Paul Weitz made a big impression the world of comedy when he directed American Pie back in 1999. Since then hes gone away from the wacky teen sex comedy world with the honest and heartfelt but still funny films, About a Boy and In Good Company. Now hes gone American again with American Dreamz which is a deft satire that mixes the world of American Idol with terrorism. Hugh Grant plays the host of American Dreamz, the wildly popular television singing contest. He now has to up the ante in terms of his contestants. He gets the very ambitious Midwestern girl played by Mandy Moore and the showtune singing Omer [Sam Golzari] who is a sleeper cell terrorist.
Check out the official website for American Dreamz
Daniel Robert Epstein: Were you as frustrated as the rest of the country that this film just came out of you?
Paul Weitz: Yeah, I was like everyone else in this country, starting out the day reading the paper in the morning and freaking out about terrorism. Wondering whether the administration knew what it was doing and by the evening tuning into American Idol, wondering whether Constantine was going to get kicked off. It felt like a weird juxtaposition to be told that were at war, but at the same time to be going about our daily lives, trying to feel the same way as usual. I dont know how that translated itself into this particular, insane plot.
DRE: These are two easy targets, but I wouldnt imagine that the movie itself was easy to put together.
PW: No, honestly Im not after taking pot shots at American Idol or the presidency. For one thing, those two things parody themselves incredibly effectively. Im not going to come up with Dick Cheney shooting a friend on a hunting trip. Usually I come up with a plot and then I try to think if theres any theme to it. Then if I can boil it down to that, in the rewrites Ill cut the stuff that doesnt apply and keep the stuff that does. In this case, it was the idea of having a dream being a central aspect of American identity. Everyones supposed to have a dream and its always supposed to be something good. Its almost a sacred thing in America, but at the same time, it does make it impossible to deal with reality. In this case, that was the thing that linked all the story lines, including a show tune singing terrorist who was maybe the only person who was saved by having a dream when he was singing in the movie. Theres Chris Kleins character that dreams hes going to end up with Mandy [Moore] who plays his high school sweetheart, despite all the indications that she doesnt like him in the least. Then Hugh Grants character is addicted to fame. Hes addicted to the dream of being a star, even though he knows the show hes on is a crap show.
DRE: Since Fahrenheit 9/11, the right kept away from attacking the more liberal-minded films, like Kinsey and V for Vendetta, because they dont want them to become a phenomenon like Fahrenheit 9/11 did. Those films were supposed to cause discussion and they kind of are but only amongst people who think the same way. Are you hoping American Dreamz will piss people off?
PW: A friend of mine came to visit the set one day when we were shooting, he said that hed been listening to Rush Limbaugh that day and Rush had mentioned American Dreamz among other things to watch out for that are dangerous. American Dreamz in particular because its a comedy. But I dont have that type of personality where I like to push peoples buttons, unlike Michael Moore. If there was a slow news cycle Bill OReilly or whoever could start using up a lot of airtime on this but I dont feel like Im grinding an axe with this thing. Im trying more to see if you can really talk about whats going on in the world through comedy. Its a valid question whether its possible to do that. The weird thing is that we do a send up of the administration where Dennis Quaid, whos playing a George W. character, becomes relatively humanized. Hes still an imbecile at the end of the movie, but trying to learn about things. I can imagine some people on the left also getting pissed off with the fact that I didnt just continuously drag George W. over the coals.
DRE: I grew up in the 80s, so I remember how funny Dennis Quaid can be. He hasnt done a really funny movie in a long time. What made you think of him for this role?
PW: In this case, we were doing press together for In Good Company in Madrid. I kept looking over to him and wondering if he could look like the president for this film.
I was happy because I realized he hadnt played the president and all those guys have played the president at least once. Hes becoming of the age where he can do it. The slightly older generation like Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas have all played the president. There are some great things such as him being from Texas, hes in really good shape and the president seems obsessed about working out. I thought that Quaid could be a weird, close stand-in. Dennis has claimed that he wasnt trying to do an imitation.
DRE: I read that in the press notes. I think hes lying.
PW: That might have been the case. Im certainly glad that he wasnt turning away from that. I actually went to his house and read through the script with him. He didnt want it to be like a Saturday Night Live parody but at the same time he seemed to go for it.
DRE: Youve been working with Jennifer Coolidge and John Cho since American Pie. Whered you first see them?
PW: Theyre such specific comedians and in terms of my sensibilities, my brother and I grew up watching Second City Television. That is where we got the idea that you can have really extreme characters and still have a lot of heart. I saw Jennifer in some sketches she had done for She TV. Its great because shes become this phenomenon.
DRE: Shes gone past just being known as Stiflers mom.
PW: She also has huge fans among the gay populace, kind of the comedy diva. John actually came in to audition for American Pie and read for four or five characters. His talent was so clear from just doing a few lines.
DRE: What did you think of him playing the straight man in Harold and Kumar [go to White Castle]?
PW: That was actually really weird for me because Im used to him being the comedy relief dude. But I thought he did a good job in Harold and Kumar. Also Willem Dafoe said he did a movie with him where John is more of a romantic character [Pavilion of Women]. I also really liked him in Better Luck Tomorrow where he played a troubled, different kind of character. We had a show on the WB for a year and a half, called Off Centre that he was really good in. Hes a really good actor and I really hope that I can come up with roles that show off different sides of his acting chops.
DRE: I would imagine that since Judy Greer was in American Dreamz you are hooked on her now as well.
PW: Ive been a fan of her for a while and now Im definitely hooked on her. Shes starring in a play of mine on Broadway.
DRE: I knew you would think shes amazing.
PW: Shes awesome. Theres this subgroup of incredibly talented, comic actors. Some of the filmmakers whose work I really admire, like Preston Sturges would always have the same kind of troupe of character actors in his movies. That really elevates a movie.
DRE: I just saw this movie, Lucky Number Slevin and Ben Kingsley plays a mob boss who is also a rabbi. In American Dreamz you have a Jewish rapper. Why is it fun to have those kinds of character be Jewish?
PW: I wrote that Hugh Grant wanted to pit an Arab against a Jew. I really think that aspect is almost out of a Mel Brooks movie. Then the funny thing is that theres actually a pretty well known Orthodox rapper named Matisyahu. In this case, I think I was just going back to films I watched as a kid, like Mel Brooks and Woody Allens films.
DRE: Whats interesting about American Dreamz is there are not many character arcs.
PW: The president has a bit of an arc. His arc is, again, this idea that you can deal with reality. He doesnt get any more intelligent, but he does come to the point where he realizes he cant fix the situation in the least.
DRE: I just thought that was amazing because arcs are usually so important to a movie especially a comedy.
PW: My theory in terms of dramatic structures is that theres two ways to have arcs, either have the characters change or we can have the audience learn more about the characters. In this case, Im not sure we do much of either. In a way, Hugh Grants character changes a touch, maybe. In the end, he goes back to his addiction. The characters in this movie are all addicts and thats how the movies functioning.
DRE: Is Another Bullshit Night in Suck City your next film?
PW: I hope so, Im writing the script now. The book is really wonderful and its got a very poetic structure. The films going to have to be formally ambitious to do justice to the book. Right now, Im just trying to figure out the script, but Im certainly hoping to make it.
DRE: Would that be the next thing you do?
PW: Maybe. Theres also another original movie Im working on. So if that gets put together first, maybe thatll be the first one.
DRE: Did you ever hear that when Woody Allen was casting Jason Biggs [in Anything Else] he mentioned he saw him in one of those Pie films.
PW: [laughs] Thats really funny.
DRE: Im sure after the first American Pie people were pushing more of those kinds of projects on you, how did you avoid doing that?
PW: We just told our agents not to send us anymore teen sex comedies. I remember the producer of American Pie called us up and said, I got your next film, its called Chick Masters. It seemed like a no-brainer that if we did more than one of those we might get pigeonholed a little bit. This is going to seem falsely nave, but we didnt think we were making a teen sex comedy when we were making American Pie. Our dad had a raunchy sense of humor, and it just seemed like a really raunchy comedy to us.
DRE: You and your brother [Chris Weitz] directed About a Boy together, will you do that again?
PW: He also produced American Dreamz. I hope we do it again because its fun hanging out. But also its been really good to not work together so that we can hang out and not just talk about work all the time.
DRE: What is he doing next?
PW: Hes writing the adaptation to [His Dark Materials:] The Golden Compass. He was going to direct that but I think he got freaked out by the amount of special effects that are going to be involved. So hes just writing and executive producing it.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official website for American Dreamz
Daniel Robert Epstein: Were you as frustrated as the rest of the country that this film just came out of you?
Paul Weitz: Yeah, I was like everyone else in this country, starting out the day reading the paper in the morning and freaking out about terrorism. Wondering whether the administration knew what it was doing and by the evening tuning into American Idol, wondering whether Constantine was going to get kicked off. It felt like a weird juxtaposition to be told that were at war, but at the same time to be going about our daily lives, trying to feel the same way as usual. I dont know how that translated itself into this particular, insane plot.
DRE: These are two easy targets, but I wouldnt imagine that the movie itself was easy to put together.
PW: No, honestly Im not after taking pot shots at American Idol or the presidency. For one thing, those two things parody themselves incredibly effectively. Im not going to come up with Dick Cheney shooting a friend on a hunting trip. Usually I come up with a plot and then I try to think if theres any theme to it. Then if I can boil it down to that, in the rewrites Ill cut the stuff that doesnt apply and keep the stuff that does. In this case, it was the idea of having a dream being a central aspect of American identity. Everyones supposed to have a dream and its always supposed to be something good. Its almost a sacred thing in America, but at the same time, it does make it impossible to deal with reality. In this case, that was the thing that linked all the story lines, including a show tune singing terrorist who was maybe the only person who was saved by having a dream when he was singing in the movie. Theres Chris Kleins character that dreams hes going to end up with Mandy [Moore] who plays his high school sweetheart, despite all the indications that she doesnt like him in the least. Then Hugh Grants character is addicted to fame. Hes addicted to the dream of being a star, even though he knows the show hes on is a crap show.
DRE: Since Fahrenheit 9/11, the right kept away from attacking the more liberal-minded films, like Kinsey and V for Vendetta, because they dont want them to become a phenomenon like Fahrenheit 9/11 did. Those films were supposed to cause discussion and they kind of are but only amongst people who think the same way. Are you hoping American Dreamz will piss people off?
PW: A friend of mine came to visit the set one day when we were shooting, he said that hed been listening to Rush Limbaugh that day and Rush had mentioned American Dreamz among other things to watch out for that are dangerous. American Dreamz in particular because its a comedy. But I dont have that type of personality where I like to push peoples buttons, unlike Michael Moore. If there was a slow news cycle Bill OReilly or whoever could start using up a lot of airtime on this but I dont feel like Im grinding an axe with this thing. Im trying more to see if you can really talk about whats going on in the world through comedy. Its a valid question whether its possible to do that. The weird thing is that we do a send up of the administration where Dennis Quaid, whos playing a George W. character, becomes relatively humanized. Hes still an imbecile at the end of the movie, but trying to learn about things. I can imagine some people on the left also getting pissed off with the fact that I didnt just continuously drag George W. over the coals.
DRE: I grew up in the 80s, so I remember how funny Dennis Quaid can be. He hasnt done a really funny movie in a long time. What made you think of him for this role?
PW: In this case, we were doing press together for In Good Company in Madrid. I kept looking over to him and wondering if he could look like the president for this film.
I was happy because I realized he hadnt played the president and all those guys have played the president at least once. Hes becoming of the age where he can do it. The slightly older generation like Harrison Ford, Michael Douglas have all played the president. There are some great things such as him being from Texas, hes in really good shape and the president seems obsessed about working out. I thought that Quaid could be a weird, close stand-in. Dennis has claimed that he wasnt trying to do an imitation.
DRE: I read that in the press notes. I think hes lying.
PW: That might have been the case. Im certainly glad that he wasnt turning away from that. I actually went to his house and read through the script with him. He didnt want it to be like a Saturday Night Live parody but at the same time he seemed to go for it.
DRE: Youve been working with Jennifer Coolidge and John Cho since American Pie. Whered you first see them?
PW: Theyre such specific comedians and in terms of my sensibilities, my brother and I grew up watching Second City Television. That is where we got the idea that you can have really extreme characters and still have a lot of heart. I saw Jennifer in some sketches she had done for She TV. Its great because shes become this phenomenon.
DRE: Shes gone past just being known as Stiflers mom.
PW: She also has huge fans among the gay populace, kind of the comedy diva. John actually came in to audition for American Pie and read for four or five characters. His talent was so clear from just doing a few lines.
DRE: What did you think of him playing the straight man in Harold and Kumar [go to White Castle]?
PW: That was actually really weird for me because Im used to him being the comedy relief dude. But I thought he did a good job in Harold and Kumar. Also Willem Dafoe said he did a movie with him where John is more of a romantic character [Pavilion of Women]. I also really liked him in Better Luck Tomorrow where he played a troubled, different kind of character. We had a show on the WB for a year and a half, called Off Centre that he was really good in. Hes a really good actor and I really hope that I can come up with roles that show off different sides of his acting chops.
DRE: I would imagine that since Judy Greer was in American Dreamz you are hooked on her now as well.
PW: Ive been a fan of her for a while and now Im definitely hooked on her. Shes starring in a play of mine on Broadway.
DRE: I knew you would think shes amazing.
PW: Shes awesome. Theres this subgroup of incredibly talented, comic actors. Some of the filmmakers whose work I really admire, like Preston Sturges would always have the same kind of troupe of character actors in his movies. That really elevates a movie.
DRE: I just saw this movie, Lucky Number Slevin and Ben Kingsley plays a mob boss who is also a rabbi. In American Dreamz you have a Jewish rapper. Why is it fun to have those kinds of character be Jewish?
PW: I wrote that Hugh Grant wanted to pit an Arab against a Jew. I really think that aspect is almost out of a Mel Brooks movie. Then the funny thing is that theres actually a pretty well known Orthodox rapper named Matisyahu. In this case, I think I was just going back to films I watched as a kid, like Mel Brooks and Woody Allens films.
DRE: Whats interesting about American Dreamz is there are not many character arcs.
PW: The president has a bit of an arc. His arc is, again, this idea that you can deal with reality. He doesnt get any more intelligent, but he does come to the point where he realizes he cant fix the situation in the least.
DRE: I just thought that was amazing because arcs are usually so important to a movie especially a comedy.
PW: My theory in terms of dramatic structures is that theres two ways to have arcs, either have the characters change or we can have the audience learn more about the characters. In this case, Im not sure we do much of either. In a way, Hugh Grants character changes a touch, maybe. In the end, he goes back to his addiction. The characters in this movie are all addicts and thats how the movies functioning.
DRE: Is Another Bullshit Night in Suck City your next film?
PW: I hope so, Im writing the script now. The book is really wonderful and its got a very poetic structure. The films going to have to be formally ambitious to do justice to the book. Right now, Im just trying to figure out the script, but Im certainly hoping to make it.
DRE: Would that be the next thing you do?
PW: Maybe. Theres also another original movie Im working on. So if that gets put together first, maybe thatll be the first one.
DRE: Did you ever hear that when Woody Allen was casting Jason Biggs [in Anything Else] he mentioned he saw him in one of those Pie films.
PW: [laughs] Thats really funny.
DRE: Im sure after the first American Pie people were pushing more of those kinds of projects on you, how did you avoid doing that?
PW: We just told our agents not to send us anymore teen sex comedies. I remember the producer of American Pie called us up and said, I got your next film, its called Chick Masters. It seemed like a no-brainer that if we did more than one of those we might get pigeonholed a little bit. This is going to seem falsely nave, but we didnt think we were making a teen sex comedy when we were making American Pie. Our dad had a raunchy sense of humor, and it just seemed like a really raunchy comedy to us.
DRE: You and your brother [Chris Weitz] directed About a Boy together, will you do that again?
PW: He also produced American Dreamz. I hope we do it again because its fun hanging out. But also its been really good to not work together so that we can hang out and not just talk about work all the time.
DRE: What is he doing next?
PW: Hes writing the adaptation to [His Dark Materials:] The Golden Compass. He was going to direct that but I think he got freaked out by the amount of special effects that are going to be involved. So hes just writing and executive producing it.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
courtneyriot:
Paul Weitz made a big impression the world of comedy when he directed American Pie back in 1999. Since then hes gone away from the wacky teen sex comedy world with the honest and heartfelt but still funny films, About a Boy and In Good Company. Now hes gone American again with American Dreamz which...
hellomrworld:
i have really liked Weitz's movies so far.. I hope American Dreamz is as good ...