USA: Woody Allen heads back to hometown of New York with latest film "Whatever Works" premiering at Tribeca Film Festival

Record ID: 386220

  • Title: USA: Woody Allen heads back to hometown of New York with latest film "Whatever Works" premiering at Tribeca Film Festival
  • Date: 26th April 2009
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 22, 2009) (REUTERS) (*** FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) VARIOUS EXT OF RED CARPET PREMIERE OF "WHATEVER WORKS" DIRECTOR WOODY ALLEN ON THE RED CARPET ACTOR ROBERT DENIRO ON THE RED CARPET ACTRESS UMA THURMAN ON THE RED CARPET ACTOR LARRY DAVID ON THE RED CARPET ALLEN'S WIFE SOON-YI PREVIN ON THE RED CARPET WITH PAN TO ALLEN ACTRESS EVAN RACHEL WOOD ON THE RED CARPET (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR WOODY ALLEN, SAYING: "Well, I could afford it, you know I do them abroad because I can't really afford to shoot in New York because it's too expensive for me, I have very little money to make a film, and I do my best, and so I can make the money stretch further if I'm shooting in London or shooting in Barcelona or something. Here it's more expensive, I had enough money to make this particular film here, it's a film I had written many years ago for Zero Mostel, and it was in the drawer, and I thought it doesn't require too much money, and who could possibly do it, and then it hit me, maybe Larry David. And Larry assured me he's no actor and he can't do it, and I said, I bet you could, and I talked him into it, and of course he was ten times as great as he said, and as I thought he would be and nothing like he said he would be. He said he would be awful and he couldn't act at all, but he's a brilliant actor naturally." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTOR LARRY DAVID, SAYING: "Certainly is an incredible experience, one that I thought would never happen really, I never really fantasized about it and I was kind of shocked to get the call, I tried my best to talk him out of it, but no dice, and I wound up doing it." REPORTER ASKS QUESTION, DAVID RESPONDS: "He just made me feel like I was, I could do it, and it would be a little bit of a stretch for me, but none that I couldn't handle. ACTRESS DEBRA MESSING TALKING TO REPORTER ACTOR HARVEY KEITEL ON THE RED CARPET ALLEN TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS EVAN RACHEL WOOD, SAYING: "I mean, people say that he doesn't direct you, it's not that he doesn't direct you, he just doesn't want to put too many ideas in your head, he thinks the first takes are the best, or the takes where you mess up are the best, or where you have to improv or keep going, he just wants it to be as natural as possible, so he gives you this amazing script, and he says here is your blueprint, and try not to go out of the lines, but have fun with it. he just wants you to have fun with it." (SOUNDBITE) (English) DIRECTOR WOODY ALLEN, SAYING: "I'm lucky, I've been making pictures, this is like my fortieth picture or something, I always get a great cast. And I get a great cast not because it's me, I get a great cast only because -- we certainly don't pay them much money -- because I give them parts where they don't have to do just car crashes or toilet jokes, they can get into some acting, and they like that so they accept the roles, and they, so I always get a great cast because people like, the good actors like something they can do. Maybe the film stinks because I've written a bad script, or I've directed it poorly, but the actors get a chance to do well." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS PATRICIA CLARKSON, SAYING: "Oh my God, yes, I've had, of course, I've seen a lot of films. And the great thing about the festival is that it's a festival that New Yorkers really go to, they do." (SOUNDBITE) (English) ACTRESS UMA THURMAN, ON SAYING: "I'm so psyched that I don't want to miss it, so I gotta go." WIDE SHOT OF RED CARPET
  • Embargoed: 11th May 2009 13:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVA9II3MK8MV1U0Z6763VYZLKOJ7
  • Story Text: STORY Quintessential New Yorker Director Woody Allen returns to the big apple to premiere his latest film "Whatever Works" at a red carpet event for the opening night of the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. The A-list event was attended by stars of the film Larry David, Evan Rachel Wood, and Patricia Clarkson, and the guest list included actor and Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Robert Deniro, Actress Uma Thurman, and actor Harvey Keitel.
    Allen's wife Soon-Yi Previn was also on hand to support her husband.
    After shooting his last four projects in the UK and Spain, Allen was happy to return to his hometown to film "Whatever Works" but he didn't head to Europe just because he needed a break from New York City, but rather because production was less expensive.

    "Well, I could afford it, you know I do them abroad because I can't really afford to shoot in New York because it's too expensive for me, I have very little money to make a film, and I do my best, and so I can make the money stretch further if I'm shooting in London or shooting in Barcelona or something," says Allen.
    Allen is known for playing the lead roles in several of his films, but when he doesn't star in them he hires male leads that take on his famous mannerisms. Larry David, best known as an out of place New Yorker living in Los Angeles on the HBO show "Curb Your Enthusiasm," takes on the male lead in "Whatever Works" -- an eccentric curmudgeon who falls in love with a naive young girl from the southern United States played by Evan Rachel Wood.
    David was apprehensive about taking the part, but Allen eventually convinced him because he was the next best thing to the actor that the role was originally written for.

    "It's a film I had written many years ago for Zero Mostel, and it was in the drawer, and I thought it doesn't require too much money, and who could possibly do it, and then it hit me, maybe Larry David," says Allen.
    "And Larry assured me he's no actor and he can't do it, and I said I bet you could and I talked him into it, and of course he was ten times as great as he said."

    "I tried my best to talk him out of it but no dice and I wound up doing it," adds Larry David.
    "He just made me feel like I was, I could do it, and it would be a little bit of a stretch for me but none that I couldn't handle."
    Working with a film legend was no small feat for 21 year-old actress Evan Rachel Wood, whose mother showed her classic Woody Allen films like "Annie Hall" and "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)." She claims "Whatever Works"
    the most difficult one she has appeared in so far, but enjoyed working with and learning from its director.

    "I mean, people say that he doesn't direct you, it's not that he doesn't direct you, he just doesn't want to put too many ideas in your head, he thinks the first takes are the best, or the takes where you mess up are the best," says Evan Rachel Wood.
    "He just wants you to have fun with it."

    "Whatever Works" marked the first premiere of the eleven day Tribeca Film Festival, which runs until May 3. The film will be released in theaters in June 2009.
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