Did the age difference Kathryn Morris and Josh Hartnett concern you at all?
“Well, the age difference is called out in the film. I knew she was going to play Joyce before anybody else was cast as far, as I was concerned. That's how, and I readjusted, depending on who's going to play Erik. If it was somebody older it would have been fine, but I wrote a backstory that made it make sense that she was older than him. And I think it made the film more interesting because if you go with somebody to play Josh's wife that's age appropriate, you more or less, as a supporting role, have to go to the usual suspects. Kathryn is by no means a usual suspect kind of actress. She's unique and wise and beautiful. [She] comes across as a great and empathetic mother. She's a doll and a dream. I love her very much. We're very close. We're very good friends.”
How did Alan Alda come to be cast as the editor?
“Well, is there any guy with more credibility than Alan Alda? His agent, Toni Howard, called me and said, ‘What about Alan Alda?’ She also represents Sam. ‘What about Alan Alda as the editor?’ And I said, ‘Well, Alan Alda is the guy from Crimes and Misdemeanors.’ She goes, ‘Yeah, so?’ I said, ‘Well, that's the best performance ever given. He's not going to do a small role like this.’ Then I asked Mike Medavoy to give him a call because Mike knows everybody and somehow everyone's indebted to Mike like he's the pope or something. He called and then he got Alan to read the screenplay, which I don't think he necessarily would have done. It's a small role and he read it and really got attracted to it. In fact, Alan's going to be in my next film as well playing a First Amendment attorney.”
What’s the transition been like going from writing to being written about?
“At first, it really sucked and I couldn't sleep nights. When the reviews came out for my first film, a little tiny film called Deterrence, it was really upsetting. Then when The Contender came out, it was also very nerve-wracking but I think it's because, you know what, man? I think it's really because so many of the people I was writing about I knew and respected. They know, of course, I respect them so much and they sort of drove me out of being a journalist because they're so good. I cared a lot about what these people felt. Then I just started thinking back into what I was and you really can't take it that personally.
Not everyone's going to like you. So far people seem to really like this film very much and those that don't are in a minority, but that minority exists. You know what really sucks more than anything else is when you read bad things and they're right. I was a complete flaming a**hole as a journalist. I mean, as a critic. I would write very inappropriate things and by that I mean that I would try to show off how smart I was rather than how smart the filmmakers were. I would often write things that were just personal attacks that had no business being in a review. Although I have the right to do it and I see them myself about myself sometimes, I see how difficult it is to make a film. Even when you want to savagely attack a movie, as long as you stay on point, that's fine, but I was attacking the way that people looked. Not that I'm Mel Gibson, I shouldn't have the right to do that anyway. I would be a much different critic. I would have much more respect for the making of a film. You can still be humorous without being inappropriate, I think. I was.”
What’s it like now walking into a room with people who sat next to you as journalists?
“Yeah, a lot of people. Less so now because there seems to be much more Internet based. Well, there was no Internet when I was doing it but yeah, I've run into many of my old friends - and some women I dated even. It's odd and wonderful at the same time. They're the same good guys that they ever were. I mean, I had good friends. It's a little bit like being on a set though. You make good friends and then you go away and then you're not friends. You're not in communication, but if you meet up again… I haven't seen Josh in several months. We did a lot of the huggy kissy and Kathryn who I get huggy kissy whenever I can with her. Alan, I've kept in touch with a lot. We're good friends.”
Do you share Teri Hatcher's character's sentiments about news and TV?
“Yeah, I wrote it. I absolutely share them. Yeah, I believe that's what television executives believe. And the newspapers [are still breathing.] The Internet is kicking our ass like crazy, and I say ‘we’. See, I still view myself as a journalist. The truth is that we're in such a rush to get stuff out that a) the news becomes fleeting. It becomes a rough draft of what the truth actually is. The second thing is that look, everything is about entertainment value. Let me give you an example. We did television interviews here yesterday. I was not among them, which is fine. The reason is that there's 500 TV channels and everyone's changing. They're going to come to Sam Jackson, they may stop. They come to Josh Hartnett, they may stop. They come to Kathryn [Morris], they may stop. They come to Alan [Alda], they may stop. They come to someone like me, they go [flipping]. They move on to see Hulk Hogan. So the truth is that it's entertainment and entertainment value.
She's speaking a little exaggerated but there is only entertainment value as the primary thing that everybody is seeking. The Today Show used to be much more newsy than what it is now. Good Morning America is no news now. That's really what's going on. And a lot of what will be addressed in the next film as well. It's very important to me. I grew up in a journalism family all my life. My heroes were Woodward and Bernstein and Bradley and Floyd Abrams and people that helped journalists like Daniel Ellsworth. It's a little depressing.”
