Here we are with another round of Director’s week of INTERVUE! In today’s edition, I interviewed director Theodore Melfi. He directed a celebrity I would like to interview one day – the one & only Bill Murray in his directorial debut, St. Vincent. The movie focused on the life of Vincent, a retired curmudgeon with a penchant for alcohol and gambling. Suddenly, he gets new neighbors; Maggie played by comedienne Melissa McCarthy and her 12-year-old Oliver played by newcomer Jaeden Lieberher. Somehow, this odd pairing of ordinary people begin to help each other grow up.
I heard that you had to get to Bill Murray through a 1-800 number, is that correct?
That’s correct. Bill Murray doesn’t have an agent or a manager; he just has this 1-800 number. So, you just call this 1-800 number and if Murray calls you back, he calls you back. If he doesn’t, he doesn’t.
How long did it take from the initial call from the time he called you back?
Wow, it’s been three years ago, so I want to say two months.
That’s not bad.
It doesn’t feel like it but it was a long time for me at the time. It felt like an eternity.
What was it like to work with Bill Murray?
Look, we throw this word around a lot, genius. Bill Murray is a true creative genius in a sense that he’s always present. He’s always in the moment. He’s always spontaneous. When Bill has a thought for a piece of dialogue or an action or a stunt or a physical piece of comedy, He just does it and you got to be prepared to go with it. We have one camera, which is our main camera, and we have this other camera that was set that was kind of prepared for something in case he did something and we just kept it ready.
So, you kept that third camera ready just in case he did something so spontaneous so that you have to have it on film.
It was rolling. It was like Bill’s camera. It would cover Bill – anything Bill would do. We learned that right away that he doesn’t want to be constrained by certain blocking. He likes to be able to be free and move around the set or stage, or house or location. He likes to have freedom in his work.
It especially shows in the movie with an amazing cast including Naomi Watts, Melissa McCarthy and the young boy played by Jaeden. He’s an amazing actor.
Jaeden’s a fantastic actor. In fact, you’ll be hearing and seeing a lot of Jaeden in the next year and maybe his entire life. We went throughout 1,600 kids to find Jaeden, across the country and the world. We could not find a kid that we thought could stand toe to toe to Bill and not be cutesy and precocious or Disnified. A kid who can be a kid. Jaeden walked in and he was exactly that. He’s a powerhouse wrapped up in an 11-year-old body. He just comes alive in this movie.
What’s your favorite Bill Murray film?
I am a huge fan of Groundhog Day. It’s one of my Top 10 of all-time. The genius of being able to do the same scene over & over & over again and make it new and fresh to me is like extraordinary.
What was your inspiration to write St. Vincent?
The movie has two inspirations, its based on two true stories. The first true story was eight years ago, my eldest brother had died. It was kind of a shock to the system and he left behind his eleven-year-old niece, Taylor. My wife and I adopted her. We moved her from Tennessee to Los Angeles and we put her in a Catholic school. Her sophomore year, in her World Religion class, she gets this homework assignment, “Find a Catholic saint that inspires you. Find something in your real life and mix the qualities of that saint and draw a comparison.” She picked St. William of Rochester, the patron saint of Adopted Children and she picked me. That was the Aha! Moment of the script. The main plot behind the movie was that homework assignment.
The second true story is that Vincent is essentially my father-in-law, who did not live a great life. He drank too much, smoked, gambled, and never knew his children, stopped talking to my wife when she was nine. About twenty-five years later, my wife goes to one of these psychology seminars for the weekend and she gets this assignment to get complete with the people in your life, to make amends. She writes a “Dear Dad” letter and mails it to an address that she has found in the white pages. Two weeks later, the phone rings and it was her dad and she started crying. After that, they became best friends and re-establish to be father/daughter for the rest of his life. She became a saint for him and vice versa.
Who is your patron saint?
I would have to say my wife who (we’ve been married 18 years) has always been there for me. She’s smart and always has my back all the time.
You’re a Brooklyn native and you wanted to capture the heart and soul of Brooklyn. Why is that?
I was born in New York and raised in Brooklyn. I grew up on the streets of Brooklyn. I did a year of Brooklyn Tech High School before I moved to Missouri but to me you know…when we say that the United States is a melting pot of the world…I feel that Brooklyn is the melting pot of the world. I remember going to school and my best friends, walking to Brooklyn Tech everyday were black, Puerto Rican Russian and Albanian and I am Italian. That was Brooklyn to me. I wanted to show reverence to Brooklyn and love for Brooklyn. Vincent was the remnant of Old Brooklyn and how all these misfit characters live in Brooklyn. The Russian prostitute, the single mom, the Catholic priest. To me, it can only be in Brooklyn.
What is the one lesson you learned after directing your first feature film that you will take to the next feature?
The biggest lesson I will take is to rest.
To rest, I never heard that before.
Yes to rest because the process and the hours are so intense, long and hard. You have to pace yourself. I spent of lot of time just spinning my wheels by doing everyone’s job. I realize that I have to let people do their jobs. I have to trust them and then I have to rest when I can. About halfway through, I started to take a nap at lunch. It saved me and I was able to get through it but next time, I will start off that way.
You have written, directed and produced in your career. Is there one that you prefer over the other or do you like all three?
I like all three. I would say producing I like least of the three but I still like it. I like it least of the three because it such a hard job. At some point in directing, all you want to do is just shoot and stay creative. To have that extra shingle on your window, it was hard. My first love is writing. I been directing commercials for eight years and I’ve done gazillions of them. Any day on a set for me is a good day.
If you could work with another actor, other than Bill Murray, for a film one day, who would it be?
I really would like to work with Robert Downey Jr.
Really, how come?
I just really think he’s the bee knees in terms of actors. He can do it all – comedy, drama. I just think he’s fantastic.
Is this your first time in DC?
It is my first time in the Nation’s Capital, which is shocking, so shocking to me. I feel like I should have been here a long time ago for I consider myself a proud patriot.
Be sure to see the comedic genius of Bill Murray and the directing genius of Theodore Melfi in the new movie, St. Vincent, playing in theaters everywhere this Friday.
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