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Touchdown DANCE
DAVID O. RUSSELL makes bipolar disorder, dance competitions, and the NFL the stuff of romantic comedy in Silver Linings Playbook, a seriously funny feature with star turns by BRADLEY COOPER and JENNIFER LAWRENCE. MIGUEL ARTETA interviews writer/ director RUSSELL and executive producer and star COOPER. Portrait by ELIOT LEE HAZEL.
Silver Linings Playbook actor/executive producer Bradley Cooper and writer/director David O. Russell

PHOTO BY ELIOT LEE HAZEL

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Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook

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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

n 2010, David O. Russell had the biggest movie of his career with The Fighter, his biopic of boxer Micky Ward, starring Mark Wahlberg and Amy Adams. The lm took almost $100 million in stateside receipts, won Christian Bale and Melissa Leo awards in the supporting categories at both the Oscars and the Golden Globes, and earned Russell his rst Academy Award nomination, for Best Director. But now Russell has returned to the realm of complex, sophisticated and seriously funny comedies, where he rst made his name. Russells new lm, Silver Linings Playbook based on the 2008 debut novel of the same name by Matthew Quick is the story of Pat Solitano Jr. (Bradley Cooper), a Philadelphia high school teacher who discovers his wife Nikki en agrante with a male colleague which causes him to ip out and brutally beat the man. Diagnosed as bipolar and put in a psychiatric unit (rather than doing time), Pat is released after eight months and goes to live with his footballcrazed parents, Dolores (Jacki Weaver) and Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), who are mostly happy to have him under their roof even

though hes not taking his meds and is clearly not yet stable. Though certain things set him off and cause him to lose control again, Pat has an almost scarily positive attitude, insisting that, even though they are now estranged and theres a restraining order against him, he and Nikki will be reunited soon. Hes looking for the positive in every negative situation, trying to better himself reading, exercising in order to be the man his wife deserves, trying to nd a way to beat this bipolar thing. Shortly after returning to his parents home, Pat meets Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), the young, recently widowed sisterin-law of his best friend Ronnie (John Ortiz). Like Pat, shes on various meds, has no lter and doesnt conform to others ideas of what she should be. Though she initially pursues him, Pat is set on getting back with Nikki and wont let himself deviate from this true path despite the obvious attraction between these two damaged souls. Instead, they decide to form an alliance and pledge to help one another: She promises to smuggle his letters to Nikki, who is best friends with her sister Veronica (Julia Stiles), and in

exchange he agrees to be her partner in an upcoming dance competition and train with her prior to the event. Silver Linings Playbook is that rare thing an intelligent, grown-up date movie. Beautifully written and directed by Russell, its a redemption tale that uses football as an analogy but then weaves a nuanced, sweet and deeply human narrative that transcends the simplicity of sports measures of success and failure. Its two leads shine Cooper proves hes much more than just a pretty face, and Lawrence is electric as the raw, tender Tiffany. And the supporting cast, from De Niro and Animal Kingdoms Weaver to Chris Tucker playing Coopers fellow psych ward inmate, bring to life the richly drawn characters in Russells screenplay. To interview Russell a 2012 honoree at IFPs annual Gotham Indepedent Film Awards and his producer/star Cooper, Filmmaker asked Cedar Rapids Miguel Arteta, another director whos been known to mine difficult topics for comic capital. Below, the pair discuss their creative partnership, the directing card Russell always carries with him on set, and when its okay to

give an actor a line reading. Silver Linings Playbook is released by The Weinstein Company on November 21. So, how did the lm come about and how did you guys get together? DAVID O. RUSSELL: Well, should we talk about love rst, or not? [Laughs] That is not for the interview. Filmmaker readers have no interest in love. RUSSELL: Okay, leave the emotions out of it. So, the year before he passed away, Sydney Pollack gave me and Harvey [Weinstein] the book. [Sydney] said, what a complicated tone it had. Holly [Davis], the woman I live with, shes a big reader, so she read the book rst. She said, I think youre going to really like this, because she knows my older son and some of the challenges he and the whole family have faced from mood issues. This was before The Fighter. Then, after The Fighter, I knew even more what I liked about this [storys] family, the neighborhood, the house and all that stuff. Im as interested in the people and the furniture and the food as I am in the story. When wed scout locations, I remember I stayed in the houses we would scout, and I would be like, Oh, were not going to shoot here? I really like these people. Thats how we found our [Philadelphia] Eagles expert, actually. Anyway, Harvey nally came back and said, Lets make this picture. BRADLEY COOPER: I met David when we had a phone call about this movie, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, at LionsGate. I loved the script he wrote for that. Thats where he and I met. And then that went away and we sort of talked about a couple of projects. He said, This is one of the things Im circling why dont you read it? And so, I read Silver Linings, and I liked it. You read the book or the script? COOPER: No, just the script. I remember thinking, Im from Philly, but Im not really right for this role. I think I was probably scared of it. Well, you know, if youre not scared of a role, then its never that worth taking, right? COOPER: I gotta say, I totally changed my whole thinking. I remember Willem Dafoe came to our school and he said, I dont do a role that doesnt scare me. When I dont think I can do a role, thats the role I take. I remember thinking, That doesnt make any sense. Back then, I thought you [should] want to take a role that you feel a connection to. So

I thought, God, I dont know, man. This [character] was just so fucked up. It demanded really going to a lot of places and knowing the movies that [David] makes, I thought, Jesus Christ, Im really going to have to go to those places and not act like Im going to those places. So I wouldnt say I was terried, but... Then, when he let me read it, he [didnt say], I want you to do this role. This is your movie. So I was like, Okay, Im sure Ill never get this role. David, when did you have the moment when you were like, Wait a second, this is my partner. I gotta go make the movie with him? RUSSELL: Well, as we were approaching

all these layers of this person that I related to very strongly. Were both half ItalianAmerican, so I made the story [about a family that was] Italian-American. Robert De Niro and I had been speaking over the years about wanting to work together. So after [I nished] The Fighter, I rewrote [the father] role for him. Bradley, I know you loved working with Robert. You guys were amazing in Limitless. Was he already cast when you came on board? COOPER: Yes, I was the last one cast. I got a call from [David] as I was doing The Place Beyond the Pines

When you come to a set, theres all this scattered energy. But all that really matters is this story Im telling. I want everybody to come in and feel grounded.
production, certain situations werent resolving themselves with the studio and the cast. My rst impression of him was the guy in Wedding Crashers. What I nd exciting, kind of like what we did with Christian [Bale] and Amy [Adams] in The Fighter, is I love when people think they know who an actor is, but they dont. I relish that, especially when I know the person is real, you know? I said to [Bradley], I saw you in Wedding Crashers, and when I would see you around town I would think, That is an intimidating guy, because the guy from Wedding Crashers looks somewhat like an angry person. I believe that hes angry. In fact, so angry that I dont know if I want to hang out with him, you know? [Laughs] That was one of the rst things I said to him, and he was very candid with me. He said that he did use anger more at a different time in his life. And that candor opened up a door to a huge hall of mirrors that had all this stuff in it. Like, Oh, hes a really interesting person who has gone through lots of transitions hes not just the condent guy from The Hangover, the good looking guy. Then we kept getting to know each other, and I found Having De Niro there must have been a huge asset. COOPER: It was huge because I knew that I could easily believe that hes my father. [I could] say the word dad, and have that anchor me. Knowing that I loved Bob already was sort of a freebie; I already felt so connected to him. And he knew my dad, who had just passed. His dad had died at the same age. We have a lot of similarities in our histories that way. I was just so happy, because I didnt know anybody else [on the lm]. I didnt know David, I didnt know Jennifer, I didnt know Chris Tucker. I think Bob and Philadelphia, where Im from, were the two anchors. My mother grew up in a house not that different than the house that Pat Solitano grew up in. And so, what was the rst creative conversation you and David had? COOPER: It was really based around the opening monologue that the character has in the hospital. In it, he talks about how hes going to get his life back together. He basically runs through what has happened that led him to this place. Just hearing how David speaks when he talks, and the rhythm of his voice, I felt
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I want to find the moments where people are not talking, where people are just looking at each other. I think theres a lot of gold in that.
like I heard it in the way he was writing. I called David and left him a message of the monologue as Pat. I was like, How does this sound? I remember [David] texted me Yes! Yes! with an exclamation point. And then we went through it and sort of modulated it. We just read through the whole script as Pat. I would ask him to read it and I would read it sort of using his rhythms. He has a very specic rhythm, and Pat doesnt have the cadence that I have when I talk. It was just about nding that modulation. But that was just the beginning stages. It was just about nding that modulation. But that was just [during] the beginning stages. And then, we jumped into it and it really was on set where we created Pat. That rst scene when he comes in to meet Dad [Robert DeNiro], I did it much more troubled in some takes. We actually used that more Asperger-y [version of Pat], in the very beginning. He walks in the door whats in the movie now is that other guy. Okay. [Laughs] Wow. COOPER: He doesnt talk, and he hugs him and hes just sort of like Always suspicious? COOPER: Yes. That was the other guy. David was like, I dont know if a whole movie can sustain on that guy. I mean, after ve minutes, that might be enough. So, it was just about modulating [the character]. Its interesting you wanted to hear David read his dialogue, because a lot of actors dont want to get a line reading. COOPER: Right. But then there are a lot of actors who are not bothered by that. Theyre like, Tell me how you see it and then Ill interpret or not interpret it. COOPER: Its a case by case basis. I certainly am someone who, up until then, would hate it if a director would give me a line reading. But you know, Im investing in a David O. Russell movie? So I made it very
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clear to myself that I am going to tack my little tugboat onto this vessel and do whatever he says. And then, as I got to know him, it became more of a partnership because I never felt like he was giving me a line reading. I felt like what he was doing was giving me an insight. It never felt like made out of paper mach, do you know what I mean? When were in the scene, hes a character in the scene. Hes talking to the other characters also, and youre incorporating that. Thats the way he directs everybody. Its a very unique way of working. Watching the movie, I noticed that the camera is very, very close to the characters. RUSSELL: Yes. And usually, when you do that, it ends up being not so elegant. To move a camera when youre that close to an actor, and to have the actors have the freedom that they need to do that, is difficult. So, thinking about the choreography of the camera, the lmmaker in

me wondered, What happens in the morning? Is it a free-for-all rehearsal? Or are you, David, saying, Why dont you guys just read it? Or, are you saying, Why dont you guys just see what you do, and let me go and change how you guys move? What happens rst thing? COOPER: You know, theres a ritual to it every day. Wed all get coffee. Im not even a coffee drinker but I drank ve espressos that whole shoot every day. [Laughs] Wed all get into the van. RUSSELL: Heres the reason why I think its important to get in the van. When you come to a set for me, theres all this scattered energy. But all that really matters is this right here, this story that Im telling right now. So we all need to feel. I want everybody to come in close and feel grounded. Get it gelled before you go out there. RUSSELL: Yes, yes, exactly. Dont be doing it in the middle of a set, with all sorts of people around. It just feels safe when youre in a van, in a car. Its like a small thing. I do it with the a.d. and the producer rst. I go, Lets talk about the day, how were going to do this, all right? And then, I do it with the cast. We all sit there and go, Lets talk about this scene. It was like we were trying to t a 38-pound ball in a 25-pound bag a 33-day shoot. And then you guys were like, Lets go. RUSSELL: We said, You know what? Were a day-and-a-half behind on the schedule and three days back. It was kind of like a football game. I go, I think I can see a chance to make up some major yardage here. I think we can make up like a day-and-a-half right now. Are you guys down for this? And theyre like, [Pretends to spit] Okay. [Laughs] So it was so like, although Anupam Kher was like COOPER: He was freaking out. RUSSELL: He was like, Well, wait a minute. Wait a minute. These are all of my scenes. I was like, Its going to be okay. Its going to be okay. Is there a moment when youre doing this stuff and you say, We have it.? Was it clear when you had it? RUSSELL: We would feel good. I think we would feel like we got our moments. COOPER: The other thing is, we were on a 33-day schedule. Ive done movies where theyve been that short of a schedule, and you just hope, Did we get it? This movie, I never felt like we ever tried to get it

HOW THEY DID IT

Production Format 35mm 2 perf, with some 3 perf. Camera ARRICAM Lite for 2 perf, ARRIFLEX 235 for 3 perf. Film/Tape Stock Kodak 5219 with some 5213. Editing System Avid Nitris. Color Correction Conformed via Autodesk Smoke 2012,color corrected via DaVinci Resolve, filming out via ARRILASER recorder 2254 Kodak negative / printing on Kodak 2383.

David O. Russell talks with Robert De Niro on the set of Silver Linings Playbook

we tried to get every version we could in as much time as we could. In the editing room, David saw that there were potentially six different movies in this movie six different paths, six different arcs. I mean, we really would do every version. There was an extreme version, a no-bullshit version, a more modulated version. And did that stay throughout the whole process? COOPER: The whole time. Because, you know, usually that happens at the beginning of a shoot, the rst week. COOPER: And youre just trying to get the scene. And then youre like, This is the way. This feeling for this character is what really feels right. And you more or less start nailing it down. But you were exploring different sides to the character throughout, all the way to the end? COOPER: The whole time. The whole time. So, within this environment of trust you were like, Im not going to decide what is right. Im not going to worry what makes it in the

movie. COOPER: Thats right. You would just move on? COOPER: What I worried about was giving him enough options. RUSSELL: Low, medium and high. I have a card of things that I [use to] try to remind myself, because the thing you always kick yourself [about] when youre in the editing room is, Why the fuck didnt I do this? What else is on that card? RUSSELL: Have we shot it in the most cinematically dynamic way that we can shoot it? Is it everything that it could be, quietly and emotionally? COOPER: Is there a version where theres no bullshit at all, like a completely real version? RUSSELL: Sometimes you want to try something very extreme. Sometimes you end up in the editing room and you go, Oh, the way to have done this scene was this way. And sometimes you just want to try to shake yourself like a snow globe and say, Wait a minute. Im looking at this the wrong way. What if I looked at it all through this characters point of view. We also would do the different emotions. Do it so it feels funnier, which I dont know how to do. I dont know how we did that.

And sometimes it feels sadder. When youre working with a director, sometimes you can tell when they were like, Thats the one, he loved it, right? COOPER: Well, were both pretty enthusiastic people, and its pretty obvious when we like something. [Laughs] Sometimes I feel like were gold panners, you know what I mean? If someone nds a little bit of gold, were not shutting up about it. Thats part of what I loved about him. Were all tired, were all working really hard, so if we get some magic, were going to celebrate it, you know? And it was very much like everybody was celebrating. Shelley [Ziegler], the rst a.d., she was crying a lot. And David Thompson, who was the camera operator, would know. When Bob came up the stairs, when he cried, that was the last take of his close-up. RUSSELL: It was a surprise. I was, Lets just do one more, and all of a sudden was like, What the fuck is happening? COOPER: It was amazing. RUSSELL: He pulled that out as a surprise on us. He wanted to do it real for you, and he wanted to do it real for me because he
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PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook

goes, I can do it.

The last six hours of every day were more productive than the first six hours. The last take of a scene would all of a sudden just click.
personally identies with much of this material for similar reasons as I do you know, as a father. We identify. Weve been down these roads with children, with family members. And so, it was very personal to him. We had gotten to know each other over the years, and he really wanted to fucking do it, to memorize these long monologues. It was important to him that he knew them, and he worked tremendously hard. Actors, they get older and after all the accolades they tend to be like, Look, Im just going to show up COOPER: Not this motherfucker. RUSSELL: And I directed him very respectfully. I said what I thought [and then] left it to him. Hes an intimidating human being, and we were so blessed to have him there.
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I am such a believer in the intangibles, how the camera records the intangibles. I think a camera records stuff that is not in the frame RUSSELL: Like your soul. Well, like something intangible that happens between people. RUSSELL: Thats the magic. I say to my cinematographers, If were going to tell a story, just photograph the actors eyes. You dont even have to go to the long shot. All were doing here is photographing the actors eyes. Thats how we tell the story. And then that sort of non-verbal communication starts to happen. You become a witness, as opposed to RUSSELL: Thats very well said. Youre almost a participant, rather than a more distant person. COOPER: Listen, its less safe. Yeah, its a lot less safe. RUSSELL: There is something that should be on the card, which would just be stillness. Which goes to what you said about the eyes. In the editing room, you edit the movie for three months and

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY

Hes such a warm, loving guy. We let our hair down and we are warm and welcoming, and that is the contagious thing. [When we were shooting the scenes at the Solitano household] we had a family vibe going. And I remember saying to Bob, How do you stand here all day like this? COOPER: He stood for three days. RUSSELL: That made me crazy. Heres De Niros standing there in the corner before we get to his part of the scene. Id be like, I cant look over there. He was standing there just for us COOPER: For six hours. RUSSELL: And then he said, Hey, all these other people can do it and theyre not making any money and they got no fans. He

youre like, Okay, this is it. This is great. And then, you go through another two months of ripping it apart, and then all of a sudden things happen where you say, Why didnt I think of that three months ago? Its so obvious that this is so far superior to anything we had before. Its so very different than what we had before that I cant even remember what we had before. Thats just how life is. You have to get there by going thereits not going to present itself to you, like you said. And the eyes thing is what happened like, in month eight or nine of editing. I said, I think we gotta go through the whole movie, guys. This is after we had previewed. We gotta go through the whole movie. I want us to breathe. I want to nd the moments where people are not talking, where people are just looking at each other. I think theres a lot of gold in that. And there is. Every emotion exponentially grows. Everything in the movie lands far more with that seemingly small shift. Its a small thing, but a huge thing. You have to ask [the studio] to unlock the movie to do that, so I was like, Well, I think we should unlock the movie. I always feel like I do my best work the last two hours of editing instead of the last six months. Sometimes I get very bold. Im like, Fuck it. Take that. RUSSELL: It was like when we were shooting too. The last six hours of ev-

ery day were always more productive than the rst six hours. The last take of a scene would all of sudden just click. If we ever had a celebratory moment, which we did often, we would go, Wait a second, what have we been fucking doing for the past 40 minutes? All of a sudden, it would come. COOPER: We would do the coverage. We would get the wide and do the coverage, get some pieces, and then it was, Lets do one fucking gangster Steadicam, lets just see it swim through the scene. RUSSELL: You gotta make sure you end up shooting it one way and then another way. And thats another thing on the card: make

sure youve got the dog in the corner. What? RUSSELL: You know, you gotta be able to have something to go to. It could just be Shea Whigham sitting in the corner. But cover your ass so that you can cut it every way you want to. Do whatever you want. Get a couple of dogs. COOPER: And then at the very end, strap on the Steadicam and RUSSELL: Let it rip. As if it was like a documentary thing. see page 78

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TOUCHDOWN DANCE
from page 35 That must be great as a performer, right? COOPER: It is, especially because youre almost dancing. Im someone whos always aware of where the camera is. I actually love that part of lmmaking, as opposed to being on stage. I love it. So, when you start to dance with the camera operator to the rhythm of the scene, its very exciting. It is when it becomes like a unit. COOPER: Yes. And we actually did have a dance scene at the end of the movie, which we had no time to shoot. It was fucking crazy. Theres 400 other actors as the audience, and were sitting there trying to put this thing together. You had your routine down by that point, right? COOPER: The routine we had down, but how do you lm that dynamically and personally? How many times have we watched Dancing with the Stars and all these shows? You see how people shoot dancing, but [here] you have to watch these two fall in love. Well, it seemed to me like you took a person out and put the camera in. COOPER: Yes, thats what we did. Thats exactly what we did. You danced with us and then she was dancing with us. COOPER: 100 percent correct. RUSSELL: The dancing was the whole thing to attack unto itself. We had to nd the right choreographer COOPER: Who was amazing, Mandy Moore. RUSSELL: Mandy Moore, right. Not the actress. She has done amateur Dancing with the Stars contests in Colorado, so shes no stranger to local dance contests, which is what I wanted it to feel like. I wanted it to feel like there were some ringers. Right. RUSSELL: Who were like, Oh, these are scary people, theyre from Belarus. A lot of them were from Belarus, for some reason. Theyre like professional dancers, theyre like assassins. I wanted our people to be kind of like if you and me did it, you know? The dancing in Pulp Fiction meant something to me because its about this its about their hearts and their eyes. And that, to me, was the most important thing. [Bradley and Jennifer] danced to the camera for one section of it, but the rest of it, I wanted to do in real time, which Im proud we did. Its just about being with them in a two shot. And because the choreography in the studio is also beautiful, did you choreograph the camera movements? Or, do you have so much faith in your operator as to the camera that you can
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say, Okay, do it differently, and something else will come? COOPER: Oh no, its like, [Davids] moving with the Steadicam. Youre walking around with it? COOPER: Oh yeah. Its very much the same way he is with the actors. People are ducking, booms are ying. I mean, he is steering every aspect of the ship. So, as youre editing the movie, youre constantly trying to gure out how much its going to cost to take him out of the frame. David, the lms background is particularly alive, like your actors. Often when you see lms, thats not the case. Is it just contagious because the background extras are watching you work? Or do you speak directly to them? How do they come to life? RUSSELL: Theres some union thing you have to go through because otherwise it becomes an upgrade. This was shot for the same budget as The Fighter, which is not a lot of money, so you have to [be careful about] suddenly [upgrading an extra, which happens] if you give them specic direction. But Shelley [Ziegler] is from Baltimore. She did The Sopranos a lot, she did Boardwalk Empire a lot. She did The Fighter. Shes fantastic, and she knows what we want, which is to make this feel warm and alive. She gives people specic instructions so they are doing specic things. That persons going to the chocolate fountain. These people are having an argument. These people are happy to be there and are taking pictures. These people are irting with each other. This guy wants to see that girl over there. Alright, lets talk about Jennifer Lawrence because she is just amazing. From the moment she enters, youre already in love. Shes got such an energy, a bolt of energy in her, such a bullshit meter that is on. And then, the layers in which she becomes like him out of control but not, apparently, right from the start. COOPER: Her facility for emotional depth at the drop of a hat is kind of [amazing]. Ive done two movies with her now, and the second movie [Susanne Biers upcoming Serena] we did was equally as challenging dramatically. I mean, she had to go to some sick places. I remember [during one scene] Im watching her and [as an actor] Im feeling everything that shes doing. I feel horrible and embarrassed and that Ive hurt her [character] because of what shes doing. [But] also at the same time as a lover of this movie, [it was] so exhilarating. [Laughs] It was like, Yes, motherfuckers! David was like, Thats what Im talking about. [Laughs] I remember I wanted to scream. She was so in the pocket. Shes

suchI mean, she embodies so many different aspects of what youd think a woman is as a male, as a female, as a human being. I mean, shes so sexy and then not. Shes quite a stunning human being. RUSSELL: You know, Jennifer was somebody who we all thought, Well, shes a little too young. I didnt know much about her she was great in Winters Bone but I thought, Well, why dont we read her? So she Skyped her audition from her parents home in Louisville, Kentucky. We already had two or three big contenders, big stars, because this is a very dimensional role. Then she just came in, and I was very struck by her personality, her energy. She dressed up for the character in her fathers den, with the eye makeup and the hair and everything. She really wanted it. She was willing to try to do anything that we were working on. She just brought a very special human-being quality. I said to Harvey, I think [we should cast her], and he goes, I think shes too young, man. I said, I dont know. She seems kind of ageless in some ways to me. Lets talk about the chemistry between the two of you when you were dancing. I mean, that reveals so much about what was going on when youre practicing and the rst time youre dancing your face comes this close to her. RUSSELL: You know what I love about that as she gets pulled in and then she spins out, you think thats the end of the shot. But then she goes around. COOPER: And the way she looks at him when she spins out. Also my favorite thing of hers, when theyre dancing, theres this one [shot where] youre over [Pat] and her hair is falling and shes kind of smiling. [Laughs] Youre just like, What the fuck is going on? I mean, really. Were just sitting there and were like, What? Like, holy shit. Theres like four or ve moments in that movie where shes just, you know, stopping the lm. Its just like, Holy fuck! Yeah, its got star dust in it.

LOVE ON THE OUTSIDE

from page 49 make go through AFFRM? No, because AFFRM probably cant handle the next films as Im trying to increase my budgets. AFFRM has a very specific P&A budget which has to be put against a specific size of film. But as long as Im making a film in that size that fits into the model, it will go through AFFRM. Thank God Participant comes in and kind of supersizes what AFFRM could do for Middle,