Video Title: A Look Into Will Smith's Collateral Beauty With Director David Frankel
Video Duration: 4:09
Allison: Hi I´m Allison Hasley with FlickDirect and I´m speaking with David Frankel about his new film, ´Collateral Beauty´. Hello sir, how are you?
David: I´m well. How are you, Allison?
Allison: I´m great thanks. So when you first read the script, what was the first thoughts that went through your mind?
David: Well, first I had to get some Kleenex and dry my tears. It´s a very moving screenplay. And then I thought ´Wow, this is really special´. These are the kind of movies – it´s is the kind of movie studios don´t make anymore, sort of a big, movie star drama, and it´s a rare opportunity.
Allison: It looks extremely emotional. Talk to me about this cast, because I mean Will Smith, Helen Mirren, Kate Winslet, Ed Norton, -I mean it goes on and on.
David: They´re all movie stars. You know, you´d be thrilled to get any one of them, so to get a whole gaggle of them was pretty exciting. And you know it´s rare that you make up lists of actors and you always get your fist choice and we - that´s what happened here, we got everybody we wanted. I think that´s a tribute to the screenplay and a tribute to Will Smith. I think everybody would li- me included, wanted to work with Will.
Allison: Great. Talk a little bit about Alan Lope´s collaboration on the film in terms of the script and what kind of insight he gave you.
David: Well, Alan wrote the screenplay over a long period of time, and this is a very personal screenplay for him. And I wanted him on the set every day and we had a lot it´s a very complicated story and there´s a lot of characters and I wanted to be able to discuss every line in the script as we were shooting it with the stars, and be able to make adjustments or try things different ways. And it was just great to have the writer there rather than us sort of making stuff up.
Allison: Absolutely, it certainly makes it a lot more personal for everyone involved.
David: Well, it´s just that- you know, he´s very talented. And it´s a real balancing act; there are many layers to the movie and there´s almost a science to, you know, if you went this way with one decision how would that affect the other scenes. So there was a lot of conversation off the set.
Allison: So in the film they described collateral beauty as the profound connection to everything. What does that mean for you personally?
David: Well for me it´s, collateral beauty is the things you notice- the beautiful things you notice in life when you´re going through a very dark time. And you know there´s, the universe has a way of reminding you that yes, you may be sad, you may be depressed, you may be grief stricken, you may just be going through a tough time, but there are still wonderful reasons to be alive to appreciate every moment of life.
Allison: That sounds like a terrific message, I´m really excited to see it.
DAVID: Well, it´s a real holiday message too. I think all of us think about that at the end of the – every year, you know as we see family, or don´t see family, and you know you are craving for connection. It´s more powerful at that time of year.
Allison: Absolutely. Tell me, if you can, a little bit what may be next for you?
David: You know, I don´t know what´s next. I´m still reading a lot of stuff and trying to figure it out. I don´t have a plan. You know, I´ve been so committed to this movie and it all came together so quickly. And we just finished a few weeks ago, so I´m just about to take a break. In fact, I just was shooting last week, we shot a music video with OneRepublic for that, for the song that plays over the end credits so that´s for tonight, so that´ll be out in a few weeks.
Allison: Excellent that´s going to be wonderful. Well thank you so much, this is out December 16th, and I really appreciate you talking with us today.
DAVID: Oh, it´s my pleasure.
