Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1126636
DGA QUARTERLY 37 CONTINUED ON PAGE 86 weight loss, we love the guy, you know, there's something. Q: And you do warm to him. It's very gradual, but that perception is changed. A: And I think the star quality—the humanity in their face. I guess that's why we love this thing, this cinema so much. It's a great story, in the dark, on the big screen, the sound, the absence of sound, the music. We want more. It makes me dream. I get envious when I see a great film and I go, "Wow, I want to do a film like this." Q: At the Nominees Panel in January you talked about this shooting schedule you had between Big Little Lies and Sharp Objects: 182 days in less than two years. A: Uh, huh, in 20 months. Q: How do you keep in shape so that you have the energy to handle that workload? A: Well, most of the shooting (for Big Little Lies) took place in Cali- fornia. Therefore, I was living by the ocean in Santa Monica in an apartment there, and so every morning I had the ocean. I was going to bed with the sound of it. I was going to walk or run in the morn- ing and starting [work] at 9. Therefore, I was waking up at 7, going 7 to 7:30 in front of the ocean, running and walking, reading and embracing the force of this thing to try to be as strong as the ocean to do this nonstop for 90 days and then post-production. Then as [we were doing] post on BLL in Montreal, I was coming back here and prepping Sharp. So it's a marathon. I don't know how I managed. And I was thinking of these direc- tors (during Hollywood's Golden Age), like Michael Curtiz and all the others. They were shooting three films a year, so 30 days per film and they were shooting 100 days or so per year, and nonstop. Maybe it was different then. Q: What about between projects? What do you do to keep your mind sharp and open to inspiration? A: I try to do nothing. I try to stay home and take care of my place and I go to the hardware store and fix some stuff. I built myself a house years ago. I don't travel; I like to stay home. For the past six years since Dallas Buyers Club, I haven't stopped. And that's why I need a break. I'm helping them out on Big Little Lies Season 2 right now in the cutting room and it's almost done, but I just want to go back to a break that I started in September to Christmas, so I took four months and then I'm going to take another four months where I'm going to go back home. I have two sons. They're 27 and 23, and probably I'll see them more. I saw The Mule recently with Clint