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Interview With Cast of 'Off the Map'
Aired January 23, 2003 - 14:40 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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Celebration of independent cinema, that's what the Sundance Film Festival is all about. And a party or two, of course, to go along with it. Up and coming film directors and Hollywood veterans are in Park City, Utah. Along with them, CNN's Anderson Cooper with some special guests.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kyra. How is it going? We are here with some very special guests, as you said, some Sundance stars here with us. Campbell Scott, Joan Allen, and Sam Elliot here. Now, the film is called "Off the Map." And you directed it. What is the film about?
CAMPBELL SCOTT, DIRECTOR, "OFF THE MAP": I directed it. It's based on a play I saw many years ago by Joan Ackermann, and it is about a family, father and mother played by Sam and Joan and a young girl, played by Valentina de Angelis who live off the map, hence the title, in northern New Mexico in 1974. And it's just about a summer when a young man visits them from the IRS and they all get changed.
COOPER: Now, Joan, this is the first time you've come to Sundance. What is it like?
JOAN ALLEN, ACTOR: It's busy. I mean, it's -- there are throngs of people all over the place. Constant parties. You don't get much sleep.
COOPER: Is it what you expected, Sam?
SAM ELLIOT, ACTOR: Yes, it is. It's my first time as well, and I had heard the word. It is a lot of people with a lot of cell phones, and a lot of films to look at, and a lot of parties. But it's great.
SCOTT: A lot of good films this year.
ELLIOT: A lot of great films this year.
COOPER: The purpose -- for people who don't know -- why people come to the Sundance, why people bring their movies here, it's to try to get a distributor, try to get buzz, I guess is what everyone says. You're obviously looking for a distributor for your film?
SCOTT: Yes. We're independently produced by Holedigger Films. I have done three films with them, and yes, we're definitely here to be seen. People come for different reasons, obviously, but the one common reason is to be seen.
COOPER: And how does it work? How do you get a deal?
SCOTT: You're asking the wrong person, because I always step away when they start to have those conversations. But not too far, just slightly removed. It actually works more humanly than you'd imagine. It is just people in coffee shops and theater lobbies, and all kind of trying to find out what everybody's opinion is, and how much money they have to spend, et cetera, et cetera.
COOPER: It seems like a lot of people go to parties here to kind of network and try to meet other people. Someone said to me last night, connections are currency -- which I found kind of depressing.
SCOTT: Which you found depressing.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I guess that's what it's like. So what happens now with the film?
SCOTT: I've got to say, it's hard for us to believe in connections are currency, although they probably are. We want to think the movie is currency. Whatever you do, whatever you spent the real hard work on is currency. But connections, I guess, are currency.
COOPER: As a director, do you still get -- do you get nervous in a different way than you do when you're acting?
SCOTT: Petrified. Yes, yes. Because you are not just one role. It is all you. In a way, it is all you. It reeks of you, and everything you've tried, so...
COOPER: Do you watch when the audiences are watching?
SCOTT: Absolutely. That's when you learn the most. We watched it last night with a huge crowd.
ELLIOT: Incredible.
ALLEN: Really exciting.
SCOTT: It was very exciting.
COOPER: What is it like working in an independent film, different from big budget films that you've been involved with?
ELLIOT: It's nice to not have those guys with the suits hanging over your shoulder. The guys with the suits, you lose that kind of generally...
COOPER: You have guys in suits in your business as well.
ELLIOT: It is all the same. I mean, it is probably all the same guys in the same suits.
ALLEN: There is more of a sense of autonomy, though. Didn't you feel that making it?
SCOTT: Oh, definitely. I mean, it's the only way I work. But we were -- I mean, because of how remote we were when we shot, too, we were in the middle of nowhere, great producer, George Vanbuskirk (ph), it is all private money. I mean, we just made our movie, and it was very familial, and that...
(CROSSTALK)
ALLEN: Very close. Yes.
SCOTT: You get addicted to that. You want to repeat that.
ELLIOT: It is as good as it gets.
ALLEN: Absolutely.
COOPER: Does it feel sort of like returning to the acting that you all have always wanted to do, that you always loved to do?
ELLIOT: Yes, we are finally getting there, after 30 years.
ALLEN: It's great to do something that's really intimate. I mean, they are basically like five actors in the whole piece.
SCOTT: Yes. We should mention Jim True-Frost and J.K. Simmons and Valentina, and Amy Brenneman as well.
ALLEN: Yes, wonderful cast.
COOPER: And how do you -- how do you play that role, director versus actor? Which do you enjoy more?
SCOTT: I enjoy neither? No...
COOPER: They're both painful?
SCOTT: No, no. I don't know. You just put on a different cap.
ALLEN: He directed himself in "Hamlet." You shot it in 29 days.
SCOTT: Yes, yes.
COOPER: Is it different working for a director...
SCOTT: You're like my publicist. That is great. Thank you.
ALLEN: Everybody rent "Hamlet," OK?
COOPER: Is it different working for a director who's also an actor?
ALLEN: I think there's an additional sensitivity, I think to understanding the, sort of, the actor -- actor's process, which I think is helpful. ELLIOT: It was hard for me because Campbell had his way, he always wanted me to play it his way. I was always resisting him. What works for one guy doesn't work for the other guy.
SCOTT: What happened? How did that turn out?
ELLIOT: I'm not sure. I'm still scratching my head over that. Campbell is actually a great actor's director.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I am big fans of all of you. You are all very impressive, and I wish you a lot of luck with your film.
(CROSSTALK)
ALLEN: Thanks a lot.
SCOTT: "Off the Map."
COOPER: All right. We'll look for it in theaters -- back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, Anderson, do you get any scoop? Do you ever get to see these films firsthand?
COOPER: I'm hoping to later today to get to see these films. I haven't seen "Off the Map" yet. I have heard it's really good, I am very much looking forward to seeing it, but we've been working so much, it's hard to get time to get to see movies, but I'm hoping later today and late into tonight I'll be able to see a lot of films.
PHILLIPS: Now that it's been said on live television, I think they've got to hook you up, right? You'll go see the film together.
COOPER: Possibly.
PHILLIPS: All right. Our Anderson Cooper, thanks so much.
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 January 23, 2003 - 14:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Celebration of independent cinema, that's what the Sundance Film Festival is all about. And a party or two, of course, to go along with it. Up and coming film directors and Hollywood veterans are in Park City, Utah. Along with them, CNN's Anderson Cooper with some special guests.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Hey, Kyra. How is it going? We are here with some very special guests, as you said, some Sundance stars here with us. Campbell Scott, Joan Allen, and Sam Elliot here. Now, the film is called "Off the Map." And you directed it. What is the film about?
CAMPBELL SCOTT, DIRECTOR, "OFF THE MAP": I directed it. It's based on a play I saw many years ago by Joan Ackermann, and it is about a family, father and mother played by Sam and Joan and a young girl, played by Valentina de Angelis who live off the map, hence the title, in northern New Mexico in 1974. And it's just about a summer when a young man visits them from the IRS and they all get changed.
COOPER: Now, Joan, this is the first time you've come to Sundance. What is it like?
JOAN ALLEN, ACTOR: It's busy. I mean, it's -- there are throngs of people all over the place. Constant parties. You don't get much sleep.
COOPER: Is it what you expected, Sam?
SAM ELLIOT, ACTOR: Yes, it is. It's my first time as well, and I had heard the word. It is a lot of people with a lot of cell phones, and a lot of films to look at, and a lot of parties. But it's great.
SCOTT: A lot of good films this year.
ELLIOT: A lot of great films this year.
COOPER: The purpose -- for people who don't know -- why people come to the Sundance, why people bring their movies here, it's to try to get a distributor, try to get buzz, I guess is what everyone says. You're obviously looking for a distributor for your film?
SCOTT: Yes. We're independently produced by Holedigger Films. I have done three films with them, and yes, we're definitely here to be seen. People come for different reasons, obviously, but the one common reason is to be seen.
COOPER: And how does it work? How do you get a deal?
SCOTT: You're asking the wrong person, because I always step away when they start to have those conversations. But not too far, just slightly removed. It actually works more humanly than you'd imagine. It is just people in coffee shops and theater lobbies, and all kind of trying to find out what everybody's opinion is, and how much money they have to spend, et cetera, et cetera.
COOPER: It seems like a lot of people go to parties here to kind of network and try to meet other people. Someone said to me last night, connections are currency -- which I found kind of depressing.
SCOTT: Which you found depressing.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I guess that's what it's like. So what happens now with the film?
SCOTT: I've got to say, it's hard for us to believe in connections are currency, although they probably are. We want to think the movie is currency. Whatever you do, whatever you spent the real hard work on is currency. But connections, I guess, are currency.
COOPER: As a director, do you still get -- do you get nervous in a different way than you do when you're acting?
SCOTT: Petrified. Yes, yes. Because you are not just one role. It is all you. In a way, it is all you. It reeks of you, and everything you've tried, so...
COOPER: Do you watch when the audiences are watching?
SCOTT: Absolutely. That's when you learn the most. We watched it last night with a huge crowd.
ELLIOT: Incredible.
ALLEN: Really exciting.
SCOTT: It was very exciting.
COOPER: What is it like working in an independent film, different from big budget films that you've been involved with?
ELLIOT: It's nice to not have those guys with the suits hanging over your shoulder. The guys with the suits, you lose that kind of generally...
COOPER: You have guys in suits in your business as well.
ELLIOT: It is all the same. I mean, it is probably all the same guys in the same suits.
ALLEN: There is more of a sense of autonomy, though. Didn't you feel that making it?
SCOTT: Oh, definitely. I mean, it's the only way I work. But we were -- I mean, because of how remote we were when we shot, too, we were in the middle of nowhere, great producer, George Vanbuskirk (ph), it is all private money. I mean, we just made our movie, and it was very familial, and that...
(CROSSTALK)
ALLEN: Very close. Yes.
SCOTT: You get addicted to that. You want to repeat that.
ELLIOT: It is as good as it gets.
ALLEN: Absolutely.
COOPER: Does it feel sort of like returning to the acting that you all have always wanted to do, that you always loved to do?
ELLIOT: Yes, we are finally getting there, after 30 years.
ALLEN: It's great to do something that's really intimate. I mean, they are basically like five actors in the whole piece.
SCOTT: Yes. We should mention Jim True-Frost and J.K. Simmons and Valentina, and Amy Brenneman as well.
ALLEN: Yes, wonderful cast.
COOPER: And how do you -- how do you play that role, director versus actor? Which do you enjoy more?
SCOTT: I enjoy neither? No...
COOPER: They're both painful?
SCOTT: No, no. I don't know. You just put on a different cap.
ALLEN: He directed himself in "Hamlet." You shot it in 29 days.
SCOTT: Yes, yes.
COOPER: Is it different working for a director...
SCOTT: You're like my publicist. That is great. Thank you.
ALLEN: Everybody rent "Hamlet," OK?
COOPER: Is it different working for a director who's also an actor?
ALLEN: I think there's an additional sensitivity, I think to understanding the, sort of, the actor -- actor's process, which I think is helpful. ELLIOT: It was hard for me because Campbell had his way, he always wanted me to play it his way. I was always resisting him. What works for one guy doesn't work for the other guy.
SCOTT: What happened? How did that turn out?
ELLIOT: I'm not sure. I'm still scratching my head over that. Campbell is actually a great actor's director.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I am big fans of all of you. You are all very impressive, and I wish you a lot of luck with your film.
(CROSSTALK)
ALLEN: Thanks a lot.
SCOTT: "Off the Map."
COOPER: All right. We'll look for it in theaters -- back to you, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Well, Anderson, do you get any scoop? Do you ever get to see these films firsthand?
COOPER: I'm hoping to later today to get to see these films. I haven't seen "Off the Map" yet. I have heard it's really good, I am very much looking forward to seeing it, but we've been working so much, it's hard to get time to get to see movies, but I'm hoping later today and late into tonight I'll be able to see a lot of films.
PHILLIPS: Now that it's been said on live television, I think they've got to hook you up, right? You'll go see the film together.
COOPER: Possibly.
PHILLIPS: All right. Our Anderson Cooper, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
