On the "Must Love Dogs" Script: "He would ask me to read a draft of the script and ask if I saw anything that could be better, or what worked and what didn’t. He certainly asked for my input on casting – he’s such a nice guy. And, you know, I loved everyone he thought of. I know that I don’t know how to make a movie and that he does, so believe me I just kept saying, 'Thank you very much.'
I’m so pleased with what they’ve done. It’s really such a tribute to the book and just a great movie in its own right."
Claire Cook on the Writing Process: "I think that for me I do kind of picture the scenes as I write them. Like right now as I’m doing this thing I’m thinking, 'I know how to do a red carpet!' You're just always playing with that. As a writer you’re a big eavesdropper, and you’re just always trying to take your experiences and tweak them so they can work in a novel."
Claire Cook on the Cast of "Must Love Dogs:" "I didn’t think of Diane Lane even though I love her work. But as soon as I heard it I went, 'Oh my God, that’s perfect!' John Cusack I thought of very early just because he was the perfect John Anderson, and I find it really ironic that he ended up playing it. Christopher Plummer, again, as soon as I heard it I went, 'Oh my gosh!'
As soon as we were at the table read, the first time the cast read it, I just went, 'Oh my God, he’s nailed them all.' It’s just perfect, perfect, perfect. I don’t think there’s a better choice that could have been made the whole way. Even two or four-legged – they were all fabulous."
Claire Cook on Spending Time on the "Must Love Dogs" Set: "I was out twice, at the beginning and at the end, but I had to go home and write my next novel. I would have gladly stayed there the whole time going, 'This is so cool!' [Goldberg] kept saying, 'You’ll be bored.' I wasn’t bored at all. It was fascinating!
When I was on set, everyone was so respectful of kids and animals. Everybody loved them and everybody was always checking in with their own families. It was really nice. It was a beautiful set to be on. And so many of the crew came up to me and said, 'Do you know how proud we are to be working on this movie?' It’s just been a fabulous experience the whole way."
