He taught me not to be overbearing in my technique. In commercials, you kind of learn to be flashy. Every shot counts and every shot has to have a cool angle. You’re really just showing your hand a lot more than I did in this movie as a director. What I did was I specifically told him, “Let’s not do that. Let’s back off. You are my barometer as far as classical movie-making style.” We were very simple. We just wanted it to be about the people and the characters.
And the house, of course, is another character. How tough was it to find the right house?
And the fog, too.
And sand…
There’s not much sand. Somebody actually said, “Well, where’s the sand?” I don’t know. It’s under the house.
They run on it on the beach. That kind of ties it in.
Exactly.
How tough was it to find that location?
It was actually quite difficult. I remember my production designer Maia Javan and I drove around all over the West Coast trying to find it. It had to have an emotional appeal and not be like a great object of desire. It had to have kind of this charm about it and be meaningful. I don’t know, it was an intangible. I mean, it had to have specific things that would work within the plot. Like you had to see the ocean from the roof and you had to be on the hill, it was kind of important. I don’t know why, but it was important. And big trees around it so it could remind him of the pines of the Caspian. And not too many neighbors. I didn’t want for it to be in a development. I wanted for this story, for it to be fairly isolated. What’s funny is that when you see the film the next time, the neighbors are really represented by their barking dog. I just had a barking dog button and I pushed it every time I wanted the outside world to comment on what’s going on at the house. Any time there’s any kind of violence, the dog barks.
What about your style of working one on one with the actors?
It was all different with every actor but mostly with Ben [Kingsley] and Jennifer [Connelly] it was hands off. These guys are so good, they know what they’re doing. They know these characters as well, if not better, than I do. I actually learned to trust them in their interpretations, without showing my hand too much.
Casting Ben Kingsley is the obvious/perfect choice but what about Jennifer Connelly? Was she in your first list of people you were interested in?
In the book, you’ll see the Kathy character is very blue-collar and much trashier. That’s why a lot of people were saying, “Why Jennifer? She’s so beautiful.” I remember these comments. I said, “Yeah, I need that. I need the fact that she’s empathetic. She’s got that broken bird quality, which a lot of brassier kind of women wouldn’t have had.” I needed her because one of my great goals that I think was very successful in the book was that the whole book, you don’t know who to cheer for, which one of these characters. And I tried to do the same in the film.
What’s beautiful about this film is that these characters are so three-dimensional. They’re not bad or good at all. They have sides to them, and they have these dark sides that eventually bring them down. They’re human, they’re exactly human. They’re like me and you. I think when people do judge Kathy, to a certain extent they really should look at themselves a little bit because I think that’s where it comes from.
I just have one last question because I’m a huge Stephen King fan. You’re set to direct “The Talisman.” How did you get hooked up with that?
Well Spielberg asked me to do it. It was his pet project for almost 15 years now. He and Kathy Kennedy - it was their baby even from Amblin days, even before DreamWorks existed. And he said, “I’ve finally found the right guy to do this.”
And you got involved because of the emotional pull of the story?
Yeah, because of the kid’s story. You always have to find an emotional way in.
That’s such a fairy tale story. I can’t wait to see it brought to life.
It’s a big epic. And the thing that they hope is that I’ll infuse it with the emotional qualities instead of just being an adventure story.
Is Stephen King doing the adaptation?
No, it’s a guy named Ehren Kruger. He did “The Ring.” He was already writing it or I would have probably done it myself if I came on at the beginning.
ADDITIONAL “HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG” INTERVIEWS:
Sir Ben Kingsley, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Jennifer Connelly and Ron Eldard
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
"House of Sand and Fog” Photo Gallery
"House of Sand and Fog” Trailer, Credits, and Movie News
