Actor/Executive Producer Billy Zane talks to The Inside Reel about process, tone and environment in regards to his new film: “Waltzing With Brando” from Iconic Releasing.
00:38You know, the memoirs that Bernie had written,
00:41which were a bit stiff and stale, but fascinating,
00:46but from the point of view of an architect,
00:48and to conceive it as a kind of buddy dramedy, comedy,
00:57comedic drama was really quite brilliant.
01:01And then we just expanded upon it.
01:03You know, we just built upon that.
01:05Because, well, I mean, the one thing,
01:07three scenes come out to me.
01:08It's almost like a dance.
01:09I mean, the one thing I always remember about Brando,
01:12I always think of that shot at the end of Last Tango
01:15where he's dancing through that hall to the music.
01:18Yeah.
01:19And the thing is, is that, you know,
01:21when you're inside Quinn's and you get on stage,
01:25there's just an effortlessness.
01:26That is, that's not script.
01:28That's just you getting into his mindset.
01:30Yeah.
01:31Or like him acting like a monkey going over to the table
01:34during that thing.
01:35Yeah.
01:36Or, you know, even, you know,
01:37and John and I were talking about this,
01:39that shot that you guys actually shot in the atoll
01:41where, you know, he's just sort of, he's like,
01:45you're almost flirting with, with, with Bernie in a way,
01:48just come on, you know, could you talk about, you know,
01:51just sort of that there's such a dance element that
01:54becomes, I think would, it would be instinct for you
01:57at a certain point.
01:58I'm not sure how much in chronology you were able to do
02:01or how you were able to do it.
02:02But could you talk about that?
02:04And when you felt comfortable, did you ever feel comfortable
02:07in his shoes?
02:08Always, completely.
02:09From, I mean, initially, again, everything about it
02:12is counterintuitive.
02:13People say, how hard was it?
02:14Was it difficult?
02:15And the answer is no.
02:16And the answer was, how do you, you know,
02:18how did you play him?
02:21And it was like, by not playing him, by being, by,
02:24by connecting to that part in you, you know,
02:27not to diffuse or devalue the offering.
02:31You know, I know many people, I guess, build up, you know,
02:34do the maybe top, you know, layer up.
02:37But you got his eyes, Billy.
02:39It was insane.
02:40Just looking at his eyes.
02:41That's not, that's not process.
02:43That's just being.
02:44That's like a SART thing.
02:46You know, you become, you know.
02:48It was a form of channeling, I have to say, not to sound too,
02:52like, you know, new age on it.
02:55But it was like, I invited him in, you know.
02:58It was like, listen, here's your story.
03:01This is, it's not your whole story, but I imagine it's one that you'd probably.
03:08And I spoke to, you know, the gentleman who's handled his estate,
03:12a dear friend, Mike Medivoy, who was very protective of Marlon,
03:16and understandably, and when he heard we were making the movie,
03:18he was naturally resistant and a little bit like, I don't know.
03:21And I saw him the other night at Leonardo's premiere.
03:25He's a dear friend of his as well.
03:28And he was like, yeah, I really liked it.
03:30It was, I said, I told you, it's a love letter.
03:33And he's like, no, it's great.
03:35I said, yeah, it's a, you know, promotes the island, his mission.
03:40You know, you have to understand, this isn't a hit piece.
03:44And he really appreciated it.
03:47I've come to realize that I am not worthy of all the attention directed to me by the public.
03:54The primary benefit that acting affords me is the money to pay for my psychoanalysis and my air travel.
04:02Because this, this is the one place that, no one's going to come up to me and ask me for an autograph.
04:09No one's going to pitch me a movie script.
04:12And it's far more valuable to me than any war or any movie.
04:19I'm most happy, honestly, about making sure we're delivering a refreshing piece of, of entertainment.
04:27Regardless of the story, it's, it's context and its place in our, in our, you know, collective history in terms of what's being produced right now.
04:38You know, there's a lot of great movies, but, you know, I haven't seen a film or a trailer that's, doesn't have some level of trauma, drama, or predictable three act structure, or vengeance play that you're already ahead of, or some, you know, in the name of, you know, heroism being reduced to some sociopathic behavior with jokes.
04:58And I'm like, okay, that's a hero today.
05:00It, it, it's, I feel a little lost in it, you know, and maybe I'm old fashioned, or I just like, you know, I, I, I found agreeable cinema, which is what we always talked about.
05:13Let's make an offering of agreeable cinema.
05:16I was like, what is that?
05:17And it's a series of pleasantries with great surprises that we didn't know, you know, things we learned about, oh, I had no idea, but there's no baggage with this film.
05:25And the combination of that and the location, you know, where you go, I said, we, let's make a holiday. Like, let's really, let's really take the audience on a, on a, on a mental vacation, where they go with this, you know, curious family to Tahiti for an hour and a half.
05:47Did Tahiti relax you though? Did you, because when you're making a movie, it's always, there's that, you know, you've got to get the days and everything, but did the environment sort of imbue you in many ways?
05:58The place is stunning and the people are phenomenal and the, the, the, the water and the food and the fragrance and it's, and it's, it's placement.
06:12If you open up a map and you look at it, you look like the largest ocean in the world is this like pinprick in the middle of it. And you're like, what, what does it take for something to surface there?
06:25What, what, what geological force pushes to exist and break surface in the middle, you know, this far out? What, what is that energetically that allows for it that then interacts with other elements to create this paradise on earth?
06:51Like this, you know, and you, and you feel it, you feel, you understand why that is significant and why the people reflect the place.
06:57And its specialness. I don't, I don't know. It's, it's, it's something quite beyond. It had vulcan energy as well, you know, which it, it was balanced.
07:16it was balanced it had it had the uh you know it felt you felt um the mana and the power of the
07:24of the location don't quote leon cut you're marlon brando i own an island nearby i want to build a
07:30home there you want to live on an abandoned island there's no potable water or food sourcing yes i
07:36do what kind of water is this that's distilled water made for my own urine i want to build a
07:41hotel right here what hotel don't disappoint the world's gonna judge us by our success
07:47you gotta get this right one heavy storm will destroy it all i completely agree it's perfect
07:52i was thinking about the scene before we had set up the interviews i had watched mutiny on the bounty
07:57because that's where he met tarita you know and watching that and i kept thinking wow this is
08:02where he almost fell in love with both people and that place and yet you know when you think about
08:08craft you know there was also such a craft in how behavior affects everything and that's what
08:15mutiny sort of did can you talk about because i love the aspect you were talking about positivity
08:19and yet this is a story about people and people interacting i mean bernard bernie you know he worked
08:27again and kept in touch with brando so it wasn't just like he cut him off or anything like that per se
08:32you know can you talk about humanity with and behavior within this kind of story absolutely and
08:39i'll and i'll get back to answer the question you mentioned about those three scenes you identified
08:43because i think i took a segue those were those were you know collaborative improvisations um
08:52you know i think uh we saw him dancing in uh on this great uh french television show
09:01um and and his movements were incredible and we copied that that that wardrobe he was wearing it was
09:08a black and white piece of footage you could find and he's taritas and there was really his happy place
09:13we wanted to recreate that moment in his hat and you know in the zone there the world's going to judge
09:19us by our success we gotta get this right how is this an oscar yeah earning the decisions you make
09:28us profoundly changed my legacy don't disappoint me i made an oath to achieve the impossible a safe
09:37able to contemplate the glorious potential of our planet there's no more money for you
09:42sure i follow you there is no more money at all ever
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