Like the creative freedom he allowed his production team, director Danny DeVito gave his actors room to explore and experiment as well. “When you’re working with Danny, it means complete freedom from self-consciousness,” Edward Norton enthuses. “You can do the most off-the-wall, goofy stuff. You can throw anything out there as an attempt to find the gems, and you know that Danny has the instinct for what is best.”
“Danny’s got perfect pitch with people,” says Catherine Keener. “He has a knack for picking people who he feels are going to be compatible and who have the same kind of approach to the work. In this case, we all took the comedy very seriously and had a blast being serious about it.”
“It’s a pleasure to watch Danny act, but it’s even more fun to watch him work behind the camera,” producer Andrew Lazar observes. “He makes a seamless transition between directing and acting. He uses a stand in while the shot is being framed and lit, and then steps in knowing exactly what he wants to do for his character. It takes a tremendous amount of talent and skill to juggle the absurdity and the emotion and the comedy in this stylized universe, and Danny’s done it effortlessly.”
But DeVito takes it all in stride. “Every movie I’ve directed, I’ve always acted in as well,” he says. “I’ve never done it any other way. It’s a lot of work, but it’s also one less actor you have to talk to.”
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
<>
Movie Database
In Theaters
