Post by jeffan on Mar 9, 2009 7:01:41 GMT -5
I have posted this interview as the pitch is different. I would think that Jeff is very flattered that he is compared to Orson Welles and Charlie Chaplin! Two cinematic giants.
Thank you Anke for the translation.
-----
Adam Resurrected - An interview with actor Jeff Goldblum
This story changed my life
Nordkurier.de
Versatile Jeff Goldblum (56) is deeply familiar with the work on stage as well as in front of the camera. The 6 feet 4 giant brings weightlessness to comedies and a unique intensity to dramas, he bears attractions („Independence Day“, „Jurassic Park“) as well as ambitious independent productions ("Igby goes down"). In Paul Schrader's "AR" Goldblum pulls out all the stops of his talent. Worthy of an Oscar, he plays a Jewish entertainer who is kept like a dog by a concentration camp commandant (Willem Dafoe).
Mr Goldblum, how did you deal with the script?
I concerned myself for over a year with the book. First I presented it to my students that I teach for many years. I have a backyard with a room for acting. I learned my text and the students took the other parts. This brought about different impressions. However, I had the most effective experience with the script when I read it to my sister, a wonderful painter from LA. How I experience a play myself depends a lot from the reactions of the audience. Through my sister I could suddenly feel the story, which was very touching. She's very smart and taught me to appreciate the intelligence of the story. Paul Schrader was fascinated by her central approach, "the story of a man who was once a dog and meets a dog who was once a boy." The book is intelligent, beautiful, surprising, contradictory and provocative.
How did you experience the encounter with Yoram Kaniuk, the author of the book?
The book "AR" was written in 1968 and published in 1971, about the same year as "Tin Drum", "Slaughterhouse 5" and "Catch 22". It had this dark view back on war and it was discussed fiercely in Israel in the beginning. Today it's admired. Yoram Kaniuk told me about the history of the plot. Charlie Chaplin read the book, called him and yelled that he had to play this part. Orson Welles wanted to film the book and play the part. Yoram Kaniuk was very generous to me and said that he is happy that I play Adam. Meanwhile he saw the movie more than a dozen times and he loves it. Thank God we managed to meet his expectations. He's a very special contemporary.
How does it feel to be in the same league as Chaplin and Welles?
Very flattering, of course. I would have loved to see their versions. But I'm also happy that it fell into my little hands. I hope that all people can learn something from the story. As for me, it changed my life. This work was a unique opportunity. I didn't only explore the boundaries of my acting ability, it was also emotionally and psychologically the most challenging role for me, personally enlightening and full of soul. I learned as much as I could about the historic circumstances. I talked to survivors in LA and went to Israel for the first time in my life. I came to Germany for one month to complete the biography of my character. I was thinking where the cabaret could have been in which he performed. I visited the train station from which he and his family probably were deported. I went to Sachsenhausen and Majdanek. These were overwhelming experiences.
Was there - despite the extensive preparation - enough room for improvisation?
It was a wonderful script, everything was there. But I also started to create my own ideas. Some of my ideas were brought in, some were dismissed. Paul Schrader tends to improvise, he likes to be inspired by the moment. A lot of things evolved that way. The rope trick I do was not in the script. When I come to my daughter's grave by the end of the movie, I fall on my knees, start to eat the flowers and cry. Paul said, that's good. But take a handful of dirt in the next take and put it in your mouth. I liked the idea a lot, after all this scene marks the moment when I finally lose my mind. I said yes, give me something that looks like dirt. Paul said no, eat the dirt. I didn't really know. Then he took the dirt himself and ate it. I said okay, let's go.
Are there Holocaust victims in your own family?
Not that I am aware of. Actually I don't know much about my family tree. I have a Russian and an Austrian grandfather. My father, a doctor in Pittsburgh, volunteered in WWII and came to Europe. He had a brother I never got to know. On pictures he looks a lot like me. Chuck Goldblum was exactly as tall as me, a talented basketball player. He was a pilot in WWII, he was shot down and never found. That's all I know.
Don't you think, while working with Germans, that they probably are the children and grandchildren of the people who did all these awful things or let them happen?
No, that's not what I think. This movie is the first mutual film production of Israel and Germany about this subject. The atmosphere was great on the set, it was defined by a corporate feeling and infective passion.
Is it rue that you stay in character during shooting breaks? How can one picture that?
No, I don't do that. No one has to call me my character's name. Of course, in such a challenging role I'm always engaged in the question how I can give my best in the next scene. That's why it's likely that I work on it during a break. And when my blood is stirred, I tend to be obsessed, that's true. Sometimes chracters develop their own inner life and take me on. But that's no formulistic, mechanic "I stay in the role now." A lot of times I let everything off and take a deep breath to be able to absorb the role again with a maximum of interest, curiosity and delight in playing.
How was the teamwork with the boy?
Oh, Tudor Rapiteanu was fantastic. We discovered him in Romania where we shot. He's very smart, he came in second in a national competition. He's a born actor, absolutely fearless.
Can you actually peer with one eye?
I read it in the script and I knew that some people can do special tricks with their eyes. I asked Paul if I really have to learn this. But that wasn't necessary, it was done with a special effect. That relieved me. I offered him to do other things that I saw nobody else can do. I can wiggle with my ears alternately, for example [he demonstrates it]. But he didn't want that, I don't know why.
Thank you Anke for the translation.
-----
Adam Resurrected - An interview with actor Jeff Goldblum
This story changed my life
Nordkurier.de
Versatile Jeff Goldblum (56) is deeply familiar with the work on stage as well as in front of the camera. The 6 feet 4 giant brings weightlessness to comedies and a unique intensity to dramas, he bears attractions („Independence Day“, „Jurassic Park“) as well as ambitious independent productions ("Igby goes down"). In Paul Schrader's "AR" Goldblum pulls out all the stops of his talent. Worthy of an Oscar, he plays a Jewish entertainer who is kept like a dog by a concentration camp commandant (Willem Dafoe).
Mr Goldblum, how did you deal with the script?
I concerned myself for over a year with the book. First I presented it to my students that I teach for many years. I have a backyard with a room for acting. I learned my text and the students took the other parts. This brought about different impressions. However, I had the most effective experience with the script when I read it to my sister, a wonderful painter from LA. How I experience a play myself depends a lot from the reactions of the audience. Through my sister I could suddenly feel the story, which was very touching. She's very smart and taught me to appreciate the intelligence of the story. Paul Schrader was fascinated by her central approach, "the story of a man who was once a dog and meets a dog who was once a boy." The book is intelligent, beautiful, surprising, contradictory and provocative.
How did you experience the encounter with Yoram Kaniuk, the author of the book?
The book "AR" was written in 1968 and published in 1971, about the same year as "Tin Drum", "Slaughterhouse 5" and "Catch 22". It had this dark view back on war and it was discussed fiercely in Israel in the beginning. Today it's admired. Yoram Kaniuk told me about the history of the plot. Charlie Chaplin read the book, called him and yelled that he had to play this part. Orson Welles wanted to film the book and play the part. Yoram Kaniuk was very generous to me and said that he is happy that I play Adam. Meanwhile he saw the movie more than a dozen times and he loves it. Thank God we managed to meet his expectations. He's a very special contemporary.
How does it feel to be in the same league as Chaplin and Welles?
Very flattering, of course. I would have loved to see their versions. But I'm also happy that it fell into my little hands. I hope that all people can learn something from the story. As for me, it changed my life. This work was a unique opportunity. I didn't only explore the boundaries of my acting ability, it was also emotionally and psychologically the most challenging role for me, personally enlightening and full of soul. I learned as much as I could about the historic circumstances. I talked to survivors in LA and went to Israel for the first time in my life. I came to Germany for one month to complete the biography of my character. I was thinking where the cabaret could have been in which he performed. I visited the train station from which he and his family probably were deported. I went to Sachsenhausen and Majdanek. These were overwhelming experiences.
Was there - despite the extensive preparation - enough room for improvisation?
It was a wonderful script, everything was there. But I also started to create my own ideas. Some of my ideas were brought in, some were dismissed. Paul Schrader tends to improvise, he likes to be inspired by the moment. A lot of things evolved that way. The rope trick I do was not in the script. When I come to my daughter's grave by the end of the movie, I fall on my knees, start to eat the flowers and cry. Paul said, that's good. But take a handful of dirt in the next take and put it in your mouth. I liked the idea a lot, after all this scene marks the moment when I finally lose my mind. I said yes, give me something that looks like dirt. Paul said no, eat the dirt. I didn't really know. Then he took the dirt himself and ate it. I said okay, let's go.
Are there Holocaust victims in your own family?
Not that I am aware of. Actually I don't know much about my family tree. I have a Russian and an Austrian grandfather. My father, a doctor in Pittsburgh, volunteered in WWII and came to Europe. He had a brother I never got to know. On pictures he looks a lot like me. Chuck Goldblum was exactly as tall as me, a talented basketball player. He was a pilot in WWII, he was shot down and never found. That's all I know.
Don't you think, while working with Germans, that they probably are the children and grandchildren of the people who did all these awful things or let them happen?
No, that's not what I think. This movie is the first mutual film production of Israel and Germany about this subject. The atmosphere was great on the set, it was defined by a corporate feeling and infective passion.
Is it rue that you stay in character during shooting breaks? How can one picture that?
No, I don't do that. No one has to call me my character's name. Of course, in such a challenging role I'm always engaged in the question how I can give my best in the next scene. That's why it's likely that I work on it during a break. And when my blood is stirred, I tend to be obsessed, that's true. Sometimes chracters develop their own inner life and take me on. But that's no formulistic, mechanic "I stay in the role now." A lot of times I let everything off and take a deep breath to be able to absorb the role again with a maximum of interest, curiosity and delight in playing.
How was the teamwork with the boy?
Oh, Tudor Rapiteanu was fantastic. We discovered him in Romania where we shot. He's very smart, he came in second in a national competition. He's a born actor, absolutely fearless.
Can you actually peer with one eye?
I read it in the script and I knew that some people can do special tricks with their eyes. I asked Paul if I really have to learn this. But that wasn't necessary, it was done with a special effect. That relieved me. I offered him to do other things that I saw nobody else can do. I can wiggle with my ears alternately, for example [he demonstrates it]. But he didn't want that, I don't know why.