Expanded comments from the talent of “Fast Food Nation”
The movie trailer for "Fast Food Nation."
The “Fast Food Nation” roundtable discussion consisted of three groups of journalists sitting at three different tables in a ballroom. Meanwhile, Ethan Hawke, Wilmer Valderrama, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Richard Linklater and Eric Schlosser rotated from table to table every 15 minutes to answer questions. The event lasted about an hour, and if you’re interested in reading a lot of text, below are some notable excerpts from my notes.
***
Hawke came to my table first, and I asked him several questions about his character and about his scenes in the film. His character, Uncle Rick, is a hippie/college dropout, but he eventually inspires his niece, who works at a fast-food restaurant, to believe in something.
Hawke told me that he developed his character with Linklater so that his scenes would discuss accountability in our personal lives. Most people, for instance, don’t think they can stop eating meat because they don’t know anyone else who leads by example. Hawke’s character, however, practices what he preaches.
“We don’t think we can make a difference with what we do as individuals,” he said. “But if we meet one person who doesn’t lie and who holds themselves to a higher standard, that’s one person who doesn’t do it.”
Hawke also answered a question I had about whether his scenes warned of the dangers of those who protest while neglecting their personal ambitions. After all, I know a lot of people who are passionate about social causes but who aren’t ambitious about their lives (I call them hippies).
“How do you define success?” he asked me. “By making money? By doing that, we belittle ourselves.”
Everyone is disappointed with his or her life at some point, he added. “But success is determined by how well you handle that disappointment and measure your shortcomings.”
Hawke later was asked by a journalist about how much money he needed to do the things he wanted to do.
“I don’t need any,” Hawke said. “Although I do need money to pay taxes and my ex-wife (Uma Thurman). Dostoyevsky didn’t need money to be a great writer.”
Hawke said his first trip to the Cannes Film Festival was in 1989 to help promote “Dead Poet’s Society.” At the age of 75, if he still is sitting at a table talking to journalists, he’ll be happy, he said.
“That would mean my work still is relevant,” he said.
***
For those who don’t know, Wilmer Valderrama plays Fes (short for foreign-exchange student) on Fox’s “That ’70s Show.” I asked Valderrama why he chose such a serious role after the show, similar to what Topher Grace has done. On an interesting note, Valderrama was really hungover – his eyes were bloodshot, and he was losing his voice.
“For many years I was sitting out of movie making. Nothing was presented that I could really relate to, nothing mattered,” he told me. “Nowadays, a lot of movies are ‘let’s make it quick, make the budget back and $5 million to $10 million after that.' ”
“I’m not saying this with cockiness, but “That ’70s Show” was a platform that allowed me to sit out. It gave me such a safety net,” he added.
Valderrama said he was drawn to the role of a Mexican illegal immigrant in the film, because it was a character that no one expected him to play -- and a statistic for most people.
“I was so inspired in performing a character that didn’t exist; that was invisible to the masses,” he said.
“Let’s face it, it’s easy to be the heart throb,” Valderrama added. “All you have to do is know how to say ‘I love you’ in three different voices. Screaming, crying and [in a suave voice] ‘I love you.’
This comment generated a lot of laughs at our table.
***
During the interview, Linklater was slightly irked that I called his movie “Traffic” with beef.
It’s just an ensemble drama like any other, he said. “Traffic” is more stylized and has more storylines, he added.
Linklater also explained how his crew got permission to film cows being slaughtered in several Mexican beef-packing plants. Seventy cows were killed on film, he said.
"Isn't that unethical to kill animals for a movie?" I asked.
"Well, the cows were going to be killed anyway," he said.
After the interview, I chatted with Linklater a bit about his other movie that is premiering at the festival, “A Scanner Darkly.” The reason it took so long to complete was because of the digital-painting process, he said.
Although I was unsuccessful in pumping him for information about whether there would be a cast party that I could attend, I did mention that I was interested in doing a story on the technical aspects of the film, which is filmed in digital video and then digitally painted over cell by cell.
“You should come to our studios in Austin,” he said.
That is tempting.
The “Fast Food Nation” roundtable discussion consisted of three groups of journalists sitting at three different tables in a ballroom. Meanwhile, Ethan Hawke, Wilmer Valderrama, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Richard Linklater and Eric Schlosser rotated from table to table every 15 minutes to answer questions. The event lasted about an hour, and if you’re interested in reading a lot of text, below are some notable excerpts from my notes.
***
Hawke came to my table first, and I asked him several questions about his character and about his scenes in the film. His character, Uncle Rick, is a hippie/college dropout, but he eventually inspires his niece, who works at a fast-food restaurant, to believe in something.
Hawke told me that he developed his character with Linklater so that his scenes would discuss accountability in our personal lives. Most people, for instance, don’t think they can stop eating meat because they don’t know anyone else who leads by example. Hawke’s character, however, practices what he preaches.
“We don’t think we can make a difference with what we do as individuals,” he said. “But if we meet one person who doesn’t lie and who holds themselves to a higher standard, that’s one person who doesn’t do it.”
Hawke also answered a question I had about whether his scenes warned of the dangers of those who protest while neglecting their personal ambitions. After all, I know a lot of people who are passionate about social causes but who aren’t ambitious about their lives (I call them hippies).
“How do you define success?” he asked me. “By making money? By doing that, we belittle ourselves.”
Everyone is disappointed with his or her life at some point, he added. “But success is determined by how well you handle that disappointment and measure your shortcomings.”
Hawke later was asked by a journalist about how much money he needed to do the things he wanted to do.
“I don’t need any,” Hawke said. “Although I do need money to pay taxes and my ex-wife (Uma Thurman). Dostoyevsky didn’t need money to be a great writer.”
Hawke said his first trip to the Cannes Film Festival was in 1989 to help promote “Dead Poet’s Society.” At the age of 75, if he still is sitting at a table talking to journalists, he’ll be happy, he said.
“That would mean my work still is relevant,” he said.
***
For those who don’t know, Wilmer Valderrama plays Fes (short for foreign-exchange student) on Fox’s “That ’70s Show.” I asked Valderrama why he chose such a serious role after the show, similar to what Topher Grace has done. On an interesting note, Valderrama was really hungover – his eyes were bloodshot, and he was losing his voice.
“For many years I was sitting out of movie making. Nothing was presented that I could really relate to, nothing mattered,” he told me. “Nowadays, a lot of movies are ‘let’s make it quick, make the budget back and $5 million to $10 million after that.' ”
“I’m not saying this with cockiness, but “That ’70s Show” was a platform that allowed me to sit out. It gave me such a safety net,” he added.
Valderrama said he was drawn to the role of a Mexican illegal immigrant in the film, because it was a character that no one expected him to play -- and a statistic for most people.
“I was so inspired in performing a character that didn’t exist; that was invisible to the masses,” he said.
“Let’s face it, it’s easy to be the heart throb,” Valderrama added. “All you have to do is know how to say ‘I love you’ in three different voices. Screaming, crying and [in a suave voice] ‘I love you.’
This comment generated a lot of laughs at our table.
***
During the interview, Linklater was slightly irked that I called his movie “Traffic” with beef.
It’s just an ensemble drama like any other, he said. “Traffic” is more stylized and has more storylines, he added.
Linklater also explained how his crew got permission to film cows being slaughtered in several Mexican beef-packing plants. Seventy cows were killed on film, he said.
"Isn't that unethical to kill animals for a movie?" I asked.
"Well, the cows were going to be killed anyway," he said.
After the interview, I chatted with Linklater a bit about his other movie that is premiering at the festival, “A Scanner Darkly.” The reason it took so long to complete was because of the digital-painting process, he said.
Although I was unsuccessful in pumping him for information about whether there would be a cast party that I could attend, I did mention that I was interested in doing a story on the technical aspects of the film, which is filmed in digital video and then digitally painted over cell by cell.
“You should come to our studios in Austin,” he said.
That is tempting.
posted by Wayne Ma at
5:13 AM
2 Comments:
It would be interesting to have the immigrants that I have interviewed (the ones who work at Tyson, anyway) weigh in about "Fast Food Nation." They generally have a pretty realistic idea of management.
By
Anonymous, at 7:25 PM
just watched Fast Food Nation, it's an impactful flick to say the least... earlier today i passed up a sausage mcmuffin because of it. Evidently it is worth passing up fast food for more than health reasons.
By
Anonymous, at 2:55 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home