at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival
Wednesday, May 13, 1998
Attending: Emma Thompson, John Travolta, Adrian Lester, actors, Mike Nichols, director, Joe Klein, journalist, novelist. The press conference room on the third floor of the Palais des Festivals was packed: actors Emma Thompson and John Travolta are hugely popular worldwide, director Mike Nichols enormously respected. There were one unknown and one unexpected - strike that, actually make that two virtual unknowns. British actor and member of the Royal Shakespeare Company Adrian Lester (who plays, I mean, does NOT play George Stephanopoulos in Primary Colors - the movie) is making his American film debut. But only those that saw him on stage in England in Company for which he got a million and three awards, those that saw him in Sweeney Todd and as Sidney Poitier's son in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, those, particularly, that saw him in Declan Donnelly's productions of Shakespeare's As You Like It and Midsummer Night's Dream can begin to have a clue as to what this actor is capable of. When Primary Colors - the novel, was first published, as everyone knows that haven't spent the last year in the remotest corner of the Amazon, it was signed Anonymous. As the moderator said at the beginning of the press conference, he would have loved to introduced the man as Please meet Mr. Anonymous. As fate would have it, months before the festival, Anonymous was revealed to be Joe Klein, a writer at Newsweek. It was intriguing to watch him discuss at length the novel, the film and their impact on his own life, in a venue that only two years ago, he never expected to find himself in. The first question - asked by an American journalist - went straight to what seems to matter most these days to Americans as far as films are concerned: success, box-office, money.
QUESTION: Why was the box office disappointing back home, and will it be better in Europe?
(After a pause, Travolta jumps in.)
JOHN TRAVOLTA: Well, we're happy with the box office - $40 million in the US is excellent for a political film. We're hoping to do the same, if not better, internationally.
QUESTION: How much did you think of Bill and Hillary Clinton while you're playing your roles?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I kind of made a composite character but mostly it will reflect the man you think it reflects: our own President, Mr. Clinton. But it was also fun to try and reflect on Carter and Kennedy and Reagan and other presidents that we've had.
QUESTION (To Emma Thompson): You're very selective in your choices of roles, and your name is an indication and an invitation to good quality work.
QUESTION: Lebanon
JOHN TRAVOLTA: For me, it was the Crispy Creamy scene in the donut shop. I think the goodness and intent of the man was revealed. I like that. I felt at I arrived at the culmination of the character at that point. Although I must say at the first read through, Elaine May's writing was extraordinary, and I felt that we took off right there. I mean, everyone just fell into their niche. If the actor is worth their salt at all, suddenly they they're there in the first read-through because the part is so good. And I think Elaine's screenplay, that was certainly true.
JOHN TRAVOLTA: The film really explains the character well. The writing itself, I thought, was distinctive and it had the kind of depth that tells you all about the character. I play him as a man who is complex and has a large appetite for the human urges. He has political urges, as well. That was a complex thing. And I think I played him as a decent fellow who really wants the best for all, and it's revealed in various scenes.
QUESTION: Have you all had any contact from the White House?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I was invited to a party as the President and do a speech with him, as him. (Laughs) I'm not kidding.
QUESTION: Did you accept the invitation?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I declined because I think it's best to leave the character on screen and not go and do parties. It was very funny and interesting invitation, though and I understand the President would like to see the film and see it in private. I was very tempted, though. I was very close to hopping on a plane and going. Then I though nahhhh... It would take 1.5 hours to get in the grey hair, get fat again for a moment. I withheld my urge there.
Attending: Emma Thompson, John Travolta, Adrian Lester, actors, Mike Nichols, director, Joe Klein, journalist, novelist. The press conference room on the third floor of the Palais des Festivals was packed: actors Emma Thompson and John Travolta are hugely popular worldwide, director Mike Nichols enormously respected. There were one unknown and one unexpected - strike that, actually make that two virtual unknowns. British actor and member of the Royal Shakespeare Company Adrian Lester (who plays, I mean, does NOT play George Stephanopoulos in Primary Colors - the movie) is making his American film debut. But only those that saw him on stage in England in Company for which he got a million and three awards, those that saw him in Sweeney Todd and as Sidney Poitier's son in John Guare's Six Degrees of Separation, those, particularly, that saw him in Declan Donnelly's productions of Shakespeare's As You Like It and Midsummer Night's Dream can begin to have a clue as to what this actor is capable of. When Primary Colors - the novel, was first published, as everyone knows that haven't spent the last year in the remotest corner of the Amazon, it was signed Anonymous. As the moderator said at the beginning of the press conference, he would have loved to introduced the man as Please meet Mr. Anonymous. As fate would have it, months before the festival, Anonymous was revealed to be Joe Klein, a writer at Newsweek. It was intriguing to watch him discuss at length the novel, the film and their impact on his own life, in a venue that only two years ago, he never expected to find himself in. The first question - asked by an American journalist - went straight to what seems to matter most these days to Americans as far as films are concerned: success, box-office, money.
QUESTION: Why was the box office disappointing back home, and will it be better in Europe?
(After a pause, Travolta jumps in.)
JOHN TRAVOLTA: Well, we're happy with the box office - $40 million in the US is excellent for a political film. We're hoping to do the same, if not better, internationally.
QUESTION: How much did you think of Bill and Hillary Clinton while you're playing your roles?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I kind of made a composite character but mostly it will reflect the man you think it reflects: our own President, Mr. Clinton. But it was also fun to try and reflect on Carter and Kennedy and Reagan and other presidents that we've had.
QUESTION (To Emma Thompson): You're very selective in your choices of roles, and your name is an indication and an invitation to good quality work.
QUESTION: Lebanon
JOHN TRAVOLTA: For me, it was the Crispy Creamy scene in the donut shop. I think the goodness and intent of the man was revealed. I like that. I felt at I arrived at the culmination of the character at that point. Although I must say at the first read through, Elaine May's writing was extraordinary, and I felt that we took off right there. I mean, everyone just fell into their niche. If the actor is worth their salt at all, suddenly they they're there in the first read-through because the part is so good. And I think Elaine's screenplay, that was certainly true.
JOHN TRAVOLTA: The film really explains the character well. The writing itself, I thought, was distinctive and it had the kind of depth that tells you all about the character. I play him as a man who is complex and has a large appetite for the human urges. He has political urges, as well. That was a complex thing. And I think I played him as a decent fellow who really wants the best for all, and it's revealed in various scenes.
QUESTION: Have you all had any contact from the White House?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I was invited to a party as the President and do a speech with him, as him. (Laughs) I'm not kidding.
QUESTION: Did you accept the invitation?
JOHN TRAVOLTA: I declined because I think it's best to leave the character on screen and not go and do parties. It was very funny and interesting invitation, though and I understand the President would like to see the film and see it in private. I was very tempted, though. I was very close to hopping on a plane and going. Then I though nahhhh... It would take 1.5 hours to get in the grey hair, get fat again for a moment. I withheld my urge there.
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