Curtis Hanson
Curtis Hanson
Curtis Lee Hansonis an American film director, film producer and screenwriter. His directing work includes the psychological thriller The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, the neo-noir crime film L.A. Confidential, the comedy Wonder Boys, the hip hop drama 8 Mile, and the romantic comedy-drama In Her Shoes...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth24 March 1945
CityReno, NV
CountryUnited States of America
people guy surprise
In L.A. Confidential, it was great to surprise the audience with Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe - two Australian actors that they didn't know at all - and let people discover them through the course of the film.
thinking surprise surprise-me
When I'm casting a picture, I think who I'd like to see in it if I was sitting in a theater. Who would surprise me?
speak term
I can't speak to how Michael [Douglas] approached it in terms of his process.
boys serious comedy
I very much had wanted to do a picture with more humor than what I had been allowed to do earlier, which is what attracted me to Wonder Boys so much. I found it funny in a very serious way, which is the best kind of comedy.
boys different surprise
That's what I love about Michael Douglas' performance in Wonder Boys, because I feel like he surprises audiences that know him from very different roles in his other work.
influence
Rob Lowe, who I thought was really good in the movie [ Bad Influence], had his performance overshadowed by this sort of tabloid approach to him and the movie.
compliment
A day doesn't go by when I don't get a compliment on L.A. Confidential, for example.
trying helping
It was also a new role for me as a writer, because I wanted to just be there to serve Sam. I recognized that this picture would be "a Sam Fuller movie," and I was just trying, in whatever way I could, to help him get what he wanted.
eye unique people
In terms of talking with my collaborators as they came onboard - Jeannine Oppewall, our production designer, Dante Spinotti, our cinematographer, and so forth - I said to them, "Let's pretend that this is a place like Honolulu. Let's ignore the fact that all these other movies have been made here for decades and try to come at it with a fresh eye, as if it were an exotic city that people aren't that familiar with. And let's present our own view of it, create a world that's unique to this movie [L.A Confidential].
burden care childhood feels gave literally reasons responsibility weight
One of the reasons I wanted Toni to play the part was...she would put on the burden of weight, ... The weight of responsibility that someone feels who literally gave up her own childhood to take care of her sister.
actress against challenged far female fence horses keeps knocking push shirley trying wild work
Shirley's his female counterpart. They're wild horses knocking against a fence post, trying to push and see how far their work can take them. I think being challenged as an actress keeps Shirley young.
film speculation direct
I stopped doing that [photojournalism] and wrote some screenplays on speculation, because even though I wanted to direct, to direct you need a lot of money. Even for a cheap movie, you need film stock and equipment and actors.
challenge excited life shirley therefore took
I think Shirley took it as a challenge and therefore was excited by it, because I think that's what makes her life exciting,
perfect feelings clock
So the city [Pittsburgh] was faced with that question of "What to do now?" because it can't turn back the clock and be what it once was. So thematically, it seemed like the perfect location for the movie. And then, it's a matter of how we get that feeling into the picture and make it a part of [Michael] Chabon's story.