Jon Favreau
Jon Favreau
Jonathan Kolia "Jon" Favreauis an American actor, filmmaker and comedian. As an actor, he is known for roles in films such as Rudy, Swingers, Very Bad Things, The Break-Up, and Chef. He has also directed the films Elf, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Cowboys & Aliens, and The Jungle Book, and served as an executive producer on The Avengers, Iron Man 3, and Avengers: Age of Ultron. Favreau appeared as Pete Becker, Monica Geller's boyfriend during season three of the...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionActor
Date of Birth19 October 1966
CountryUnited States of America
Especially in the food business, critics take very seriously how much power they have. They can shut a restaurant down.
I've always wanted to call the shots because I would rather fail than not have a chance to figure it out on my own.
I've always been fascinated by chefs and the worlds of chefs - what they do is incredibly cinematic.
You don't get to steer the ship the way you want it to go. You're a deckhand. It's fun if the movie turns out well.
You don't get to see your family much. In the movie business, directors often go out of town for long periods of time, and even if you're in town, you're working 14-15 hour days. People tend to not balance out the important things in their lives with their career.
You can't make a movie about making movies - it's boring.
You show people playing poker or hacking into a computer; it feels so significant in the script, and then when you see it on the screen, it loses something. But there's something about cooking - food being prepared is incredibly captivating. It became just a fun box of tools to use as a director.
Once you buy into a television show, there doesn't have to be resolution from week to week. You can develop characters and storylines and react to the audience, so you get more of a serialized version of storytelling where you can go much deeper into each character. It's more like a novel.
Now it seems all so familiar, but at the time it was cutting edge and we were grouped with all that independent film stuff, Vince and I and (director) Doug Liman too, and Ron, we've hit the mainstream as we're closing in on 40 years old and now we're the system.
Acting is the most fun. I like to do it and it's great that I can still do that, but you know, you don't really have a lot of control over things, so it's real hit or miss.
Back to the painting of the Sistine Chapel, there's always been run-ins between benefactors and artists.
A thoughtful piece of criticism by somebody who understands the context of what you are doing is a tremendous gift and honor to read, even if they don't completely embrace your work.
When I'm working with improv people, I give them the green light to just bring it and try things.
I remember the first script I wrote after 'Swingers' was a Western, and I just couldn't get it made.