Roger Mitchell: King of the Hill

Q: Getting back to the film, there's a lot of sly humor in Notting Hill. How did you make those funny moments work?

A: I think that generally, you don't ask actors to act funny in a comedy. You ask them to act real and trust that the comedy will be left intact in the process. My job was to make it seem like it was happening in front of your eyes, in real life, which was difficult, because, let's face it, the odds against a bookstore owner by chance meeting a movie star and then having a relationship with her are astronomical.

Q: There's a scene in the film where old nude pictures of Julia's character surface and get printed in a tabloid. The scandal rocks her, but it's Hugh who could probably relate to the incident best, in view of the scandal a few years ago when he picked up a prostitute on Sunset Boulevard.

A: Well, Hugh had a much worse time with that than Julia's ever had with the press, but he's incredibly sanguine about it, fantastically resilient.

Q: Speaking of the press, I kept reading tabloid snippets about what was happening on your set. Any of them true?

A: It's just extraordinary. I've never done a film with big stars before, so it was very interesting to read--before, during and after the shoot--the complete lies that were printed about the film and the actors in the English newspapers. I mean, they were just mendacious, utterly fraudulent lies. I was shocked. And these stars have to put up with it day after day.

Q: What was the worst thing you read?

A: One reporter wrote that Julia got married [to Law & Order star Benjamin Bratt]. What do you do about it? It's bizarre. The tabloids do nothing about it, they just wait for the next bit of rubbish to print. It fascinates me how people try to sell newspapers by any means.

Q: Didn't they report that Hugh and Julia were lovers?

A: It was worse than that--it was hints of them not getting on, which was completely untrue. They couldn't have gotten along better. They were delightful to each other. And then there were quotations about Hugh's salary for the movie which were just completely wrong.

Q: In a way Persuasion must have been good preparation for Notting Hill because they're both about people wanting desperately to find love.

A: Yes, they're both about people who think they might be on the shelf forever. Early Jane Austen novels were about people falling in love for the first time, and her later novels were about people fearing they would never fall in love. Four Weddings and a Funeral was in some ways like an early Austen novel, about a guy falling in love properly for the first time. Notting Hill is more mature. It's not a wacky comedy about a guy who's just fun to be around all the time. It's about a guy who thinks it's all over for him, that he'll never have a proper relationship. All his friends seem to be pairing off successfully, having children, but he's lonely. There's a streak of sadness in him, which makes him interesting and fun to watch.

Q: Would you do another Jane Austen adaptation?

A: One was enough for me. I thought Persuasion was her best book, the most mature, autobiographical and emotional. Did you know she was dying when she wrote it? Her earlier, so-called funny books depended on that legendary Austen irony. But Persuasion doesn't have that wit, it's more reflective, more autumnal, and so I thought it was the easiest to adapt.

Q: I've heard you're called an actor's director. Is that true?

A: I'm a great respecter of the skills and generosity and enthusiasm of actors. I married an actor; I'm surrounded by it. My children I'm sure will get into acting. What I found really delightful about working with Hugh and Julia was that, after awhile, I felt like I was working with actors--not with prima donnas or movie stars--just actors. They rehearsed and they came to work on time.

Q: Do you think Julia or Hugh would be any good onstage?

A: Hugh used to do theater, but he doesn't want to anymore. Julia actually is interested in theater and is reading things. I think it might be a waste of her, though it might be interesting for her to try.

Q: You mean that onstage Julia couldn't use her greatest power, that expressive face and that 1000-watt smile that works so well in close-up?

A: That's true. But it would test her acting. You learn to use different skills, gifts and muscles.

Q: Having made your first studio film, what is your perception of Hollywood?

A: I'm the wrong person to ask that question because Notting Hill has tested so well. Right now everyone thinks I'm lovely, just peaches and cream. Ask me that question when my next film tests terribly. I've seen it happen to friends and colleagues. I've seen a lot of English directors who've gone to Hollywood and gotten fucked in the head. I don't want to have that happen to me. I've just finished reading this book about Don Simpson. Have you read it?

Q: You mean Charles Fleming's High Concept: Don Simpson and the Hollywood Culture of Excess, which details the substance and sexual addictions that led to his death?

A: Yes, that's the one. I thought it was a terrific tale. I'm not saying everyone in Hollywood is like Don Simpson, I'm just saying that it was an interesting book.

Q: Are you being sent a lot of commercial scripts?

A: I do get sent a lot of stuff, but I'm booked. I'm doing a film called Captain Corelli's Mandolin, which is a love story set on the island of Cephalonia in Greece during the Second World War. It's a bit like Doctor Zhivago, because it's set against a massive backdrop of change. And I've been working on a film with Working Title Films for three years. I'll start prepping that for late summer. I haven't yet cast it, but I don't necessarily want to do it with stars.

Q: If Hollywood offered you your choice of projects and your choice of stars, would you consider moving across the pond?

A: Why should I? Why would you deem that everyone should come to America or Hollywood to be validated? I just made a $45 million movie and got to come home every night. I've got young children I like to be around. I've got quite a good life here. I like to do theater and make documentaries. I'm 42, very old for Hollywood. Plus, the key to my world all along has been to do good work. I'd like to hang on to that impulse.

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Michael Fleming interviewed Jennifer Jason Leigh for the April 99 issue of Movieline.

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