Interview with Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson is an American filmmaker.
*Last fall I was walking down the sidewalk whistling, and as I went to cross the street, I physically ran into Bill Murray.
He asked why I was whistling, and I told him it was because I just got married the week before. We started talking and because we were close to my apartment, he and I shouted at the window for my wife to come down. She came down and we all talked.
At the end I asked him if he thought there was anyone I should interview, and he suggested Wes Anderson.
So I reached out to Anderson and interviewed him. Thanks, Bill!*
Max Raskin: How do you think about what you wear each morning?
Wes Anderson: I wear the same thing every day. It is just a matter of randomly picking a color of corduroy.
MR: Where do you get your news?
WA: International NY Times.
MR: You studied philosophy — is there a book of philosophy or philosopher that had a strong impact on you?
WA: I have almost no recollection of what this one is about except that I was very intrigued by it 30 years ago — The Meaning of Meaning by C. K. Ogden and I. A. Richards.
MR: I heard you say you wanted to be an architect as a child; other than your various homes, which building have you spent the most time in in your life? What is the first building that comes to your mind right now?
WA: The first thing that comes to me is one I have not set foot inside which is the Rogers Stirk Harbour building at the London School of Economics. I don't know how much Richard Rogers even participated in this one, but it comes out of the methods and imaginations he developed with his teams over the decades — and I have been walking by and around it each day this past week.
MR: Which movie theater do you think you've been to the most in your life? Do you have a favorite theater?
WA: I was a projectionist at Hogg Auditorium at the University of Texas so that may be the one where I have spent the most time. It's a big room.
MR: Do you have a piece of furniture you particularly love?
WA: A drafting table and a little art supplies cart my father gave me when I was eleven…
MR: Do you snack?
WA: No, I don't eat snacks.
MR: What's the last song or album you listened to in its entirety?
WA: I just played “Mr. Tambourine Man” for my daughter 10 minutes ago.
MR: Are the walls of your office still Chinese mustard colored? How do you choose the colors of the rooms in the places you have lived?
WA: I don't know about Chinese mustard. I am going to look that up. I would say: colors tend to choose you rather than the other way around.
MR: Do you have any apps on your phone or gadgets or tricks of life that you would recommend to people?
WA: Not a lot of apps.
MR: What technical tools of filmmaking would you recommend an upcoming filmmaker learn?
WA: I suppose, I think, learn to write well? Somehow I think that will help no matter how you go about it. To express yourself clearly and interestingly in words.
Why is that important: I don't know.
MR: Have you taken up any new hobbies in the last 10 years?
WA: The new thing is having a daughter! Not a hobby; but certainly something that takes you up.
MR: I read you wrote a play called "A Night in Tunisia" — there’s a great recording of the song with Dizzy and Sandoval in 1985.
WA: Here is the one I was inspired by way back then [Sonny Rollins, 1957] but I think it would be a stretch to even call that play a play. But I remember the Art Blakey versions are the good ones too…
MR: If you could cast any non-living actor in one of your movies, who would it be?
WA: You can't pick one. But I will pick five for today: Joan Blondell, Toshiro Mifune, Jack Benny, Soumitra Chatterjee, and Judy Garland.
MR: Your cinematographer, Robert Yeoman, said he always makes sure the camera is squared up because he knows you like that. Are things in your house squared up?
WA: I think yes.
MR: Do you have any daily rituals you are extremely particular or fastidious about?
WA: I keep the computer desktop very carefully organized...
MR: What is the first word or phrase that comes to your mind when you hear: "Roald Dahl" and "Satyajit Ray”?
WA: They were both very tall. 6'6" and 6'4."
MR: What Dahl book or short story do you think you've read the most in your life?
WA: "Poison"!
MR: Do you have a favorite movie musical?
WA: Meet Me in St. Louis!
MR: That’s my wife’s favorite!
Do you have a favorite documentary? I watched an interview of you from 1999 where you talk about Rosemary's Baby — is that your favorite horror movie?
WA: I always loved the Fred Wiseman High School. Barbet Schroeder Terror’s Advocate. Vernon, Florida. Hotel Terminus by Marcel Ophüls.
MR: How do you keep track of things that appeal to you that you want to incorporate in your movies?
WA: I write them down! I have a little bitty notebook in my pocket.
I have slightly larger notebooks with spiral binding and then I have my computer...
I keep 3 pens in my jacket pocket always — one black, one red, one blue.
MR: Do you dream? How seriously do you take your dreams?
WA: I should write them down, too. I forget them.
MR: For someone who has never seen one of your movies, which one of your soundtracks would you suggest they listen to? Which soundtrack from any movie do you think you've listened to most in your life?
WA: The Darjeeling Limited soundtrack might interest some people. Much music written by Satyajit Ray himself. I always loved the soundtrack for The Mission.