This is a psychological thriller from beginning to end. I just want to take you on a rollercoaster ride. If you laugh, or if you cry, I’ve done my job. That’s what we strive for. I want you to finish watching the movie and go wow, I didn’t see that coming.
I think the scene between Gilda and Belushi at the Ice Rink is probably my favorite. It was our first night shooting, so to be having this moment in my life where I’m shooting with a director that I have admired since I was a kid playing a comedic icon and shooting at the Rockefeller Ice Rink. I feel like Jason and Gil Kenan captured Gilda’s voice in that monologue.
Lorne is such a genius, he saw what people of that era were drawn to and he moved that to TV. That required fighting an ancient system that did not know at all what he was talking about. That’s why we have Saturday Night Live, and it was some of the most culturally impactful entertainment we’ve ever experienced.
I feel like the strip club and the Vegas segments have a different color scheme and are quite different with their purples and the blues as well. I felt like those vibrant hues were nice to showcase the fantasy version of reality, whereas then all the colder stuff is kind of stark real New York.
This is a pioneer story, you could call it a western… Trains are coming and nothing can stop them from coming. We know ultimately what happened. I felt the same way I felt when I read Titanic, I felt like, wow, this is a piece of history. This is less about the gunslinger and more about the birth of America and that blew my mind.
I think what is important for me is the relationships of the characters and the journey that they go on. I wasn’t interested in spending my time or the audience’s time explaining everything that happened and what would happen afterward. I think it’s more interesting to let the audience figure it out themselves. I think you have to pay attention and then you become more engaged in the story. That’s a lot more interesting than explaining directly what happened.
I think it’s about a story that not many people know yet. It speaks pretty directly to our current world, which is what makes it so confronting I guess. It’s a film that is a real ride and it has a kind of truth in it. It’s one that I’m proud of and been lovely hearing how people have sort of responded to it.
I think the fear was that it was going to be so chaotic that they over-prepared to the extent that they were ready. The days were pretty tight, and the chaos worked. So to the extent a day felt a little off or things were difficult, I think it probably felt that way in 1975, trying to get a show ready in an hour and a half, and in that way, you could just kind of lean into it and use it.
Kelsey Grammer comes from the golden age of sitcoms. He wants to stick to making sure the audience is enjoying the process. It is a live play. Let’s get it as best we can all week with rehearsals, and then we put it on in front of an audience and get to see the energy.
I just sit there in awe, I just receive it. I don’t even go on set, I’m in the studio, but I don’t like to tread on set and kind of spoil my vision of what they’re giving me. I can respond to only what I’m receiving and I think I’m the first audience member for the film.
