Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Set in the 1970s, Paynes work is an intimate character study.
And it made a lot of people cry, which is kind of what Hemingson anticipated.
Youre one for one now.
One script, one nomination.
How are you gonna top that?
[Laughs] Thanks for bringing that up.
I have no idea.
The film is sort of a memory play in many respects.
I told as much truth as I could about these people as I remembered them.
DaVine took this character and filled that space for her so she could put her experience into it.
The same thing can be said for Paul.
They dont find each other gradually; they reveal themselves to each other.
The film is an emotional roller coaster.
At one point youre laughing hysterically at Paul Giamatti, and at another point youre sobbing at everyones loss.
I didnt want it to beDead Poets Society.
I wanted it to be something else between these three people.
Honestly, a lot of it was taken directly from my life.
For example, the scene with the hooker was something that happened with my uncle when I was 7.
We were walking dogs, and she approached him and said, The kid can wait around the corner.
At the same time, womens lib and other civil-rights movements were going on.
How did you decide what to put in?It was a threshold of matter.
We decided it was gonna be 1970.
We toyed with 1958 for a hot minute.
I thought to myself,This is something that needs to be brought to fore in this film.
Then, I needed tonal context for the seventies.
That sort of humanist vibe, which is largely absent I think, for many films today.
Although, I think were going through a renaissance when it comes to humanist filmmaking right now.
I think the nominees this year are incredible and resonant, such beautiful, human films.
Well, Paul Giamattis character smells like fish.
You once described him as odiferous.Alexander gave me this challenge: Odiferous professor sticks around with five kids.
That was the log line.
Paul Giamatti becomes a knight in shining armor, and its just a wonder to behold.
I had to create space for her that I couldnt directly commemorate because only she could.
She could do more with 30 seconds of silence than most people can do with four pages of dialogue.
Shes a remarkable actor.
The scene where she broke down at the Christmas party felt honest.The emotional core of Mary …
I love my mother deeply, and she was hugely important to me.
I lost her tragically 25 years ago.
My wife would come to my study at one oclock in the morning sometimes.
I would be overwrought, and my wife would knock on the door and ask if Im all right.
Im glad I was able to take some of that and put it in the movie.
Whats next for you?I am honored to be co-writing a western with Alexander Payne.
Thats top of my mind.
