Q & A : Once
By Jeff Hanson
Irish filmmaker John Carney tells the gritty story of two unfulfilled souls who form a unique musical bond in Once, which premiered at the Egyptian Theatre on Friday. After the screening, Carney answered questions from the audience, along with principal actors-musicians Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova, who followed up with a musical performance of the film’s title track.
Director John Carney answers questions after the Friday premiere of his film Once. -- Photo By Fred Hayes, WireImage.com |
"Me and actors, we just do not get along. It’s like they love you and you love them and you’re working on this project, and then they go off and do another film. They have to do that because it’s their job, but you feel like you’re just a part of their show reel..."
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John Carney, dir. Once |
Q: The music in the film was beautiful. Can we take it home today?
Carney: There will be a soundtrack out eventually; we’re not exactly sure how that will happen yet. Maybe with the release of a DVD, after we get some kind of theatrical release.
Q: How did you all come together?
Carney: When I was 17 years old I played bass in the school band, but I left school because I wasn’t really that hot of a student. Then I met [Glen] who was forming a band and was about to get a record deal. For some bizarre reason he saw me in a music shop and he asked me to play. I was a rubbish bass player, but we played together for three years and his band called The Frames is still going strong. We were walking past a shop and there was a Super 8 camera in the window, and it was like it was in Wayne’s World where I thought, ‘one day, you will be mine!’ [Glen] gave me 175 pounds because I didn’t have the money. So I got the camera and went off and became a filmmaker. I never paid him back! Finally after years of talking, we decided to do something that matched both of our interests. Glen is a film fan who is a musician, and I’m a filmmaker who’s into music, so it worked perfectly. Marketa came along as a third dimension to the film. She had played with Glen – she’s from the Czech Republic and they had this great rapport. I asked him to write the music to the film, which initially we were going to have ‘proper’ actors – and it just suddenly struck me one evening, why get actors to do this? Nobody’s going to sell these songs in the way these guys can.
Q: Did you shoot as a documentary or did you do multiple takes of the script?
Carney: We worked with the script a lot and put the cameras very far away. We had three cameras running on most of the scenes and they’d be off in the distance. The actors knew what the scenes were about, and they’d just go with it. You know what things you have to hit, and you use your own dialogue and that’s why it kinda feels natural and a bit documentary.
Q: Can you tell us about the process of directing non-actors?
Carney: It was a lot more enjoyable than working with actors. Me and actors, we just do not get along. It’s like they love you and you love them and you’re working on this project, and then they go off and do another film. They have to do that because it’s their job, but you feel like you’re just a part of their show reel or something. Just ask Mara if she’s going to act again
Q: Mara, are you going to act again?
Marketa Irglova: I’m going to make kaleidoscopes in the future.
Carney: And I love the idea that you can say what you feel and they don’t get annoyed with you as an actor does sometimes. I just think the only way for me is to talk about stuff and get to the heart of the matter and just do it. Non-actors were perfect for this film.
Q: Since you’ve never acted before, did you play yourselves or were you trying to be someone else?
Glen Hansard: I actually did act before once, in The Commitments. But it was a very strange thing for me. When John asked me to do this film, I said “no” because the character that I played in the only other film I’ve ever been in finishes busking on the same street this character starts as a busker – on the same street! For me, certainly I was very hesitant to get back into it because I basically said, ‘John, please, if I’m crap, I need you to tell me right straightaway because I just don’t want to [be] involved in bad art, and I don’t want to be making your art bad.’ Just that concern that I didn’t want to blow it for someone else. I was really impressed with Mara… I thought she was brilliant. We were trying to help each other out the whole time.
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