you talkin’ to me?
Film quotes pose as questions. Film stars try to cope. In the crosshairs this month: DAN FOGLER
You talkin’ to me?
I’d better be talking to you! I saw
Taxi Driver recently, man. There was a big anniversary screening at Tribeca. I’d never seen it on the big screen and they had the cast there. It was cool to see them talking about it.
Do you feel lucky, punk?
I feel pretty lucky. Holy crap! I mean, I’ve had some interesting ups and downs in my career, but I recently hit the jackpot with this franchise [Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them]. And now they’re like, “There’s going to be several of these movies.” I’m like, “I just hit the mega jackpot!” I’m the luckiest guy I know.
Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?
Ooh, that’s one of my favourites. Damn! Nicholson Joker-ing it up. Have I ever? It depends how you interpret that. I’ve had some fun parties, for sure. I remember there was this time in college, I did some acid. That got a little freaky. But I try to stay away from that sort of thing, actually. Satan, I mean.
What’s your favourite scary movie?
I’m a fan of Kubrick’s scariness. Like,
2001: A Space Odyssey gets to be scary. HAL’s like the grandfather of the Terminator. “Please don’t shut me down, Dave.” That gives me chills. And Nicholson’s my favourite actor, so of course I love The Shining.
Do you ever have that feeling where you’re not sure if you’re awake or still dreaming?
Yeah! Lucid dreaming, astral projection – I love all that. I’ve certainly woken up in a dream within a dream, and not known I was dreaming until I turned around and the person you’re talking to suddenly has the head of a crab.
If you could change something in your life, anything at all, what would it be?
I’d like to be taller. I’d like to be at least 6ft tall. That would be nice for a while, just to see what that’s like!
Do you like what you do for a living, these things you see?
I love it, man. This business I’m in? Holy… My favourite movie is Raiders Of The Lost Ark. A close second is The Empire Strikes Back and then Back To The Future. I grew up watching those, and I always wanted to be part of something like that.
Why so serious?
I can get pretty serious! I like playing ‘sad clown’ characters. I think we’re all sad clowns, man. If you’re not experiencing the full spectrum of emotions, then you’re not human. So it’s good to be both funny and serious. I guess when you’re the Joker, everything can be taken a little too far.
When you can live forever, what do you live for?
Jeez, that’s deep. Your priorities get all out of whack when you don’t fear your mortality. I would try to make our world a better place. I would use my time to try to bring some order back to the chaos that is now our political system. And then, I guess I would dedicate all my time to doing the stuff I never did or was too scared to do because I thought I was going to die – like jumping out of aeroplanes, bungee jumping, spelunking…
What’s the last thing that you do remember?
I don’t know, man. I smoke quite a bit of THC, so I’m not too sure. My short-term is a little wrecked, but my long-term is amazing.
Tell me, has anyone ever bullied you when you told them not to worry?
Wow. Oh my God. Whoa, dude. That was… whoa. I’m in a meta-fractal wormhole right now. You just quoted me to me! I love what Newt says back to Jacob: “Worrying only means you suffer twice.” It’s true, man. I was working on this movie called
Don Peyote. One of the characters says, “Worrying is like training for something you don’t want.” That made a lot of sense. The mind is a very powerful thing. If you focus your energies on worrying, then the universe is going to give you more things to worry about. ETA | OUT NOW Fanta stic Beasts And Where To Find Them is available on DVD , Blu-ray and Digita l HD now .
‘there was th is freak y time i did some acid, but itr y to sta y awa y from satan