FRED Entertainment

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

You can see how much I enjoyed this film.

Watching SEX DRIVE in a crowded theater I was pleased that I was able to laugh along with what was happening on the screen without feeling sorry for the producers of the film. With abhorations like DATE MOVIE, EPIC MOVIE, MEET THE SPARTANS or any number of forgettable films that seek to be outrageous SEX DRIVE just wants to be funny. And it succeeds, in part, because of the man who helmed the co-writing and directorial duties, Sean Anders. It’s a name that not many people are familiar with but people should. Anders has crafted a movie that balances, like the scales of justice, genuineness and abject depravtity in a way that hasn’t been seen for some time.

CHRISTOPHER STIPP: I really liked this movie. I think I went from casually enjoying the trailers to, after I saw the film, to appreciating what you managed to do. As an aside, I think the older I get the more cynical I get about comedies. None of them speak to me anymore. American Pie? I thought it was just OK. This one I genuinely found myself laughing and having a good time sitting in a theater with other people.

SEAN ANDERS: Oh good.

CS: It was all over the board, in a good way. It wasn’t obnoxiously crude and, during those moments, it was done in a way that was fresh. How did you come in to all of this? Because I read the production notes, and it seemed like there were a lot of people pitching about what they wanted to do in order to make this movie.

ANDERS: It started out as a book and the book was sent to us. We read the book and immediately liked the sort of throw back teen comedy appeal of the premise. Kid meets the girl on-line, and of course that’s not throw back, but the idea of the kid who feels a little bit of a romantic outsider getting an opportunity.

We didn’t really go out to Hollywood with the intention of making a teen comedy. That’s not what we set out to do. We didn’t set out to do any particular thing except comedy in general. When that came up, it was all of a sudden really exciting. We grew up with those movies. Those were the movies that my friends and I, people that I have been friends with since high school, still speak to each other in quotes from 16 CANDLES. So the idea to have a crack at being a part of that world was really exciting to us. But unfortunately the book itself was not really the kind of thing that we do. I think it was focused a little younger and just wasn’t the kind of road movie we wanted to make. So we went back and said, basically to say no to it, to say we read it, we really liked these characters and the premise but the story that’s in the book, we don’t really want to screw up your book but it’s not what we do. And they said, “What would you do?” And we said, “Well, we would do something more like this.” And they said, “We love that, why don’t you do that?”

And really from that moment on there was a lot of creative freedom of “What do you guys want to do?”, “OK, let’s try that.” So then what happened is not printable because it’s just a convoluted boring story but what happened was the movie was already set up at another studio. We went and pitched the idea for it and the deal kind of fell apart and the producers asked us if we would be willing to go pitch it around town to other studios. So we did. We took it around town, we pitched it and it didn’t appear that it was going to sell. Everyone told us the same thing. They said, “It’s very, very funny but there are no big stars we can put in this.” So, that was sort of the end of it.

So then John and I went on to make a pilot for Fox and while we were making that pilot, which was so crazy and so much work, we got the call from Summit Pictures that they wanted us to write the script. We were so swamped and so freaked out working on this pilot that we almost said no. And instead of saying no, we really came out to Hollywood to do was not be writers but writers/directors/producers. So we told our agent that tell them we’d write it if we could be directors and producers.

That’ll make “˜em go away.

They called back and said, “Yeah, OK.”

(Laughs)

But they called back and said, “Let’s have a meeting and talk about it.” I think the thing that won me the job ““ there were two things that won me the job – in that meeting and one is that they asked me what my philosophy, my approach to comedy was and I said it was all the in the casting. Put funny people in a funny script and you’ll get a funny movie. And then the other thing I said that resonate with Erik Feig was I think in general, comedies are over-lit. And he was like, “Yeah.” So that’s where we started. On the same page. Comedies are over-lit and anybody who would read that would say, duh. But that’s always been a pet peeve of mine. So, they said, “OK. You can direct this if we greenlight it.” So we finished the pilot. Went off and wrote the first draft and they greenlighted it off the first draft. It was great.

Because once they got the first draft and said they wanted to make this movie and hired a line producer, then we were shittin’ bricks because I was worried our pilot might get picked up. It’s very unlikely that any pilot is going to get picked up But we were like, “Please don’t let this pilot get picked up.” We were finished with the pilot at that point and we were so glad when we heard it wasn’t going to get picked up. Again, what we came out to Hollywood to do was to write and direct movies. I loved that pilot and would love to do some television down the line but that was job one. So we got the opportunity to do it that way. Sorry that was the really long version.

CS: You are probably sick of telling variations of that “¦

ANDERS: Again, I don’t know how useful that is because it would take forever to write all that but it was this weird sort of thing that didn’t look like it was going to happen but then when it did, it was first draft, line producers, scouting locations, casting. I m that thing ““ from the day that we turned in the first draft ““ a year from then we were already showing the movie to test audiences.

CS: Really?

ANDERS: Yeah, that’s how quick this thing got done.

CS: You said that it’s all about casting and there are no big stars in this. However, they were all excellent choices. You’ve got Josh Zuckerman, Clark Duke and Amanda Crew, who I thought was a brilliantly cast because she doesn’t look like one of those vapid women we see in many comedies ““ I’m thinking specifically of AMERICAN PIE as all these kids look like they are straight off the runway but this one seems a little more natural, if I can say it that way.

ANDERS: And I think that makes her so much more gorgeous.

CS: Yes.

ANDERS: Because she looks real and looks like that girl in high school that you would just be terrified to talk to, even though you know she would be very nice to you because she’s a real nice girl but she’s just beautiful and has this sort of inner glow to her.

She’s actually one of my favorite stories because the studio had been pushing for more of a named actress for that part. The studio was always very good to us and at the end of the day they would always err on the side of making a good film, and they did in that case too but we were auditioning a lot of girls in LA and they would come in the room and we thought we had 4 or 5 very good choices for Felicia. Then we get this video from Canada and any actor will tell you it’s almost impossible to get a job on video because when the actor comes in the room you give them a little direction and kind of help them to let them know what you’re looking for and they adjust and we say, “OK, that’s good.” But when you see a video, you see what it is and then you’re done with it. So we see this video and we are gathered around this QuickTime of this video of Amanda Crew that was sent in from Canada and we all said, “That’s her. That’s Felicia.”

And it became me going to the studio saying this is the girl ““ this is Felicia. And they were like, “Take it easy. Let’s see what else we got.” But of course they are thrilled it worked out that way because they love her and she’s great in the movie. She and I talked about what her job was in the movie and I told her you’re job is to make us fall in love with you. As an audience if we fall in love with you and we get why Ian is in love with you, we’re there with you.

I think that’s it. What really separates this from the pack and why I’m a convert after seeing this movie Monday night and I need to see this movie again she felt like the kind of person that this could really occur among all the zany shit that happens around them ““ it just felt natural.

[Sean asks whether I would be around to see an additional screening with Clark Duke and Amanda Crew in attendance. I ask about the marketing plan for the film and how high profile the film seems to be for a relatively unknown comedy]

ANDERS: Well, what happened was the movie turned out so well that the studio wanted to have word of mouth screenings all over the country because they know this movie is a hard sell.

The problem with selling the movie is that it doesn’t have the big cast members in it and we knew that any rated R teen comedy coming out a year after SUPERBAD was going to get, “Oh, they are trying to be SUPERBAD.” Of course, this was written before that. So we knew that the movie would have to speak for itself. So they have been having these word of mouth screenings all over the country because whenever we get people in front of the movie they tend to like it and hopefully will walk out and talk about it. So anyway, we were doing this one and I lived here for about 8 years so this is sort of my second hometown. I know a guy from Harkins [a local theater chain in Arizona] real well because he helped us with NBT, the first movie we made, and getting that going. So he asked me if I would come out and do some Q&A and I thought that would be fun. They set up this party for it and everything and we were talking yesterday he said that maybe we should get some cast out for this. So I said I would call them and see if they’re around and talked to Amanda and Josh and they said they weren’t doing anything so they said, “Yeah.” It’s totally a last minute thing that they are coming out.

CS: And I have to mention before we go any further ““ Seth Green who I think absolutely steals”¦.

ANDERS: How about him, huh?

CS: You obviously approached him to do it but the performance he gave ““ that dry, sarcastic, sharp manner ““ it just works very well.

ANDERS: We had written the character to be this dry, sarcastic, but hopefully loveable Amish guy. And a guy who just really enjoys being around non-Amish people and then when the name of Seth Green came up, it was absolutely perfect. He’s just great with sarcasm, he’s really funny, and he’s just great on so many levels. But even then, none of us knew how great he was going to be until he got there. We just knew it was going to be so funny. That scene with the buggy with Clark where he says the line about butt fucking that was in the script but every time we shot it ““ everything we shot we just let it keep rolling and let people go past the scene and try different things and every time Clark and Seth got to that line they would just rip on butt fucking for the longest time. We cut some of that together for the extended DVD. It’s hilarious. It’s so over the top, disgusting and funny and really sharp, sharp stuff.

CS: His delivery is just wicked.

ANDERS: Well, the thing is about Seth Green is he is so funny all the time. He could be just sitting there and he’s not one of those guys who’s bouncing off the walls and trying to be the center of attention trying to be endearing to everyone, he’s just fucking funny. The way he turns a phrase, he gets his point across. He’s just funny. He’s always on. It’s a little bit intimidating.

CS: That part at the end when he talks to Fall Out Boy in front of the bus, was that all him? Did you know that line about [redacted for not wanting to spoil it] was coming at the end?

ANDERS: No. We had follow up boy for such a short time. We wanted to do a bit like that but just didn’t have time. That’s why it’s jump cut the way it is. It was basically, “OK, we have an hour before we have to go inside, let’s set up a camera and put Seth and Fall Out Boy in front of the camera and just roll and see what Seth does to f with those guys. And they were great sports and he was really funny and we shot like 20 minutes of stuff and cut it down to a minute for that little extra piece.

CS: It was a nice sort of kick at the end. How did that all come about when you are doing all these gags? It’s a thin line between obnoxious ““ in my advanced age, I’m 33 ““ I’m no foggie but when I see it ““ I get it, it’s supposed to be funny but you can have humor that just tries way too hard. But a massive majorirty of the gags here work very well and I don’t have any reason why they do ““ from your standpoint”¦

ANDERS: Well, I think, and you work for Kevin Smith, and I think you know what he’s so good at, of the many things he’s so good at, you can have a character say really raunchy ““ my friends and I, all of our conversations are raunchy, even when we are being serious. So you can have characters that behave that way and talk that way as long as the characters have heart and care about each other and they have real flaws and issues ““ as long as they have that sort of warmth it feels kind of real, where you were aspiring to on this ““ it gives people license to just relax and laugh.

And, one of the things that blew me away on the movie that I never would have predicted in a million years and almost the thing I’m proudest of the whole thing is ““ you do the test screenings for the test audiences and for a movie like this the studio cares far and away men 25 and under and then men 25 and older because this a movie that is going to be driven by guys and then the quadrant of girls 25 and under so females 25 and under but the women 25 and older, they don’t give a shit about. They know they are not going to go see it. Nobody’s mom is going to see SEX DRIVE. Nobody cares. So we go and we do our test screening and we get our numbers back and our number on women 25 and older were 98%.

That’s insane.

I’m sure those are numbers ““ like NIGHTS IN RODANTHE probably didn’t get 98%. For women 25 and older. It’s crazy. It almost seems like there has to be a mistake. And my mom saw the movie.

(Laughs)

And loved it ““ I don’t know ““ even though we are showing old man’s balls, I don’t know. All those things and despite that we can have a scene where we have a girl that almost shits on somebody.

(Laughs)

Or maybe does, depending on how you watch that scene, and that we still have women coming away loving the movie is such a huge compliment to us. We didn’t go into the movie trying to alienate any group.but you just know that when you walk a certain line people are going to be turned off by it.

CS: Why do you think women are responding so well to it?

ANDERS: Dude, I don’t know. I think the romance in the movie really works ““ that’s a part of it ““ but I don’t know. It’s mind boggling to me.

CS: I do have to ask about Andy and Randy.

ANDERS: If the movie does well enough to warrant a sequel, I already told the studio I will only do it if it’s a movie about Andy and Randy.

(Laughs)

Because I would love to do a whole movie about Andy and Randy.

CS: How did these characters materialize themselves?  If the book isn’t like this at all and it’s openly exaggerated…When you were coming up with the ideas to incorporate Brian Posehn and Seth Green to fill out these characters, how did their names come up as probables?

ANDERS: I don’t know. The way John and I write is we just sit around and bullshit all day and we’ll be talking about a certain topic and say, oh, this one time a friend of mine went to a carnival and then oh, there was this guy, this or that, and then it becomes an idea or a character. When we look back on all the characters we almost wrote and thought it was funny and look back and say thank god we didn’t try and put that in the movie. I don’t know man. I don’t know where that stuff comes from. You just sit around and talk about the idea and the characters until something funny comes up. And then there’s the arduous process of writing that first draft where you just write a whole bunch of unfunny shit and try to get to the end. And then go back through and try and find out why that stuff is not as funny was it needs to be and keep working on it. But I think a big moment in the movie was the moment when we wrote the line, “You love me, you love me too. OK.” Because we wanted to have that at the end because we knew it was going to be cheesy romantic we had written all this schlocky shit that was nauseating in the beginning. And then we just said “Fuck it. We don’t need big speeches. Let’s just simplify it and just let Ian be a man and step up and admit that he loves this girl” and when that line came up at that point in the script it was like I think we have a movie here. Because despite all the wacky raunchy stuff and at that moment writing that scene I really felt good. So, it’s weird. I’m new at this and I’m so proud of the movie. I realize it is what it is and is just one of those things that all I can do is hope that people like it as much as we do and they have a good time with it and hopefully 20 years from now that people would still be quoting it the way my friends and I quote 16 CANDLES and WERID SCIENCE and those great movies we grew up with.

CS: And the last question ““ I will make it brief ““ It’s no secret that you don’t have a whole lot on your resume behind you. You’ve managed to go from independent moviemaker to studio filmmaker ““ what’s the biggest lesson you learned in that transition?

ANDERS: I think the biggest lesson ““ man, there were so many, it was a lesson a minute all the way through that stuff. But, I think the one I’m going to apply the most is to just really try to enjoy it and have a good time and that seems to translate to a higher quality and that’s what we tried really hard to do all the way through it just not to get caught up in all the stress of the process but of course we did, and the next one even more so we will be able to because we know now that’s a formula that really works ““ to try and create an environment that’s really fun and laid back and have a good time and take that good time and put it on the screen and that’s something we learned from the Farrelly Brothers. They always sound like they are having a good time.

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

One of the most delightful interviews I was able to do when I was at the San Diego Comic-Con this past July, Zachary Levi and Joshua Gomez were able to riff long enough for this video to show why CHUCK is one of the best comedies on network television. Forget your sitcoms and ensemble programs too because CHUCK developed its legions of fans out there (and if you question its popularity just let me know whose face was on the WB bags everyone was carrying around on that Friday at the Comic-Con) because of its idiosyncrasies and dedication to just good writing. Zach and Josh are but two players in a true group of talented actors who know what the material is and simply have fun with it.

Season 2 sees guest stars from John Larroquette, Nicole Ritchie, Tony Hale and Jordana Brewster, among others, and this season is all about regaining the momentum that was surreptitiously lost when writers all across the country went on strike. Although, that momentum seemed none too lost as I sat in on the CHUCK panel during Comic-Con and saw the legions of the faithful ready to keep this show atop the ratings heap.

This interview represents the 4th time I’ve talked to Zach, more times than I’ve ever talked to anyone during my tenure with this site, and it really is for good reason. Zach has been nothing short of professionally wonderful in every sense of the word. I remember talking to him in support of BIG MOMMA’S HOUSE 2 (Oy vey…the horror…) and coming away with the sense that his was a career who was going some place more prominent than the role he was saddled with. Fast forward a few years, and a whole lot of success, and he is still the same wise ass that really resonates with me in ways that I know this is just an interview that defines where he is at this time. I know we’re going to meet again.

As for Josh? This guy was always talked about in “Oh, you just HAVE to talk to him!” kinds of ways. He was hyped up to the point that I believed there was just no way it could live up to the back-and-forth kind of mind meld that people were telling me they had with one another. It was all true and as I watch this interview again (watch for the Navy Seal who interjects. The joy of live interviewing!) I can’t help but laugh at the casualness the two of them have about a show that has a lot of money riding on it but I also laugh at how funny they are with each other.

PART 1
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PART 2
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PART 3
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By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

It was the late 1980’s and I was living in suburban Illinois. As a budding uber nerd I liked to consume my media in various forms; be that in the shape of reading Science or Discover magazine, watching the television stylings of the revamped Smothers Brothers program on CBS or even booking time to spend on my middle school’s Apple IIe there was always something different about what intrigued me. To this day I can’t remember what I loved about INNERSPACE but I do know that it led me to love two things: Sam Cooke records and Dennis Quaid.

I don’t think I ever really thought that much about the films I liked (this was around the same era where I found Jean Claude Van Damme and would hold his ballerina ass up as the second coming of ass kicking Christ) but INNERSPACE was just one of those films directed by Joe Dante that was representative of films which didn’t really want to change cinematic history unlike every auteur who nowadays wants to remake film in their own image. A lot of movies around that time weren’t necessarily pushing boundaries but they were damn entertaining and a joy to watch. INNERSPACE was a watershed moment in my youth as I loved the film for reasons that, by any debatable standards, were paper thin but that’s not the point. The point here, though, is that when you have these kinds of movies that you reflect on later in life with a halcyon-like nostalgia it’s a bit mind blowing when you find yourself sitting literally next to that person talking about movies in general. That little governor in the back of your brain that keeps yourself from geeking out on someone in situations like this really gets a workout but I can tell you that as I walked in the room where me and other journalists got to talk to him there was a little something sweet and kind about shaking the hands of the guy who was in one of the greatest films for the 13 year-old who lives inside me.

The guy wasn’t going to be having any talk of GI JOE (Goddammit…) but he did riff on all things civil rights and where he’s been since being an astronaut 25 years ago in THE RIGHT STUFF (which I still haven’t seen…along with D.O.A.). We were there to talk about THE EXPRESS and the film opens today in theaters everywhere. The movie, for those who don’t know, is based on the true story of college football hero Ernie Davis (Rob Brown), the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. It was definitely a step above most inspirational sports films where I have to feel shitty about being a white guy as I watch bumpkins of the Southern variety remind me why I’m happy the North won the Civil War and definitely one that I would recommend to my parents.

Thankfully, and quite literally, the story about Quaid’s past with Meg Ryan and his reported philandering broke about an hour after I talked with him. Since then, the media have done more to promote this story than with anything involving his movie. Thankfully, no one was the wiser and this interview is private & personal life free. And, to add in the fact that one of my queries led him to say the word “whore” makes the 13 year-old inside of me laugh a little bit, high fiving the other juvenile sensibilities that live on in my noggin…

QUESTION: How did you get involved with this project?

DENNIS QUAID: There was a script that got my attention but when I [found out] John Davis was involved it really elevated it more. What John Davis does do, which is one of my criteria to do a sports movie, is make it more than a football movie. It has to be something universal that people can relate to and identify with I think. John Davis knows how to do that.

And I think THE EXPRESS ““ although it’s a football film and it deals with racial issues of that time – it’s also about living your life gracefully and facing the challenges of your life which Ernie Davis certainly embodied.

QUESTION: I have a friend who knew the coach that you played and said you nailed it right on. How did you prepare for this film?

DQ: That’s nice. I saw some film of him and I don’t really look like him but I feel some responsibility when I play a real person to capture their spirit and to play them honestly and not idealistically. But my main resource was Jim Brown. He’s a friend of mine already and we did ANY GIVEN SUNDAY together and play a lot of golf together. He’s a very straight talker and he told me about his relationship with Ben which is contentious at times but he had a deep respect for the man. He told me how it really was and told me about his times there and the atmosphere in Syracuse and Ernie Davis who he was very close with.

CHRISTOPHER STIPP: This movie deals with segregation, racism. We have the Confederate flag flying prominently in the film. Did Jim Brown ever intonate, or even in your investigation for this role, of how we got to where we were to where we are today? It’s just common place for black men to be on the field nowadays.

DQ: Really, it’s not that long ago.

CS: No.

DQ: What I really liked about the movie is that although it deals with racism and segregation as it existed back then it really does speak to where we are today and still where we have to go I think. And it was just one little barrier at a time the way it is progressing and people like your age ““ how old are you?

CS: 33.

DQ: Yeah, people like you see the film and for the most part are in shock to see how it really used to be. I grew up in Houston and I remember separate restrooms and drinking fountains and Black people sat in the balcony in theaters and that’s just the way it was.

It was unspoken but were the rules of society.

The way it existed.

My generation really started to question that and the civil rights movement did a lot to change that when Martin Luther King came along. That’s just the way it was ““ it was status quo. Schwartzwalder really represented that status quo where in today’s standards would be considered racist but that’s how white people, certainly more in the south, that was the rules of society back then. Ernie really kind of changed Ben on a personal level.

QUESTION: You dealt with issues from back then before ““ did you notice anything similar ““ not necessarily the story but when you go back were there any similarities between this and that?

DQ: Well, yes, in the sense that there were a lot of issues that just didn’t get talked about or people were entrenched in their point of views that change was not ““ it was slow in coming.

QUESTION: Was there any uneasiness on the set with other actors when dealing with issues like that?

DQ: No. Not really. We had a very open discussion. First off, what we wanted to do was not be politically correct. We wanted to be open and honest about it. That way we could make a film that had some impact instead of just sugar everything over. With Ben we didn’t want to do a 21st century version of him back in the 50’s when ““ we would make him more complicated ““ he had issues himself about race and color.

QUESTION: It definitely did have an impact at our screening. There were a lot of kids in the audience that were brought in from school groups and I heard them walking out ““ a lot of them were 6 or 7 and had no idea that this existed back then and I could hear them saying, I had no idea people treated people that way.

DQ: That’s what we’ve been getting from the screenings too. It’s more than a football movie.

QUESTION: How familiar were you with Ernie Davis’ story before?

DQ: I really didn’t know Ernie Davis. I knew the name but I didn’t know the story. When I read a script it’s the only time I get to be an audience member and get that experience and it had a profound impact on me. It hit me in the heart and in the gut. In the place where you really don’t have words. And he came along before the civil rights movement started to bubble up and I think that’s one of the reasons his story was lost for a time. Had he lived he would have had a significant impact on the 60’s civil rights movement. Certainly Jim Brown did.

QUESTION: Will General Hawk [in G.I. JOE] be anything like Ben Schwartzwalder?

DQ: No. General Hawk is a little bit more light hearted. He is a combination of General Patton and Hugh Hefner. Super models are his aid in camp.

QUESTION: In real life are you more like General Hawk or Ben Schwartzwalder?

DQ: I am like neither of them but that was a lot of fun to do. I can tell you knowing is half the battle.

(Laughs)

CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Looking over your resume you are not one of those guys who does 4 or 5 movies, as much as you can, every year…

DQ: I’m not???

(Laughs)

CS: No. We just don’t see you in the theater every nine days. We were talking about Sam Jackson prior to talking to you and it got me thinking about how he seems to be in many films throughout the year. Any rhyme or reason that you appear to be picky and that somehow you seem to be saying, “This year I’ll only want to make two or three films”?

DQ: Actually, I have been working like Sam Jackson. There’s just a lag time with them coming out. Just you wait, You are going to be like, “Oh my, that guy is such a whore…”

(Laughs)

We have to see him again. I did THE EXPRESS, G.I. JOE and a movie called PANDORUM and I have another film I shot called LEGION, and they are all very different films. The only reason I have been working like that is because it’s just a fruitful time for me. The scripts have been really great and very different movies and I’m enjoying working now more than in my 20’s. I had fire in my belly about it.

QUESTION: One of the things in this movie that caught my eye is the football seemed authentic at the time. It’s tough to go back and create that. How long did it take to create those sequences?

DQ: That was filmed throughout the shooting. Allan Graf was in charge of shooting all the football scenes. He did ANY GIVEN SUNDAY and also did “Friday Night Lights” and he’s been around. I’ve known him for about 30 years. He paid a lot of attention to being sure he got the era right and really had to re-teach the players to block with your shoulder ““ not with your helmet and get that real old school technique that was taught back then.

QUESTION: Looks real though.

DQ: Yes, it does.

QUESTION: Do you have any plans to get into directing and writing?

DQ: Yes. I’ve written a movie that I would like to direct but not worth talking about it until after I make it and then we’ll be back here and talking about that.

(Laughs)

You’ll say, “Are you ever going to stop working? You’re in everything!”

(Laughs)

QUESTION: I watched THE RIGHT STUFF this weekend ““ the 25th anniversary coming up. Do you ever go back and watch the old stuff and think, “Even today I couldn’t improve on some of those things”?

DQ: THE RIGHT STUFF is a very special movie for me. It really was like being a kid because I did want to be an astronaut and Gordon Cooper was my favorite astronaut and I grew up in Houston ““ space city ““ and I got my pilot’s license for that film and Gordo Cooper lived three miles from me in LA and I went flying with Chuck Yeager ““ he was on the set the entire time and that was great. That is one movie that when I channel surf and it’s there I kinda watch some of it.