Akiva Goldsman on What Drew Him to “Mr and Mrs Smith:” “It was the metaphor. Simon [Kinberg] was really clear about this idea that in a relationship, sometimes conflict and the need to clear out the trappings is that which allows people to see each other. That was such a fantastically true idea. All of us who are married in all the meetings, we’d sit around and just nod, you know? And God knows who hasn’t wanted to kill their spouse dead, dead, dead. And so the metaphor abides. It’s such a strong, smart place to start a movie, an idea for a movie.”
Why Doug Liman was Perfect to Direct “Mr and Mrs Smith: Akiva Goldsman said it was Liman’s work on “The Bourne Identity” that sold him on the idea Liman was the right man to direct “Mr and Mrs Smith.” “Absolutely, because Doug’s filmmaking popped up in scale on ‘Bourne.’ I mean, the other movies are fantastic but they’re smaller. And ‘Bourne’ has that kind of action grabber weaved in.”
Akiva Goldsman on the Possibility of a Sequel to “Mr and Mrs Smith:” I’m pretty sure Akiva Goldsman has made up his mind about a “Mr and Mrs Smith” sequel. Before I’d finished the question, Goldsman answered with, “No. No, no, no. Oh no. No and then no. And also no. And then no. We just want to get it out there and see if people like it.”
On Writing vs. Producing vs. Directing: Though he’s one of the most respected writers in Hollywood, Goldsman refrains from tweaking the work of others if he’s not hired onto a project as a screenwriter. Simon Kinberg was the writer on “Mr and Mrs Smith” and Goldsman told me he didn’t do any work on the script himself. “I try to keep the jobs separate. I don’t usually write what I produce. I have, but generally... Look, as a writer I certainly wouldn’t want my producer rewriting me.”
While Goldsman has a good point, writers don’t normally have the opportunity to work with a producer who has earned a best adapted screenplay Oscar. As a screenwriter, if Goldsman were given the opportunity to have a producer/writer of his caliber help tweak a script, would he allow it? “I still wouldn’t want him to be rewriting me. I want to be rewriting myself. I want to be making my writing better. We only work because we write. We only get better because we keep doing it. You know, despite the fact that Hollywood seems to think that writers are pretty expendable, I don’t. I’ve been really lucky in my set participation and I really believe the writer is an important part of the filmmaking process. In the case of ‘Mr and Mrs Smith,’ Simon was on set every day. And sometimes when there were other writers, which there were, Simon was there working with them. And that was important to me because words need their own department, just like everything else on a movie.”
Akiva Goldsman on the Process of Adapting a Script: “It probably takes me three or four months of writing. Hard to say how much rubber band pulling back there is before that. I almost never jump into something when I get it. I almost always find a reason that I can’t start for a while. I think what’s happening is my brain is sort of revving up. But once I sit down, it’s three or four months. Three months probably, and it’s pretty constant. It’s long writing days.”
Goldsman on Writing with Specific Actors in Mind: “No, not usually. I mean it varies. I wasn’t on ‘Da Vinci Code.’ I wasn’t on ‘A Beautiful Mind.’ Russell brought ‘Cinderella Man’ to Ron [Howard] and I so I knew he was [in it]. But I still tried to write Jim Braddock, not Russell Crowe.”
Tweaking Scripts Based on Actors Who are Cast: “In Russell’s case no because Russell can do anything. You know what I mean? There’s not the beat when you’re writing for Russell where you go, ‘Oh, that’s going to be a stretch.’ I haven’t found a thing he can’t do.”
Developing a Shorthand with Director Ron Howard: Akiva Goldsman and Ron Howard found success together on “A Beautiful Mind” and have since teamed up on “Cinderella Man” starring Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger, and “The Da Vinci Code,” which is currently in production. “It makes it so much fun. Oh God yes. I love it. It’s my favorite job. Of all my jobs, it’s my favorite job,” enthused Goldsman.
What exactly does Ron Howard do that allows Goldsman to derive so much pleasure from working on Howard’s films? “I don’t know. He’s just kind of amazing. He is so confident and so collaborative. He’s really gifted and I just enjoy working with him so much. He’s such a good, decent, smart, talented human. He has no right to be considering the fact that he basically grew up on television. He should be a whack job and he’s so not. He’s so lovely. Really my favorite job,” said Goldsman.
PAGE 3: Akiva Goldsman on "Cinderella Man" and "The Da Vinci Code"
