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Interview With Director Ivan Reitman

Aired September 17, 2003 - 15:11   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.


CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Hollywood director Ivan Reitman is among the entertainment heavyweights supporting Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for California governor. Reitman is hosting a campaign fund-raiser at his Santa Barbara home this weekend.
I spoke with Reitman yesterday and started by asking him about his relationship with Schwarzenegger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're good friends with Arnold?

IVAN REITMAN, DIRECTOR: I'm good friends.

I worked with Arnold, starting about 15 years ago. I directed him in "Twins," "Kindergarten Cop," "Junior." He's in Dave, also, but not -- as himself. So I've worked with him four times.

CROWLEY: You, you're sort of more drawn to the person than the party or the...

REITMAN: Absolutely. Well, I'm not a voter. I'm a Canadian.

CROWLEY: Let me talk about Hollywood, because when we -- from the East Coast, Hollywood is this liberal...

REITMAN: A scary place.

(LAUGHTER)

CROWLEY: And we're probably pretty scary to you as well. Hollywood is a very liberal...

REITMAN: Yes.

CROWLEY: Sort of, of the Barbra Streisand, Warren Beatty kind of ilk. Is there room in Hollywood for a lot of stars, directors, producers to come out and support Arnold?

REITMAN: I think, as the baby boom generation gets a little older, I think there's a sort of -- at least there's some tendency towards a more conservative leaning than perhaps that -- the generation you're speaking of is the generation before us.

And it's -- it really came out of a '50s Bohemian quality and I think the idea that -- and it came out of Vietnam in a kind of stronger protest way. And so I think a lot of the political leaning, particularly the writers and the directors and actors, the above the line, as we call it, was a more liberal one. But I think that's shifting. And I think it's too simplistic, really, to divide an industry of hundreds of thousands of people along any sort of party lines.

CROWLEY: How many people are you expecting this weekend? Was it tough to -- did you have to twist arms and say, come give money to Arnold's campaign?

REITMAN: Well, there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for it.

Really, we're holding this in our own home. We weren't looking for a big, big party. But it was going to be really a dinner party for about 40 to 50. And we're maxed out. So -- and we've been maxed out for about the last two weeks.

CROWLEY: I am sort of struck that there don't seem to be that many what we consider sort of big-name above-the-line people out front for Schwarzenegger.

REITMAN: Yes.

Well, I don't see any big names really out front for anything. I think this is a tough election, actually, because I think there's a -- I think what there is genuinely a lot of confusion about and a real strong split in the electorate, as well as in Hollywood, which is very reflective of that, and that is whether there should be a recall in the first place.

There's a lot of talk about, well, how could he know how to govern? He's never done it before. There's no experience there. And I made a movie about "Dave" -- called "Dave," which is really about a guy who comes into office, who knows nothing about politics and does a better job as the president of the United States than the existing president. And I guess this is a theme that I very much personally believe in.

And that is the sort of -- the innate common sense of the ordinary person with the right point of view. And I don't mean right politically. I mean correct. And I sense that Arnold could go in there and just find a way.

CROWLEY: So, with "Dave," it really is life imitating art, right? We always wondered about that whole thing.

REITMAN: That's right.

CROWLEY: Of the people that we would know sitting in Saint Louis or sitting in Peoria or someplace else east of the Mississippi, who's the biggest name that's coming on Sunday?

REITMAN: Arnold.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 September 17, 2003 - 15:11   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN ANCHOR: Hollywood director Ivan Reitman is among the entertainment heavyweights supporting Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign for California governor. Reitman is hosting a campaign fund-raiser at his Santa Barbara home this weekend.
I spoke with Reitman yesterday and started by asking him about his relationship with Schwarzenegger.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You're good friends with Arnold?

IVAN REITMAN, DIRECTOR: I'm good friends.

I worked with Arnold, starting about 15 years ago. I directed him in "Twins," "Kindergarten Cop," "Junior." He's in Dave, also, but not -- as himself. So I've worked with him four times.

CROWLEY: You, you're sort of more drawn to the person than the party or the...

REITMAN: Absolutely. Well, I'm not a voter. I'm a Canadian.

CROWLEY: Let me talk about Hollywood, because when we -- from the East Coast, Hollywood is this liberal...

REITMAN: A scary place.

(LAUGHTER)

CROWLEY: And we're probably pretty scary to you as well. Hollywood is a very liberal...

REITMAN: Yes.

CROWLEY: Sort of, of the Barbra Streisand, Warren Beatty kind of ilk. Is there room in Hollywood for a lot of stars, directors, producers to come out and support Arnold?

REITMAN: I think, as the baby boom generation gets a little older, I think there's a sort of -- at least there's some tendency towards a more conservative leaning than perhaps that -- the generation you're speaking of is the generation before us.

And it's -- it really came out of a '50s Bohemian quality and I think the idea that -- and it came out of Vietnam in a kind of stronger protest way. And so I think a lot of the political leaning, particularly the writers and the directors and actors, the above the line, as we call it, was a more liberal one. But I think that's shifting. And I think it's too simplistic, really, to divide an industry of hundreds of thousands of people along any sort of party lines.

CROWLEY: How many people are you expecting this weekend? Was it tough to -- did you have to twist arms and say, come give money to Arnold's campaign?

REITMAN: Well, there seems to be a lot of enthusiasm for it.

Really, we're holding this in our own home. We weren't looking for a big, big party. But it was going to be really a dinner party for about 40 to 50. And we're maxed out. So -- and we've been maxed out for about the last two weeks.

CROWLEY: I am sort of struck that there don't seem to be that many what we consider sort of big-name above-the-line people out front for Schwarzenegger.

REITMAN: Yes.

Well, I don't see any big names really out front for anything. I think this is a tough election, actually, because I think there's a -- I think what there is genuinely a lot of confusion about and a real strong split in the electorate, as well as in Hollywood, which is very reflective of that, and that is whether there should be a recall in the first place.

There's a lot of talk about, well, how could he know how to govern? He's never done it before. There's no experience there. And I made a movie about "Dave" -- called "Dave," which is really about a guy who comes into office, who knows nothing about politics and does a better job as the president of the United States than the existing president. And I guess this is a theme that I very much personally believe in.

And that is the sort of -- the innate common sense of the ordinary person with the right point of view. And I don't mean right politically. I mean correct. And I sense that Arnold could go in there and just find a way.

CROWLEY: So, with "Dave," it really is life imitating art, right? We always wondered about that whole thing.

REITMAN: That's right.

CROWLEY: Of the people that we would know sitting in Saint Louis or sitting in Peoria or someplace else east of the Mississippi, who's the biggest name that's coming on Sunday?

REITMAN: Arnold.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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