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Tuesday, Nov 24, 2009
The director of "Crumb" and the acclaimed cartoonist-author of "David Boring" team up on "Ghost World," a new film specifically for weirdos.
Jul 27, 2001 | "Ghost World," now in limited release, is not a summer blockbuster. It is not a remake or a sequel; there are no kung fu sequences or shower scenes. No Sandra Bullock. No Freddie Prinze Jr. No laser guns. There are no pop hits on the soundtrack. And as yet, there are no "Ghost World" action figures, board games or beach towels.
The film's protagonists, Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson), have just graduated from high school and don't know exactly what they want to do with their lives, but they do know what they don't like -- most other people. Two chronic misfits, they traipse through the blighted cultural landscape of America in search of meaning or at least a good garage sale. They hang out in sleazy diners and seek out oddballs like Seymour (Steve Buscemi), the obsessive record collector whom Enid eventually befriends. "Ghost World" is a collaboration of noted "Crumb" director Terry Zwigoff and screenwriter and acclaimed cartoonist Daniel Clowes. In the words of Clowes, it's a film by and for "weirdos in the midst of this oversaturated corporate world."
I know you both spent nearly five years trying to get "Ghost World" produced. There must have been some pretty horrific pitch meetings along the way.
Terry Zwigoff: Unfortunately, most people who are successful in Hollywood or any other business are not oddballs at all. They don't get the type of characters we have in the film -- the misfits and the alienated. They relate to some guy who drinks three beers, shoots some hoops and goes and sees "Shakespeare in Love." That's what their lives are all about. Now that's something I can't relate to at all.
Daniel Clowes: It was hard to convince them because they'd read my comics and watched "Crumb" and would think, "There's no way these guys are going to make anything but a really depressing, slow art film." One time we went to a meeting that we instantly knew wasn't going to work. Terry and I were in such a horrible mood that you could almost feel this black cloud entering the room. Then, when the meeting was finishing up, when everybody was in a bad mood thanks to us, one of the executive guys noticed that one of his tropical fish had died -- like our psychic energy had killed his fish. It was a great moment. I felt kind of proud of that.
Were there any particularly inane suggestions from prospective production companies when it came to casting?
Clowes: Oh yeah, sure. We were with almost every studio at some point and they all had their casting ideas -- it was just whoever was the actress of the moment for the lead. "We see Jennifer Love Hewitt as Enid." And I'm thinking, "Well, that's sort of the opposite of Enid. That's who Enid should not be, basically." And it went from there to Alicia Silverstone to Claire Danes. There are very few actresses who have any sort of oddness to them or texture that was appropriate for this film. They also had these crazy ideas like Nathan Lane as Seymour. And I'm thinking, "Well, how about Dom DeLuise while you're at it?"
Zwigoff: Yeah, at various times they were pushing Sarah Michelle Geller, Melissa Joan Hart. Everyone on the list they gave us was wrong for the part. A character like Enid should be a little bit of an outsider, and I don't quite see Jennifer Love Hewitt in a role like that. She should be in a Gap ad. It was pretty ridiculous. I mean, there's a reason we chose Scarlett and Thora. There's something about both of them that's a little eccentric. The subtle, idiosyncratic way they deliver their lines was just perfect.
