Gavin O'Connor
"The
Accountant” Interview
with
Kam Williams
Gabbin'
with Gavin!
Gavin first garnered widespread attention when he directed the independent feature Tumbleweeds starring Janet McTeer and Kimberly Brown. He also co-wrote the screenplay with Angela Shelton, based on Shelton’s childhood diaries. The mother-daughter road drama brought him the Filmmaker’s Award at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, and landed McTeer a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her performance.
Gavin’s next directorial effort was the well-received, 2004 hit Miracle. The film, starring Kurt Russell, told the inspiring story of the U.S. Hockey Team’s Gold Medal triumph at the 1980 Winter Olympics, including a stunning victory over the seemingly invincible Russian team.
Next, Gavin co-wrote and directed the 2008 drama Pride and Glory, starring Edward Norton, Colin Farrell and Jon Voight. The film follows a multi-generational police family whose moral code is tested when one son investigates an incendiary case of corruption and murder that involves his brother and brother-in-law, forcing the family to choose between their loyalties to one another and their loyalties to the department.
In 2010, Gavin co-wrote, produced and directed the critically-acclaimed sports drama Warrior, starring Joel Edgerton, Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte. The story of two estranged brothers whose pasts collide in an elite Mixed Martial Arts tournament earned Nick Nolte an Academy Award nomination for his performance.
Here, he talks about his latest offering, The Accountant, a clever cat-and-mouse caper starring Ben Affleck as a a CPA-turned-cutthroat assassin.
Kam
Williams: Hi
Gavin, thanks for the interview. I really loved this film. I just
hope it isn't forgotten by the time Oscar season rolls around.
Gavin
O'Connor:
Well,
I don't know. We'll see what happens. I hope it stays in theaters for
awhile.
KW:
What interested you in The Accountant? Was it screenwriter Bill
DuBuque's success with The Judge?
GO:
No, it
had nothing to do with The Judge. I was sent the script by [producer]
Lynette Howell, and I was just captured by its originality. It was
wildly original, and the conception of it was just unlike anything
I'd ever read before. I'd never seen anyone like this particular
character, Christian Wolff, before. And I thought, "Wow, if I
can bring him to life in a cinematic way, it would make a really
interesting movie and a story that I really want to tell."
KW:
Did you
have any reservations having an autistic hero with Aspberger's
Syndrome in this hyper-sensitive age of political correctness?
GO:
Honestly, I never did, because we did so much homework first. I read everything
you could read, watched documentaries, listened to podcasts, and met
with specialists and teachers. And then Ben [Affleck] and I were
afforded access to about thirty men between 18 and 30 years-old who
were on the spectrum. We had really great times with them in a
classroom environment. they knew what we were doing, and they opened
up their hearts in speaking to us about their lives, behaviors and
proclivities. I think it's a good time to be different, and my
intention was always to celebrate being different. Plus, you can't
tell stories worrying about how people are going to react. I just
can't think that way, although I'm sure they'll be somebody out there
who will have an issue with it.
KW:
How did
you manage to attach so many big names to the project? Ben, Anna
Kendrick, J.K. Simmons, John Lithgow, Jeffrey Tambor and so forth?
GO:
Ben was
the first person I approached. And after we discussed it, and decided
to partner on it and go on this journey together, we started to think
about who was right for the other parts. I happened to see Whiplash
on the opening night, I was so blown away by J.K. Simmons'
performance that as soon as I left the theater I called my producer
and asked her to get the script to him for the part of Ray King. I
met with him a week later and brought him aboard. As far as the part
of Dana that Anna Kendrick's playing, it was very important to me to
fill the role with someone who could not only make the movie fun but
who could make you believe she appreciated Chris' amazingness. Anna
kinda marches to a different drummer, and Chris kinda marches to a
different orchestra. But I thought that she would "get"
him, and that some fun could be had with the two of them, and that
she would kinda strike a fire in his heart, because she's different
from him in a nuanced way. So, I offered Anna the part, she said
"Yes," and I just continued down the line like that,
thinking about who was right for each role. And everyone I approached
said "Yes." That was wonderful!
KW:
What is
it about your directorial style that enables you to get so much out
of your actors?
GO:
I don't
know, really. But I truly believe that you make the movie before you
make the movie. So, I'm really big into working out back stories and
doing biographies of characters, and then dissecting the scenes in a
way that we really understand the DNA and complexity of each scene,
what the subtext is, and what the intention of each character is. I
just try to go as deep as I can with a character before we even
shoot. Filming, I kinda try to sit back and let them do their thing.
you can make some tweaks here or there, but I generally just enjoy
watching them be great at what they do.
KW:
Why did
you settle on the slightly deceptive title The Accountant? It reminds
me of movies like The Transporter and The Mechanic where there was
much more to the protagonist than suggested by the job in the title.
GO:
I
always loved the title. We all thought it was funny because most
people think of an accountant as a dry, mundane, numbers-crunching
job. That's the wink of the movie. It's like, maybe your accountant
has a secret life.
KW:
And how
come Gavin O'Connor regular Noah Emmerich isn't in this movie? He'd
been every one of your films except your first, Comfortably Numb.
GO:
[Laughs
heartily] That is so funny! You know what, Kam? You're the first
person to ask me that.question. I called up Noah and said, "Dude,
I just don't have a part for you in this." I was a little
saddened because, as you know, I try to put him in every movie. But
he was also shooting the TV series The Americans at the time. So, it
wasn't going to work out anyway.
KW:
What
did you major in at the University of Pennsylvania?
GO:
Sociology?
KW:
So,
when did you develop an interest in movies?
GO:
I
always knew I wanted to make movies from when I was a little boy.
Penn didn't have a film program, so from the time I came in as a
freshman, I started preparing myself. My VHS player was on fire from
all the movies I was watching. And I was already trying to write
screenplays.
KW:
Is there any question no one ever asks you, that you wish someone
would?
GO:
[LOL]
That's a great question in itself. No one's ever asked me that. No,
it feels like I've been asked everything that needed to be asked,
except the one you just asked about Noah.
KW:
Harriet Pakula-Teweles asks: With so many classic films being redone,
is there a remake you'd like to star in?
GO:
No, I
would never remake a classic. How do you top a classic? I don't know
if I'd even call it a remake, because Seth Rogen did a comedy version
of it, but I got the rights to The Green Hornet, and I'm going to be
doing that. He was always the one comic book character I loved.
KW:
I liked
him, too. I look forward to the film What was his sidekick's name?
GO:
Kato.
KW:
When
you look in the mirror, what do you see?
GO:
[Laughs
again] I see a dad and a husband.
KW:
Finally,
what’s in your wallet?
GO:
I don't
really have a clever answer for that one. Money and credit cards,
that's it.
KW:
Thanks
again for the time, Gavin, and best of luck with The Accountant. It
really was quite a pleasant surprise because I went into it cold
knowing nothing about it but the title. What a great film!
GO:
I
really appreciate that, Kam. Thank you so much.
To
see a trailer for The Accountant, visit:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBfsgcswlYQ
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