Vulture: In-Depth Chat With David Fincher

It's rare enough to witness David Fincher sit down for a prolonged interview with anyone, it seems. Precisely why fincherfanatics have learned to appreciate any occasion to dive into Mr. Fincher's thoughts, and this interview with New York Magazine does it at its very best.

It's obviously a piece alongside the »Social Network« campaign. But that hurts not one bit: Fincher talks extensively about the screenplay, the actors and the dealings with the studio. He shares how he got a 166 page screenplay in under two hours running time and why Jesse Eisenberg is worth every bit of praise in the early reviews.

I know the anger that comes when you just want to be allowed to do the things that you know you can do.

– David Fincher

And it's more than that: It feels like this is one of the very exclusive occasions when Fincher actually talks about his craft, sharing some of his mind tricks and some of his methods that make him one of the very best not only visual directors at work today -- but one of the very best directors period.

On working with actors and doing hundreds of takes:

»I’m not, like, trying to psychologically remake people, but look, it’s an incredibly neurotic thing to want to do with one’s life. It’s incredibly hard to stand in front of a camera and be the focus of that attention and not be self-conscious. It makes you self-conscious, and to get beyond that self-consciousness, I absolutely want people to have their idea of what the scene is about, to have an idea of what their moment is. And then I want to take them through that process to a point where they’ve literally forgotten their own names. I want to take them past the point where they go, "But I had it all worked out." If it’s still there but you’re doing it a little bit later or doing it a little bit flustered. You know, it’s an interesting thing: It happens very rarely, but invariably, when an actor’s in the middle of a take and they go, "Uh, hang on a sec, sorry, my fault, can we start again?" always it’s the best take. Always the best take before they cry uncle, before they go, "Wait a minute, I’ve lost my train of thought." And I can show them on the monitor: "Look at you here, that is you at your most present, when you’re falling-down ill, like Dudley Moore in Arthur, ass-over-teakettle trying to remember where you were in the thing, that’s when you are stunning and real and amazing."«

These nuggets of wisdom are amazing and there is more of that in the interview. A real stunner, definitely a MUST-READ.

Check this out now:
http://nymag.com/...