Rob Marshall
Rob Marshall
Rob Marshallis an American theater director, film director and choreographer. His most noted work is the 2002 Academy Award for Best Picture winner Chicago, for which he won a Directors Guild of America Award, as well as Academy Award, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for Best Director. A five-time Tony Award nominee, he also won a Primetime Emmy Award for his choreography in the TV movie Annie...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth17 October 1960
CityMadison, WI
CountryUnited States of America
The truth is I was looking for something different.
It was wonderful and scary at the same time,
I never intended to do this movie as a documentary-style version of the novel. It really is a fable.
I saw many actors from around the world: It was so obvious that this was the one woman on Earth who could play this role,
great beauty, was a great dancer and had incredible spirit. There was no question at all when I met her.
We ended up building a little Japan with cobblestone streets, bridges, a river, period buildings and antique props in Ventura, ... For the final scenes, we filmed in Kyoto temples that had never allowed filming before. But all throughout, we have tried to pay great respect to Japanese culture. I found the story very daunting to tell, as an American. I especially wanted to honor the profession because a lot of people in the West still don't know what geishas really are. The challenge for me was to bring a beautiful fable to life, to lift the veil on the beauty, joy and heartbreak of being a geisha.
I'd much rather fail than do something like 'The Chorus Line' movie, sanitized and Hollywoodized.
Maybe because I come from choreography, I've always felt that there's something about action films that made it very natural for me to go that way. It's story through movement.
The thing about movie musicals is that there have been some brilliant ones, but when they're bad, they're really bad - big white elephants.
It was actually the opposite of what a director once said to me. He said, 'Remember, everyone is here to serve you.' And as he walked away, I thought to myself, 'It's exactly the opposite: I'm here to serve everyone.
Maybe it took a little time, or we're a little late, but finally we're recognizing that international stars are fantastic. They're the greatest actors in the world, and few people know that.