Holofcener directing perennial muse Catherine Keener on the set of Please Give
Filmmaker Nicole Holofcener burst onto the independent film scene in the mid 90’s with her critically acclaimed dramedy Walking and Talking. The film garnered an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Catherin Keener and was the first in a long line of collaborations between herself and Holofcener. Their next film together, 2001’s Lovely and Amazing, solidified their status as indie darlings.
Now on her fourth feature, Please Give, the director is one again working with Keener and examining the notion of doing the ‘right’ thing with this comedic tale of a family who, for better or worse, aspire to be ‘good’ people. Holofcener shares with us at The Film Stage her inspiration for her quirky and complicated characters, her role as a woman filmmaker in the independent film industry and her collaborative relationship with Keener that has lasted for 15 years.
The Film Stage: Thematically, Please Give appears to be a continuation of some of the issues you undertook with your last feature, Friends With Money. How have issues of charity, wealth and ‘doing the right thing’ shaped your work?
Nicole Holofcener: The issues in my life not only shape my work but create it. Charity, wealthy, doing the right thing, marriage, children, all of it – enter my mind when I’m writing and whatever voice in my head seems to be screaming the loudest, ends up on the page.
TFS: Your partnership with actress Catherine Keener, for me, is one of the greatest actor/director combinations of the last 20 years. How has your working relationship with Keener evolved from picture to picture?
NH: Our relationship has evolved because it has deepened. With time came more trust, more knowing. We know each other so well now, and trust one another implicitly, so it’s an easy, creative collaboration. We edit each other. And I barely have to give her any kind of direction, and if I do, it’s very minimal.
TFS: Your casting of Jennifer Aniston in your last feature was a very inspired choice and she delivered, quite possibly, her best performance to date under your guidance. Are there any actors you’ve always wanted to work with but haven’t gotten the chance?
NH: Sure, there are many actors I’d love to work with and I hope I get the chance. The two Cates/Kate. Blanchett and Winslet. I’m obsessed with Kristin Wiig.
TFS: Your films are known for their well written female characters but the men you portray in these films are equally as fascinating. What is your inspiration for your male characters such as Oliver Platt’s Alex in Please Give?
NH: Oliver Platt’s character was made up, but loosely inspired by boyfriends I’ve had. One was an enormous Howard Stern fan. Oliver created a lot of his character just by being Oliver, and having great ideas and adding good dialogue.
TFS: You’ve worked with Platt twice now. On this film and also on the HBO series Bored To Death, which project came first and how has that relationship developed over the course of the different projects?
I worked with Oliver first on Please Give and then on Bored to Death. It just made coming onto a series that much more fun. I didn’t really know anybody and there was my buddy. It was great.
Holofcener (second from right) with the cast of Please Give at the Tribeca Film Festival
TFS: Speaking of TV, I was so struck with the ensemble in your last film, Friends With Money, that part of me was left wondering how that story could have spawned a TV series. Now that TV keeps raising the bar with quality programming and luring big name Hollywood talent, would you ever consider conceiving a television show?
NH: I would love to create a good TV show for HBO but haven’t come up with any good ideas yet. Got any? (Kidding).
TFS: Discussing gender politics in the movie industry is often a divisive subject but how has the landscape for women in independent film changed, if at all, over the past decade?
NH: The movie business is still completely sexist and racist. I’m one of the lucky ones that have slipped through.
TFS: It seems that often when women are both the writer and director on their film, they tend to be noticed more for their screenplays. I call this the “consolation prize” and it seems to happen more so for independent filmmakers since indie screenplays are usually valorized for their originality. How has being a writer/director guided your career? Is it easier as a director to get a project off the ground when you have also written the screenplay?
NH: Yes. I think it’s easier as a writer/director in every way. I know the script so well, and people feel good about backing an “auteur,” I think, even though I would never call myself that.
TFS: I know you were attached to the James McAvoy cancer vehicle penned by Will Resier, are you no longer working on that film? Have you considered directing based on someone else’s screenplay in the future or perhaps adapting a screenplay?
NH: Yes, I didn’t end up directing I’m With Cancer, but it was the closest I ever came to directing someone else’s script. I hope to come along another one that I feel passionate about, but I haven’t yet.
TFS: The running theme between all of your films seems to be struggling with being a “good person” in a world where defining what is good is not all that simple. You’ve given us complex portraits of women trying to manage this aspiration with varying results and attitudes. What is the one message you try to convey with each film?
NH: Wow, I can’t really express what I’m trying to convey – but I’ve hopefully expressed it on film. And there’s never one thing I’m trying to get across. It’s usually a multitude of things and feelings that I’m often overwhelmed with, or moved by. Life is so complicated and confusing, and it’s filled with so many contradictions. I’m just trying to figure it all out.
Please Give is out now in NY/LA and will expand across the country over the next month. The film opens on June 18th in Buffalo. For the up-to-date expansion schedule, visit the Please Give page over at Sony Pictures Classics.
Check out the trailer for Please Give below:
What is your favorite Nicole Holofcener film? Are you excited to see Please Give?