00:00We have Steve McQueen coming in later with the rest of the cast.
00:03Maybe if you have an anecdote or an example of what makes him such an amazing director
00:08or something you worked on with him on this project in particular.
00:13He's terrific. That's the reason.
00:16I don't usually get along with any director.
00:19I got along great with this guy.
00:26I talk about him all over the country.
00:28Like I would an athlete.
00:30I told Francis Coppola, and I said, I'm working with Steve McQueen.
00:34He said, oh, he's good.
00:36And I told him that he'd like to hear that.
00:38So, you know, he was terrific to work for.
00:41He said, you know, cut.
00:43You're supposed to be old.
00:44Walk like an 86-year-old man.
00:45I said, I am 86.
00:47He said, well, walk a little older.
00:50Yeah.
00:51He was great.
00:53Great to work with.
00:53He treads the line between structure and freedom really beautifully.
00:57You know, I mean, he sets up a dynamic, both the aesthetic of the film and where the camera is and how it moves.
01:03And it all feels quite contained.
01:06It's very, very specific.
01:07He has, of course, the very definition of the artist's eye, having come from the world of visual arts.
01:12But then within that, he allows the actors and promotes a sense of freedom and a sense of play.
01:16And he gets excited by performance.
01:18You know, sometimes I've worked with directors and you get a sense that they maybe don't like actors too much and they wish they could make a film without them.
01:25But with Steve McQueen, it's very, very different.
01:27He's open and he's excited to see what you're going to bring.
01:29You know, and he'll direct you as needs be, as he thinks the tone of the scene needs to follow a particular path, perhaps.
01:35But just so specific.
01:36And I loved it.
01:37I loved working with him.
01:38And you find yourself wanting to please him.
01:41Do you know what I mean?
01:42The first time I met him in London, it was like, Steve McQueen wants to meet me.
01:46I hadn't seen any of his films.
01:48But I was telling him at the dinner table my whole life story.
01:52He's very interested in people.
01:54He really is.
01:55He's really interested.
01:56He asks a lot of questions.
01:58Totally.
01:59He doesn't think he knows all the answers.
02:01In the most beautiful interviews with him between takes, where he'd be really fascinated about where you're from, what your idea is on things.
02:06And he'd listen and listen.
02:08It was lovely.
02:10I feel like there is a genuine joy for making movies.
02:15And so there was a night when we were all in the car and we're driving up to the hospital to drop off Elizabeth's character.
02:27And we come out of the car.
02:30We walk up.
02:30And he says, well, we're making a movie.
02:32We're making a movie.
02:33And I remember thinking, how refreshing.
02:36Did you know what I mean?
02:37But how refreshing that someone so established still finds the thrill in it, the joy in it.
02:43Which meant that I was truly excited.
02:46It being my first movie, to know that you can get to that place and still feel that way.
02:53That was, that's, I feel like, the encompassing thing about Steve.
02:58Sorry if it's a question.
02:58I consider Steve to be, I'm very odd in my description, but like an alchemical wedding.
03:05You know, there's very rare humans who have their masculine and feminine side married to each other within.
03:14And that kind of complete human is a rare find.
03:18When you find it in an artist, it's even rarer.
03:20So he's like, he's like a unicorn.
03:23There is a real, like, true want.
03:25As far as creating a safe space where you have that receptivity and sensitivity to be able to, like, really see the things that on the surface aren't there, but are bubbling underneath.
03:39I mean, it's magical to have that.
03:42It's a feminine quality.
03:42And he's in tune with it.
03:44And it's just very beautiful to have that, you know, openness.
03:47All these, all of us, Cynthia, myself, Michelle, Elizabeth, definitely have had the stamp of, you know, being sort of, you could easily typecast us, you know, for various reasons.
04:01Skin tone, voice, height, you know, whatever.
04:06And I felt like, I feel that Steve sees you.
04:09I was just going to say that.
04:10He sees you.
04:11He sees a part of you that the world, the limitations of how the world would see you.
04:18And he'll throw that out the window and he sees all these other colors in you.
04:24And he's, I mean, it's like, you know, it's like an actor whisperer.
04:28He just slowly pulls it out of you.
04:32It's a rare human to see that potential in a person.
04:35Cheering you on, you know.
04:37But you know what?
04:37It's such a relief.
04:39Oh, my God, it is.
04:40You're a breath of fresh air, Steve.
04:43Yeah.
04:43He love you.
04:47He's squirming.
04:48He's always squirming.
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