Winning an Academy Award for writing the film American Beauty and creating the Emmy-and-Golden-Globe-winning television series Six Feet Under would be achievements on which any writer could rest his laurels, but Alan Balls creativity is seemingly boundless. Two projects are simultaneously consuming him: The coming-of-age flick Towelhead and the racy vampire series True Blood for HBO, both based on novels that caught his attention over the past few years. Down-to-earth and almost extraordinarily personable, Ball talks about his newest efforts and past favorites. He also serves as a personal example of the success that one can achieve by chasing their dreams.
Question: As we speak, you have quite a blitz coming on with True Blood and Towelhead launching at pretty much the same time. Whats this pace been like for you?
Alan Ball: Insane! I thought Towelhead would have opened a year ago. I started shooting the movie two years ago. But just as fate would have it with the timing, its all happening at the same time, which is pretty crazy. Its a blessing in disguise and really reminds me that this is really the hard part. The work itself is the fun part, the reward, but then when you have to promote and show up and be there in the same room when people watch and worry about how its going be regarded, thats the hard part.
Q: There has been some recent controversy with Towelheads name, and the studio supports your decision not to change it since that was the title of the novel that inspired it. But when the film was first screened, it was called Nothing is Private. Why did you change the name initially?
AB: I think that we thought that we wouldnt be able to sell it to anyone with that title. Since the movie was not produced by a studio it was produced independently we were operating from a place of fear in saying to each other that there was no way that anybody would buy this movie if its called Towelhead. When Warner Independent bought the movie, they said, Youve got to change the title. Its terrible: Nothing is Private! And we knew that. It was the one thing you could count on in all the test screenings was [that people said], Hate the title. So we started trying to think of a different title and we just couldnt because Towelhead is the best name for the story, the best name for the book and the best name for the movie.
Q: This is not the first time something like this has come up in pop culture this year. Im not sure if youre familiar with the rapper Nas, but his new album is called Untitled and he originally intended to name it by the N-word. He eventually gave in so that it could still be stocked in places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Was this part of your thinking at all in any point with Towelhead? That maybe it would affect sales?
AB: You know what, it doesnt cross my mind. Im sure it crosses the mind of people at Warner Brothers, but I was very happy that in the face of protest, they supported our decision to name the movie this. Weve given the Council on American-Islamic Relations space on our Web site to state their case. Next week in LA, were doing a roundtable between them, myself and the two Middle Eastern actors that appear in the movie and well post that on the Web site. Were also going to do something similar in New York with [Towelhead novelist] Alicia Erian. I think its important to have this dialogue and for all sides to express their concerns and feelings. But I dont think that censorship is the answer.
Q: I agree, and also think its important for people to know that the way you direct the sexually sensitive and uncomfortable scenes in the film are not exploitive at all. You are respectful of the fact that the main character is 13-years-old.
AB: Absolutely.
Q: Do you feel like people are picking up on that sensitivity?
AB: I hope so; I have heard a lot of people pick up on that and Im glad. Even though the actress is 18, the character is 13. And I even put this on a little note before the title page on the front of the script when I sent the script out in the beginning process that its all about whats happening to the characters emotionally. Its not about whats happening to them physically, and the camera will stay on their faces and all sex or sexual activity will be suggested or occurring outside of the frame. Theres no graphic nudity. The only nudity is with the girls in the nudie magazines [that Jasira looks through].
The book is very explicit, but a book can do that because youre just looking at words on a page. And the idea is forming in your mind, but theres enough of a disconnect that it doesnt affect you so viscerally. It would be sickening to go any further than the movie goes.
Q: It is so much fun to see Peter Macdissi as Jasiras father Rifat in Towelhead. It took me a minute to realize that he is the same person who played Olivier on Six Feet Under. But so many of the cast members on Six Feet are doing amazing new roles and proving their range. How does it feel to see your family grow like that?
AB: Fantastic, it makes me really happy!
Q: Do you feel like youll be able to involve more of those actors in future projects, as you have with Peter?
AB: Yeah, you know, if I work with somebody and its a great experience and I feel like theyve done work, if theyre right for something else, Ill totally work with them again. There are several people from Towelhead who ended up in True Blood: The woman who plays Rifats girlfriend Athena, the lady who plays the neighbor, the French teacher. There are a lot of small roles that people from Six Feet Under ended up in, in Towelhead: The teacher at school who runs the newspaper is the priest that Federico confesses his affair to. Barry, at the beginning, who shaves Jasira, is Claires boyfriend Ted. So if I work with somebody and I really like them and I feel like they have that thing that makes a character breathe on camera, Ill totally go back there. When you work with somebody and its really enjoyable, why not do it again if the role is right?
Q: Not just gratuitously, like, Heres Peter Krause [of Six Feet Under], because hes so damn sexy!
AB: [laughs heartily]
Q: With True Blood, what do you think it is that makes people so rabid about vampire fiction?
AB: I have never been a vampire fanatic, and I dont consider myself one now, even though Im doing a show about it. Its a very powerful metaphor that so many people respond to on different levels, but sometimes I feel like, okay, calm down!
Q: The show is not for the squeamish at all, but then again, Six Feet Under made many fans out of people who normally loathe thinking about death. Its like you like to issue people challenges to try and confront what makes them uncomfortable.
AB: Yeah, I guess. Its not conscious. I obviously have a relationship with death that has permeated my work in so many ways, and I imagine it will until the end of my life. But the vampire thing seems really fun.
Q: Theres kind of a soap opera element to True Blood, wouldnt you say?
AB: Yeah, we screened it for a focus group and its a total clich but women loved the relationships and the romance and the men loved the sex and the violence. So they actually put together two promos: One thats all about the relationships and the romance and one thats just all the sexiest and most violent moments of the show put together to a Rob Zombie song. [laughs]
Q: Ive heard you had never read Anne Rice novels or watched shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer before taking on this project.
AB: Its not that I avoided Buffy, but I was working as a sitcom writer until two or three in the morning every night.
Q: Buffy was so over-the-top that it might actually have given you some inspiration as a comedy writer!
AB: I dont know. I hated the sitcoms that I worked on and I hated my life so much that I couldnt even turn on a TV. It so disgusted me.
Q: But you did find a way to make writing meaningful to you again at some point, obviously.
AB: Yeah, American Beauty was that. Its no accident that the movie is about a man who has lost his passion for life who rediscovers it, because thats what was happening to me as I wrote the script. And then I was like, Oh yeah! This is what its like to write something that you care about and you have an actual connection with. I had forgotten about this!
Question: As we speak, you have quite a blitz coming on with True Blood and Towelhead launching at pretty much the same time. Whats this pace been like for you?
Alan Ball: Insane! I thought Towelhead would have opened a year ago. I started shooting the movie two years ago. But just as fate would have it with the timing, its all happening at the same time, which is pretty crazy. Its a blessing in disguise and really reminds me that this is really the hard part. The work itself is the fun part, the reward, but then when you have to promote and show up and be there in the same room when people watch and worry about how its going be regarded, thats the hard part.
Q: There has been some recent controversy with Towelheads name, and the studio supports your decision not to change it since that was the title of the novel that inspired it. But when the film was first screened, it was called Nothing is Private. Why did you change the name initially?
AB: I think that we thought that we wouldnt be able to sell it to anyone with that title. Since the movie was not produced by a studio it was produced independently we were operating from a place of fear in saying to each other that there was no way that anybody would buy this movie if its called Towelhead. When Warner Independent bought the movie, they said, Youve got to change the title. Its terrible: Nothing is Private! And we knew that. It was the one thing you could count on in all the test screenings was [that people said], Hate the title. So we started trying to think of a different title and we just couldnt because Towelhead is the best name for the story, the best name for the book and the best name for the movie.
Q: This is not the first time something like this has come up in pop culture this year. Im not sure if youre familiar with the rapper Nas, but his new album is called Untitled and he originally intended to name it by the N-word. He eventually gave in so that it could still be stocked in places like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. Was this part of your thinking at all in any point with Towelhead? That maybe it would affect sales?
AB: You know what, it doesnt cross my mind. Im sure it crosses the mind of people at Warner Brothers, but I was very happy that in the face of protest, they supported our decision to name the movie this. Weve given the Council on American-Islamic Relations space on our Web site to state their case. Next week in LA, were doing a roundtable between them, myself and the two Middle Eastern actors that appear in the movie and well post that on the Web site. Were also going to do something similar in New York with [Towelhead novelist] Alicia Erian. I think its important to have this dialogue and for all sides to express their concerns and feelings. But I dont think that censorship is the answer.
Q: I agree, and also think its important for people to know that the way you direct the sexually sensitive and uncomfortable scenes in the film are not exploitive at all. You are respectful of the fact that the main character is 13-years-old.
AB: Absolutely.
Q: Do you feel like people are picking up on that sensitivity?
AB: I hope so; I have heard a lot of people pick up on that and Im glad. Even though the actress is 18, the character is 13. And I even put this on a little note before the title page on the front of the script when I sent the script out in the beginning process that its all about whats happening to the characters emotionally. Its not about whats happening to them physically, and the camera will stay on their faces and all sex or sexual activity will be suggested or occurring outside of the frame. Theres no graphic nudity. The only nudity is with the girls in the nudie magazines [that Jasira looks through].
The book is very explicit, but a book can do that because youre just looking at words on a page. And the idea is forming in your mind, but theres enough of a disconnect that it doesnt affect you so viscerally. It would be sickening to go any further than the movie goes.
Q: It is so much fun to see Peter Macdissi as Jasiras father Rifat in Towelhead. It took me a minute to realize that he is the same person who played Olivier on Six Feet Under. But so many of the cast members on Six Feet are doing amazing new roles and proving their range. How does it feel to see your family grow like that?
AB: Fantastic, it makes me really happy!
Q: Do you feel like youll be able to involve more of those actors in future projects, as you have with Peter?
AB: Yeah, you know, if I work with somebody and its a great experience and I feel like theyve done work, if theyre right for something else, Ill totally work with them again. There are several people from Towelhead who ended up in True Blood: The woman who plays Rifats girlfriend Athena, the lady who plays the neighbor, the French teacher. There are a lot of small roles that people from Six Feet Under ended up in, in Towelhead: The teacher at school who runs the newspaper is the priest that Federico confesses his affair to. Barry, at the beginning, who shaves Jasira, is Claires boyfriend Ted. So if I work with somebody and I really like them and I feel like they have that thing that makes a character breathe on camera, Ill totally go back there. When you work with somebody and its really enjoyable, why not do it again if the role is right?
Q: Not just gratuitously, like, Heres Peter Krause [of Six Feet Under], because hes so damn sexy!
AB: [laughs heartily]
Q: With True Blood, what do you think it is that makes people so rabid about vampire fiction?
AB: I have never been a vampire fanatic, and I dont consider myself one now, even though Im doing a show about it. Its a very powerful metaphor that so many people respond to on different levels, but sometimes I feel like, okay, calm down!
Q: The show is not for the squeamish at all, but then again, Six Feet Under made many fans out of people who normally loathe thinking about death. Its like you like to issue people challenges to try and confront what makes them uncomfortable.
AB: Yeah, I guess. Its not conscious. I obviously have a relationship with death that has permeated my work in so many ways, and I imagine it will until the end of my life. But the vampire thing seems really fun.
Q: Theres kind of a soap opera element to True Blood, wouldnt you say?
AB: Yeah, we screened it for a focus group and its a total clich but women loved the relationships and the romance and the men loved the sex and the violence. So they actually put together two promos: One thats all about the relationships and the romance and one thats just all the sexiest and most violent moments of the show put together to a Rob Zombie song. [laughs]
Q: Ive heard you had never read Anne Rice novels or watched shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer before taking on this project.
AB: Its not that I avoided Buffy, but I was working as a sitcom writer until two or three in the morning every night.
Q: Buffy was so over-the-top that it might actually have given you some inspiration as a comedy writer!
AB: I dont know. I hated the sitcoms that I worked on and I hated my life so much that I couldnt even turn on a TV. It so disgusted me.
Q: But you did find a way to make writing meaningful to you again at some point, obviously.
AB: Yeah, American Beauty was that. Its no accident that the movie is about a man who has lost his passion for life who rediscovers it, because thats what was happening to me as I wrote the script. And then I was like, Oh yeah! This is what its like to write something that you care about and you have an actual connection with. I had forgotten about this!
VIEW 3 of 3 COMMENTS
shadowslightness:
Alan Ball is such a great writer. Glad he's still working hard.
strega:
Great interview. Looking forward to seeing more of his work.