Sofia Coppola's new film is called Somewhere, but its location is specific: the present-day, alienating Los Angeles. Stephen Dorff stars as Johnny Marco, an action star whose boozy, despondent life brightens when his 11-year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning) accompanies him abroad on a press tour for his insipid blockbuster Berlin Agenda. While Cleo's sunny optimism reinvigorates Johnny, it also confronts him with how joyless -- or is it worthless? -- he feels without her. Somewhere proves that with spiritual awakening comes damning reflection, and Coppola again exhibits her knack for weary characters who discover their sensitivities are firmly intact.
Movieline caught up with Coppola (who directed, wrote, and produced the film) and her two stars for an in-depth look at Somewhere's characters, conflicts, and hilarious -- and in one case, real -- moments of Hollywood insanity.
MOVIELINE: Somewhere is an obvious departure from Marie Antoinette, which was a big period piece. Do you feel more at home in a smaller-scale environment?
SOFIA COPPOLA: Yeah, I really enjoyed on Lost in Translation having a small crew, focusing on two characters, and working in an intimate way. After Marie Antoinette was such a big scale, I wanted to do something more like my experience with Lost in Translation. This was even more intimate. With a small crew, it was fun to work so closely on this guy and his relationship.
As director, writer, and producer, do you ever need extended periods of time to step away from your own material -- to put it in perspective a bit?
SC: I think when I start a movie, I'm so into it and I'm so motivated to get all the elements of it together and start to see it come to life. But then in the editing it's hard to keep perspective. It's good to take breaks so you can try to look at it fresh. I really don't get "distanced" until the movie's all done and kind of see it a few years later.
Let's talk about this character's name: "Johnny Marco." It's powerful and sleazy. Where did it come from?
SC: Oh, I don't know. I was just trying to think of a classic American movie star guy. I like the idea that maybe he has Italian roots, so when he goes to Italy, the journalists ask about that. But I don't know -- I just made it up. It was catchy.
Have you all met a lot of Johnny Marco-esque people? Rugged burnout stars?
SC: I definitely was thinking of a bunch of different people that I combined into him. The other day there was someone in the lobby who was a Johnny Marco type -- on crutches, in work boots and stuff. I was definitely thinking about a bunch of people I'd met or heard stories about or known. I tried to put them together in this character and bring them to life. I feel like Johnny's unique now too, though.
STEPHEN DORFF: Yeah. I've never met a Johnny Marco, and I've met a lot of actors before. Johnny's his own guy because he has this insane lifestyle, but there's kind of a broken part of him and a sweetness to him that Sofia really wanted in the part. We're dealing with a flawed character, so we needed a nice quality to him that makes you root for him, root for his change that he goes through. It makes him somewhat likable so that Cleo still cares about him because he's not the greatest father.
ELLE FANNING: He's still sort of trying to be, at least. You still feel like he loves Cleo, but sometimes he doesn't really know how to show it, I guess.
I find that people always want to know who inspires your characters, Sofia -- actual names. Does that get annoying?
SC: I've never thought about that. Johnny has been such a combination of people, but it's true, people really want you to name names. I don't want to name any person out of context, because you're always adding stories together as a writer. You put things you've seen and stories you've heard and put them all together.
Somewhere is a subtle movie, but I think some of its best moments are when we see clearly that Cleo is knowing and observant about her dad. Would you consider yourself intuitive like Cleo, Elle?
EF: [Laughs] I mean, I guess Cleo, she sort of knows what's going on. The scene in Italy when I'm at the breakfast table with [Johnny's] woman -- I'm giving him the stare. She's a girl who's growing up, so she's taking it all in.
How much do you all think Cleo knows about her father's sordid affairs?
SC: I feel like kids are lot more aware than people give them credit for.
SD: I find that kids, especially the new generation, Elle's generation, they're smart as whips. If they don't know the exact thing, they can definitely feel and know what's going on. I think when Elle looks at me when I come out of that room and says, "Why are you taking a shower in there?"
EF: I might even know!
SD: Exactly. I don't think she knows maybe what happened in there, but she knows that -- "Come on, Dad." Then she lets me go with that fib.
SC: I think she kind of feeds you an excuse.
EF: Yeah.
SD: It's pretty cool how kids are so sophisticated yet kind of scary sometimes. Puts a lot more pressure on adults.
EF: Yeah. You can't hide anything.
Elle, you've never taken an acting lesson in your life. The more you act, are you ever curious to learn formally?
SC (to Fanning): Don't mess with what you're doing!
EF: Ha! Well, my sister hasn't either. We never really have. We're just more -- read the script, then do it naturally, however the character would. Cleo, she's exactly like me. So I just did it however I would basically do it if I was in her situation.
Were there any big differences between you and Cleo?
EF: Well, her parents are divorced, and mine are still together -- I guess that one's of the main differences.
Cleo feels like she's a number of different ages in this movie. She's wise, but she also lets her dad pick her up and carry her around like a little kid. Did you sense that about her, Elle?
EF: Yes. She sort of acts like his mom, cooking him food and making sure he's ready for whatever he's supposed to do, but she always talks about Twilight as well! She has to be that mother to him, to make him snap out of whatever he's in.
Somewhere gives the viewer a comprehensive view of L.A. We see a lot of the Chateau Marmont, but we also see ruddy highways and ground-level ordinariness. Sofia, how would you describe this film's relationship with L.A.?
SC: I wanted it to feel really like an L.A. movie. There were movies I always loved like Shampoo and American Gigolo that really felt like driving around L.A. and what it's like to be here. I wanted to put my impression of it, the way the bright light looks when you're driving in the middle of the day, the strip malls, the flavor of what it's like here -- I tried to put that in the movie. Then in the Chateau Marmont, I was showing a side of the movie star's life that you usually don't get to see -- a "sneak peak."
Stephen, you mentioned at a Q&A recently that Johnny was your most difficult role. At a base level, you must relate to the fact that he's an actor. Did that help the part come easier?
SD: This role, I mean, nothing was really easy for me because of the pure nakedness of the film and the fact that from the first shot, Sofia's setting up a major character study. You're lucky to get that kind of a character in a movie these days. The pressure was that even in the simplest of scenes if it ever felt at all like I was acting, it would unravel the vision of what Sofia wanted to do. It would've stood out like a sore thumb. My whole thing was just trying to stay true to Sofia's vision, the subtlety of it, and hit the poignant moments when they needed to be hit. There wasn't really an easy scene. Even in the earlier scenes when I'm half-asleep, I found those sometimes the most challenging because I wanted them to seem real. I hate in movies when actors are waking -- there's a lot of waking up for me in this movie -- I hate in movies when I see actors posing or lip-pouting when they're waking up. I wanted him to really be unconscious and tired. I had to walk this fine line of living very hard as Johnny before Cleo arrives. Nothing was really easy for me on this one. It was really a joy, but I found it very difficult.
SC: I think [Dorff's early scenes] are difficult. It looks like, "Oh, he's not doing anything." It's really challenging not to have a big performance or dialogue to hide behind. But the way it's written, I feel like it's really clear. I talked to Stephen about that, and we found the balance on set.
Johnny's press tour for Berlin Agenda confronts him with some bizarre members of the press. An Italian camera crews ambushes him for an interview at one point. Did weariness of the press help inspire the film?
SC: I've been around that world in film festivals with my dad, and it's just so much more exaggerated than real life. It's this over-the-top world that I wanted to convey. I wanted to convey how unnatural that showbiz world is to kind of contrast [with Johnny's life], while Elle's a symbol of purity and connection.
You've said that one press member's question for Johnny -- something about staying in shape -- was real?
SC: Oh, yeah. In the press conference scene with Johnny, there are real members of the Hollywood Foreign Press. I asked them to ask a question they'd ask. The Russian guy had a question about workout tips. Like, I didn't make that up.
SD: It's funny that he's asking about workouts, because Johnny's the most unhealthy character in the world. Johnny just has to say, "I keep it simple. A simple workout." Really funny.
SC: Johnny's attitude is specific because he's promoting something he doesn't care about. He's gotten famous from this Berlin Agenda movie. It's that kind of thing too -- he has mixed feelings about being known for that type of movie.
In the last scene, Johnny drives off and has a moment of liberation on the road. Can you talk about filming that, Stephen?
SD: I love that scene because it was the last shot of our L.A. shoot.
SC: Yeah! It was the last day of shooting.
SD: We were about to go to Milan, which kind of felt like another little adventure anyway, so we knew our characters by then. But really for our main unit, our main shooting, it was kind of our last shot. And I think it's Johnny's beginning. Inside, I felt "clear" for the first time as Johnny. He's in a white shirt. He's crisper-looking. He's more awake. He's alive again. Instead of a pill or a beer or a shot of whiskey, he's got a natural high, a natural strength, like he could make a change. It was very clear what I was thinking about. It was, "I think he's going to be a great dad and a man for the first time." Then I thought if he goes back to acting, maybe he'll do movies he's proud of instead of typical action movies. But I love the way that scene was shot. Sofia said something personal to me as I was walking toward the little golf cart, or whatever you guys were on. It felt very sunny and beautiful where we were on this empty were. It just felt like a new beginning of a new chapter, and a continuation. What Sofia said to me triggered an emotion for me.
SC: I think it was emotional because it was our last day.
SD: Yeah, it was a lot of different things, but it was a beautiful way to end it.