I’ve been trying to stop writing my thoughts on a movie in an interview article but in this case I have to say a few words on Zodiac.
Chloe Sevigny: Yes.
CS: Definitely. And, before I started the picture, a girlfriend of mine who was obsessed with Zodiac when she was a teenager, as lots of alternative girls probably were [laughs], gave me a copy of her book. I thought, “Maybe I’ll read it and try to get into where my husband in the movie’s mind was, what he was obsessed with and what he was dealing with, day in and day out,” and I couldn’t. I got almost through half of it and I had to put it down. I was like, “I just don’t want to read about this anymore.” [Laughs] That’s probably how Melanie is. She doesn’t want to hear about it anymore. It’s this morbid subject. Her kids are threatened. I feel like that’s probably how she was. She just wanted it out of her face. She didn’t even want to read the newspaper articles. She’d heard way too much about it already. I feel like that was probably her attitude. That’s what I did, not because I’m lazy or anything. [Laughs] But, I truly was disturbed reading it. I was alternative, but I was never obsessed with Manson or Zodiac, or whatever else kids like that get into.
CS: The wardrobe really affects me, and the hair and make-up, and all of that. I felt like they were trying to make me look frumpy to make Jake look less attractive. [Laughs] He has this unattractive girlfriend, therefore you can believe he’s less attractive. I don’t know. That’s my own insecurities. But, I did like that she wasn’t glamorous, in any regard. She was a working mother, and she was very practical. I got to be kind of cute, in the beginning. I liked that she was this practical, sassy, no nonsense lady.
CS: I did. She came to the set with one of her daughters and hung around for half a day. A set’s kind of boring, so she didn’t last that long. But, she was very spunky. They changed so much of the details, within their relationship. When they met, she also worked at The Chronicle, and things like that. I didn’t want to delve too deep. It’s always difficult when you’re playing [a real person]. After ‘Boys Don’t Cry,’ I actually vowed I would never play another living person, and then I have twice, already. It’s always a little touchy.
Q: Did Robert Graysmith help you with the role at all?
CS: I didn’t meet him. My scenes were fully realized. I had no trouble realizing where I was in the story or what the intention was of the scene. It was pretty obvious, to me, what was happening. My character was, to a certain degree, there to service what was happening to Jake, who was the main character, and I don’t mind that. I love the film, the overall script, and Fincher and his vision, and I wanted to be a piece of that puzzle that put this movie together.
CS: No. I only worked 10 days out of 100, so I always think, “God, it’s such a small part.” But, people like that humanity, or to see that aspect, or to see someone’s home life fall apart. The movie is all about obsessions, and these different people’s obsessions with the Zodiac, and how it ruins their home lives.
CS: That’s how it was written. But, I also didn’t want to be this hysterical woman. I think that she respects her husband, and she knows he has this [obsession]. She wants to understand why because she wants to help him, but she’s not going to go crazy and throw things around because she realizes that he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do. He’s gotta follow it through, or else he’s never going to come out of it.
CS: Drugs, yeah, but not an obsession with something like a Zodiac.
CS: Something about him that you don’t know? I don’t know. What do you know? [Laughs]
CS: Really?
CS: He does, yeah. He has a lot. And, I liked how obsessive he was, as a filmmaker. I felt like I was in really safe hands. I’m quite obsessive compulsive, myself, and to know that he is aware of every inch of the frame and what’s going on, I felt very safe in his hands. But, he was very friendly and warm, actually, and jokey. His little daughter, Phelix, would come to the set. It was a really nice set. He would get very angry and curse a lot, which I kind of find sexy sometimes. [Laughs] He was just so in control. Sometimes, he would curse at people.
CS: No, at the crew.
CS: I’ve had obsessions with different rock stars or musicians growing up, throughout my life. But, right now, I don’t have any real obsessions. I don’t have time to obsess over things because I’m working on the second season of ‘Big Love’ and we work five days a week, 10-16 hour days, every day. So, I don’t really have time right now. I’m in a relationship and I did obsess over him, to a degree that we had to [take a break]. It was a little too much, so we had to back off. Now, it’s good. [Laughs] I’m kind of a smotherer, which is slightly obsessive.
CS: Oh, my God, I could not take it. Clutter drives me bonkers. I think I would just hide it all in the closet.
CS: No. There were lots of wardrobe and make-up girls. I’m not one to go sit behind the monitor with the producers and chat. I always go off in a corner and read my newspaper. I’m not so ambitious that I’m trying to work everybody. I know I’m only there for 10 days, so I’m going to do my work and do it the best I can. That’s it for me. I’m not trying to make any friends. I’ve got enough. [Laughs] Was that horrible to say?
CS: I like my friends.
CS: What can I say about it? I think people will be really pleased. It moves at a much faster pace. Last season, I think it was a little slow, especially in the beginning. It kind of picked up towards the end. We’d have these problems that went over seven episodes, and now there’s a problem and a resolve, almost per episode.
CS: I don’t know. It took so long for us to come back because the show-runners wrote the next season 6-9 months after where the last season stopped and HBO didn’t like that, so they had to go back and rewrite everything, starting the day after. So, we basically pick up where the show left off. A lot of unanswered questions are answered, and Nicki, my character, gets into some trouble again, and it’s quite funny. But, I don’t know if I can give you any specifics. I might get in trouble. Oh, but they have a brilliant idea. They’re going to do these teasers that come out around Mother’s Day ‘cause the show starts airing in June. So, you’re going to have all these promos that are backstory, showing when we first met, or when Barb is sick and I’m there and we’re talking about me marrying Bill -- different insights into how we all got to where we are, which I think are great teasers. It’s more clever than a regular commercial.
CS: As tedious as the 80 takes was, I liked it because you just got to try so many more things. You got to just experiment with it. The 80 takes wasn’t just because of performance, obviously. He’s so technical that a lot of it had to do with camera moves and lighting or background. With the children, it was obviously very difficult, so any of the scenes with the kids, there’s always lots of [takes]. The pace of the show is just insane. What they make us do is unfair. It really is. [Laughs] There’s all this chaos and then they’re like, “Okay, we’re shooting, now act!” It’s very hard.
CS: No, I just get frustrated. I just get angry.
CS: No, I like the show. And, I think we might get more days next season. If it does well, they’ll give you a couple more. They like to spend money, though.
CS: A little bit. If there’s something I really feel that she wouldn’t do, I’ll voice my opinion, but I can’t write like they can. I think they’re pretty brilliant, and I’m pretty pleased with the character, overall.
CS: No. The creators and the writers are always on the set of ‘Big Love,’ and they’re always watching and they’re always analyzing everything. It’s kind of annoying. [Laughs]
CS: I like girl groups, like the Shangri-Las.
CS: I don’t know. I still listen to a lot of stuff that I listened to when I was younger. Actually, this box set just came out on Rhino called ‘Rockin’ Bones’ that’s all 1950's punk and rockabilly. It’s a great box set. I listen to a lot of Johnny Thunders. It goes from Morrissey to The Misfits.
CS: No. I think that would be distracting. But, he watched back every single take. He had two plasma screen monitors and he would watch back every take. And, Jake would watch them too. I’d be in a corner, [covering my face]. I don’t like to hear my voice.
CS: No because then I become really too self-conscious, the next time I do it.
CS: Later, yeah. I didn’t watch the TV show. I thought the lighting was terrible. [Laughs] I watched one episode -- the episode they made us do commentary on -- but that was it.
CS: Luckily, I was with the other girls, so we were just gossiping and girly. We just goofed and praised everybody else, or each other.
CS: I’m looking around, reading things and trying to find the right project. Last hiatus, I did three pictures. I did ‘Zodiac,’ ‘Lying’ -- that went to
CS: I was talking to these guys, years ago, about playing Alla Nazimova. She was a Russian actress that came to
CS: It’s called ‘Sisters,’ and Ed Pressman, the original producer, produced it. And, we have the same soundtrack, but it’s kind of revamped a little bit.
CS: We’re still shooting ‘Big Love,’ so I can’t go to that.
CS: Chloe. The designer Chloe.
CS: I don’t buy anything new. I only buy vintage.
CS: I haven’t had enough experiences on bigger movies and I felt like, with Fincher, it was almost like an independent because he had so much control of it, or at least it seemed like he did. [Laughs] I think he did. I’ll do both, I’m sure. We made ‘Lying’ for about $100,000 and I have to say, I don’t ever want to make a movie for that little money again. It’s just too taxing. We would have one holding room for all the girls. There was no catering. There was no money for anything and no time to do anything. That’s ridiculous. [Laughs] So, I don’t know if I have the patience for that low a budget again. Maybe $10 million or under. I don’t know if I want to do any more $1 million films, like ‘Boys Don’t Cry’ or ‘Kids.’
CS: Fincher. For me, throughout my career, I’ve worked with Lars von Trier, Woody Allen, Jim Jarmusch -- we made a short film together. I haven’t necessarily always liked the parts. It’s been more about the opportunity to work with them and be in one of their pictures. So, I like David Fincher. Like in ‘American Psycho,’ my character shows more of the human side, and I felt like Melanie brought a bit of that to ‘Zodiac’ too and I liked that.