Interview

KS: Because the Pang brothers are twins, they would rotate days on set. One of them would be editing, and one of them would be shooting with us. They broke up the scenes be-forehand and chose which scenes each of them wanted to do. I was nervous because I always thought, What if something happened one day and I have the other director the next and I can't go back and talk about it? I don't know about you, but I kind of rely on the director. If I don't have someone to talk to about something that I'm not sure about, I freak out. But it was like working with the same guy. [Favreau laughs] Off set, they're completely different. But professionally, directorially, they're the same person. It was trippy. 

JF: Wow, that is crazy. I guess it's like cloning yourself. 

KS: Pretty much. 

JF: I wish I could have done that on Zathura. Where did you shoot The Messengers?

KS: We were in Saskatchewan, Canada. 

JF: And you had to live there for a few months? 

KS: Yeah, we had a farm out in the middle of nowhere, and any direction you looked in, you really couldn't see anything. It was very, very flat. You could see your dog run away for miles. We had a big sunflower farm, a real one. It was huge. Aesthetically, it was probably the coolest set I've been to. 

JF: And you had your teacher up there, too, right? 

KS: Yeah, he was there. 

JF: There's been a lot of continuity with him in your life. 

KS: There has. Totally. 

JF: So that's nice; it's got to be tough, though. Are you able to maintain friendships with people you went to school with? 

KS: It's funny. When I stopped going to school, I got the strongest dose of perspective. When you're a kid, your friends, your school, your teachers, your family-that's your whole world, your whole existence. And then when I stopped going, I lost all my friends but the few that were really close to me. And I still maintain those friendships. My friends who are still going to school are still totally caught up in it. When they graduate, they're going to experience the exact same thing that I did. I just went through it when I was in the seventh grade as opposed to the twelfth. 

JF: It's hard to take all that little stuff seriously. As you get older, you realize it's just a game. But it prepares you for life because there are other games that adults get locked up in. Making movies is just as much of a game. They say Hollywood is like high school with money. So in a sense you're just in a bigger high school now. 

KS: I never really thought about that.

JF: The people who do well in Hollywood tend to be the people who did well in high school. Be-cause it really is about who's in, who's out, who's cool. Then you get the nerds like me who know how to write or make movies, and they have to sort of make room for us. But we're not calling the shots socially, you know? It is kind of funny. I can't wait to see all your stuff. I'm just such a huge fan, and I couldn't have been more pleased with what you did for me in the film, and I look forward to doing it again with you. 

KS: Me too, man. 

JF: All right. Take care. 

KS: Later.