My first interview as a professional journalist was with Rod Steiger, in 2001. I remember he was frank and funny and well beyond giving a damn about what he said. But he wasn’t a star name any more – not as far as the places I pitched to were concerned, anyway. I couldn’t get it published (I must dig out the tape).
Since then I’ve interviewed a wide range of actors and filmmakers, from up’n’comers to A-listers, and up’n’comers who became A-listers… (every couple of years I interview Michael Fassbender and see how much more handsome and successful someone my age can be.)
Others I’ve interviewed include Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Paul Bettany, Brad Bird, Jeff Bridges, Sir Michael Caine, George Clooney, Daniel Craig, Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Michael Douglas, Idris Elba, Mel Gibson, Tony Gilroy, Paul Greengrass, Anthony Hopkins, Hugh Jackman, Peter Jackson, Duncan Jones, Charlie Kaufman, Keira Knightley, Ang Lee, Ken Loach, James McAvoy, Ewan McGregor, Steve McQueen, Helen Mirren, Christopher Nolan, Edward Norton, Timothy Olyphant, Alexander Payne, Steven Soderbergh, Oliver Stone, Meryl Streep and Rachel Weisz.
Two director interviews I’m particularly proud of are this chat with Never Let Me Go’s Mark Romanek and this one with Christopher McQuarrie, who was remarkably frank and thus (especially given his advice on screenwriting) extremely useful.
Hope you enjoy the reads.