I’ll be posting an interview with Ben Affleck later this afternoon, but as I transcribed and put the pieces in place, it became clear to me that including much on the new Terrence Malick film would be pushing it length-wise. I didn’t want to keep it all to myself, however, so I thought I’d share Affleck’s brief thoughts on working with a legend down in Oklahoma:
All I can say is the guy is definitely really private and I don’t want to betray any of that. Some people don’t mind but he’s not a guy who likes publicity. What I will say is that it’s for sure a master class. I’ve worked with a lot of different directors and have always tried to look for something to learn from everybody.
You don’t have to look with Terry. Everything you’re hearing and listening to it feels like, ‘God, I never thought of that’ or ‘I wouldn’t have done that’ or ‘I’ve never seen it that way.’ It’s like the best class you had in college or something, where it’s so wonderful to be there, it feels like you’re opening up your mind to see the world in different ways. And I’ve probably learned more from him now because I’ve directed two movies and I understand sort of the context, I guess.
More after the jump.
I’ve been an actor for a little while now and so I can really appreciate the difference between him and another guy. I can really understand how difficult what he’s trying to do is and admire how he’s doing it. It’s humbling. There’s definitely moments where you just think, like, ‘I will never be that.’ But still, it’s great to stand next to the guy and be privileged to hear him talk about how he sets up a shot. It’s an incredible experience and I’m learning a great deal.
[Photo: Osage News]
Comments
13 responses to “Affleck on working with Malick”
This is great stuff, which leads me to ask- Why be concerned with length on the interview? A good piece is a good piece.
Well, less about length than it is about finding an organic place to put this material, I guess. This ended up being a tangent while the rest has a flow.
Nice interview, very insightful stuff. I’m really liking this new era of Ben Affleck. I hope he has a second coming with the success of ‘Gone Baby Gone’ and especially ‘The Town’.
Reminds me if the kinds of things Thomas Jane and Sean Penn talked about in the recent blu-ray for The Thin Red Line. I think only Adrien Brody has ever had anything negative to say about working with Malick, but his comments were much more indicative of Brody than Malick, to say the least.
From what I’ve read it seems that Adrien Brody was just bitter about most of his scenes being left on the cutting room floor. I think Johnny Depp was kind of the same way when some of his scenes were left out of Platoon, but he seemed to show more disappointment than anger about it.
Anyways, good stuff. Terrence Malick stories are always interesting and I’m looking forward to The Tree of Life and this other one Affleck.
Definitely meant to say ‘and this other one with Affleck’. My bad.
Wouldn’t it be something if this film was released next year and Malick managed to get both films nominated for Best Picture?
Or better yet, pulls a Soderbergh/Curtiz and receives double Directing noms.
Thanks so much for this Kris!
I’m happy for Ben Affleck these days. Gettin’ the applauds and the respect and a movie with Terrence Malick!
Good stuff, Kris! Keep it up! Always love your interviews, and I think you made the right choice keeping the Malick stuff separate from The Town convo…
Seems like most people feel this way about Malick. What an enigma.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the fact that we have a NEW picture of Terrence Malick!!! That’s like a world sensation :-D
@Kristopher: You’re right about excising this from the main interview piece. Both segments were very interesting, but keeping the two together would have disrupted the flow.
And yes, it’s great seeing a pic of Malick on set.