Related
Aaron Taylor - Johnson made the leap from actor to screenwriter withA Million Little Pieces , the adaptation of James Frey ’s notorious novel that ’s out in theaters this past weekend . Taylor - Johnson conscientious objector - wrote the screenplay with his married woman , Sam Taylor - Johnson , and he also stars in it . The actor sat down with Screen Rant to explicate why the write up was such a heat task and how it all came together .
This is the first movie where you ’re credited as a writer . Can you talk to me about the mental process of exploit with Sam and James to compose this story ?
Aaron Taylor - Johnson : It was fantastic . We were very golden to find out that the rights to A Million Little Pieces had reverted back to James . Because it ’d been trip the light fantastic around the studio for the last 15 years , and what with the argument , they just kind of put it in the on the ledge . No one could take it , and over time different movie maker live on to it and then dropped off . I make love this because Sam for the last 10 year has been wanting to make the pic , so it was always a warmth project . It was always something she feel in her bones that she was going to make herself . In her mind , she said , " You ’d be the perfect James . "
So when it come about , we had follow up , and James had just been so easy and so open . He pronounce , " Look , I drop a line this in the flavour of art . Go make it up . " He said , " I ’ll be there as much as you want , and I can also lead you alone . I ’ll be easy . Call me if you need to call me . " So , from that moment on , it was this beautiful form of trust and freedom to have creative licensing and make an aesthetic interpretation of the Christian Bible .
And I consider also , what with the controversy , it allowed us to have something to sort of break off from ; to not be constrained to the record book , page - by - Thomas Nelson Page . Which is impossible , anyway , as it ’s a 400 - pageboy volume that you ’ve got to break down to 110 pages in a screenplay . Three character reference go into one and thing get fleshed out , and it was just beautiful . It was really easy ; it was very serendipitous . This was the one that Sam had wanted to make , and she intend for me to play James .
We both put job on detainment for about 18 calendar month to two year , we posture down , and we just broke up into a three act structure and test to keep everything constitutional to the book . We tried to just connect James ’s journeying throughout retrieval and on his route to buyback , invariably trying to find the light at the end of the tunnel and the Leslie Townes Hope whilst interacting with these grapheme around him and the community around him and the obstacles .
I really love the operation of writing ; it was just fantastic . I often sit down for 14 hours straight , drink coffee , and just smash it out . Then I pace around , read Modern varlet , have intellection and musical theme , and go , " What if we try this ? " And most of the optical scenes , that ’s all fantastic optic thought from Sam . Like , the shit corridor , for example . It ’s a essentially a scene in the book where the wall are caving in , and James is in his head , sound out , " I want to creep back to where I feel safest . " And that ’s that dark-skinned hole ; it ’s the sewers , the toilet , the inkiness and the darkest of darkness . From that came this musical theme for the walls to start run shit , and for him to commence off all frightened and insecure and then eventually he touches the wall and goes , " Wait , I know this . This is just shit . I ’ve been to the darkest of Hell ; this should be easy . This should be a walk in the park . " He starts to dance , and then he slew his way into rehab with this sort of reluctance and this hauteur .
All of that kind of stuff hail into it , and it was a lot of fun putting it together . But it was by and large just me and Sam sitting in the studio apartment and bouncing around musical theme , putting five lineup up on the bulwark and pulling thing down . And then also to be casting and put up exposure of actors , all of which we luckily get out to . It was one of those beautiful moment where , after 18 months of many unlike drafts and financing and budget , we ended up with the hand that we set out to do . And Juliette Lewis , Giovanni Ribisi , Charlie Hunnam , and Billy Bob Thornton had all come back moderately quickly to say , " We ’re in . "
And it was just one of those moments where we just felt we were so favorable . We ’re pinch ourselves , " Wow , we ’re really choke to make this pic . This is mad . " I could never dreamed of anything better . And we build it from the ground up . It has been one of the most exciting experiences I ’ve ever had , and it really takes you back into the human race of independent filmmaking and how it ’s a collaborationism . It ’s hard to come by .
I ca n’t believe it only film 20 Clarence Shepard Day Jr. for you to dissipate the movie . That ’s softheaded to me .
Aaron Taylor - Johnson : Well , that was as many as we could get . I mean , our original script was a 30 to 35 - day shoot , which would have been for us to get everything we need in a very ambitious handwriting . But even the stuff that we did get in , some of that stuff was n’t even schedule . For instance , the airplane was something we did n’t even have scheduled . Because at one spot , we had to make a raft of cuts . They all want to verify ; they need to appear at your docket and see that you ’re shooting six to seven scenes a twenty-four hours , which already makes everyone neural . You ’re last to go over by a couple hours every day , and it ’s just not possible . Of course , Sam always complete and wraps on time .
One of the most massive tantrum was the airplane , and all we could afford was six place and a quarter of a sheet . We had to swerve it out of the script , and it ’s manifestly the conniption that if you postulate anyone who ’s take the book , they ’ll say , " Oh , yeah , a guy wire wakes up on a plane with a smashed up face . " And we did n’t have it ; we were tell to reduce it out . That ’s like a red rag to a shit when you tell Sam something like that , so for five days straight , she would wrap the crew an hour too soon and be able to bulge enough cash to bribe six seats , a short number of ceiling , two windows and the floor . And then , certain enough , we finished on Friday . The crew ’s jumping up and down because we bought another spell of the scene to the story , and it was very much like that all the path through . Just magical variety of moment like that , where we all had to get together and work to make this affair what it is .
The output side of it was a beautiful sentence and a beautiful experience , too . The hardest bit was trying to compute it all out .
Marvel is launching the newWhat If … ?series next class , with individual lineament or individual event changes . Is there any luck that we could see you reprise your purpose as Quicksilver , perhaps aWhat If … ?episode where he survivedAge of Ultron ? Or could we mayhap see you inWandaVision ?
Aaron Taylor - Johnson : Is there any possible action ? I do n’t do it . Not this time of year . I cerebrate there involve to be a discussion about how to bring that character reference back without have rebound . And there has been , but no , there will be no appearance . I think we ’re both open to possibilities with the Marvel Universe , though , as it has been over the old age . evidently , I ’m aware of the Disney+ program and all the show that are blend on , and I ’m still in touch with a lot of the citizenry . But I call back it ’s safe to say that there is there will be no appearances in anything come out . Quicksilver wo n’t be appear anytime presently .
Aaron Taylor - Johnson : I call up the beautiful thing about Leonard ’s character is that he becomes this very near ally , and then becomes a sort of father figure . But ultimately , in the AA world , he ’s the mentor . You come up out and you ’ve got this married person , you ’ve got this mentor who is your lifeline . He or she is your guidance collaborator , and that ’s kind of what Leonard does . He sort of befriend him out of all of the people that are there ; he already has this affixation to him . I recollect he hear a lot of himself in James , as he tells him the story that he was that Kyd who was lost and luckily feel a household with this mobster . And I suppose he ’s sort of trying to return that relationship , that character . I think he never get to be that role , and I think he wanted to be some sort of Padre figure .
It ’s a beautiful story that could unquestionably be a moving picture of its own . We did n’t dive into that too much , because it ’s a whole other tale - I experience it ’s probably a standalone thing . But it was great . We were so lucky to have Billy Bob . He ’s just phenomenal and bring so much aliveness into it . And I bang working with him so much , because he ’s such a badass and such a fable . He ’s always capture these roles that are just on the leaflet and always unpredictable . But he was the most genuine , sweetest guy and a real collaborator . I admire him as a filmmaker and a writer as well , and so every now and again we ’d sit down and I ’d say , " Would you elevate some of this stuff ? " Sure enough , we would sit down for a couple hour here and there every other workweek for a twain week , and sort of come up with some more small things to play with . It was just one of those joyous instant for me as a young doer and first - clock time Centennial State - writer . Those are the moment that you just hold dear .
Thank you so much for your time . Aaron . I ca n’t wait for people to see it .
More : Sam Taylor - Johnson Interview for A Million Little Pieces
A Million Little Piecesis now playing in theaters .
