For Richard Linklater, talking about awards and accolades is a lose-lose situation. The filmmaker, who has been nominated for five Oscars and is about to receive the Screenwriting Lifetime Achievement Award at the SCAD Savannah Film Festival, likens the process to entering a horse race you didn’t ask to enter (he used to be a competitive athlete, He loves sports metaphors). “If you say awards and honors mean everything to you, it’s like, ‘Aren’t you loved by your parents?’ If you say they mean nothing, you appear arrogant and privileged,” he said. “So I look at the long term: When you do something long enough, they start giving you rewards.”
Whose opinion of your work is most important to you?
No one. Ethan Hawke recently said: “If there’s one thing I’ve never heard from Rick, it’s ‘Hey, what do you think of my movies?'” “That’s probably something I have. Neurodivergent qualities, but to me, play is about yourself and how you feel about your stuff.
You have previously interacted with THR About all heritage studios killer. How do you feel when you look back on its release?
I calmed down when it happened. Like any relationship – if the studio thinks it can’t do a good enough job theatrically to warrant their interest, and Netflix is most interested in it, who are you going to go with? I have never questioned it since. We wish we lived in a purely cinematic world where everything you love could be released in full theaters and become a huge success at the box office, but that’s a fantasy.
Is the control you gain in making an independent film still greater than the control you have to release once it’s finished and waiting for a buyer?
It’s not that simple. When I make full-blown studio films, I don’t have control problems. There’s never been a movie where I said, “Oh, that’s not my cut.” My thing is, I always work so hard that I can stay ahead of any trouble. when i do school of rock Being with Scott Rudin, I knew I better work hard or this might get away from me. If you work harder than everyone else and make a good movie, you won’t have a problem.
Are you still in the 20-year development process? We roll forward happily?
We’re shooting in a few months, but I’m in the early stages of preparation.
The Broadway show is having a great year, and when you sign on, that’s not necessarily part of the show’s legacy. Did this change the way you approached the project?
I also saw this play before it opened on Broadway. I’ve seen every version hapiness. I started in the 80s. I really know the show and its various incarnations. When we started watching the movie, the script didn’t go well. But now there is a version that everyone says is a masterpiece. I agree. So from the time we started our project until now, they’ve cracked it. After being in the mid-to-lower range for so long, it finally achieved top-tier Sondheim status. I’ve been thinking about what works for us. It’s an interpretive adaptation, that’s for sure.
You work with many repeat collaborators. Have you ever written a character for a specific person?
killer The character of the bad guy Jasper is a great example of this. Somewhere during the writing process I thought, “What about Austin Amelio?” — One Man [co-writer and star] Glen Powell and I both worked together everyone wants some. He’s the right age and he’ll be perfect. So once that happens, we’re going to write this article with him at the center. But you can’t always count on people being available. Or want to do this, especially if you have a lower budget.
From left: Adria Arjona, Richard Linklater and Glen Powell on the set of “Killer.”
Brian Rundle/Courtesy of Netflix
What makes you optimistic about the future of Hollywood?
I am optimistic by rote. This is how I try to move around the world. I’m more Kamala Harris than Donald Trump, you know? I think we can do great things together. Of course, there are things looming that you have to pay close attention to – it’s fun to be pessimistic about artificial intelligence and the way technology will impact every industry, especially ours. There may be benefits, but you just have to let nature take its course. Our industry is inherently optimistic. There’s nothing more optimistic than the entire film crew – they believe the story will be told. Then, later on, when the marketing executive comes in and they’ve just tested your movie – that’s the pessimist.
This story appears in the Oct. 23 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
