![\"\u2018America\u2019s](\"https:\/\/sduptownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/scott-cooper.jpg\" "\\"scott")
<\/a>\nCooper was at the AMC La Jolla recently for a screening of \u201cCrazy Heart\u201d for the Cinema Society of San Diego. We pulled up a table outside Schlotzky\u2019s deli and in the middle of a crowded mall talked about anamorphic compositions, the value of Academy screeners, and the possibility of a first-time director leading one of the greatest working actors to Oscar gold.
\nMarks: How long did it take you to shoot the movie?
\nCooper: 24 days.<\/p>\n
M: That\u2019s it?
\nC: Twenty-four days, three states and ten musical numbers. A more seasoned director would have said, \u201cNo way.\u201d<\/p>\n
M: How long did it take to write?
\nC: The first draft took about six weeks. After I finished it I sent it off to my mentor, Robert Duvall. He loved it and said, \u201cLet\u2019s make it. What do you need?\u201d I [said I] need two things to make the film and if I don\u2019t get them I shouldn\u2019t make it. One is (composer and producer) T-Bone Burnett and the other is Jeff Bridges.<\/p>\n
M: There has been a lot of talk about the similarities between \u201cCrazy Heart\u201d and \u201cTender Mercies.\u201d
\nC: They\u2019re apt given that it\u2019s, as the French would say, that \u201cmilieu.\u201d The comparisons should stop after they are both about country and western singers. \u201cTender Mercies\u201d is two-thirds redemption whereas mine is one-third. It\u2019s an edgier version of what the great Horton Foote (author of \u201cTender Mercies\u201d) did.<\/p>\n
M: For my money Jeff Bridges is the finest American actor currently making movies. He has not always been in great movies, but they are never bad at his expense. Has he ever given a bad performance?
\nC: No. He\u2019s such a true actor and he cares so much about the craft. Between Jeff and Robert Duvall I think I have America\u2019s two best actors in my film. At 79 years old Duvall is continually pushing to explore and live in the moment. And while they are both movie stars, they aren\u2019t taking movie-star paychecks to do crap.<\/p>\n
M: Then why hasn\u2019t Jeff Bridges ever won an Academy Award?
\nC: And why has Robert Duvall only won one? They don\u2019t play the game. These guys don\u2019t go out and actively solicit votes. What they do makes acting look very easy. Hollywood likes to reward people who overact.<\/p>\n
M: You won\u2019t get an argument out of me. Everyone is calling \u201cCrazy Heart\u201d his crowning achievement.
\nC: Jeff thinks it is. Let\u2019s hope that people recognize how difficult it is to play in a scene and sing live.<\/p>\n
M: He is an accomplished singer. About 10 years ago he attempted to launch a musical career. There was talk that he was going to take a break from movies to become a singer.
\nC: That\u2019s right. He has a lot of goodwill in [Hollywood], Jeff does. He\u2019s a beloved actor. You hope that this time it\u2019s a meritocracy because I think he gives one of the finest screen performances I\u2019ve seen in a very long time. And I think that I can say that objectively.<\/p>\n
M: You are up against a good year when it comes to acting and as superb as he is in \u201cCrazy Heart,\u201d I\u2019m not sure that the Academy always hands out its awards solely based on merit. Let\u2019s hope that this year the Academy pulls a John Wayne and views Bridges as what\u2019s referred to as a \u201csentimental favorite.\u201d
\nC: Let\u2019s hope that he\u2019s finally rewarded for his fantastic work. He\u2019s a better person than he is an actor and that\u2019s saying a lot. He\u2019s such a generous human being. I\u2019m spoiled. I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m ever going to be able to go back to work.<\/p>\n
M: So much of this film hinges on the chemistry between the performers. And it\u2019s not just between the leads. It\u2019s a small scene, but the actor who plays Wesley, the piano player that introduces Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal) to Bad Blake\u2026
\nC: Rick Dial. He\u2019s an alumnus of \u201cSling Blade.\u201d I found him in a furniture store in Arkansas. As Duvall says, \u201cOne of the best natural actors in America.\u201d<\/p>\n
M: He is so good in that tiny role. Not only is the professional respect those two characters have for each other made clear during their brief exchange, thanks to Bridges\u2019 performance you get the sense that Bad Blake\u2019s admiration is genuinely sincere.
\nC: As an actor, this is my first time as a writer and director. If I can\u2019t direct performers I shouldn\u2019t be directing. I won\u2019t be making movies about spaceships and aliens or those sorts of things. It\u2019s all about behavior for me and characterization even in the smallest roles. They are all very critical to the whole.<\/p>\n
M: You have already amassed a body of work as an actor and you, ya sonofabitch, land your first directing gig at 20th Century Fox. I\u2019m so jealous! How did you accomplish this?
\nC: (Laughing) It\u2019s like getting into Harvard when these guys buy your film.<\/p>\n
M: Not only did you make Harvard, you\u2019re working with two of the greatest teachers in the world.
\nC: Anytime Fox Searchlight buys your picture\u2026they\u2019re peerless in what they do when it comes to getting small films out into the marketplace. They are just about as good as it gets. (Exhaling) So far, so good. I just can\u2019t believe the acclaim and reception\u2026it\u2019s remarkable.<\/p>\n
M: I want to talk with you about DVD screeners sent out to Academy voters. You put all this energy and effort into composing your shots for the widescreen and people sit home and judge them on a fifty-inch box. Doesn\u2019t that drive you crazy?
\nC: The Director\u2019s Guild, of which I am a member, will not send out screeners because they feel that you should only see a film as it was intended to be shown. I agree with that. I understand that some people have wonderful home entertainment systems with great sound, but it never has the same impression as a shared experience in a darkened theater. You\u2019re not balancing your checkbook or dealing with the kids or your Blackberry. I don\u2019t have much good things to say about screeners.<\/p>\n
M: It\u2019s sad to say, but screeners could ultimately help your movie.
\nC: Well, it\u2019s such a small film and it hasn\u2019t been able to reach a wide audience and unfortunately some people can\u2019t get to see it any other way. It becomes a necessary tool.<\/p>\n
M: C\u2019mon. It\u2019s playing in Hollywood and New York. People have ample chances to see it.
\nC: I wish that people could see (cinematographer) Barry Markowitz\u2019s wonderful \u201cScope\u201d compositions on the widescreen. [Markowitz] is my direct line from \u201cSling Blade\u201d to \u201cThe Apostle\u201d to \u201cCrazy Heart.\u201d In each case all three directors were actors.<\/p>\n
M: You used a lot of non-actors in the movie.
\nC: As Duvall says, they don\u2019t have bad habits.<\/p>\n
M: If nothing else, first time out of the gate you knew to work with a safety net named Jeff Bridges.
\nC: (Laughing) He made the film director-proof. And Maggie Gyllenhaal. She\u2019s really stunning in the film. Jeff thinks she\u2019s one of the best actresses he\u2019s ever worked with. She\u2019s first rate.<\/p>\n
M: Both Maggie and Jeff are fearless. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve seen \u201cSherryBaby.\u201d
\nC: She\u2019s remarkable in that film. I\u2019ve used the term \u201cfearless\u201d to describe her on numerous occasions. And both of them give vanity-free performances. They let me shoot them in all states of disrepair.<\/p>\n
M: Some of the close-ups in this movie are quite unflattering, but this isn\u2019t Metro in the forties. Your goal is not to glamorize these characters.
\nC: I\u2019m sure it\u2019s anathema to many people that I have one-third fewer edits than most movies. It adds to the film\u2019s lyrical quality.<\/p>\n
M: I was just listening to Peter Bogdanovich\u2019s audio commentary for one of his films and he said, \u201cI only cut when I have to.\u201d And it\u2019s true.
\nC: I\u2019m surprised that anybody is responding to this film. There\u2019s no cross-cutting or quick cuts like on MTV and people react to that. You have to be patient and take your time with the film and let it wash over you. By the way, [Bogdanovich] loves \u201cCrazy Heart.\u201d He did a Q&A with me at the Director\u2019s Guild and it meant the world to me how much he loves this film. He\u2019s seen it three times. It\u2019s kind of a bookend for \u201cThe Last Picture Show.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cCrazy Heart\u201d is currently playing at Landmark\u2019s Hillcrest Cinema.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u2018America\u2019s two best actors\u2019 fill director\u2019s \u2018Crazy Heart\u2019 by Scott Marks SDUN Film Critic You might recognize Scott Cooper from his acting roles in \u201cAustin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,\u201d \u201cThe X-Files\u201d and \u201cGods and Generals.\u201d The first-time writer\/director has already helped Jeff Bridges win his first Golden Globe. With any luck, lightning will […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":243144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"\u2018America\u2019s two best actors\u2019 fill director\u2019s \u2018Crazy Heart\u2019","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}