Interview

WA: Because working in London [where Allen shot his last three films, Match Point, Scoop, and Cassandra's Dream] is kind of like working in New York. Everyone speaks the same language and the city is completely metropolitan, full of noise and traffic and bookstores and restaurants and theaters. It's just another version of New York or Paris-they all are very, very similar. But Barcelona is really like Europe to me. Occasionally, Penélope and Javier would speak Spanish on the set, and the atmosphere... When I look at Vicky Cristina, I see Scarlett Johansson and Javier riding bicycles in the country, and it looks to me just like the foreign films I used to see in the '50s and the early '60s. And because of that, I felt like all of the stylistic devices of the foreign films that I had grown up watching were fair game. It didn't demand the kind of journalistic, fast, traffic-y, nervous rhythm that you get in New York. It had a more slow, sunny, bicycle-ly feeling to it. And the story lent itself to being told that way. So I really felt like I'd finally achieved what I wanted to when I was a young man: I'm a foreign filmmaker. Of course it's not a foreign film-it's an American film. But it has that quality to it.

DM: The Spanish music that you use in Vicky Cristina Barcelona sets such a great mood right from the beginning. Was that music that you knew already?

WA: No, I didn't know that music. How I found the title song-the "Barcelona" song-was one of those show-business stories. I get a million things in the mail everyday. People send me their résumés, their photographs, their DVDs, the songs they've composed. I can't handle all that stuff, so I give it over to my assistant, and we try to answer the people politely but nothing ever really comes of anything because I'm inundated. But in this particular case, I was bolting out of the hotel in Barcelona to go and shoot at seven o'clock in the morning, and there was this CD that had been delivered to the room with the song "Barcelona" on it. Normally, I just chuck the CDs in a pile and I never really hear them. But because I felt like I had a slightly longer car ride to the location where we were shooting that day, I brought this one along and stuck it in the car just to see what it was like. And, you know, the second I heard the song, I said to the producer who was in the car with me, "I want to get this song and use it in the movie. It's perfect for what I want."

DM: I think I know the answer to this, but do you believe that CD being in your hotel on that day was an act of fate?

WA: I don't. That's just a pure accident. The thing arrived, and I happened to be running out and I grabbed it. It's just a pure accident.

DM: This is the third film you've done with Scarlett. Did you have her in mind when you were writing Vicky Cristina Barcelona.

WA: Well, you know, I always have Scarlett in mind. [laughs] I'm the president of her fan club. I wasn't thinking of her when I sat down to write Vicky Cristina, but as I got into it, I thought, "Oh, you know, Scarlett would be great to play this part because it's that kind of neurotic, sexually free person." And Scarlett oozes that out of every pore.

DM: Over the years, I'm sure you've had all kinds of reactions from actors who work with you. But sometimes you'll find people-particularly younger people-who have grown up watching your movies and are quite nervous around you, sometimes fawning and obsequious. How would you describe what Scarlett is like around you?

WA: Ah, Scarlett... She's not fawning and obsequious-I'm fawning and obsequious. She's got a great sense of humor. Scarlett is one of the few people who always tops me. Whenever I say something amusing, she always manages to say something quicker-and funnier than what I've said-in return. So if you add that wit and that speed to those looks and that sex appeal and that talent, I'm completely overmatched. So she's not fawning. I will say that the other members of the cast on Vicky Cristina were not fawning either. You know, I'm the kind of director that, if you haven't met me and you believe the nonsense that you read in the newspapers, you might think, "Oh, he's cold and intimidating in some way." But the second people start to work with me, two words flash on my forehead in big neon letters: NO THREAT.

DM: I know we've discussed it over the years, but occasionally you hear that some actors are thrown by the fact that if you're happy with a take or a scene, then you don't really talk about it much because you're ready to move on. Do you find that some actors need a lot of verbal reassurance?

WA: I think, you know, that some actors would like that, even if they're too shy to really say it. But I always feel like I've hired the actor so I must think they're good to begin with or else I wouldn't have done that. If I don't say anything, they should feel like, "Good, I did it. I knocked it off and we're moving on." If I have to say, "Come on, let's do that again," or "Let's have a talk about that," then that's where I would think they would feel a little less comfortable. I've never been a big one for all that, you know, well-meant bon amie-that back-slapping, double-cheek-kissing nonsense-on the set. I don't have the patience for it and I don't feel that any of that is necessary. But I'm not intimidating or biting or mean. I am, as I say, no threat. Clearly, everyone sees, when they come to the set, a person who is floundering. [McGrath laughs] And I'm not being facetious when I say that people must start to wonder, "Now, wait a minute. How did this guy get any type of reputation at all? Because he doesn't really seem to know what he's doing." And then they start to realize down the line, you know, "His mind is not on this. He's unfocused. He's not sure what he's doing. He's hunting-and-pecking his way through this and I wonder if I did the right thing accepting this job for no money..."

DM: [laughs] Well, do you feel unsure when you're on the set? What's your level of confidence versus insecurity and doubt?

WA: My level of confidence is always high, but it's unmerited confidence. It's unearned confidence. I never do any homework whatsoever. I don't even know in the morning sometimes what scene I'm going to be shooting later that day. I've given it no attention, no thought. I just go to the set, and they give me the stuff that I'm going to shoot, and then I start to look around and figure out what to do and how to do it. So I feel complete confidence, but that doesn't mean that I should. I really do kind of flounder around. I'm not exactly sure what I want-I know more what I don't want. I know if somebody performs badly or if something is going to be too heavy-handed or stupid. But what I really want out of the thing, I find out as we go. Sometimes the actor does something and I think, "Hey, that's great. That's much different than I envisioned-and much better. This is a good way to go."

DM: Now, your next film after Vicky Cristina Barcelona, which you've just finished shooting, is set in New York. What was it like for you to be back shooting a movie there again? It's been a few films.

WA: It was great fun to be back in New York. I had a very interesting cast. I worked with Larry David in the starring role. Not many people know this, but it's the third film he's done with me-he was in New York Stories [1989] and he was in Radio Days [1987], both times in brief roles. But here he's got the major starring role of this picture. And in addition to being hilarious, he's quite a first- rate actor. And I worked with Evan Rachel Wood, who is just sort of a miraculous young actress-I mean, every instinct she has is sensational. And, of course, there's Patricia Clarkson, who I also worked with on Vicky Christina, and she's one of our great actresses. So I was in great shape.

DM: I know that it hasn't been that long since you last shot in New York, but is there anything different going on in the city now for you as a filmmaker?

WA: Well, it's gotten more expensive. You know, since New York is such a wonderful place to shoot, many big-budget films have come into the city and a lot of money has been spent here on movies, so it's become more expensive. If you've got a budget of $40 million or $80 million or $120 million, this is a nonfactor. But if you're like me and you have a budget of $15 million and you've got to make the whole thing work with everybody's salaries and the music and the song rights and the titles and the opticals and everything, then it's a big deal. So I did find myself financially struggling.   

DM: Will that affect whether or not you keep shooting in New York?   

WA: I'd like to keep shooting in New York. I like to shoot in the big cities. You know, New York is my home and I have a particular fondness for it. I think it's a place where you can generate any kind of story wonderfully. But I also would be very happy to make a film in Paris or Rome. I probably will do a few more films in European cities, as my father would say, "for the simple reason that my wife likes to travel." In the summertime, when I shoot, the kids are off from school and she likes to spend the summer in Barcelona or Rome or London or something. And so I like to make her happy. That is one of the reasons that I think of shooting in Europe. Then, another reason is, of course, that these European countries invite me and they make it very appetizing. They put the money in the bank. And they're not film studios. They don't have the slightest interest in the script or the casting-they just want me to be happy making the film. So it's a very nice experience. On the other hand, I'm a creature of the New York City streets. I like to sleep in my own bed and I love the early mornings in the city and the sunsets here. So, you know, it's a toss up.   

DM: You mentioned your family. You're the father now of two little girls, and yet your films haven't dealt much with fatherhood or that aspect of your life. Is that something you might write about someday?