Press conference: 'A Dangerous Method' star Michael Fassbender

There's no escaping it: 2011 is Michael Fassbender's year. Between X-Men: First Class, Jane Eyre, the upcoming Shame, and now A Dangerous Method, there is hardly any chance of your ending the year without having spent some time watching him on one silver screen or another. Not that there's anything wrong with this: rugged good looks aside, Fassbender is a stellar thespian—which is convenient, given his propensity for playing characters with some serious issues. His latest turn as Jung in the Cronenberg's aforementioned Method is no exception, as he acknowledged in this recent press conference.

Morning.
Morning!

How are you doing?
Pretty good.

So how much did you know about Jung before filming the movie?
Not a great deal. When I started looking into it and researching it I realized just how much of his teachings, his philosophies and ideas are intrinsic in our vocabulary, just in sort of everyday use now—you know, the idea of extrovert-introvert personality types. That was quite cool, to sort of find that out. But other than that it was pretty basic, you know? So I had some work to do there, and then it’s a matter of digesting all the information and then kind of throwing it away again and going back to the script, ‘cause whatever else you sort of gather, um, you’ve got, you’ve got sort of, you know, 100-whatever pages to be told in that story. I realized there were various stages to his life, different Jungs at different points in his life, so the guy I was trying to portray was somebody who was young and still felt like he had a lot to prove in his profession, so I wanted to have an element of unsurety there and insecurity, if you like. He’s very much representing the time that he lives in: the stiff collars; everything is sort of controlled. He’s conforming to the social etiquette at the time, and you’re dealing with Europe in the early 1900s. They believed that they were like this hyper-civilization at that point. And then, of course, WWI was right around the corner and proved that theory totally wrong. So I looked at different stages of his life. The red books were interesting for me to take a look at, because that was the Jung that comes right after the movie: he has his breakdown, comes through that, and comes out with the red book. There’s also footage of him on Youtube. I could watch some interviews with him in his sixties or seventies, I’m not sure, but there was an old man that, again, seemed very self-assured and seemed very confident in his life’s work, and he was very charming. And also I got a sort of, I don’t know, a feeling of sensuality in him through his physicality. So—gathering all that information and then trying to find where it applies best in the story.

When Sabina comes to the hospital she is diagnosed with hysteria, and the diagnosis of hysteria—as well as its connection to female sexuality—is a pretty hot topic in movies right now. I was wondering how your research led you to view the topic.
Well, I know it has to do with the womb, isn’t it? It comes from the Latin, I can’t remember what the actual word is, but they actually used to take women’s wombs out because they believed it was sort of linked to this madness, if you like. What I think was pretty amazing with the Burgholzli [hospital] is that theirs was a forward way of thinking, and it was actually a good place to go to if at that point in history you were deemed to be insane or a little cuckoo. As we see with Sabina, what’s fascinating about that is she goes into the Burgholzli as a patient and she comes out as a doctor. And so these were very forward-thinking people for the time, especially to have the patience and to have the sort of interest in these various cases and also these different approaches, sort of allowing this idea of the talking cure, and I think that’s what really sort of binds Jung and Sabina together. He’s trying out this method of sort of dealing with hysteria through the talking cure, this new method, and he hasn’t tried it out yet; she’s suffering, and she gets cured by it, and he also gets a validation of his beliefs, so that forms a really strong relationship between them.

Do you believe in Jung’s theory that there is no real coincidence, only synchronicity?
I was talking about that last night, actually, with a friend. Yeah, kind of. I’m not sure. I don’t really know if I have any set beliefs in anything. I just sort of, I think I’m kind of open to anything. I don’t rule anything out. But it’s funny, sometimes you think that something greater is at play when you look at a series of events that lead you to get to here. But I don’t know. Why would I be sort of born, then, into relative comfort and wealth and then you see somebody who’s born in the Congo and gets his hands chopped off? I don’t know. Those questions remain unanswered for me. But I was just thinking about it yesterday.

What do you think Jung would have to say in terms of diagnosis, treatment, or commentary about your character Brandon in Shame?
Well, I think he’d probably tell him it’s all right. [LAUGHTER] You know, the first stage is, like, “It’s okay. Let’s just talk about it.” I think what’s interesting about these guys is that they were truly very fascinated in human behavior and why we behave in certain ways. I think that, again, there’s a social sort of form that we’re expected to sort of live under and we’re expected to behave a certain way with one another socially; but in actual reality and practice, what way do we really behave? It’s kind of crazy, being a human being and trying to all get along and hold the complications that we have within ourselves—the relationships we have with ourselves and then with others. I think Jung would probably tell him that everything’s going to be okay, as well as “Go see my friend Siggy Freud.” [LAUGHTER]

Both A Dangerous Method and Shame have the common thread of sexual dysfunction. What was it like to first play the character of a psychoanalyst and then that of somebody spiraling out of control?
I didn’t really relate the two together at all; it’s only in hindsight. First I did A Dangerous Method and then I did X-Men and then Shame, and I kind of work very intensely on the project when I’m running up to it and during it, and then I kind of flush it pretty quickly too, and I was jumping from one to the next so I had to get rid of them very quickly. So it’s only in hindsight that you see that. As for how was playing either of them, well, you have the information there with Jung, as we were discussing, so that your biography is taken care of, and in a lot of respects that can be easier: you have the information there, and the character is sort of available, whereas when you’re doing a fiction character—well, what I do, anyway, is I go away and write that biography out of the information given to me in the script. Logically, what would a child go through in order to create this sort of motivation? What did their parents do? Were they popular in school? Where they lonely, a sporter, academic? That sort of thing. And then, you know, I just spend a lot of time with the script, really, and that’s the sort of process that I take on for all work now, regardless of what it is, because just through rereading and rereading and rereading I’m spending a lot of time with the character and with all the other characters in the world. And so after a while it’s sort of like slipping into a new set of skin. With Shame as well, then, I had the opportunity to meet people who were suffering for the condition, and that was a huge insight. I’m very grateful for that, and for the honesty and bravery of these people to come forward like that, and especially for this one guy in particular—because the idea of the intimacy problems that Brandon has is that that’s basically the crux of his problem, and this guy that I met, that was exactly his problem as well. It made me get something tenable and made me understand the condition.

Intimacy on a psychological level, I think, is what led Sabina and Jung to cross over into physical intimacy, which today would be considered out of place—
I’m sure it’s still happening now. [LAUGHTER]

Well, I wanted to gain an insight into what you do when you’re creating characters who share intimate moments over the course of a film. You hear so often about relationships on film sets; can you shut that down?
Well, I suppose it’s the doctor-patient idea of transference, and it is that thing, I think, that special thing that doctors have. We all find doctors sexy; that’s why there are so many TV shows about doctors [LAUGHTER]—because they have the power to save lives, and there’s something, you know, very attractive about that. And so you have that relationship. Also, like you said, it’s a very intimate place, the idea of the patient and the doctor. They go into intimate places together, and that can bleed over for sure. I think that in terms of working on movie sets, I mean, it’s like the office affair, isn’t it, at the Christmas party; it’s just who you see. If you see somebody a lot and if they’re around you a lot, and if people work a lot of hours of their lives, then relationships just happen in the workplace, I guess. That’s where you’re spending a lot of your time. But I don’t think that’s necessarily really any different in acting or that world. What’s impressive and always sort of gets me is the way you come together on a film—how immediately it becomes a family, because it kind of has to. And then you sort of disband after three months, and you might never see the person again for three or four years, and then you’re working on another film and you’re like, “Hey, how’s it going, whatever!” But you have to get tied very quickly. In terms of relationships, though, I don’t know; what’s it like with you guys when you’re all traveling around together? Some stuff goes down among journalists, I’m sure. [LAUGHTER]

As an actor, do you consider yourself an armchair psychoanalyst? Is that part of your job?
I think so. You know, I think the similarities, again, are that interest in human behavior and just trying to understand personalities and where one character’s moral compass lies as opposed to another. And for sure, for me, my best reference for that would be myself. I sort of look at myself and try to be really honest and truthful in answering those questions, trying to find all those elements within myself, because essentially I think we’re all pretty much the same. So trying to identify and understand, as opposed to judge, is very important for me in approaching characters.

Was David Cronenberg someone you were looking to work with, and was working with him anything like you expected?
I was a fan of his for sure. I was very envious, I remember, when they were filming Eastern Promises. I live around Hackney, and when they were filming it I was like, “Oh, god, wouldn’t it be great to be on a David Cronenberg set?” So it was very exciting, the idea and the prospect of working with him. And, yes, it was different from what I expected, because you see his films and they can be quite violent, yes? They’re quite dark. And he’s the opposite: he’s a very sweet, loving energy, very generous and sort of humorous—we actually joked around a lot on set, which is sort of fun, I think, and can also lend to the piece. Especially when you’re dealing with something that’s very much set in a particular time, so therefore it’s a period piece. Again, we talked about the social etiquette of the time, the way people held themselves and sort of related to one another. It was different to today, but you don’t want to get bogged down in that so that it becomes more about the costumes than about anything else; you want to keep it accessible and fresh. So having that humor is a nice device for that because it keeps you nice and relaxed when going into scenes that can be sort of heavy and deep with heavy things and certainly dialogue-heavy. But he’s a joy. He’s really a very collaborative guy, and I’m so lucky that of the great directors I’ve had a chance to work with they do a lot of—they all have to be great manipulators, and they do their manipulation in the weeks leading up. So it’s like a dinner here, or when you’re trying on the costumes or picking the props there’s a bit of a nudge that they give you then, or they drop a phrase here or ask you certain questions at certain times. Then once we get on set there’s very little dialogue. We just sort of get on with it because all of that has been discussed previously.

A Dangerous Method is in theatres now.

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"Whitney" actor Zoe Lister-Jones

If you've heard of Zoe Lister-Jones, it might have been in the context of Breaking Upward, the breakout $15,000-budget quasi-breakup film that she wrote, produced, and starred in alongside Daryl Wein. Or maybe you first heard of her sometime before that, when she made her turn in Broadway's The Little Dog Laughed as Ellen, girlfriend of a gay hustler patronized by a closeted Hollywood star. Or maybe you haven't yet heard of her at all. In that case, it's safe to say that Lister-Jones might be one of the most prolific actors you've never heard of. Luckily, for those of you who would like to familiarize yourselves with her quickly, she currently plays Lily on Whitney Cummings' NBC sitcom Whitney, about which I recently had the pleasure of speaking with her.

Hi, Zoe, how are you?
Hi, I’m good. How are you?

I’m good. Tell me a little bit about how you got involved with the show.
Um, I just auditioned in New York, which is where I’m from, and Whitney Cummings watched the tape and flew to New York and met with a couple of actresses there. From there I then flew back to LA to screen test for the role and then I got it!

Is the show based in LA or in New York?
The show we shoot in LA, but it is, it’s set in Chicago, so we’re playing LA for Chicago.

As you mentioned, you’re from New York, and as far as I know most of the projects you’ve done thus far have been based in New York. How has the change been?
It’s actually been really nice, I have to say. As a native New Yorker, I’ve always sort of turned my nose up at LA because, you know, the East Coast-West Coast rivalry, and I have to say it’s pretty awesome out here. I’m not—you know, I’m not a turncoat, but I will say that the weather is amazing all the time, and the lifestyles are different. Because the weather’s so great, there are a lot more things that people do outside, there’s a lot more hiking, and nature’s sort of at your fingertips. There’s a lot more space to live, and you don’t have to schlep things in the subway all the time, you just get in a car. Everybody’s got a car. It’s pretty luxe.

I will admit, coming to LA from New York, LA is nice but it just doesn’t hold a candle.
I mean, New York is the greatest city in the world. I will say that and people can fight me on it, but it’s true. But it’s nice to get a change. I’ve really never lived anywhere else. I was born there, and I grew up in Brooklyn, and then I went to NYU, so I think it’s always nice to get away from it for a bit so you can really come back and appreciate it in all its glory.

Right. What part of Brooklyn did you grow up in?
I grew up in sort of the edge of Park Slope, um, which my mother called “Park Slip”—the less fancy part of Park Slope. It was really more Sunset Park, which is not as gentrified a neighborhood, but I think the real estate brokers liked to call it Park Slope so that they could get more money.

Oh, of course. I’m from Prospect Lefferts Gardens, which didn’t even have a name until the brokers realized they could make some money.
Exactly. [LAUGHS]

As far as your background and your projects up til now, you have written a lot of your own work. What is the difference between doing your own work that you’ve written and now doing something you haven’t written in which you’re solely a performer?
You know, I’ve spent most of my career thus far solely being a performer, and there have been now three times that I’ve written my own work, so it’s been a nice balance. But I guess the difference is that all the times I’ve written my own work I’ve also produced it, which is sort of what Whitney’s doing now, and I think it’s just learning how to juggle all the responsibilities and being focused on each one wholly, which is a real challenge, because it’s hard for somebody to be able to perform each role as dedicatedly as you would if you only had one responsibility. But it’s also so exciting because of the creative control and because of how much input you can have in all areas of the project. It is really fun to just perform, though, I have to say. I love writing, I love producing, but the show is just so much fun because we all have such great relationships already and have made sort of lasting friendships early on, and we love hanging out with each other, so it, it’s just a great, um, experience and environment to be working in.

I know the show has just started, but have you gotten any input as far as what you think your character might do or what you’d like to see happen?
Well, my character’s on a pretty specific track, which is marriage and babies, and I think that’s where her life is at. On a recent episode, Lily, whom I play on the show, is convinced that her boyfriend-of-the-year Neil is going to propose, and she goes totally insane, and that episode answered some questions about the character’s future.

In addition to having written and produced your own projects before, many of the projects you’ve worked on have been more independent. Now that you’re on a major-network show, how is the environment different?
There’s much better craft services. [LAUGHS] I mean, there’s awesome things about independent projects, which is that there are sort of less cooks in the kitchen, generally speaking. But being on a network, especially like NBC, which has made some of the greatest television in history, is so exciting, and it’s so great having their support and to work—as I said—in an environment where everyone is so supportive. But I think there are pretty obvious benefits to working where there’s more funding and there’s more resources and a better outreach to the public, which is ultimately the goal always with a project. You just want it to be seen.

You’ve also done a fair amount of theatre. Especially since this show is a sitcom, has that influenced your approach to the show and your experience now?
Yeah, totally. I mean, I think that’s why Whitney chose to do a television show that’s filmed in front of a live audience, because of her history as a standup, and Chris—who plays Alex—his history as a standup, and the rest of the cast is really trained in theatre and has done a lot of theatre. It is amazing training because you have to really be on your toes and you have to interact with the viewer immediately, which is very different than on, you know, a single-camera show, which is not filmed in front of a live audience. You’re sort of more in a bubble and the interaction with your viewer happens upon airing. With this we get the best of both worlds, and I think with comedy it’s especially helpful to have the audience there as a barometer, because if a joke doesn’t land then it doesn’t land and you get to know that in the moment. I think theatre is really great training for that.

Whitney airs Thurday nights at 9:30pm on NBC.

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Cult(ure) following: "Heathers" (1988)

Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce our latest feature: "cult(ure) following," in which we take a look at classic and recent cult films. First up? 1988's seminal black comedy Heathers. Let's take a look.

Then…: So dark that the producers had to sort through nearly all of Young Hollywood to find its cast, Heathers bombed at the box office. The moral gatekeepers of society were shocked and outraged at its release, and though quite a few critics counted it among their favorite films of 1988 most were scandalized.

…And now: Tame with regards to the body count yet still edgy in its conceit, Heathers would never get made today. Perhaps that’s why it has endured so well. Aside from its own continued presence in pop culture and its ever-intense popularity among film geeks and kitsch enthusiasts alike, most of whom could quote the entire film on command, Heathers revolutionized the teen movie genre. Seriously, take a look: pre-Heathers, we had wide-eyed idealist Molly Ringwald. Post-Heathers, we got deadpan snarker Daria. Just about everyone who has been a teenager since the release of Heathers owes their adolescence to Michael Lehmann and Daniel Waters.

See it with: Jaded Gender Studies majors; any hipster chick who secretly hasn’t entirely gotten over being “uncool” in high school; Tavi Gevinson.

Drug of choice: Crushed shoulder-pad fibers and aerosol hairspray.

Predecessor to: Jawbreaker, Mean Girls, Juno—just about any marginally-snarky film with a teenaged girl for a protagonist.

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Amielle Christopherson: So You Want To Attend A Film Festival?

Words by Amielle Christopherson

Approximately one month ago, the Toronto International Film Festival closed its doors for the 2011 season. There were a lot of good moments had by everyone present, most of whom were not A-list or B-list actors but rather ordinary people with an extraordinary love for film and a sheer enthusiasm for the opportunity to be among others of that ilk.

If you’re reading this, you probably thrill at the prospect of spending hours in a rush line waiting for tickets to a sold-out show; or standing in a crowd of people at the back entrance of a screening venue in the hopes of glimpsing your favorite star as they get into a black sedan; or spending every last minute of daylight in some dark theatre or another in an attempt to cram in a minimum of five film screenings a day. If, however, you’re wondering what could possibly drive hundreds of thousands of people to constantly wade through crowded streets to get from one theatre to another, or to wait in line for 20 minutes to get coffee from one of the only Tim Hortons within the area, let me try to explain the appeal.

1. The first reason is perhaps the one most people can relate to: people are fascinated with movie stars and the glamour that follows them. TIFF is one of the most laid-back film festivals around, in large part due to the actors, who for the most part take time to sign autographs and have pictures taken with fans—many of whom will wait hours to get that elusive autograph or photo.
2. The festival provides the chance to see a movie before the majority of other people get to see it. There is a thrill to knowing that you’re getting to see a movie weeks—if not months—in advance of the general public. In fact, some festival films don’t even make it to theatres, making the festival your only chance to see them in a theatre and on a giant screen.
3. What’s more, a lot of the screenings lead into Q&A sessions with the actors and filmmakers. Terence Davies, Tom Hiddleston, and Rachel Weisz came to answer questions after a showing of their film The Deep Blue Sea, and it was amusing, enlightening, and absolutely wonderful to get to see them interacting with the fans and each other.
4. Thus far, I’ve more or less painted a picture of an event catering solely to those obsessed with spotting stars and adding to their autograph collection. However—and this is the most compelling reason to attend a festival—there are others who are there almost solely for the films. During the first film I ever saw at a festival (ever), I was seated next to a fascinating woman from Philadelphia who’d been coming to TIFF for the last three or four years. Not only was she a wealth of information on what to do differently next time, she was also extremely encouraging about younger people coming to the festival and trying new things. (What’s more, she was a real trooper: she was there all 10 days, watching four to five films each day. Wow!)

Now that you’ve realized that navigating a film festival isn’t quite as harrowing an experience as you first thought, where do you start? Here’s some general advice—some gathered from festival first-timers, others from veterans (such as my wonderful Philadelphian friend).

1. Book your hotel in advance. This sounds like the most common sense thing to do. I didn’t decide to go until a few days before the festival started, and ended up having to stay in a hotel on the edge of the city. Map out the festival area and find hotels that are in the area and book about six months prior to the festival. It helps you stay centered—and, more importantly, ensures that you have a place to go and eat, freshen up, or even take a nap if things get to be a bit too much. It also means that you won’t have to wake up at 7 a.m. in order to be on time for your 9 a.m. film because of the hour-long commute from your hotel to the festival area. (If that is what ends up happening, however, don’t worry: Toronto’s public transportation system is fantastic and you’ll get to where you want to go without too much problem.)
2. Let TIFF plan your festival. TIFF is great this way—they have packs of tickets you can choose for the days you’re planning on attending. This is an especially good idea if you’re a first time festival-goer. Now, this being said, I’m a bit internet-illiterate, and TIFF’s website was especially difficult for me to navigate. It was overwhelming trying to remember what each film was about while purchasing individual tickets, which is why I gave up and stood in line instead. Things worked out well for me, but that might not always be the case; if you’re web-savvy enough to figure it out, planning your trip online will guarantee you tickets to films, even if they aren’t what you would have necessarily picked for yourself. Even then, TIFF has you fill out a questionnaire about what kinds of films you enjoy in order to make sure that, say, those who still suffer nightmares from when they saw Evil Dead during its 1981 opening weekend don’t end up with tickets to a horror film—which allows you to surpass most of the guesswork.
3. Keep things minimal. Bringing a car to the festival—whether yours or rented—is really just a nuisance. Between the influx of traffic and the blocked off streets, you’ll spend hours searching for a parking space that will inevitably end up being so far away that walking would have been faster in the first place. For that matter, dress wisely, especially if you’re planning on seeing a few films in a day: make sure you’re wearing suitable shoes, layers that you’re comfortable with carrying in case it gets too warm, and clothes you can breathe in so you’re not wiggling in your seat. What’s more, considering the size of some of the crowds, space can get a bit tight and having too big of a bag makes it hard to maneuver—as well as making it more difficult for people to get in and out of the theatre rows. Keep your purse small—your back and arms will thank you at the end of the day.
4. Be reasonable about your limitations. So you took my suggestion and bought a pack of tickets from TIFF. Great!—except that it was for five films a day for five days and you’re wondering where you’re going to get the energy to sit through all that. Guess what? You don’t have to! You don’t have to watch all the movies included in the pack if you don’t feel you’re up to it. See what you know you have the energy for. However, if you know you won’t be going to a film, try and find someone (ideally, in the spirit of spreading the joy, another festival first-timer) who would love to see that particular film and didn’t manage to get a ticket. I know people who have just given their unused tickets away, sold them for a discount—or, in the case of particularly in-demand screenings, have even been paid extra. Whatever you do, please don’t let your tickets go to waste.
5. Be open to the TIFF experience. Even if—despite all of your careful planning and precautions—something doesn’t go exactly as you’d like it, don’t worry. That’s usually when you end up meeting someone fantastic and interesting or spotting that star you’ve spent the past three days on the look-out for. If that’s not the case, however, use this time and take the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the happy chaos around you. TIFF is not meant to stress you out; it’s an experience meant for you to enjoy and be a part of and experience. If you’re there, you probably have some sort of an interest in film that lies beyond just wanting to snag an autograph as a star rushes by (although that’s also exhilarating). The thing to remember is: you’re surrounded by other people who are there to also experience and see and be moved. Don’t let one bad thing—or even a series of mishaps—discolor your TIFF mood. Sit down, take a breather, grab a Tim’s, and figure out where to restart.

That’s the wonderful thing about TIFF: for ten days, people get to have little wishes granted to them at the oddest, most beautiful moments. Why shouldn’t one of those people be you?

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