Alan Arkin
by Daniel Robert Epstein for SuicideGirls (http://suicidegirls.com/)

It was a real treat and a pleasure to get to talk to living legend Alan Arkin. I told a number of people that I was going to talk to the Oscar nominated improv guru and they said either “You got to ask him about Glengarry Glen Ross.” I was like “Fuck that I’m going to talk to him about Bad Medicine!” But of course I was also very interested in talking with Arkin about his latest role, that of the heroin snorting grandfather of the dysfunctional family in Little Miss Sunshine. The film also stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear and is directed by music video masterminds Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris.

Check out the official website for Little Miss Sunshine

Daniel Robert Epstein: I read that you had some reservations about working with two directors.

Alan Arkin: Well, who wouldn’t? It’s not something you run into every day. I think everybody did. Even if two people have the same ideas, they’re going to express it differently and it’s going to sound like different ideas. I was nervous but they were wonderful.

DRE: Were you surprised at how in tune they were?

Alan: They said they speak as one voice, that if you talk to one of them it’ll be like speaking to the other one. I didn’t really believe it, but I felt like I had to do the script anyway. I just had to play the character and be connected with this project. So I bit the bullet. But after a day and a half, it was clear that what they said was true. They’re terrific people and very bright and very sensitive and they had a very specific vision for the film and were able to communicate it.

DRE: You must’ve worked with kids over the years.

Alan: Yeah, I’ve worked with a lot of kids. Animals, kids, all the taboos.

DRE: How was working with Abigail Breslin?

Alan: It’s like working with an old pro. She knew how to do it. She’s not pushed around by her mother. She gets down to business.

DRE: Even though Steve Carell is younger than you. Did you know each other through Second City?

Alan: No. He was at least 10 years after me, maybe more. Although we had certain friends in common that we talked about, but that was it.

DRE: Did you guys get to do any improvising in the movie.

Alan: I threw in a line every once in awhile, but that was about it.

DRE: You play Greg Kinnear’s father in this, how was working with him?

Alan: He’s just wonderful in this. I think he’s actually brilliant in it. I’ve watched his performance four times now and every time I see nuances that I didn’t seen before. He’s doing really special work in this.

DRE: One thing I liked about this movie is there isn’t a lot of comedies made for adults anymore. You probably get a lot of comedy scripts sent to you, are most of them just no good?

Alan: Yeah. If I liked them, I’d be doing them.

DRE: Actors from your generation don’t seem to do a lot of independent films, but you’ve really embraced it.

Alan: What about Christopher Walken? He does a million independent films.

DRE: That’s true. But are the scripts better for a lot of these smaller films?

Alan: Small films can stink too. I think the ratio stays pretty much the same. Every once in awhile you get a really good script.

DRE: Do you know anyone like this character?

Alan: Besides me, you mean? I really identify with this guy. Don’t ask me why. I have no idea why. I don’t think I’m that disreputable, but maybe I think of myself as being like that.

DRE: I read that your wife propels you into a lot of the work that you do. What’d she think about this one?

Alan: She felt like I had to do it. We both felt that I had to do this one. No question.

DRE: How do you like working on this low budget?

Alan: I don’t care. It doesn’t matter to me. I don’t care if it’s television or movies. I want to work with material that’s exciting, with people who are fun to work with.

DRE: What do you think about all this improv that’s on television now?

Alan: I don’t have a television set so I don’t know what’s going on. I have no idea. When we’re in the hotel room, we watch for about an hour until we get filled with guilty pleasure. Then I get sick of the screaming so I usually turn it off.

DRE: I know you directed a short not too long ago.

Alan: Yeah, but I don’t think anybody’s seen it. A long time ago I directed several shorts, one of which got an Academy Award nomination. That was a long, long time ago.

DRE: Are you interested in directing still?

Alan: No. It’s too hard. I don’t want to work that hard anymore.

DRE: Why don’t you want to work that hard anymore?

Alan: I’m an old guy. I want to have a good time. I want to sit quietly and look out the window at the birds.

DRE: They are starting to remake movies you’ve been and they’ve already remade The In-Laws. What do you think of this remake trend?

Alan: It depends. For the remake of The In-Laws, which I wasn’t in, I got the best reviews I’ve gotten in 20 years. So that was good experience.

DRE: Are you writing anything else now, music or books?

Alan: No, I’m not doing anything. I’m taking it very easy right now. I’m an old guy. I want to look at the birds.

DRE: Where do you live now?

Alan: Santa Fe, New Mexico.

DRE: What do you do there?

Alan: Look at the window at the birds. How many times must I tell you?

DRE: [laughs] Indulge me on one of my favorite films of yours. I don’t know how proud of it you are, but Bad Medicine is a film that I really loved as a kid.

Alan: I had a good time in that actually. I didn’t think the movie was any good, but I liked my character. I haven’t seen it since it came out. I loved working with Julie Hagerty. We worked together about three times.

DRE: Are there scripts you go after?

Alan: I don’t go after anything. My manager and my agent are legally responsible for telling me about everything that comes in.

DRE: I read a quote from you where you said that you don’t think it’s a very good time for the arts right now.

Alan:: Historically I don’t think it’s a good time for any culture, where we are now. I think we peaked and I think there’s a hysteria about that. It’s kind of great not having to be number one, but we haven’t really come to that yet.

DRE: Once you hit a peak, it’s a long drop.

Alan: Not necessarily. The English did it with a certain amount of grace. They came out of their empire intact with some dignity and with grace. I just hope we can do that.

DRE: I know it’s not going to happen but I would love to see this film recognized at the Academy Awards. I only say that just because comedy just seems to be ignored by them. I know obviously you’re a member. What’s the stigma against comedy?

Alan: I don’t know. I don’t keep track of the sociological implications. I live a quiet life. I look at the birds. I try not to pay attention to this stuff because you try to make graphs and things and it doesn’t work. It’s like being a weatherman. Next year they’re going to want comedies with blue dresses on. Nobody knows.

DRE: But you must watch a lot of movies, right?

Alan: Yeah, I watch a lot of movies.

DRE: What have been some of the movies you’ve liked recently?

Alan: I’ll have to ask my wife. I don’t remember.

DRE: Have you seen any of the Christopher Guest movies?

Alan: I love his stuff. I think it’s wonderful.

DRE: Would you want to do a movie that’s all improv?

Alan: Yeah, I would do that. I haven’t done that before. I’ve worked on the dialogue for a lot of the films I’ve been in. I don’t do it without talking to the director beforehand, but I’ll tell him, “This as a scene doesn’t really work. I’d like to tool around with it. I’d like to play with it.” More than half the time they say yes.

DRE: How did you gravitate towards improv in the first place?

Alan: Because I couldn’t get any work in straight theater. I failed into improv. I left New York thinking I was an abject failure. I went to Chicago and they gave me a job at Second City and I thought, “Well, this is the end of my life. It’s the end of my career. I’ll earn $90 a week and live in a one-room apartment for the rest of my life, but it’s better than nothing.” Six months later, we got national attention for the first time.

DRE: I love comedy and I love improv. I couldn’t imagine what it was like for you guys at that point.

Alan: It saved all of our lives. I was with a group of people that had nowhere else to go. We thought we were changing the world. We thought that our point of view was going to fix everything. It almost did, but not quite.

DRE: Do you keep in contact with any of the people you came up with there?

Alan: A lot of them are dead. So I don’t keep in contact with the ones that are dead.

DRE: Do you know what film you’re doing next?

Alan: No. Do you know what film I’m doing next?

DRE: Do Superman II.

Alan: We saw Superman.

DRE: It was long.

Alan: It was very long. How do you naturalistically have a guy who takes off his glasses and he’s another person?

[I take off my glasses]

Alan: Who are you? Another guy was just in here.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

SG Username: AndersWolleck

web address: http://suicidegirls.com/words/Alan+Arkin/