Andrew Fleming will forever be loved by SuicideGirls because he directed The Craft. Love it or hate it, the movie still made a very big impact on youth culture at the time.
Recently Fleming stepped into making very big movies with the remake of the In-Laws starring Albert Brooks, Michael Douglas and Robin Tunney. Even though it didn't do well at the box office it's already doing really well on home video and is destined to become a cult hit. Any movie that shows Albert Brooks in a thong has something going for it.
Check out the website for the In-Laws.
Daniel Robert Epstein: What made you want to do The In-Laws?
Andrew Fleming: Even at a bad wedding or a wedding of people you don't like that much, they are still momentous moments in people's lives. But also more than that, it's just the chaos around it, I actually had a wedding at my house one time and I never really noticed it because you're sort of detached at weddings, you just want to go to the bathroom or find out where the hors d'oeuvres are or something. But I had one at my house once and I just saw everybody lose their minds in front of me, the bride, the groom, the family, and all this family stuff comes. Just the anxiety of committing to the one person, but also for the women it's just like, it's my day, and I get to show everybody how pretty I am, and aren't the colors of the napkins cute. It's just a mishegaas. And it's universal; they happen everywhere, everybody has been to one.
DRE: Before this, you were known for doing these very sexy type movies.
AF: I was? [laughs]
DRE: What made you all of a sudden turn to comedy?
AF: I did a sex movie, it was Threesome.
DRE: The Craft was sexy.
AF: I guess it was, but that is just more about you than me. When I did that movie, my whole premise was let's not make the sex sexy let's make it awkward or funny or surreal. I never felt like I was a sexy director.
Anyway, what was the question?
DRE: You like a lot of sex. [laughs]
AF: No!!!!!!
DRE: You seem to work with a lot of the famous people.
AF: It was nice I got to work with Lindsay [Sloan], Ryan [Reynolds], Robin [Tunney] and Emmy Laybourne who plays Gloria. I had worked with them all before and it wasn't like I wanted to work with my friends or anything, I just thought they were good. Actually the first time I read the script I thought that this would be a perfect part for Lindsay. That was like one of the first things I thought. Actually Ryan was in Dick and Robin was in The Craft, but I like my cinematographer, Alexander Gruszynski, and I've used him in everything I've done and the costume designer, Deborah Everton. It's not like it's easier or anything, sometimes it's harder because you know the people. I just thought they were good people to work with.
DRE: With The Craft you picked up kind of a Goth fan base, and even this movie has sort of a Goth to it, the one with the bloody dress and the mascara and I was wondering if that culture interests you?
AF: No. I mean I don't see the Goth thing. That was its own time and space.
DRE: What about two new actors that you worked with this time around, I was wondering if you can talk about the casting of them and what did each of them bring to it?
AF: Well Michael was interested and involved before I was so I met him and that was the first thing that happened. I was struck by how funny he is and he's always so chilly in movies. He was just sort of goofy and warm and funny. There was just like the perfect part for him, whether or not I was going to do it, I thought he should play that part. The guy is supposed to be sort of neurotic and phobic and he's a podiatrist from a big city. Who do you go to if not Albert? There was a list of one for me. It was a little scary because he never says yes to anything; he's kind of famous for turning things down. Once I became involved they set-up this meeting with Albert and I honestly just thought this will be fun, I get to meet Albert Brooks and he'll say no, and I don't know what we'll do then. But he got excited; he was just interested in it. I love the idea of him being in a movie where things are exploding and he's getting pushed off a building and I just thought, you would never see him in a movie like that, it would be exciting to see him react to things like that.
DRE: What was it like working with actors that are also directors and producers?
AF: I was very anxious about it beforehand but it made them respect the process more. Those guys were on time, actually they were early everyday. That was great. I've only made movies with teenagers in school or in scenes in the cafeterias so it was very different for me. I was really, really stressed about it, I thought this could be just horrible and I could get fired or something. But I had to work really hard with young actors, you have to work much harder because they know less, so I contribute a lot, I like acting, I went to acting school. I like watching people act. So I really like to participate in what they are doing and think about it and work very hard to make the movie organized. They saw that the movie was going very well and they both relaxed and decided to have fun. It went very well, it went really well, much better than, honestly, any other movie that I have done.
DRE: Were you intimidated?
AF: I was intimidated like before it all started but once we got going I wasn't. What amazed me is that once we got started I realized this is just like everything else I've ever done. I could do this in my sleep practically. The thing that was really different this time is that these guys have learned so many lessons and they have so much more experience and they're so much more creative than the average actor. They are stars for a reason. They're stars because when they show up they have this magical thing that happens. In a way the biggest challenge was that they work in very different ways with a kind of a different ark. They work in opposite ways.
DRE: Can you give an example of what their approach is and how they are different?
AF: Well Albert works very hard, he thinks a lot and wants to know everything about everything in the scene. Everybody's name and their birthdates and every detail specific. Then he kind of processes all of that and then throws it away and seemingly does nothing in the scene. Whereas Michael is very cool about preparation and kind of comes in and is very relaxed about it then when the camera rolls he energizes, he transforms and becomes that guy.
DRE: Isn't that fun to see it happen?
AF: Oh yeah. I remember the first day I was like "oh my god its Michael Douglas and he's in my movie!" It was a lot of fun. I really felt like it was a privilege to watch them. I like watching actors; I guess I could do it all day, when they are good.
DRE: When Albert's working it and riffing. Is it tough to say cut?
AF: No, I don't want to say cut. There are some scenes that are very improvisational, like when he did the reason why he couldn't get in the hot tub. We basically just sort of left that blank there, like just say whatever you want. Or there were some things on the paper and he would say other things. There's about two hours of him making excuses about why he couldn't get in the hot tub. But it was just fascinating. I would always do a lot of off camera. In the airplane too, when he was calling Melissa calling from Barbra Streisand's airplane, there were incredibly long versions of that scene. It was hard, it was an embarrassment of riches there were so many takes of so many good things. It was a good problem to have. I remember looking at the first cut saying there is no scene that sucks.
DRE: What made you think of David Suchet for a comedy role?
AF: That was like the hand of god, we were really having a tough time trying to figure out who could play that part and I never would have thought of David Suchet because I've only seen him play these crazy villains. We had this table read and he was just sitting in, he was just reading a part as a favor to the casting director, and we were thinking of getting somebody else frankly. He just started this thing and it was so funny and it was like, there was this chemistry between him and Albert, it was like you could see that he could really be in love with Albert, and made it kind of tangible. I thought that was so funny and by the end I was like we have to get this guy, I hope he isn't busy or something. Everybody else felt the same way. There was no turning back. But he had never done a film comedy before, he said, he has done comedy in lots of theater, obviously. He is just a great guy. I think he is going to be a surprise for people.
DRE: Have you seen the original In-Laws?
AF: I hadn't seen it when it came out, I was 14 and it just wasn't on my radar, I was in a Stanley Kubrick mode or something at the time. It would screw me up to see it now. Albert was going to watch it, and he said that I should watch it. I said no, he's like you have to watch it Andy, and you're the director. I just wanted to make sure that we weren't stealing from it; I didn't want to sap its energy because it's its own thing, and it's a very funny movie. I watched it and I felt kind of relieved because I just felt like we're taking that premise and doing something else with it.
DRE: Was Albert nervous about the hot tub scene?
AF: No he wanted to make sure which side the camera was going to be on. He called later, and asked how does my ass look, I said it looks very nice. He knew that it was a thing and that it would be funny when he did that. It's going to get a laugh. It was harder for him to get on the jet ski I think.
DRE: You obviously see a kind of darkness in Robin Tunney, can you describe that at all, what is it that you see that you put her in those roles?
AF: She is just a good actress. Usually she plays these dark doomed characters and I thought it would be nice for her to be in a nice big comedy. She is very funny. That role of hers is very tricky, it could have been very deadly, and it's kind of like the bimbo role. And just when she makes that turn it could have been really raunchy but she's a complicated enough actress I think you believe it. I just thought she could pull it off in a way that most girls couldn't.
DRE: How did your directing career begin?
AF: I went to NYU, wrote a script with some friends, had some short films, I had gotten an agent from the short films, but then my agent sent the script to Gale Anne Hurd. I had this one meeting with her and she said ok let's make a movie. It was pretty ridiculous I was 23 and I never even worked on a movie, I'd seen movies. We made it for three million for FOX, and it was ridiculous; if I was an actor I wouldn't let me do that.
DRE: Was that Bad Dreams?
AF: That was Bad Dreams, yeah.
DRE: James Cameron saw the movie and he loved it.
AF: He helped out the movie a lot. Yeah I get those .73 cent residual checks. Jim was very nice, that was very intimidating. I tended to surround myself with intimidating people for some reason or another. He would sit on the side and watch. And Gale made me a director.
By Daniel Robert Epstein
Recently Fleming stepped into making very big movies with the remake of the In-Laws starring Albert Brooks, Michael Douglas and Robin Tunney. Even though it didn't do well at the box office it's already doing really well on home video and is destined to become a cult hit. Any movie that shows Albert Brooks in a thong has something going for it.
Check out the website for the In-Laws.
Daniel Robert Epstein: What made you want to do The In-Laws?
Andrew Fleming: Even at a bad wedding or a wedding of people you don't like that much, they are still momentous moments in people's lives. But also more than that, it's just the chaos around it, I actually had a wedding at my house one time and I never really noticed it because you're sort of detached at weddings, you just want to go to the bathroom or find out where the hors d'oeuvres are or something. But I had one at my house once and I just saw everybody lose their minds in front of me, the bride, the groom, the family, and all this family stuff comes. Just the anxiety of committing to the one person, but also for the women it's just like, it's my day, and I get to show everybody how pretty I am, and aren't the colors of the napkins cute. It's just a mishegaas. And it's universal; they happen everywhere, everybody has been to one.
DRE: Before this, you were known for doing these very sexy type movies.
AF: I was? [laughs]
DRE: What made you all of a sudden turn to comedy?
AF: I did a sex movie, it was Threesome.
DRE: The Craft was sexy.
AF: I guess it was, but that is just more about you than me. When I did that movie, my whole premise was let's not make the sex sexy let's make it awkward or funny or surreal. I never felt like I was a sexy director.
Anyway, what was the question?
DRE: You like a lot of sex. [laughs]
AF: No!!!!!!
DRE: You seem to work with a lot of the famous people.
AF: It was nice I got to work with Lindsay [Sloan], Ryan [Reynolds], Robin [Tunney] and Emmy Laybourne who plays Gloria. I had worked with them all before and it wasn't like I wanted to work with my friends or anything, I just thought they were good. Actually the first time I read the script I thought that this would be a perfect part for Lindsay. That was like one of the first things I thought. Actually Ryan was in Dick and Robin was in The Craft, but I like my cinematographer, Alexander Gruszynski, and I've used him in everything I've done and the costume designer, Deborah Everton. It's not like it's easier or anything, sometimes it's harder because you know the people. I just thought they were good people to work with.
DRE: With The Craft you picked up kind of a Goth fan base, and even this movie has sort of a Goth to it, the one with the bloody dress and the mascara and I was wondering if that culture interests you?
AF: No. I mean I don't see the Goth thing. That was its own time and space.
DRE: What about two new actors that you worked with this time around, I was wondering if you can talk about the casting of them and what did each of them bring to it?
AF: Well Michael was interested and involved before I was so I met him and that was the first thing that happened. I was struck by how funny he is and he's always so chilly in movies. He was just sort of goofy and warm and funny. There was just like the perfect part for him, whether or not I was going to do it, I thought he should play that part. The guy is supposed to be sort of neurotic and phobic and he's a podiatrist from a big city. Who do you go to if not Albert? There was a list of one for me. It was a little scary because he never says yes to anything; he's kind of famous for turning things down. Once I became involved they set-up this meeting with Albert and I honestly just thought this will be fun, I get to meet Albert Brooks and he'll say no, and I don't know what we'll do then. But he got excited; he was just interested in it. I love the idea of him being in a movie where things are exploding and he's getting pushed off a building and I just thought, you would never see him in a movie like that, it would be exciting to see him react to things like that.
DRE: What was it like working with actors that are also directors and producers?
AF: I was very anxious about it beforehand but it made them respect the process more. Those guys were on time, actually they were early everyday. That was great. I've only made movies with teenagers in school or in scenes in the cafeterias so it was very different for me. I was really, really stressed about it, I thought this could be just horrible and I could get fired or something. But I had to work really hard with young actors, you have to work much harder because they know less, so I contribute a lot, I like acting, I went to acting school. I like watching people act. So I really like to participate in what they are doing and think about it and work very hard to make the movie organized. They saw that the movie was going very well and they both relaxed and decided to have fun. It went very well, it went really well, much better than, honestly, any other movie that I have done.
DRE: Were you intimidated?
AF: I was intimidated like before it all started but once we got going I wasn't. What amazed me is that once we got started I realized this is just like everything else I've ever done. I could do this in my sleep practically. The thing that was really different this time is that these guys have learned so many lessons and they have so much more experience and they're so much more creative than the average actor. They are stars for a reason. They're stars because when they show up they have this magical thing that happens. In a way the biggest challenge was that they work in very different ways with a kind of a different ark. They work in opposite ways.
DRE: Can you give an example of what their approach is and how they are different?
AF: Well Albert works very hard, he thinks a lot and wants to know everything about everything in the scene. Everybody's name and their birthdates and every detail specific. Then he kind of processes all of that and then throws it away and seemingly does nothing in the scene. Whereas Michael is very cool about preparation and kind of comes in and is very relaxed about it then when the camera rolls he energizes, he transforms and becomes that guy.
DRE: Isn't that fun to see it happen?
AF: Oh yeah. I remember the first day I was like "oh my god its Michael Douglas and he's in my movie!" It was a lot of fun. I really felt like it was a privilege to watch them. I like watching actors; I guess I could do it all day, when they are good.
DRE: When Albert's working it and riffing. Is it tough to say cut?
AF: No, I don't want to say cut. There are some scenes that are very improvisational, like when he did the reason why he couldn't get in the hot tub. We basically just sort of left that blank there, like just say whatever you want. Or there were some things on the paper and he would say other things. There's about two hours of him making excuses about why he couldn't get in the hot tub. But it was just fascinating. I would always do a lot of off camera. In the airplane too, when he was calling Melissa calling from Barbra Streisand's airplane, there were incredibly long versions of that scene. It was hard, it was an embarrassment of riches there were so many takes of so many good things. It was a good problem to have. I remember looking at the first cut saying there is no scene that sucks.
DRE: What made you think of David Suchet for a comedy role?
AF: That was like the hand of god, we were really having a tough time trying to figure out who could play that part and I never would have thought of David Suchet because I've only seen him play these crazy villains. We had this table read and he was just sitting in, he was just reading a part as a favor to the casting director, and we were thinking of getting somebody else frankly. He just started this thing and it was so funny and it was like, there was this chemistry between him and Albert, it was like you could see that he could really be in love with Albert, and made it kind of tangible. I thought that was so funny and by the end I was like we have to get this guy, I hope he isn't busy or something. Everybody else felt the same way. There was no turning back. But he had never done a film comedy before, he said, he has done comedy in lots of theater, obviously. He is just a great guy. I think he is going to be a surprise for people.
DRE: Have you seen the original In-Laws?
AF: I hadn't seen it when it came out, I was 14 and it just wasn't on my radar, I was in a Stanley Kubrick mode or something at the time. It would screw me up to see it now. Albert was going to watch it, and he said that I should watch it. I said no, he's like you have to watch it Andy, and you're the director. I just wanted to make sure that we weren't stealing from it; I didn't want to sap its energy because it's its own thing, and it's a very funny movie. I watched it and I felt kind of relieved because I just felt like we're taking that premise and doing something else with it.
DRE: Was Albert nervous about the hot tub scene?
AF: No he wanted to make sure which side the camera was going to be on. He called later, and asked how does my ass look, I said it looks very nice. He knew that it was a thing and that it would be funny when he did that. It's going to get a laugh. It was harder for him to get on the jet ski I think.
DRE: You obviously see a kind of darkness in Robin Tunney, can you describe that at all, what is it that you see that you put her in those roles?
AF: She is just a good actress. Usually she plays these dark doomed characters and I thought it would be nice for her to be in a nice big comedy. She is very funny. That role of hers is very tricky, it could have been very deadly, and it's kind of like the bimbo role. And just when she makes that turn it could have been really raunchy but she's a complicated enough actress I think you believe it. I just thought she could pull it off in a way that most girls couldn't.
DRE: How did your directing career begin?
AF: I went to NYU, wrote a script with some friends, had some short films, I had gotten an agent from the short films, but then my agent sent the script to Gale Anne Hurd. I had this one meeting with her and she said ok let's make a movie. It was pretty ridiculous I was 23 and I never even worked on a movie, I'd seen movies. We made it for three million for FOX, and it was ridiculous; if I was an actor I wouldn't let me do that.
DRE: Was that Bad Dreams?
AF: That was Bad Dreams, yeah.
DRE: James Cameron saw the movie and he loved it.
AF: He helped out the movie a lot. Yeah I get those .73 cent residual checks. Jim was very nice, that was very intimidating. I tended to surround myself with intimidating people for some reason or another. He would sit on the side and watch. And Gale made me a director.
By Daniel Robert Epstein
VIEW 6 of 6 COMMENTS
damienray:
Threesome was a great movie (very funny). The craft was pretty good as well and I have not had the pleasure of watching Bad Dreams or The In-Laws. I heard In-Laws was great.
vutek:
Dick is a tremendous movie as well!