CELEBRITY press conference transcript
Kenneth Branagh and Woody Allen
The Ritz Hotel, Paris
December 22, 1998
transcribed by Sarah Hatchuel
Question to Ken: Did Woody
allow you any freedom with your character? Did he give you any
precise directions?
Ken's answer: Woody not only
allowed me but the other actors a great deal of freedom. And,
in fact, he invited that, really. And at the same time as being
very very helpful with the... and especially, which I think is
an important thing in directing, especially when something needed
fixing or something was wrong... I think that he allowed me to
follow my instinct about what I thought was creating the character
of Lee Simon. I thought Lee Simon was very multi-layered, a character
who sometimes was desperate and sometimes sad and sometimes manic,
but I thought came out of me. But great freedom and great help
was what my experience was.
Question to Woody: Kenneth
does sound like you a lot in the movie. How did this come about?
Woody's answer: Kenneth was playing
a very complicated part. I wanted someone who could capture the
comic New-York-City-Manhattan-nervous-anxious tension that I
usually write about. I also needed someone that could get all
the laughs that I'd put into the part. And also someone who could
portray a character who had very desperate desires that could
also be sympathetic. So, I brought this all on Kenneth and he
started to play it, and we would look at it at night, the staff
and myself, and we were so delighted because he had captured
this kind of New York quality, this sort of nervous celebrity-haunted
anguish, anxiety, so perfectly, that we were thrilled. I was
seeing the part exactly as I had dreamed.
Question to Ken: Is it possible
to play in a Woody movie and forget all Woody has done before
as an actor?
Ken's answer: Honestly, it didn't
occur to me to try and be Woody. Lee Simon, I thought, was a
brillantly written, very layered character who was both sad and
funny and frustrated and restless and sometimes very immature
and sometimes stupid, but, for my research if you like, I spoke
to writers, I talked to magazine writers, to travel writers and
try to picture a sort of history for this man that was very specific.
One of the issues sometimes in Woody's films perhaps is that
because the cinematic landscape that he presents is so distinct
that almost anybody who's playing the *guy* is somehow interpreted
as being Woody when, in fact, in my research, my way of approaching,
was to look at where the substance was, which is in this very
extraordinary writing, which, you know, encouraged by Woody,
led me to... I was trying to observe this brilliant comic mind,
look for the interior life of the man which I think is presented
very movingly in some of the scenes; however frustrating some
people may find the character, I think sometimes he is tremendously
human and flawed. That was what I enjoyed working on and it was
a pleasure to play.
Woody: Even twenty-five years
ago, I could not have played the role. I would have been funny
but you would have had a much less rich character. I can't do
that kind of acting. I can't give that level of acting. So, you
know, I consider myself very lucky to have the part played by
Kenneth. I could never have done it. I could have done some of
it. But by no means the complexity of all.
Question to Ken: What have
you learned from Woody as a film director?
[...] *long pause*, Ken thinks
and says nothing. Everybody begins to laugh ! Ken smiles and
says "No, no, no" In a way, it's hard to describe.
I think lots of things. But watching Woody on the set is like
seeing, it's rather embarrassing, but it's like seeing a sort
of painter at work, is what I found. So that... clearly, he had
the plan in someways of what he might shoot. But on the day his
response to the set and what the actors were bringing I felt
was like someone with a, you know, a palette of colours, and
his concentration was remarkable and his sort of sense of freedom
in how to move the camera, to do that very specifically for each
scene, for each set, very aware of..., immensely detailed awareness
of composition and very subtle rapport with the D.P., they are
typical inspiring ways of intuitively approaching visually what
was right with the scene. His notes are very... economic. He
doesn't say too much but he says enough and he's very generous
and free with his time, but in a way watching was... mysterious
because one could watch and not know how to do it, but watching
him was compelling, it was like watching a master at work. I'll
stop the blushes there. [Ken laughs]
Question to Woody: Now that
you've found Kenneth who can be such an alter-ego for you, will
you ask Ken to play in all your future movies?
Woody's answer: No, but I would
be thrilled to work with Kenneth again because he plays the character
in a way, as I said before, I could never play myself.
Question to Ken: Was it easy
to play this character as opposed to the parts you played on
stage?
Ken's answer: Hummm... Not particularly
easy... because of the accent. And I had to have a sense of that
culture, you know,... when you are playing away from your own
natural thing you can sometimes make the sounds of the accent
but you don't necessarily get that under-the-skin quality. So
I found that difficult and try to make it challenging. And it
has always been a dream to be in a Woody Allen film. So it was
a real honour and a dream-come-true. I've been watching his films
for, you know, a long time, and my own films have been heavily
influenced by Woody: Peter's Friends, which did very well here,
and a black-and-white comedy In The Bleak Midwinter. And... so,
it was fascinating to do. It was a fascinating challenge, yes.
Question to Woody and Ken:
One of the guy in the movie says that society is judged by the
celebrity it chooses. So, how do you judge a society that has
chosen Woody Allen and Kenneth Branagh as celebrities?
Woody's answer: In Kenneth's
case, it's completely justified. [Hooray !!!] In my case, it's
a cultural need of help. [Gets a big laugh] [Then he develops
on what he thinks a genuine artistic celebrity is, and the people
who accidently and without any particular reasons become famous,
like the hostage guy]
Ken's answer: Well, I agree with
what Woody's said. What I think is very interesting in the film
is the way he talks about the all-abasive nature, now, of the
appetite for stories or gossip about people often famous for
being famous. And that appetite has intensified and has become
more voracious, suddenly different media competing for the same
kind of audience. So, I think the film looks at that in a very
very interesting way, that intensification of media appetite,
fame gained by, you know, circumstances Woody described.
Question to Ken: [Actually,
originally, the question asked in French was: "Est-ce que
ce role vous a aide a vous refaire une virginite en tant qu'acteur?",
which means ""Did this role help you restore your image
as an actor?". But it was *very* badly and funnily translated
into : "has this role helped you to get back your virginity
as an actor ?" !!!!!
Ken's answer: Well... I don't
understand the question [smiles]. My experience is that you don't
get back your virginity on the whole. But--perhaps I'll know
when I lose mine [he laughs]. But it was very nice to, if that
was what the question was about [he laughs], it was very nice
to be simply acting in a movie with someone I revere and to be
devoid from all the responsibilities.
Back to Articles Listing
Back to the Compendium |