Funny thing about a serious movie
Jay Roach is an unlikely director for Trumbo. He remains best known for such lighthearted fare like Meet the Fockers and the Austin Powers trilogy. But he relished the chance to work on something deeper, and to bring a comic touch to a serious period in U.S. history.
Here are some things we learned from him during the Toronto International Film Festival, where Trumbo had its world première:
1. Screenwriters are still undervalued. “John (McNamara’s) screenplay was so great and so much the reason we were all there, and yet in the feature film business he’ll never get as much credit as he deserves, even though in every interview I say something like this. In Hollywood, the system evolved somehow that writers were seen as just workers for hire. Nine out of 10 of the blacklisted people (in the movie) were screenwriters. Who do you throw under the bus first?”
2. It helps to know your subject personally. “I saw some places where I could work with (McNamara). I encouraged him to get to know (Trumbo’s) daughters, for example, which he did, and that really fleshed some stuff out.”
3. He’s proud of directing, but even prouder of casting. “I didn’t do anything. I just kind of said, ‘Move to the left a little. Perfect, and roll it.’ I did have a great screenplay and obviously the cast, and I fortunately had a lot to do with how it got cast. (McNamara’s) writing is very witty but I think (it helped) casting Louis C.K., casting someone as funny as Bryan (Cranston) to play a very serious role. John Goodman as Frank King and Stephen Root as Hymie. Those are funny men.”
4. The score drives the mood. “I talked with the composer (Theodore Shapiro) about finding the level of seriousness in the music. That was really important to me. And that then also left room for the occasional bit of lighter touch of irony.”
5. Dalton Trumbo was a genuinely funny man. You should read his letter to his son, in freshman year of college, about masturbation and its virtues. And it’s signed, ‘from the masturbator’s masturbator, Dalton Trumbo.’ It’s in the documentary that his son participated in. Nathan Lane reads that letter out loud.”