We had lunch and we knew that it was she that we wanted. Even when we had financing and it fell apart, then we got other financing, none of the elements changed. Nobody said, ‘Well, this is an opportunity to get rid of so and so.’ No, we knew the team worked. It’s so clear as you saw the movie that Claire is the exact right person to play the role. You can’t imagine anyone else in it. So that’s what we saw.”
Steve Martin Says His Character in “Shopgirl” is Definitely Not Autobiographical: While Ray Porter isn’t a carbon copy of Martin, he is a little like the actor/writer. “A little bit. Like anything, a little bit, some of this, some of that. Some of it’s just about men. Some of it’s talking to men,” said Martin.
Steve Martin on Writing About the Opposite Sex: “For me, as I was writing the book, the hardest part to write was Ray Porter and it took me a while to figure out why. When I look at the opposite sex, I know what’s interesting to me. I’m listening and I’m finding, ‘Oh, that story’s interesting. That aspect is interesting. That’s interesting.’
I can write about a woman…but when you're writing about a man, because I am one, I know the thoughts. I know the feelings, but I don't know what’s interesting. So it was really hard to pick and choose. What needs to be known? What is being known? And so that was the hardest part. But it’s easy to be an observer and appreciator of the opposite sex.”
On Mirabelle’s Fashion Sense: “Well, in the book and the movie it’s implied that Mirabelle does have a fashion sense, and it’s just about price as the movie goes on. But she’s always, and I know people like this, they look great in their clothes. And I know it’s not expensive clothes. It’s just putting something together in some way and I always liked that about Mirabelle’s character, that she starts out looking kind of interesting on a budget.”
Steve Martin Analyzes Mirabelle’s Attraction to His Character and Jason Schwartzman’s: “I think that it’s a very common experience to have a lousy date and still go out with them because you’re there. You’re just there. And I think that Mirabelle standing at that glove counter as an arrivee from somewhere else is subconsciously saying, ‘What’s going to happen? What’s going to happen?’
When Ray Porter shows up, whether he’s older, this or that, this is going to happen. And when Jeremy [played by Schwartzman] shows up, it’s like this is going to happen. There’s not like a million choices.
…When you ask us, you say, ‘What type of film do you want to do next?’ as though we’re offered every film and then we’re going to pick one. No, they’re filtered through and that’s the way it is with people. You’re not going, ‘Why? Why?’ You’re going, ‘It’s there. It’s in front of me, it’s not over the hill.’ That’s one reason why we do these things, get involved.”
On His Character’s Attraction to Mirabelle: “There’s a very simple answer. And I can’t remember if it’s still in the movie because it’s a tiny little moment. Ray takes Mirabelle to a very fancy restaurant and the first thing the maitre d' says to Mirabelle is, ‘Nice to see you again,’ which is a mistake because she’s never been to this restaurant. It’s meant to imply Ray’s been here with other women. But that’s a minor thing because Ray’s not a serial sexual guy. But in that scene, Mirabelle says, ‘Why me?’ And Ray looks up at the waiter and they have a moment. It’s in the book. I can’t remember if it’s in the movie. Is it? Anyway, he looks up at the waiter. The waiter knows why and Ray knows why. He wants to sleep with her.”
Steve Martin on the Film’s Theme of Intimacy: “You know, that’s an analysis after the fact. It is certainly not, ‘I’m going to sit down and write a story about intimacy.’ No, you’re writing a story about characters and then it might turn out that that’s what it’s about. But frankly, I don't know. All I know is this is to me a character study cloaked in drama and film, but it’s a character story of a young woman. That’s the way I see it and what happens to her and how she is affected, how she grows, which is also another corny word, and how she moves from one point of her life to another.”
Page 2: Steve Martin Compares "LA Story" to "Shopgirl"
