Christopher Guest talks to Tim Nasson
Boston – Christopher Guest, happily married to the actress Jamie Lee Curtis for the past twenty-two years, is a unique fellow.
His movies – up until now – the ones he has written, directed and starred in, beginning with “This Is Spinal Tap,” (the only one he didn’t direct), and continuing with “Waiting For Guffman,” “Best In Show” and “A Mighty Wind” were all mockumentaries, if you will.
“For Your Consideration” is Guest’s first stab at straight up comedy, albeit with a lot of wit and sarcasm thrown in and, of course, the usual acting suspects from any Christopher Guest film; Eugene Levy, Jennifer Coolidge, Catherine O’Hara, Ed Begley Jr., Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, Jane Lynch, Bob Balaban, Fred Willard and Michael McKean.
“For Your Consideration,” an independent film, with a big budget look, is also an expose of the movie industry – from critics, producers, writers, actors and even those who pay to see movies, you – which Guest explains, “is much tamer than anything that goes on in Hollywood on a daily basis.”
Guest who is nearly sixty, yet looks twenty years younger, (perhaps because of the way he takes care of himself. “Don’t forget the Airborne,” he says to a publicist from the film studio on his way to the airport to get on a plane to Los Angeles, referring to the over the counter vitamin that one should presumably take whenever around strangers for an extended period of time), does things his way.
“I have never had a publicist,” says Guest.
“Clearly there are those in Hollywood [referring to actors] who need someone doing something for them twenty-four hours a day. And I don’t direct movies unless I have complete control.” And he means it.
“For Your Consideration” tells the story of a director, producer and cast who are working on a film entitled “Home For Purim.” Purim, for the non-Jews reading this, is a Jewish Holiday that is so under the radar that non-Jews probably have never heard of it. Yet the director of the film within a film, “Home For Purim” is forced, after completing filming, after the studio suits have seen the film, to reshoot the entire film and change the dialogue so as to not alienate any Gentiles. The finished product? “Home For Thanksgiving.”
“For Your Consideration” is also a big blow to the Oscar committee.
“People who make comedies are not part of the Oscar process,” says Guest, wryly. “The thought of winning or being nominated for an Oscar is NOT what make us do these films. Even though, technically, they are movies. And if you think about it, only recently have good performances been associated with Oscar buzz. When I went to a movie as a kid and up until a decade or so ago, you would walk out of a theater and say, ‘That was a great performance,’ without the thought of Oscar entering your mind.”
Speaking of Aawards, why have Guest and wife (a two time Golden Globe Award winner) never worked together?
“We decided, before we married, that our personal and professional lives would remain separate, no matter what, and that we would never work with each other,” Guest informs.
Why, you ask, did it take Guest a more than a decade to create a second spoof, after “This Is Spinal Tap?”
“‘Spinal Tap,'” says Guest, “was based on the television show ‘Spinal Tap,’ which ran on ABC. When the show was canceled, I got around to thinking – this idea can go further and thus became ‘Spinal Tap’ the movie.
“It wasn’t a conscious decision to wait ten years to make ‘Waiting For Guffman,’ but I wasn’t going to make a movie if there wasn’t something there that truly captivated me and everyone who would be involved in it.”
Believe it or not, all of Guest’s films are adlibbed for the most part.
Says Guest, “The actors in my movies gather around, see an outline of the story, but their dialogue is completely adlibbed. Comedy is serious business but everyone who works with me is great at what they do and don’t need to have lines written for them. Actually there were lines written in ‘For Your Consideration’ but they were the lines written for the movies within the movie, ‘Home For Purim’ and “Home For Thanksgiving.'”
Don’t expect more than one movie from Guest every five years, or so.
“After I complete a movie, I need at least a year off. I need time to live a regular life and think about what, if anything, I would want to gather the group together for, that would resonate well with an audience. During my hiatus from film I make television commercials,” says Guest. And of the many commercials Guest has directed, the VW ones, with Slash and John Meyer are some of his favorites.
Above: Out of focus photo of Christopher Guest, at the original Ritz Carlton in Boston, by Tim Nasson.
