Curtis Hanson: The Most Daring Director in Hollywood

Curtis Hanson has always enjoyed challenges -- after all, he turned the complex novels LA Confidential and Wonder Boys into critically acclaimed films.

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Curtis Hanson's career seems to have two distinct phases. In the first, he made smartly thought-out, wild-ride popcorn thrillers that pulled audiences into theaters: The Bedroom Window, Bad Influence, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle and The River Wild. In his second, current phase, he has delved deeper to tell complex, well-told stories that seemed impossible going in but came off beautifully on-screen: L.A. Confidential and Wonder Boys. His next project, the hotly anticipated 8 Mile, may well be his most difficult undertaking not only because of its dark subject matter--it's about a poor Detroit youth who tries to make it as a rapper--but because of its star, megaselling rap sensation Eminem. Hanson helped launch the careers of Tom Cruise (with Losin' It), Julianne Moore (with The Hand That Rocks the Cradle), Benjamin Bratt (with The River Wild), Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce (with L.A. Confidential), and Tobey Maguire and Katie Holmes (with Wonder Boys), so it's not as if the director isn't savvy when it comes to casting. But this is Eminem's acting debut and he does have to carry the film.

Early word is that 8 Mile is good. It's not Eminem's life story and Hanson is not serving as a glorified emcee in some lame attempt to cash in on a musical artist's currency by sandwiching dialogue between musical numbers. The movie is a serious, dark story with all kinds of emotional highs and lows that ask a lot of its leading man.

MICHAEL FLEMING: Coming off the acclaimed L.A. Confidential and Wonder Boys, what were you thinking doing a movie about rap with a controversial rapper who has never acted before?

CURTIS HANSON: What was I thinking? What a flattering premise! Truthfully, what those other two films mean in a pragmatic way is they gave me the clout to do another. L.A. Confidential was very much the result of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. Scott Silver's original script for 8 Mile was fresh and different, and it gave me an opportunity to step into the world from which hip-hop emerged. I've always been a big music lover, and used music as part of the storytelling process.

Q: Why hip-hop?

A: It has always fascinated me. We're all interested in where art comes from. When art is emotionally true, it transcends its place of origin. Why does this music from the ghetto find an audience across color lines? It's because it speaks an emotional truth that people can identify with. I grew up with rock and roll, and the reaction to hip-hop by authority figures was the same. Adults disliked it intensely and kids embraced it.

Q: Eminem has stage presence, but carrying a movie is tougher than carrying a tune. How did you get him ready?

A: The first question that I had to satisfy for myself, and I learned he was also wrestling with, was "Could he do it and be good enough to make me happy and him happy?" Then we plunged in. I structured a six-week rehearsal period. Usually you struggle to get a week or two. You have to understand he never acted before, never said somebody else's lines, conveyed emotions on command. First thing was to establish mutual trust. We went through it scene by scene, talking about everything, the lines, the emotion, where the story was going. Gradually, I brought in other actors, starting with a couple of the guys who play his friends in the picture. During this process, I submerged myself into the world from which he came--Detroit, 1995. He was very generous in introducing me to people, taking me around. I gave him a helping hand into my world, he gave me a helping hand into his.

Q: What is the biggest surprise about him?

A: He was dedicated, serious, and had a certain amount of trust in me. He wanted very much to feel good about what he was doing and wanted me to feel good about it.

Q: Rock stars make lousy actors, but rappers like Mark Wahlberg, Will Smith, Ice Cube and LL Cool J have done well. Does Eminem have movie career potential?

A: I only think of him in this story as an actor. I wouldn't have made the movie if I felt I had to gauge his performance with the caveat that he was someone from the music world trying to act. He gave me all I could want from an actor. The focus, dedication, commitment to me and the story we were trying to tell. The fact that he had never done it before made it all the more exciting. This is an auspicious debut.

Q: Eminem doesn't really rap until the film's climax. Did you hold that back because you didn't want the movie to be confused with the glorified videos you usually see when music stars do movies?

A: The character can only do what he does at the end of the movie because of the journey he goes on through the course of the movie. The story takes place over a one-week period in 1995, when the character discovers things about himself and finds his voice, a way to express his emotions through his art. He's not there at the beginning of the movie. Along the way, he does express himself through his art, and it's quite something to see. What we're talking about is freestyle rap babbling, not something done with a band. Eminem wrote all those lyrics. We'd talk about where the character of Jimmy was at each event, what should be expressed in the lyrics. Then he'd come up with the lyrics and his use of words is quite extraordinary.

Q: Kim Basinger gave the performance of her career as a Veronica Lake look-alike in L.A. Confidential. Here, she plays Eminem's single mother. Her character is very needy, unsophisticated, and she's dependent on a lowlife guy--not glamorous at all. Why did you choose her?

A: I just thought she'd be great in the part. I know Kim from having worked with her, know her roots. As I got to know the people in Detroit, I thought she would respond to the specifics of this character and the reality of that world.

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