Steven Antin On Burlesque, Wooing Cher, and Discovering Ian Somerhalder

At a recent screening of Burlesque, you and [Screen Gems president] Clint Culpepper [right, with Antin] both introduced the film and it very much felt like you'd co-parented it together.

Yes, we did.

Of the stories that have circulated about the production of Burlesque, some of them focus on the two of you and your personal relationship. What do you say to those rumors?

They're really not relevant. It's just sort of funny, really, because the stories are far more juicy and salacious than the truth. The truth is that there just are not that many interesting stories to tell behind the scenes on this movie. Under the best of circumstances, there's all sorts of drama in making a movie and it's very intense. There's a lot at stake for everybody, so tensions run high. People are extremely passionate about what they're doing -- hopefully! And that was the case here. There was a lot of passion in making this movie. A lot of relationships and people who knew each other pretty well. But again, under the best of circumstances it's really tense. We had some of the best circumstances and some trying circumstances on this movie, and I think every movie does. Because it's Christina, it's Cher -- it's ripe. It's a movie because they're such colorful characters, but I think people want to say, "What happened behind the scenes? It's actually not them, there's more to tell!" But it's just inaccurate.

What was your relationship with Cher like before making Burlesque?

We didn't know each other that well many years ago, but we'd met several times and hung out. There, oddly, were some pictures taken of us that seem to have surfaced.

Yes, there's a photograph of you, Cher, and David Geffen all out together years ago.

I was like, where did that come from? I don't even remember taking the picture, and I don't think she did either. We weren't best friends that many years ago, but we knew each other. She was really nice to me, and I was really nice to her. I've always been a huge fan of hers but we had to get re-acquainted during this process.

Is it true that Geffen was the one who helped you convince Cher to come out of semi-retirement as an actor to be in your film?

Yes. I had actually been having conversations with Cher's manager about Cher and she had talked to Cher about the movie. We wanted to send Cher the script but we were still working on it, revising it and changing it. Christina was already on board but we realized we needed to do work on the other character, Tess. We'd already been discussing Cher, but while we were doing the work, Clint sent the script to David just to read it as a friend - I was unaware of this - and David read it and said, "Wow, you should get Cher!" Clint said, "Steven loves the idea of Cher! We all want Cher!" I think he actually sent her the script, or an email or a text, and Cher called her manager and said, "I hear that they want me to do this movie, Burlesque..." One thing led to another and it took quite a while, but we finally met with her. It was a long process getting her on board.

What made you think that Christina Aguilera and Cher would make the perfect duo to carry the film?

Christina and Cher were always in my head while writing and developing the movie. I knew Christina was right for the role of Ali. I wanted somebody who could obviously sing, who had a spectacular voice and could hit it out of the park and was appealing, who could really land the role as an actress. When I saw Christina on Saturday Night Live doing those skits, she was so funny, I knew she had the chops. I met with her and we had many conversations and I just fell madly in love with her. I thought, "I know this woman could do this." And my instincts were right about her. It was the same with Cher. She plays Tess, this woman who in the face of great adversity pulls herself up by her bootstraps and rises like a phoenix. That's Cher. I wanted a great actress, someone who could sing, and someone you really believed would run a burlesque club, and Cher embodied those things more than anybody.

There are directors who can somehow manage to make the most lovely actresses look not-so-great, but in Burlesque everyone is luminous.

I'm so happy that you noticed! Not that many people have said that to me, but I paid such excruciating attention to that detail. I love shooting women. I love women. I love making women look beautiful, and I think women like Christina and Cher -- and all women -- love to look beautiful. I had endless conversations with Bojan Bazelli, our director of photography, about how we were going to shoot this movie. The lighting is key. There are lots of lights in this movie, and it makes the sets very hot, but it's a lot of beautiful backlighting, soft fill, tricks, and smoke and mirrors -- so many elements went into creating a beautiful world and making sure the women looked beautiful. Also, Kristofer Buckle is a genius make-up artist. We had Martin Samuel and Cindy Williams, the make-up, the hair, the costumes. But it's about film stock, camera lenses, lighting, a lot of smoke and mirrors and tricks that lend themselves to making women look beautiful.

Did that make Burlesque more complicated than the average production?

It took a lot of prep. It couldn't take time during the making of the movie or slow us down, because we had a really tight schedule that I had to stick to. There are stories floating around that I went over-schedule, and that's not true -- we went one day over, for additional photography. I had to make my days every single day; I did between 50 and 70 set-ups a day, which is almost unheard of. It was a really long script! A hundred and thirty-six page script, and I shot it in 70 days.

Is it strange that coming into Burlesque, many folks don't realize that you've done so much before -- like your previous acting roles or the series that you created, Young Americans?

A lot of people don't. Every now and then there are people like you who saw it and loved it. But stylistically, Young Americans was a staggeringly beautiful show, and a lot of attention was paid to detail in creating a beautiful world and environment.

The other thing that an entirely new generation may not realize they have to thank you for is introducing the world to Ian Somerhalder, who made his acting debut in Young Americans.

Oh yeah! I found Ian Somerhalder. He had never acted before, but his picture came across my desk and I said, "Get that kid in here! I think he could play the role of Hamilton." I just liked the way he looks and I wanted to see if he can do it. He was a Guess model at the time and they kept saying, "He's doing a shoot for Guess," and kept cancelling. I said, "But I want to meet him for a TV series!" Finally he came in and I took him to the network and coached him. I actually shot him myself in my office and went through a long process of helping to get him on TV.

Was he not already sold on transitioning into acting at the time?

He was sort of thinking about it, exploring it, and he was going out for things. But he hadn't done any [acting]. He was just a model. Not just a model -- he was a successful, beautiful young model, but I knew when he came to my office that there was something special about this guy.

Does that mean you keep up with him on The Vampire Diaries?

I do sometimes, because Ian's like my son! I feel like his dad. I love it. He's great, such a charming, lovely, fabulous guy. You would love him. He's also an incredibly bright, thoughtful, earthy guy. Really smart. He is really one of the most beautiful specimens I've ever seen in person. He's so staggeringly beautiful that it's jaw-dropping. You know what they said to me at The WB? "You're putting too much make-up on him, there's too much blush on his cheeks." I'm like, "He doesn't wear any make-up. That's his f***ing skin." He's one of the most beautiful people I've ever seen, and he's a fabulous guy.

[Photos: WireImage]

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