in Louisville, Kentucky. We already
had two or three big contenders, big stars,
because this is a very dimensional role. Then
she just came in, and I was very struck by
her personality, her energy. She dressed up
or the character in her athers den, with the
eye makeup and the hair and everything. She
really wanted it. She was willing to try to do
anything that we were working on. She just
brought a very special human-being qual-ity. I said to Harvey, I think [we should cast
her], and he goes, I think shes too young,
man. I said, I dont know. She seems kind
o ageless in some ways to me.
Lets talk about the chemistry between the
two o you when you were dancing. I mean,
that reveals so much about what was going
on when youre practicing and the first time
youre dancing your ace comes this close to
her. RUSSELL: You know what I love about
that as she gets pulled in and then she
spins out, you think thats the end o the
shot. But then she goes around.
COOPER: And the way she looks at him
when she spins out. Also my avorite thing
o hers, when theyre dancing, theres this
one [shot where] youre over [Pat] and
her hair is alling and shes kind o smiling.
[Laughs] Youre just like, What the uck is
going on? I mean, really. Were just sitting
there and were like, What? Like, holy shit.
Theres like our or five moments in that
movie where shes just, you know, stopping
the film. Its just like, Holy uck!
Yeah, its got star dust in it.
LOVE ON THE OUTSIDEfrom page 49
make go through AFFRM? No, because AF-
FRM probably cant handle the next ilms as
Im trying to increase my budgets. AFFRM
has a very speciic P&A budget which has
to be put against a speciic size o ilm. But
as long as Im making a ilm in that size that
its into the model, it will go through AFFRM.
Thank God Participant comes in and kind o
supersizes what AFFRM could do or Middle,