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Robert Downey Sr.(continued) Interview by Alyce Wilson Talking about your script writing, it occurred to me, specifically watching Pound because it was an off-Broadway play first, right? Yes. OK. It reminds me of the Theater of the Absurd. Is that something conscious? No, but I agree. When I looked at it recently, yes. Because they — one of the ideas behind it was to intentionally disrupt the narrative and to intentionally disrupt people's ideas of things like characterization to kind of frustrate normal expectations. That I didn't consciously think of, but maybe I did, you know, subconsciously. I don't know. You know, I was glad to have it come back again and look at it many years later, 35 years later. Yes, was [the 2006 Philadelphia Film Festival screening] the first time that you've seen it in all that time? No, they did it in New York about a year ago in October (ph). Some of the critics didn't mind it. Didn't mind it? Before, they hated it. Not the same ones. OK. Time has softened their... That's right. Today's surrealism is tomorrow's soap opera. Well, it occurred to me that in that film, you can get much more absurd, because think about dogs barking in a pound. What are they really saying? They're not having normal conversations like you and I have. The Mexican Hairless was always bragging about how he's so great. Because he's a little dog. And the little yippee dogs are always trying to prove how tough they are. It just seemed to me like the dialogue was working on that level. Well, maybe that's subconscious, too. But I spent a night at the pound and it sounded like that. You did spend a night at a pound. Is that where the film came from? No. But when I was researching it, I said I should see what happens all night. That's what it sounded like, a whole bunch of one-liners. You're an animal lover, aren't you? Well, I'm OK with them. We had a cat now who's got kidney failure. And I was just on the phone, and they want to do whatever, and I don't think it will pull through. And we got him because somebody else died and left him. And he's old, but he's great. We love him. So we're hoping that, you know, we'll kind of get him to eat a little. And give him potassium and an IV and the whole thing. I noticed you do often animals in [your films], dogs specifically. There's even dogs running around in the movie Rittenhouse Square. Yes, there are a few, I think. Yes, that's right. That's not a conscious motif? No. I just like animals, you know. They're fun. They're definitely good for comic relief. I'm thinking in Rittenhouse Square where there was a more serious moment. And then you have the dogs bounding through the fountain. And everybody was watching it, laughing. Yes, yes. Because they were chasing each other. I was lucky. See what I mean about documentaries? You don't know what's going to happen. Do you have a philosophy of filmmaking? Are there principles? There's a couple of things I've learned over 40-some years of doing this. Try not to repeat a shot. If people have to talk and sit and it cuts back and forth, use different angles. So it's not the same, back and forth. And the other thing I've learned is as a writer, if I'm going to have a main character, which I usually don't. Things should be in a hurry. In a hurry? Explain. Well, they should be thinking about doing stuff rather than just being in a scene. They should have a mission in life that they want to accomplish, and they're in a hurry. That helps with the writing. Yes, I can see that. I'm thinking one movie that really shows that is Hugo Pool. Well, she has to finish her job. That's when I began to think I would try that. Yes, and that helped. She had a mission. And you set up all the exposition in the first couple minutes where she's getting ready, and you keep hearing the phone calls come in. All these things that people are asking her about and to stop by. You get through all of that while you're watching her get ready. And then from that moment on, it's like boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Yes. Pool cleaners, you know, they don't do much, but they're in a hurry. Better get everything done. One of the films that we didn't talk about that I thought was fun, Too Much Sun. One of my favorite comedians is in it, Eric Idle. He is a nice man. Was he nice to work with? Great man. Loved him. He's a real smart guy, too. He reads all the time in between takes. And somebody told me he would be in any film that asked him to dress up as a woman. That's why he said yes to me. Andrea Martin was in that, too, and she has, of course, the background in improv. Was there any kind of give and take on the set, coming up with things? Her, she always had an idea about how to do it. She didn't need much direction. She'd like to talk, but she kind of knew what she wanted to do. You know, like she first read the thing. She says, "Is this supposed to make sense?" I said, "No." She said, "OK. I'm in." So she was great. You've also done some small acting parts. Well, filmmakers call me to come over and fool around. And I'm not an actor. I mean, I enjoy showing up if I don't have to learn any dialogue. I was thinking of you had really small parts in two of my favorite movies, Magnolia and Boogie Nights. [Paul Thomas Anderson] asked me to come over, and I love him. He's a great kid, too. In fact, he got me in touch with his ex-girlfriend, who I'm going to see tonight at the Tweeter. It's Fiona Apple. Because we're going to ask her to be in the Kurt Weill. Paul is one of my favorite people. What is your connection with P.T. Anderson? Was it just that he had seen your work? No, I knew him before he actually made a film. He got in touch with me through somebody I knew. He asked if I would read a script of his, and it was Hard Eight, the first movie he made. And I enjoyed it, and we've been kind of friends ever since. I'm a big fan of his. He's actually working with Daniel Day Lewis now on a western in Texas. Really? A western? Well, every movie that he's done is so different from the other movies that he's done. It's like he says, "I'm going to explore this world." And then when he's explored it, then he's like, "OK, I'm done with that." Well, he's out of L.A. anyway. Because all his movies are in Los Angeles. Until this one. He's doing a western from 100 years ago. What are the challenges in making an independent film, as opposed to a studio film? Well, studio films are lousy, so that's the difference. Most of them. What makes it lousy, in your view? I don't know. It's just that original thinking is not encouraged. And
you'd better not say the word "vision" or you're out the door.
So it's like very frustrating. The other world has, you know, a lot
of bad things, too. I mean, people try to get into the other world.
But generally, you've got a better shot with stuff that's supposedly
independent.
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