- 3 months ago
Matthew McConaughey walks us through his legendary career, discussing his roles in 'Dazed and Confused,' 'A Time to Kill,' 'The Wedding Planner,' 'Mud,' 'Magic Mike,' 'Dallas Buyers Club,' 'True Detective,' Interstellar,' 'The Lost Bus' and more.THE LOST BUS is available on Apple TV+ October 3, 2025.https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-lost-bus/umc.cmc.4p7gv4trt1rt0kuiwzmitibiv Director: Adam Lance GarciaEditor: Alana McNairTalent: Matthew McConaugheyProducer: Madison CoffeyLine Producer: Natasha Soto-AlborsAssociate Producer: Lyla NeelyProduction Manager: Andressa PelachiAssociate Production Manager: Elizabeth HymesTalent Booker: Meredith Judkins LeePost Production Supervisor: Christian OlguinSupervising Editor: Eduardo AraujoAdditional Editor: Sam DiVitoAssistant Editor: Justin SymondsSpecial Thanks: JPI
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Where I start and Woody ends and where Woody starts and I end is a murky line.
00:03And we kind of have a comedic jive.
00:05And I remember going into this where he, you know, was like,
00:08I think we need to look for some bunny in here.
00:10And I'd be like, mm-hmm.
00:12And he'd be like, see, like that.
00:15How you and I work, McConaughey, is I hit you the ball, you hit it back.
00:18I hit you the ball, you hit it back.
00:20But now I'm like hitting you the ball, and you're just standing there
00:22and letting it go by and sit still at the bottom of the fence
00:25and just staring at me.
00:26What the f***?
00:27And I was like, my hunch is that might end up being kind of funny.
00:38Howdy, I am Matthew McConaughey, and this is a timeline of my career.
00:45You got to do what Randall Pink Floyd wants to do, man.
00:49Let me tell you this.
00:51The older you do get, the more rules you're going to try to get you to follow.
00:55You just got to keep living, man.
00:57L-I-V-I-N.
00:59I had a friend at NYU, Seth Robbins Bendler,
01:02who I had been sending short stories to and stuff,
01:05and he was at film school there.
01:06And he was writing back, look, you should go into storytelling.
01:10Maybe you should even get in front of the camera, man.
01:12You're good looking, you got character, you know.
01:13And I was like, ah, I don't know about that part,
01:15but this behind-the-camera part, maybe that.
01:18He gave me the confidence to decide that I wanted to do that.
01:21Then that led to the conference to call my dad and tell him I wanted to change my course schedule,
01:24which I didn't think was going to go well.
01:26That went splendidly well.
01:27And my dad told me that night, don't half-ass it, if that's what you're going to do.
01:31And went to film school.
01:32Learned a little bit, but then in that summer,
01:35between 92 and 93, which was between my junior and senior year,
01:38when I went to the right bar at the right time and met the right guy, Don Phillips,
01:41who then gave me a chance to read for the part of Wooderson, Days Confused,
01:45ended up getting that part, and three lines turned into three weeks' work.
01:47I had about two weeks to prep and use my imagination,
02:04and it occurred to me that the man who said the launch pad line,
02:09that's what I love about those high school girls,
02:10I get older and stay the same age.
02:12was who I thought my brother was, my older brother, who was my hero,
02:22when I was 11 and he was 17.
02:25And we were going to pick him up at school because his car was broke down for some reason.
02:29My mom was looking for him, and we were, where's Pat?
02:32Where's Pat? He didn't meet us. Where he was supposed to meet us.
02:34And I was looking out the back window of our station wagon.
02:36There in the distance, in this silhouette, under the smoking section,
02:41was this body leaning against a wall with a heel of a right boot up against the wall,
02:45and a little lazy two-finger cigarette.
02:48And it was my brother.
02:49He looked seven feet tall, cooler than James Dean, man.
02:53Wooderson was not who my brother was, but that image, through my 11-year-old eyes,
02:57were who Wooderson was.
02:58So this night on set, I do a wardrobe test.
03:00I got the peach pants on. I got the t-shirt, man.
03:02I got the pipe. I got the black pants, the tattoo.
03:04I got the blonde comb over, a little stache.
03:06I got the boots, fries.
03:08Come out, Rick sees me.
03:10Link there, the director, and he's like, ah, great.
03:12Wooderson, he's circling me, kind of measuring me up.
03:13This looks great. This, that, you know, no, no, no, no, no.
03:15I said, cool, man. Well, I'll see you in about a week,
03:17which was the scheduled day when I was supposed to come to work for the first time.
03:21And he goes, hang on a minute.
03:22You know, Marissa Robisi, this actress, playing the red-headed intellectual,
03:25and that's the last day of school.
03:27She's in the car with all her nerdy friends.
03:29You know, you think Wooderson might be interested in, you know,
03:31picking up the red-headed intellectual, you know?
03:34I was like, yeah, man, Wooderson likes all kinds of chicks, you know?
03:38And he laughed.
03:39Next thing you know, I'm in the car getting strapped up with a lavalier,
03:42about to go do the first scene, which didn't have a word written in it,
03:45which I recently found out.
03:47Just a couple years ago, Rick told me he had a story hole
03:50in a script that he needed to fill.
03:52And the scene of Wooderson going to pick up Marissa
03:55and talk about the party later,
03:57and you ditch the geeks in the backseat and ride with me.
03:59We're cool.
04:00Filled the story hole for him.
04:01First three words I said ever on film were that night
04:04when I pulled in my 70s Chevelle to go pick her up
04:10and I gave myself the three affirmations
04:12of the things that I, Wooderson, did have.
04:14My car, rock and roll, and weed.
04:16All right, all right, all right, all right.
04:18As I was going to get the fourth thing that I wanted,
04:21which was the red-headed intellectual.
04:24First three words I ever said on film.
04:25And they precede me, as you probably know today.
04:27I'm not even on camera.
04:28It's a wide shot above this Chevelle
04:32pulling through the parking lot.
04:33How and why those words ended up sticking out,
04:36I do not know, but I'm glad they did.
04:38Do everyone a favor, though.
04:40Drop the case.
04:45No, I can't.
04:48I won't, man.
04:49I'm not going to quit.
04:50I quit now on all this for nothing, no.
04:54I get this camera test.
04:55Schumacher did this camera test.
04:57It was over a place on Fairfax.
04:58It wasn't at a studio.
05:00And I remember he did this.
05:01It was real solid that he did for me
05:02because he goes, this way,
05:04word's not going to get out that you did a camera test
05:06because no matter how good you do,
05:07you're probably not going to get the part.
05:09And I don't want you starting your career
05:11with, oh, he failed at the screen test.
05:14So we're doing it here so no one will know.
05:16Thank you, Schumacher.
05:17I go in.
05:18I'm prepared for that.
05:19I do the final summation.
05:21I do the first take.
05:22Bam.
05:22That was good.
05:23Connected the dots.
05:24Told it well.
05:26But did any magic happen?
05:28No.
05:30And Joel goes, throw the script away.
05:32Everything that's written, just throw it away.
05:34What would you say?
05:35What would you do?
05:36I dropped my guard
05:39and spoke and said things
05:43that would not be allowed in a courtroom.
05:45It affected me in a way
05:47where I kind of spoke more like a father,
05:50a father that I was not yet in my real life,
05:53imagining that was my daughter,
05:57that that happened to her.
05:59And that's the take.
06:00And he goes, no more.
06:02Done.
06:03Okay.
06:03We're done here.
06:06Great job.
06:07We'll see.
06:08And then I got a call
06:09ten or so days later.
06:12I was in Pietras Negras
06:13working with John Sayles
06:14in the middle of the desert.
06:15It was about midnight.
06:17I got Joel Schumacher
06:17and John Grisham on the phone.
06:19That sounds like good news.
06:21You gonna play Jacob Regans?
06:23Fuck yeah, I do.
06:24That little girl.
06:46Now imagine she's white.
06:48You don't necessarily want to mark certain scenes
06:51that you think are special,
06:52but you know, reading that script,
06:53that has to work.
06:55That final summation has to work
06:57for that story to work.
06:59So I'd always had,
07:00even on my first read of that script,
07:03this has to work.
07:04That turn,
07:05you wanna close your eyes,
07:07the timing,
07:08and then now imagine if she's white.
07:11That day,
07:13everyone caught their breath.
07:13I caught my breath,
07:14and when you see the movie,
07:15still people still kind of catch their breath
07:17at that moment.
07:18That's what Akiva wrote.
07:20That was the first scene we shot after lunch.
07:22Came back in.
07:23And I was ready for it.
07:25And Joel started to set up the wide shots.
07:27And I heard him say,
07:27like,
07:27we'll shoot some wides,
07:28and we'll ease into it,
07:29and warm up to it,
07:30and then we'll get your close-up.
07:31And I just went like,
07:32uh-uh.
07:34And he goes,
07:35I actually nixed that.
07:36We want that.
07:36We'll be shooting the close-up first,
07:37moving things in.
07:38And that take that's in the movie
07:40is the first take we did.
07:42You experiencing any dizziness,
07:44nausea,
07:45difficulty breathing?
07:48The breathing thing rings a bell.
07:52Then again,
07:53you are on top of me
07:54cutting off my air supply.
07:57Your mental clarity's excellent.
07:58That's good.
07:59Rom-coms are creatively fulfilling,
08:01just in a different way.
08:02They fill a different category.
08:03They're built to be buoyant.
08:05You have a ceiling in a basement
08:07on, like,
08:08how mad
08:09or how much you can love
08:10or how happy you can get
08:11in a basement
08:12on how mad you can get.
08:14They're compact on purpose.
08:15Boy meets girl.
08:17Get along.
08:18One dupe's the other one.
08:19They run.
08:20She runs away.
08:21We'll chase this girl.
08:21Then we're out.
08:22We know that's going to happen
08:23in all of those somehow.
08:24But can we enjoy it?
08:26Can we enjoy that happening
08:27in different ways?
08:28And that's what a good,
08:28successful rom-com does.
08:30And I was fortunate
08:31to be a part of a few.
08:32I really enjoyed making those.
08:33Never have I pooh-pawed
08:35the romantic comedies.
08:36But what I was needing
08:37and looking for
08:38at that time in my life,
08:39while I had just met
08:40the woman that I love,
08:41while she was now pregnant
08:42with our first child,
08:44which any father or parent knows
08:45how vital your life becomes
08:47at that time,
08:48I was saying,
08:49I'm glad my life feels
08:50more vital than my work,
08:51but boy,
08:51I'd like to find some work
08:52that is at least challenging
08:54the vitality of my real life.
08:55I was not getting that
08:56from the rom-coms.
08:57I felt like I could do them tomorrow.
08:58You can give me a script
08:59today.
08:59I can do this tomorrow.
09:00Nothing wrong with that.
09:01But I was wanting
09:01to be scared.
09:03Shaking my boots.
09:04Something like,
09:04whoa, I don't know
09:05what I'm going to do
09:05with this role,
09:06but I can't wait to find out.
09:08That was in dramas.
09:09Those were not being offered to me.
09:11Hollywood said,
09:11McConaughey,
09:12stay in your lane.
09:13You're making great money
09:14in the rom-coms.
09:14We're making great money
09:15in the rom-coms.
09:16Everybody's happy.
09:17Why are you starting
09:17to tilt the boat here?
09:18Even my brothers were like,
09:19what's your major malfunction,
09:21Matthew?
09:22And I said,
09:22I'm not doing them anymore.
09:23It became very clear to me
09:24that if I couldn't do
09:25what I wanted to do,
09:26I needed to stop
09:26what I was doing.
09:27I let my agent
09:29and everybody know
09:29and said,
09:29I'm not doing
09:30any more rom-coms.
09:31It took a while
09:32for the industry
09:33to get that message across
09:35as I turned down
09:36quite a few.
09:36And then it was nothing.
09:37Then it was code silence.
09:38As my agent at the time,
09:40Jim Toth,
09:40said after about
09:41eight months in,
09:41he goes,
09:41Matthew,
09:41I haven't seen
09:42or heard your name
09:44in months.
09:45I'm like,
09:45uh-oh.
09:46So then I'm like,
09:46all right,
09:47maybe I just wrote
09:47myself a ticket
09:48out of Hollywood.
09:49What happened
09:49is after about
09:5018, 20 months,
09:52I was gone long enough.
09:53I wasn't
09:53on your screen
09:55in rom-com.
09:55I wasn't in
09:56People Magazine
09:57on the,
09:58you know,
09:59on the beach shirtless,
10:00which was also
10:01its own sort of
10:02rom-com genre
10:03going on
10:04or at least,
10:04you know,
10:05surf comedy, right?
10:06After about two years,
10:07you hadn't seen me there.
10:08And all of a sudden,
10:09I became a new novel
10:10good idea for,
10:11hey, what about
10:12Matthew McConaughey
10:13for the Killer Joe?
10:15They started coming.
10:16And those were things
10:16I was looking for
10:17and just voraciously
10:19bit on and nod at
10:20and off I went.
10:21Talking about my boat.
10:23We found it.
10:24Hey, you found it
10:25with me living in it.
10:26Possessions.
10:28Nine-tenths of the law.
10:32You've got crosses
10:33in your heels.
10:34Nails.
10:36Shaped like crosses.
10:38What for?
10:39Wared off evil spirits.
10:42This is also the beginning
10:43of what you had
10:43titled McConaughey.
10:44I didn't tell that.
10:45That's what you said
10:46in your memoir.
10:47Shh.
10:48Well,
10:48I planted it.
10:52And the interviewer goes,
10:54that's a great title for it.
10:55That's it.
10:56Where'd you hear that?
10:57I go,
10:57John Smith down there.
10:59He just brought it up
10:59in that last interview.
11:00I was playing
11:01with my marketeering skills.
11:02What are you doing?
11:03What are you doing?
11:11John never slept in the same spot twice.
11:14What you got there?
11:15Brought you some food.
11:20Here.
11:21Take it.
11:21Oh, I owe you boys.
11:29I was going to try
11:29around the trot line
11:30this afternoon.
11:31See where that got me.
11:32It wasn't about trying to break away
11:37from anyone's thought.
11:38It was about
11:38this is what I want to do.
11:41I know who this man is.
11:42I understand this predicament.
11:44This is real drama.
11:45And a real drama allows you,
11:46when I was talking about rom-coms
11:47having a ceiling in a basement,
11:49real drama is about
11:50there is no ceiling,
11:51there is no basement.
11:52How do you feel about it?
11:54Laugh as loud as you want,
11:55hate as much as you want,
11:56love as hard as you can love.
11:58Let me see you.
11:58That's what a drama allows.
11:59There's no,
12:00there's nothing to compress.
12:01It was a wonderful character,
12:02a real romantic.
12:04It was a beautiful love story.
12:06Aristocrat of the heart,
12:07Mud was.
12:08I need
12:08to get this letter to Juniper.
12:13Can you take it to her for me?
12:15Yeah.
12:20All right, now let's know.
12:24Yeah, I'll be careful.
12:25All right, you can't just
12:26walk up and knock on her.
12:28door, you hear me?
12:29You gotta watch yourself.
12:31I can handle it.
12:33I knew that place
12:34and that world
12:34and that relationship
12:35with him and the boys
12:36and a boat and a tree,
12:37the magic reality of it all.
12:38I was like,
12:39ah, what beautiful story
12:40to be a part of.
12:41I never had in my mind,
12:42oh, this is going to make
12:44everyone think differently.
12:45I never thought that.
12:47Even when I first started
12:47with the Killer Joe
12:48and the Lincoln Lawyer
12:49and all,
12:49I never was doing an anti.
12:51I would never revenge.
12:53I was never like,
12:54watch this.
12:55I was like,
12:56no, this is what I want to do.
12:58And I was very affirmative
12:59with going forward there.
13:00I was doing it for me.
13:01They ended up
13:02being creative enough
13:04or successful enough
13:05that even
13:07something like Killer Joe
13:08popped its head
13:09above the Indie waterline
13:10and was like,
13:11eh,
13:11something interesting here.
13:13Well, you hate the movie,
13:14love the movie.
13:14It was like,
13:14it got a little bit
13:15of notoriety about,
13:16it went for it.
13:17Whatever it went for.
13:19And so I was a part of movies
13:20that were taking big swings
13:21and some of them
13:22were landing
13:22to a certain extent
13:23and my roles were landing
13:24to a certain extent.
13:25So that happened
13:26as a circumstance
13:27of me doing
13:28what I wanted to do
13:29that all of a sudden
13:30it was like,
13:31okay,
13:32you flip the script.
13:33Definitely not just
13:34rom-com guy anymore.
13:35Kind of, hey?
13:36You look around,
13:39you tease,
13:41you seduce.
13:44Clock eyes,
13:45don't lock in on any of them.
13:48You gotta believe
13:48that you are inside
13:49every single while.
13:53When the time's right,
13:55you'll know it.
13:57Boom!
13:59Sticking.
13:59It was great.
14:01So miller.
14:01One,
14:02the fact that he called
14:02and I wanted to work with him,
14:04I was really excited
14:06that he called.
14:07And then I remember
14:08I said,
14:08Steven,
14:08I said,
14:09I remember the script,
14:10this sounds great
14:11but can you give me,
14:12give me one line
14:14that I can just
14:15hang up this phone call
14:16and just have in my mind
14:17so it can kind of
14:17float around in my mind
14:18until I get the script.
14:19And he goes,
14:20he paused.
14:20He goes,
14:21well,
14:21you know this character,
14:22Dallas, man,
14:23he's pretty connected
14:25to the UFOs, man.
14:27And I just started laughing
14:28and that was in the phone call.
14:30Now what a great thing
14:31to tell an actor
14:32for First Line
14:32because talk about
14:33no roof,
14:34talk about no ceiling
14:35with imagination.
14:36My imagination
14:37took off sprinting
14:39up and out.
14:40You know,
14:41there's no conservation
14:42off of that line.
14:43Like,
14:44oh,
14:44okay,
14:45let's open the aperture
14:46for whatever is to come.
14:48So the imagination
14:48went wild
14:49and then it all
14:50sort of laid right
14:52into the script
14:52and who this sort of
14:53very capitalist leader
14:54of this dance club was.
15:00Some blood tests.
15:03What kind of blood tests?
15:06I don't use drugs.
15:09We didn't test
15:09your blood for drugs.
15:11I'm good.
15:13Any other business?
15:15That's right.
15:15you've tested positive
15:23for HIV,
15:26which is the virus
15:28that causes AIDS.
15:29You fucking kidding me?
15:35When I talk about
15:35every character
15:36has a monologue,
15:36I got the monologue
15:37from this guy
15:38before he was diagnosed
15:41with HIV.
15:42There was an entry
15:43of Friday night.
15:44He's writing his day.
15:47He spent gas.
15:47He drove here,
15:48he drove there.
15:49He filled up his tank
15:49with five bucks of gas.
15:51He figures he's got
15:52this many more miles
15:52for the weekend
15:53and maybe he'll swing by
15:54and see so-and-so,
15:56you know.
15:57Here comes Sunday
15:58and he's pressed his pants
15:59and he's got his shirt pressed.
16:02He's got new batteries
16:03in his pager
16:03because tomorrow morning
16:04he's driving across town
16:05and he's got to
16:06hook up some speakers
16:07for this house
16:09and he's excited about it.
16:10Clothes are laid out,
16:11alarm set,
16:12getting to bed early,
16:14got some purpose,
16:15only to wake up
16:17and find out that
16:18the people
16:20where he had the job
16:20had canceled.
16:22You could just see
16:23the deflation
16:24because he would have these
16:25I've got purpose,
16:26I've got plans
16:26and then it would
16:27flutter off into
16:28and his night
16:31just turned into
16:32a bit of a no plan
16:34and then you see him
16:35try to come back up
16:36with an idea
16:37or a plan
16:38and not really be able
16:40to follow through on it.
16:41So that said a lot
16:42about the world
16:43whether you see that
16:43literally on screen or not.
16:44That's a lot of the subtext
16:45that gives an actor
16:46so much of an engine
16:48with which to move,
16:49listen, see
16:50and hear from,
16:52you know.
16:52This is my patient.
16:54You treating these people?
16:55Oh, they're treating themselves.
16:56With what?
16:58Vitamins,
16:58peptide T,
16:59DDC,
17:00anything but that poison
17:01you're hawking.
17:08So you ever wear any color?
17:11Seems like every time
17:11I see you,
17:12all I see is white.
17:13White coat,
17:14white shoes,
17:15white...
17:16Tell Rayon I was looking for him
17:17and I am telling my patients
17:18to stay away from here.
17:20Ron was hungry.
17:20Ron, remember,
17:21Ron's got the greatest
17:22obstacle in the world
17:24that he's fighting to overcome
17:25and that's death.
17:26And boy,
17:27when you find a character
17:27that that's what they need,
17:29the need to survive
17:30is paramount
17:31because the highest obstacle
17:32in their face every day
17:33is death
17:34is at their doorstep.
17:36When we talk about drama
17:37where there's no ceiling
17:38about how hard you'll fight
17:39or how much you'll hate
17:40or how much you're willing
17:41to live for,
17:42that's that personal
17:42to everybody.
17:43So drama,
17:44you really do get to bring
17:45yourself to a character
17:46more than in other genres.
17:49He's a coyote.
17:50He wasn't a wolf.
17:52He was a coyote, man.
17:53And coyotes will,
17:55they get trapped,
17:56they'll gnaw their own leg off
17:57to get out of the trap.
17:58That's how hungry
17:59he was to survive,
18:02to beat this thing
18:04and also kind of become,
18:06became a successful businessman.
18:08Stay at the end of the bed.
18:10$10 minimum.
18:11Be my guest.
18:17All right,
18:18miss man,
18:19what you got?
18:24Full ass.
18:26Jack's over threes.
18:31We ought to figured you
18:33for queens.
18:34Motherfucker.
18:36Sorry, darling.
18:37Yeah,
18:37that was just my responsibility
18:39to the role.
18:40That size,
18:41which I often miss sometimes,
18:43being that weight,
18:44because,
18:45boy,
18:45the memory
18:45and the brain
18:46was so acute.
18:48I needed three and a half hours
18:50less sleep a night
18:51than I do now
18:52at that weight.
18:53My mind was just so sharp.
18:55Wasn't that easy
18:55to be around.
18:57My wife was like,
18:58will you please
18:58have a freaking glass of wine?
18:59Take the edges off,
19:01buddy.
19:01Okay.
19:02I was just
19:03vociferously hungry
19:04and acutely
19:06sharp in my mind.
19:09Not everybody
19:10wants to sit alone
19:11in an empty room
19:12beating off
19:13the murder manuals.
19:14Some folks enjoy
19:16community,
19:18the common good.
19:19Yeah,
19:20with the common good,
19:21it's got to make up
19:21fairy tales
19:22and it's not good
19:23for anybody.
19:24You know what I discovered
19:25is that
19:26my faith was strong.
19:28It was very easy
19:29for me to
19:30inhabit
19:31Rustin Cole's
19:32head and heart
19:33and spirit,
19:33which I don't know.
19:35I don't think
19:35belief in
19:37the divine
19:38prime mover
19:39or God
19:40was in that.
19:41But because
19:41my faith
19:42was strong
19:44before going into Rustin,
19:44it was
19:45easy to turn my back
19:47on my own faith
19:49and go full bore
19:50with Rustin
19:52down that
19:52philosophical,
19:54agnostic,
19:54or even atheist
19:55sort of belief
19:56and into that
19:57man's mind
19:58and soul
19:58and trust
20:00that when it was over,
20:01I come back
20:03and my faith
20:03to still be there.
20:04It's just one story.
20:07The oldest.
20:12What's that?
20:16Light versus dark.
20:22Well,
20:23I know we ain't
20:25in Alaska,
20:26but
20:26it appears to me
20:29that the dark
20:30is a lot more territory.
20:32Woody and I
20:32had worked together
20:33before on Ed TV
20:34and then Surfer Dude
20:35and then in real life,
20:36where I start
20:37and Woody ends
20:37and where Woody starts
20:38and I end
20:38is a murky line
20:39and we kind of
20:40have a comedic jive.
20:42And I remember
20:42going into this
20:43where he,
20:44you know,
20:44was like,
20:45I think we need to,
20:46you know,
20:46look for some bunny
20:47in here.
20:48And I'd be like,
20:49mm-hmm.
20:50And he'd be like,
20:50see,
20:51like that.
20:52How you and I work,
20:53McConaughey,
20:54is I hit you the ball,
20:55you hit it back,
20:56I hit you the ball,
20:57you hit it back.
20:57But now I'm like
20:58hitting you the ball
20:59and you're just
20:59standing there
21:00and letting it go by
21:00and sit still
21:02at the bottom of the fence
21:03and just staring at me.
21:04What the fuck?
21:05And I was like,
21:07my hunch is
21:07that might end up
21:08being kind of funny.
21:11And he was like,
21:12oh.
21:13Now we look back
21:14and I think we actually
21:14to some extent
21:15did pull that off.
21:16And you hear
21:17his frustrations with me,
21:18which becomes almost
21:19the audience's frustrations.
21:20It's like,
21:20what the fuck
21:21did he just say?
21:23What is Rusty Cole
21:24spitting?
21:25Will you please,
21:25you know,
21:26so there actually
21:27became some levity
21:28through that.
21:29And that was the difference
21:30in our working relationship.
21:33Murphy stole Grandpa's car.
21:36She crashed it.
21:37She's okay, though.
21:39Hey, Dad.
21:41Look at this.
21:43Your grandpa.
21:46His name's Jesse.
21:48I remember we shot,
21:49there was a Monday morning
21:50and it was the first scene up.
21:52And I'd gotten good rest
21:53that weekend
21:54and I had a pretty humble,
21:56good weekend.
21:57But I think it was
21:57with my family.
21:58I came in
21:59and similar to that
22:00final summation
22:01with Joel Schumacher,
22:03I remember we got in
22:03and Nolan was going
22:04to set up some
22:05wide, they were about
22:06to play the tape,
22:07let's rehearse
22:07the tape,
22:08I went, uh-uh, uh-uh.
22:10And I remember,
22:10I think I had a note
22:11I'd written,
22:12see you first, please.
22:13I think I handed it
22:14to Chris
22:15and all of a sudden
22:15he was like,
22:16what?
22:16All of a sudden,
22:17things came over
22:18and cameras were there
22:20and we played
22:21the tape.
22:24And again,
22:25there's that first take
22:26that's the one we use.
22:27You once told me
22:28that when you came back
22:30we might be the same age.
22:33And today,
22:34I'm the age you were
22:35when you left.
22:39This might be a real good time
22:41for you to come back.
22:42I didn't have to go
22:43to a place.
22:44I did think about
22:46and I did try to understand
22:47what if today
22:48you went to work
22:48and you were gone
22:49for 10 years.
22:51And when,
22:52you know,
22:54Casey Affleck
22:55and Chastain
22:57come on,
22:58I was older
22:59and the way they're,
23:00I would,
23:00the gap,
23:01the dread
23:02of having to miss that
23:04in my own life
23:04with my own kids,
23:05I just reacted.
23:07Which is what I've learned
23:08I like to do
23:08if you got,
23:09there's scenes like that.
23:10Because I've consistently
23:11tried to,
23:11let's just do that first take.
23:12Because everything
23:13after take one
23:14is acting.
23:15For real.
23:15We can improve,
23:16as actors,
23:17we can improve stuff
23:17in take two.
23:18I can't too.
23:19But everything
23:19after take one,
23:20if you're fully relaxed
23:22and just reacting,
23:23everything after take one
23:24is acting.
23:25I didn't want to know
23:26what was coming.
23:27And I want to just,
23:28that's all,
23:28that's all about relaxing then.
23:30And that's just me
23:31relaxing and then
23:33what happens,
23:34happens.
23:37There are 23 kids
23:38who are stranded.
23:40Is there anybody
23:40in the area
23:41that can pick them up?
23:44Is there anybody
23:45that can go
23:46and pick these kids up?
23:54That's one thing
23:55Paul's so good at.
23:56He loves claustrophobic spaces
23:57with something
23:59massive and dangerous
24:01and epic outside
24:03encroaching,
24:04you know,
24:04a predator,
24:06a killer,
24:06in this case,
24:07a fire.
24:08Look,
24:08that bus seat
24:08and driving that bus,
24:09that was my home.
24:11I did all the bus driving.
24:12I didn't ever like
24:13getting out of that seat.
24:13I felt great right there.
24:15So it was a very
24:15comfortable space.
24:17There's nowhere to go.
24:19So much is internal.
24:23Movements are small.
24:26Every breath
24:27is precious.
24:28Air is precious.
24:30Heat.
24:33Exhaustion.
24:34All these things
24:35while trying to maintain
24:36a sense of belief
24:37and hope
24:37and hope
24:37that there might
24:38be a way out
24:39because if we quit,
24:40if we lay down,
24:41if we concede,
24:42we're going to die.
24:44And I'm the one
24:46driving this bus.
24:47No,
24:48can't think that way.
24:48And that's all
24:49got to happen
24:49in a small,
24:50small,
24:50small space.
24:51So while everything
24:52is beating you down
24:54physically
24:54and mentally,
24:56spiritually,
24:57which I think
24:58you had to keep
24:59believing there might
25:00be a way out
25:00or finally
25:02is sitting here
25:03and just
25:04waving the white flag
25:05the way out,
25:06which we kind of
25:07think it is
25:08until
25:08fire!
25:10Oh, shit.
25:11And drive,
25:13sometimes get through hell,
25:14you got to drive
25:14right down the throat
25:15of the dragon
25:16to get to the other
25:16side of it.
25:18When I told my dad
25:19that I didn't want
25:19to go to law school
25:20and go to film school
25:21and he paused
25:22and said,
25:22are you sure
25:22that's what you're
25:23going to do, son?
25:23I said, yes, sir.
25:24And he said,
25:25all right,
25:25well, don't half-ass it.
25:27That launch pad
25:28that he gave me there
25:29to do
25:30Days of Confused,
25:32he had a heart attack
25:34and moved on
25:34from this life
25:35five days
25:36into shooting
25:37Days of Confused.
25:38So his life
25:38actually overlapped
25:40me getting to start
25:41what, hell,
25:42I didn't know
25:43might just be a hobby.
25:44No, but it wasn't a hobby.
25:46His life overlapped
25:47me finally beginning
25:48something
25:49that turned out
25:50to be a career.
25:51There's grace in that.
25:52I've always looked at it
25:53as amazingly graceful.
25:54So he was alive.
25:56He didn't come to set,
25:56but he got to see me
25:57start and be alive
25:58for seeing his son
25:59start something
26:00that was more than a fad.
26:02It was more than a hobby
26:03that became a career
26:04that his son loves.
26:05Thank you very much.
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