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A Million Little Pieces , out in theaters this preceding weekend , tells the now - infamous story of author James Frey ’s recovery from dependence . Beyond the controversy environ which details were true or not , though , film director Sam Taylor - Johnson assure an important content of hope that she drop a decade hoping to move around into a film . After spell the screenplay with her husband Aaron Taylor - Johnson , who also stars in the pic , she sat down with Screen Rant to discuss why this was the right labor for them and how she approaches James ’ singular narration .
praise onA Million Little Pieces , which I hump . It was very powerful .
Sam Taylor - Johnson : give thanks you so much , that means everything . When you sprout a little movie in 20 day , every little bit of positivism helps .
20 days ? That ’s crazy .
Sam Taylor - Johnson : Yeah , 20 days . It was mad . wholly insane . Everything about this moving picture has been intense .
This is the second feature that you ’ve worked on with Aaron , as the last meter wasNowhere Boy . Now that you ’re married , how did that impact your communication and collaboration ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : I think because we met that way , we already had that language go down in blank space . Because we ’d already done that , and before we were together , so it felt very born . We went straight back in , and we ’ve been seek to find something since then . So , for the retiring 10 class , we ’ve been strain to find the right cloth . I ’d always said to him when I showed him the book , " This is lead to be such a estimable pic . I ’d love this to be something that we do together . " I kind of kept an center on it over the last decennium .
Why was this the correct project to do with Aaron ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : I think it was because I know how skilled he is as an thespian . And go with an worker who completely immerses himself in roles , I ’ve been through some vivid characters , so I knew his proclivity to go deep into the world of his part . I hump he could do this one so well , and it required that . When it come around , it was because we were try out to find something for the two of us , so it was always going to be him .
I take it on because I just loved the rummy journey of James , and the way the Word of God was compose was kind of a freeform flow of knowingness . It just palpate like such an interesting course to take with a very , very important story .
Aaron has always been a strong actor and always adding more range to his acting . Why did you see him as the one to play James Frey ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : Just because I knew he could go to the place that you need to go so as to convincingly play this character , specially one like James Frey . It felt like he was going to take it on the journey that it needed to go on . He ’d never breeze through the story anyway , but it could n’t find like that . However we told the story , it had to be as real and as vivid a journey as potential , and I get it on that he had the capacity .
You have an awful supporting cast , from Juliette Lewis to Billy Bob Thornton . How did that all come together ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : When we were spell it , because we write it over two years , we had a space where we would pin up pictures of everyone we recall would represent that eccentric . Billy Bob Thornton was really numeral one for us for Leonard , so he was on the wall for the two age that we were writing . When we then handed him the hand and waited to hear from him , we were in a dreaming , because we ’d really feel him as Leonard all this time . He come back within a week - which is almost unheard of - and said , " I ’m on control board . "
Same with Juliette Lewis . I order to Aaron , " I kind of see Joanne the character as someone like Juliette Lewis , who ’s now older . " And he was like , " Well , then you should ask her , because I recollect she ’s now in that place . " So that was really great second .
Charlie Hunnam ; we almost work together on Fifty Shades and I was very sorry when that did n’t mold . But we stayed in tactile sensation and kept saying we should go together . When this follow along , I reckon , he would be such a upright crony for James . He ’s so empathetic and soulful , and in real aliveness he ’s a very gentle soul , so I felt like he would play this office so beautifully .
And then Odessa Young , for me , was a tangible discovery . I just found that I was just so drawn to her , and she could be so so many-sided . She could move around in any direction so well and just played Lily with such power and vulnerability and nuisance . And she had that steeliness that come up with that kind of painfulness , so she could bring forward so many different strengths .
You co - wrote this with Aaron and the substantial - life James Frey . Can you talk to me about that operation ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : Actually , James was n’t involved in the committal to writing physical process . He chose not to be . When I go to him , I said , " I listen that you you have the rights to your book . I would love to make this into a movie and be the one to pull it off . " He say to me , " Go for it . I do n’t want any involvement , unless you want me to be . And I wo n’t be there on set , unless you want me to be on set . I wo n’t register the script unless you want me to scan it . " He said , " Because I really feel like you should be free to be as creative as potential . You do n’t need me breathing down your neck . I conceive you should go freeform from the cloth and create it in the spirit of prowess , which is how I wrote it as well . "
Aaron and I got to the closing of the final selective service of the script , and I call him and I order , " James , would you like to record it ? " He said , " Do you want me to ? " I said , " Actually , no , I do n’t think I do . " " Okay , that ’s fine . Just go before . " So he was implausibly generous in that way , trust me to be capable to just be originative .
He ’s also a not bad resource , because I could call him up and say , " The character of Miles Davis , what do you reckon if I did this or that ? " And he would give me the number , saying . " Why do n’t you call him ? " I address the tangible - life Miles Davis , and woefully he was the only one still alert . We would hit out to him and the actor who play him , Charles Parnell , had a conversation with him many metre . So , he was dandy and generous in that way . But he never tried to abuse in and infix himself as help .
The original novel has so much controversy ; there ’s even aSouth Parkepisode based on it . With all the backstory , why did this motion picture mean so much to you ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : I do n’t have a go at it . It just got under my pelt from when I initially read the record , and I knew that it would make a powerful film as a journeying of somebody going through habituation . Now , by the time we ’ve save it and condensed 550 pages into a movie , you lose so much . You fall behind a great deal of characters , and you have to concentrate , and you have to complicate . By the time we got down to shooting it in 20 Day , so much of it has fallen by the wayside and it really was about the rum journeying of James .
So , all the controversy and everything surrounding it did n’t really mean anything in terms of the moving picture , because we were so far from any of that . Really , we ’re just sort of concentrate on this character of James and the journeying he goes through . But Aaron and I went to the treatment facility with James and spent meter though , and we got to meet some of he counselors who ’ve taken forethought of him . So , we went through the journey , and it was as real as this . James Frey go into that handling center addict to crack cocaine and alcohol , and he ’s 26 eld sombre . For me , that was really what it come down to . It was the positive side of the story , not all the controversy or anything negative attached to it .
Addiction is such a heavy yet universal reality that millions shinny with . What do you hope that people take away from this motion picture ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : Hope , in one word . Hope is the primary thing because you see James in such a dark place , and the journeying that he go on , through the musical accompaniment of a residential area and people that become wise man and friends , you could see that there is a way through . And that way through is base on bread and butter and help and counseling . In a way , because we shoot on a low budget and it was n’t a studio apartment movie , nothing ’s glossed over and it feels very real . But I think at last the message is Leslie Townes Hope ; that hope and support is there for mass who may recognize themselves in this movie .
How difficult is it to direct a loved one through so many torturing scenarios that range from soporific withdrawals to tantrum of sexual intimacy ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : I mean , it ’s tough . But at the same time , every single whole step of this flick has been a challenge . From not having much sentence and only having one take to saying , " It ’s available now and you literally have one mean solar day ; we ’ve have to nail it . " That was rugged in itself .
On a more personal level , when Aaron rifle into character , he ’s in character . When I took this on I thought , " Wow , here we go . " It was definitely a sensory faculty of losing him to quite a dark headspace . In price of the intimacy within the movie , that ’s my job and I write it . I knew what I was getting into , and I ca n’t really go down that path and suddenly go , " hold off a minute . "
What ’s your process for separating the drama on fix from your folk and rest home sprightliness ?
Sam Taylor - Johnson : I guess it being shot in such a condensed period of time meant we were n’t separating from the family for long . We had our parents come and take care of the child , and then we went into the headspace of how to make this body of work .
At the same meter , we were producer as well as writer , so there was never really a stepping out of it during the process of film . We had to wrap on sets and then get back and ride up all Nox write to do modification for the next day or figuring out some of the complexities of how we find money to shoot something like the aeroplane scene . We had no money to dissipate the airplane scene , but we knew it was integral to the picture show . So , we were invariably brainstorm challenges every twenty-four hour period . And knowing someone so well , we kind of experience how to keep ourselves in that headspace and also join forces on get the functional things to pass too .
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A Million Little Piecesis now in field of operations .
