In his Hollywood Notebook column in The Fresno Bee, Rick Bentley writes about two memorable interviews:
“A few years ago, for the release of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" on video, I thought I would either be talking with Adriana Caselotti, the voice of Snow White in the animated film, or someone who plays Snow White at a theme park.
Nope. The woman sitting across the table from me was Snow White. Once I had asked about living with seven short men and 101 uses for apples, the interview went dead.
Recently, HBO created a similarly impossible situation with Pee-wee Herman for his Broadway show that will air on the cable channel. It wasn't Paul Reubens --the man behind Pee-wee -- fielding questions. It was Pee-wee. Efforts to talk to Reubens didn't go well.
Question: Pee-wee, if I could address the Paul Reubens side of you for just a minute ...
Pee-wee: Good luck.
Did you want to distance yourself from Pee-wee for a while?
I never felt like that.
You always wanted to be Pee-wee?
Never. Yeah. Well, I mean, it didn't matter.
What happened that is allowing you to be Pee-wee again?
I don't know.
Snow White's answers were a lot better.”
I met Paul Reubens years ago when I was studying improv with the Groundlings and he had recently come up with the Pee Wee character, and a friend at the time worked for him. Despite the raucus Pee Wee character, Reubens was actually quite shy. Maybe coming up with the Pee Wee persona allowed him permission to do and say things he wouldn’t do or say himself.
Anyway, interviewing your characters, or getting into character and pretending to be interviewed is a great way to get to know them. Just don’t forget to return to yourself at the end.
(There are lots of writing tips at http://www.TimeToWrite.com--go have a look!)
