Mr. Slick
Q: I just read in Variety that Paramount has moved up the release date of your new film Nick of Time. Aren't you worried about a similar problem there?
A: If it were bad for the film to do that. I'd have to go, "Hey guys, you want to make some money. Will a piece of shit help?" That's a pretty powerful argument.
Q: I've heard that Nick of Time is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Man Who Knew Too Much: innocent man drawn into intrigue because his kid's been kidnapped, etc.
A: No, that's not at all accurate. That would be like saying WarGames is a remake of Dr. Strangelove. A child is kidnapped in both--that's about the end of it.
Q: Johnny Depp plays the child's dad. Definitely a first for him after playing all those oddball characters like Edward Scissorhands, Gilbert Grape and Ed Wood. With Nick is he maybe going for a big action flick to enhance his image?
A: I have quite the opposite feeling. While we were shooting, a parade of pretty famous directors came down to my set to woo him with big-budget commercial pictures. The studios, I think, perceive him as being about to make a career breakthrough. But I don't think he cares whether a picture's going to be commercial or not--I think he's just marching to his own drummer.
Q: You've said Depp is "too nice to be a movie star." What did you mean by that?
A: It takes a certain amount of toughness and arrogance to survive all the stuff as a star. But it is possible to be a nice person and a star--you just have to have the strength of your convictions. Johnny Depp is able to speak his mind intelligently about what he wants--in a quiet, non-arrogant way. He's considerate.
Q: Let's talk about some less considerate actors. I've heard there was tension between you and Kevin Costner on the set of American Flyers, because you didn't care for his acting style.
A: Well, Kevin always has lots of thoughts about the script, his character and other characters. Sometimes when you're on a schedule--and what movie is not?--it can really get in the way. I have rehearsals to work out such concerns beforehand, but Kevin takes a lot longer than my rehearsal period. So sometimes we struggled between his concerns and our need to keep going. Once he could focus on the bicycle he had to ride---that was such a challenge--he stopped worrying about the script.
Q: Here's another thing you and Spielberg have in common: you're the only directors who've ever worked with Richard Dreyfuss on three features. He was perhaps never the easiest-going guy to begin with, but when you first teamed up for 1981's Whose Life Is It Anyway? he was a cocaine addict, as we later learned.
A: The first film was very stressful and quite traumatic, mainly because he was ill.
Q: Ill or "ill"?
A: The reason given at the time, which the doctors backed up, was a dreadful flu. He'd only have enough strength to work two- or three-hour days. His mood swings were frequent; his emotional state was not stable. Even so, his acting was fabulous. He's smarter than you and me and about six other people put together--even in a weakened state.
Q: Six years later you and he did Stakeout. How had he changed?
A: I figured I was getting the same kind of person, even though I knew he was sober. It took me a while to realize that this was a happier person, who loved working and being part of the process. Later, on Another Stakeout, I pointed out a scene we were doing with odd parallels to a scene in Whose Life Is It Anyway? He said, "You know, I don't remember being in that movie at all I know I was, because I've seen it. But I don't remember making it." Thank goodness he's been through that and isn't likely to go back.
Q: Let's talk about one star you didn't work with: Tom Cruise. I've heard you had a pay-or-play deal to direct The Firm, but when Cruise got involved and wanted Sydney Pollack to direct, you were asked to abandon ship. True?
A: [Dryly] That's what I've heard.
Q: So, let's chat about what exactly your role as a director involves. For example, one doesn't ever look at a movie and say, "That's a Badham flick." I don't think anyone would know instantly that the man who directed Dracula also did Bird on a Wire or Point of No Return.
A: The kinds of films where the directors' handprints are all over them are often extremely self-conscious.
Q: Your former partner Rob Cohen once said that you'd rather be in-visible than get between the movie and the audience. Isn't "invisible" dangerously close to "anonymous"?
A: It depends on your goal. Is your goal to paint a painting to express a visual idea, or to let everyone know what a fantastic painter you are? If you're van Gogh sitting in some loony bin you do it because you have to. Oh my God--I'm not comparing myself to van Gogh. After all, I have two ears--
Q: Ba-dum-bum!
A: --and nothing like that talent. At Yale I was trained to think the play is the most important thing. If that means anonymous, well, OK--all righty. I'm also the kind of person who thinks Hollywood credits have gotten ridiculous. Movie posters look like legal contracts.
Q: So, is that why your credit, since Stakeout, reads "A John Badham Movie," instead of the typically self-important "A Film By John Badham"?
A: I still think of "films" as things that Ingmar Bergman makes that you think about for months. Movies are entertaining popcorn experiences.
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