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CNN Live Today

Interview With James Woods

Aired May 12, 2003 - 11:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Actress Sharon Stone is among the celebrities taking part in a campaign to help save lives. It is a series of public service announcements designed to raise awareness about strokes.
Now, the campaign by the Ad Council and the American Stroke Association is the focus of our "Daily Dose" of health news this morning, and actor James Woods directed the television spots. He joins us now from L.A. to talk about that. Good to see you this morning, how are you?

JAMES WOODS, ACTOR: Hi. Fine, thank you. How are you?

HARRIS: I am all right. I have got to say, I'm impressed. I didn't know what to expect when I was told that you had actually directed these spots. I didn't know what to expect, but you really put together some very, very intense pieces here. Were these all your ideas from start to finish or what?

WOODS: No, actually there was an ad agency named Carmichael Lynch, who worked with the American Stroke Association and the Ad Council, and they created the idea for the spots, and then I -- I enlisted the help of a few lovely friends, Sharon Stone, Patrick Dempsey, Michael Clarke Duncan, Penny Marshall, and Don Rickles, and we shaped the spots around their personalities.

The idea I wanted in the spots was to have the iconographic representation of these great stars at the head of the spots, and then very quickly, within 24 and a half seconds, have them become a stroke, if you will. That's the idea behind the spot.

HARRIS: Well, how did you get involved with the cause in the first place? Are you tied to this, do you have a personal experience with this at all?

WOODS: Well, actually, my step-father died of a stroke that he suffered during open heart surgery, but I was just interested because stroke is one of the top three killers in the United States, A, and B, I have embarked on a directed a short film for Sky Film's program (ph). So this was a great opportunity to do it, and I was very grateful that my celebrity friends helped.

HARRIS: Let's see if we can listen to this Don Rickles one, because this is one I wanted to talk to you about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DON RICKLES, ACTOR: ... scared imitations of their former selves. If they don't stop me, I just might leave them that way for life. I am a stroke.

ANNOUNCER: Need to recognize a stroke and act quickly. Time lost is brain lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Now, I love this one because it starts out talking -- with Don Rickles talking about nobody likes me.

WOODS: Yes, nobody likes me. The great thing -- Don is a perfect example. I said, Don, everybody thinks of you as the funny guy, and you would start with, "Nobody likes me," and all that. I said, Let's do something different. And I am telling you, let's do something different. And I am telling you, he gave a performance like Brando. I mean, he was just brilliant.

HARRIS: Well, the thing about it was that the twist worked out so well, at least for me, because I thought at first he was talking about himself or about his routine.

WOODS: Exactly. Exactly. They're very cleverly crafted in the writing. I think the guys did a great job at Carmichael Lynch, and I then I wanted to have a sense -- usually these PSAs are kind of dreary. Just somebody sitting in the camera, talking and reading a card. Instead, I got them -- I put them on a 20 foot turntable, and we moved the background, and we came in on the dolly, and we used a slider, and used color infrared film and color reversal film and a lot of technical stuff that made it very vibrant and exciting.

HARRIS: Yes, but you know what? What you didn't do was you didn't put any medical advice in there or any advice, practical advice about what to do. Was that a conscious decision?

WOODS: Well, the conscious decision was to get a very clear and strong message across, which is stroke is the one devastating disease that can be handled if you act quickly. And our cards at the end say, learn about stroke from the Web site and act quickly. If you think you've had a stroke, dial 911. It can save your life and it can reverse or stop the devastation of the stroke the more quickly you act.

HARRIS: Well, great work, James.

WOODS: Well, thank you.

HARRIS: I am really impressed. I think a lot of folks will be as well. James Woods...

WOODS: Well, I appreciate the compliments. It was very nice of you. Thank you.

HARRIS: No problem at all. James Woods, director now as well as actor. WOODS: And loving it.

HARRIS: I'll bet. Paycheck either way, I'm sure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired May 12, 2003 - 11:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Actress Sharon Stone is among the celebrities taking part in a campaign to help save lives. It is a series of public service announcements designed to raise awareness about strokes.
Now, the campaign by the Ad Council and the American Stroke Association is the focus of our "Daily Dose" of health news this morning, and actor James Woods directed the television spots. He joins us now from L.A. to talk about that. Good to see you this morning, how are you?

JAMES WOODS, ACTOR: Hi. Fine, thank you. How are you?

HARRIS: I am all right. I have got to say, I'm impressed. I didn't know what to expect when I was told that you had actually directed these spots. I didn't know what to expect, but you really put together some very, very intense pieces here. Were these all your ideas from start to finish or what?

WOODS: No, actually there was an ad agency named Carmichael Lynch, who worked with the American Stroke Association and the Ad Council, and they created the idea for the spots, and then I -- I enlisted the help of a few lovely friends, Sharon Stone, Patrick Dempsey, Michael Clarke Duncan, Penny Marshall, and Don Rickles, and we shaped the spots around their personalities.

The idea I wanted in the spots was to have the iconographic representation of these great stars at the head of the spots, and then very quickly, within 24 and a half seconds, have them become a stroke, if you will. That's the idea behind the spot.

HARRIS: Well, how did you get involved with the cause in the first place? Are you tied to this, do you have a personal experience with this at all?

WOODS: Well, actually, my step-father died of a stroke that he suffered during open heart surgery, but I was just interested because stroke is one of the top three killers in the United States, A, and B, I have embarked on a directed a short film for Sky Film's program (ph). So this was a great opportunity to do it, and I was very grateful that my celebrity friends helped.

HARRIS: Let's see if we can listen to this Don Rickles one, because this is one I wanted to talk to you about.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DON RICKLES, ACTOR: ... scared imitations of their former selves. If they don't stop me, I just might leave them that way for life. I am a stroke.

ANNOUNCER: Need to recognize a stroke and act quickly. Time lost is brain lost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: Now, I love this one because it starts out talking -- with Don Rickles talking about nobody likes me.

WOODS: Yes, nobody likes me. The great thing -- Don is a perfect example. I said, Don, everybody thinks of you as the funny guy, and you would start with, "Nobody likes me," and all that. I said, Let's do something different. And I am telling you, let's do something different. And I am telling you, he gave a performance like Brando. I mean, he was just brilliant.

HARRIS: Well, the thing about it was that the twist worked out so well, at least for me, because I thought at first he was talking about himself or about his routine.

WOODS: Exactly. Exactly. They're very cleverly crafted in the writing. I think the guys did a great job at Carmichael Lynch, and I then I wanted to have a sense -- usually these PSAs are kind of dreary. Just somebody sitting in the camera, talking and reading a card. Instead, I got them -- I put them on a 20 foot turntable, and we moved the background, and we came in on the dolly, and we used a slider, and used color infrared film and color reversal film and a lot of technical stuff that made it very vibrant and exciting.

HARRIS: Yes, but you know what? What you didn't do was you didn't put any medical advice in there or any advice, practical advice about what to do. Was that a conscious decision?

WOODS: Well, the conscious decision was to get a very clear and strong message across, which is stroke is the one devastating disease that can be handled if you act quickly. And our cards at the end say, learn about stroke from the Web site and act quickly. If you think you've had a stroke, dial 911. It can save your life and it can reverse or stop the devastation of the stroke the more quickly you act.

HARRIS: Well, great work, James.

WOODS: Well, thank you.

HARRIS: I am really impressed. I think a lot of folks will be as well. James Woods...

WOODS: Well, I appreciate the compliments. It was very nice of you. Thank you.

HARRIS: No problem at all. James Woods, director now as well as actor. WOODS: And loving it.

HARRIS: I'll bet. Paycheck either way, I'm sure.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com