Gary Ross: The Final Stretch

Q: You got Tobey back after he became very famous in Spider-Man. Had he changed?

A: Not much. He understands he's famous. I don't think that's what he's enamored of. He likes being an actor. I mean, I love this kid. I had a great time with him. All the things that could happen when somebody becomes a movie star, in my opinion, they didn't.

Q: When the camera is not rolling, what's he like?

A: He has a huge sense of humor, but he's very driven, intense in a great way. Whip smart. Stunningly intelligent. He's self-taught, well-read. It's no secret that he never graduated from high school, that he's had a hard life. But he's more culturally refined than he will admit. He's one of the smarter people I've met.

Q: For the role of Seabiscuit's trainer, a guy who hardly talked to people but understood horses completely, did you think of Chris Cooper after seeing his Oscar-winning performance in Adaptation?

A: Yeah. Before anyone else had seen it. I thought he was amazing. But I'd already thought he was good in roles before that. And he really wanted to play the part.

Q: Was Jeff Bridges your top choice for the role of Howard?

A: He was certainly one of them, and I couldn't imagine anyone else now.

Q: Is your personal interest in racing more about gambling or something else?

A: It never was about gambling. I'm certainly interested in the gambling aspect--I remember going to the track when I was just 13, I think for my bar mitzvah, and I nailed the exacta and won 85 bucks, and was hooked. But I'm most fascinated by the sport. My wife was a huge fan of the novels of former jockey Dick Francis and I became reacquainted with the nuances of the racing world as she did by those books.

Q: Racing used to be a major glamour pursuit in Hollywood. The people seen courtside at Lakers games like Jack Nicholson today, would they have been at the track back then?

A: No question about it. You have to remember that in the days when Seabiscuit was running, there wasn't a major league baseball team in L.A. The Dodgers were in Brooklyn. If you lived in L.A. and wanted to go to a sporting event, you went to Santa Anita.

Q: I understand you own a thoroughbred now. How did that happen?

A: Steven Spielberg, Kathy Kennedy, Frank Marshall, Kate Capshaw and my wife, Allison, and I bought 10% of a horse named Atswhatimtalknbout. So I own, basically, a hoof, though my son says it's a nose, because that's the part that crosses the line. We became owners about two months ago when B. Wayne Hughes, who founded Public Storage and has been in the horse business for 20 years, generously included us.

Q: Safe to say you were invited in because you were involved in Seabiscuit and would generate a lot of attention?

A: Well, I don't think having Steven Spielberg aboard hurts either, but it's all designed to stir interest and passion. Steven had never been around horse racing. When we finished fourth in the Santa Anita Derby, he had a fantastic time.

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