Earlier today I posted about my new favorite movie for 2012 People Like Us. This is an incredible movie which is written and directed by Alex Kurtzman. I got the chance to interview Mr. Kurtzman last week after a screening of the movie. He was so down to Earth, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and joked about how everyone had to get up early on a Monday morning. He was very gracious and you could tell that he put a lot of heart and soul into making this film. People Like Us opens in theaters everywhere and I hope that you will go see it, it’s amazing!
Question #1: Tell us where the story came from?
I met my sister when I turned 30, my dad had had another family before ours. We knew about them growing up but I’d never met them. So I was sitting in my house and in my backyard and I think it was because my wife and I were starting to think about having kids. And you know that makes you think about your family and where you come from. I started thinking about that I have a half-sister and a half-brother, And I started thinking about them and wondering who they were and what they were like. And this image came to me. And the image was the last image of the movie. And I didn’t know who those characters were in the image. But it just struck me very profoundly as the ending. And, I thought, “Wow, that seems like a really interesting story.”
I didn’t think much of it. I went to a party that night and woman walked up to me and said, “I’m your sister.” So that’s what begun the seven years of the odd odyssey of trying to work through it and separate truth from fiction in order to make a movie. And so what you see is I think in many ways very autobiographical and in other ways there’s a lot of invention in there. But I certainly think there’s a lot of emotional, you know, emotional truth for a lot of people in my family in there.
Question #2: What was the reason for using a lot of Laurel Canyon?
Laurel Canyon to me was much more about, you know, the movie for me in a lot of ways is a ghost story. And it’s about how this man is haunting everybody. And I love the idea that the one person who could give them answers wasn’t around to give them answers. And so everywhere they went they should be a little bit haunted. And Laurel Canyon to me was very evocative of the music industry in the 70’s — the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, particularly Wonderland. You know, obviously Jim Morrison lived there. And it was sort of the place that just felt authentic. It felt like the place that he would have been you know.
Question #3: Did you know who you wanted to play those roles?
No, not really. It took eight years to write the script, a lot of actors go through your life in eight years. And the person who’s right at the beginning isn’t necessarily right at the end. And there was also a question to me about how old I wanted Sam to be at certain points.There’s a part of me that felt like maybe he should be younger. And then there was a part of me that thought, “No, really, it’s about a guy who is sort of in a real delayed state of adolescence.” And he’s actually 30 and not quite grown to that place yet, you know. But Chris was the first person that I asked, um, having worked with him on “Trek” and having seen him in theater. He’s an incredible — he’s done amazing stage work.
I just felt like the thing about Chris for me is that he’s first of all he’s a guy. And I really needed Sam to be a guy. And he’s a man. But when you look at him in here he’s ten years old. And every time I saw him on the monitors I saw this boy. And what I thought was so beautiful about that is that the only way to forgive this character is to understand that he’s really still a child in a lot of ways. That he’s trying so hard to be a good person. He just doesn’t really know what that means at the beginning of the movie. And you know, I loved the idea that the movie starts and he’s this guy who’s literally selling air. And the movie ends and he’s the guy who’s just utterly, you know, vulnerable standing there on his sister’s doorstep saying like this is who I am, you know. I don’t know how to be better, but I wanna try and that required a lot of range.
And then, you know, I saw a lot of actresses for Frankie and they were all amazing, every one of them. But my worry with Frankie was that she would walk into the room and — and there would be a heaviness about her given her life. When Elizabeth came in she did the A.A. monologue and the Laundromat monologue. And she kind of threw it away. And I felt like I was watching this person who was trying very hard not to have the words mean what they meant. And because of that they meant so much more. ‘Cause she wasn’t living in the drama of it. She was sort of trying to play it off. And the more she tried, the less capable she was of playing it off. So that by the time you get to the end of those monologues you realize how raw and real she is. And how she can’t — her armor is coming down. And right when her armor is coming down she’s letting Sam in, you know. She’s also just a brilliant comedian, she can kind of spin any line a thousand different ways and she’s unbelievably smart. They both are just so smart. And there’s a sharpness about her that I think is conveyed in Frankie’s character because I knew that Frankie had to be like you do not mess with Frankie, you know.
Like she could mow you down but when she did make herself vulnerable, you needed to recognize that it was such an experience and a rare moment for her ‘cause she just didn’t do that. Elizabeth I think conveyed all of that to me and in about two seconds when she started reading.
Question #4: How many kids did you look at for that part?
Over 500.
Question #5: Did your sister see the film yet?
Yeah.
Question #6: And what did she think about it?
She was very proud. We watched it together which is super-weird given the ending because the two of us and then the movie and it ended. It’s like meta-meta-meta.
Question #7: Did she cry?
Oh yeah.
A BIG thank you to Mr. Alex Kurtzman for taking time out of his busy schedule so we could ask him a few questions about the movie. He is such a nice guy and amazing director. To learn more about the movie be sure to Follow People Like Us on Facebook and Twitter.
Disclosure: Disney/Dreamworks provided my transportation, accommodations and activities during the #BraveCarsLandEvent in June. All opinions expressed are my own.