Being John Malcovich

Craig Schwarts (John Cusack) is nearing the end of his string. A gifted street puppeteer, Craig nonetheless is coming up empty-cupped: New York City has little use, or tolerance, for his special talents. His ten-year marriage to Lotte (Cameran Diaz), a workaholic pet store employee who literally brings her work home with her, had become habitual at best. They have no money, no passion, no escape.

With no other prospects, the nimble-fingered Craig takes a job as an entry-level filing clerk at LesterCorp., a "small" company located on the 71/2th floor of Manhatten's Mertin-Flemmer office building. At his orientation, he meets the beautiful Maxine (Catherine Kenner), and, for Craig, it's obsession as first sight. To him, Maxine is an object just waiting to be affected, a women just waiting to get loved. To Maxine, however, Craig is a no go.

Dejected and rejected, Craig retreats into his office to file. In a moment of exasperation, he slams the drawer, causing a folder to fall behind the cabinet. Upon moving the cabinet, a small boarded-up door is revealed. Prying open the door, Craig uncovers a passageway. Cautiously, he climbs in - and is suddenly sucked through a dark, wet tunnel. There is a flash of bright light, and then, all at once Craig realises that he has discovered a portal that is an all-access path to the unique experience that is John Malkovich! He is being John Mallkovich...

Questioner	I'd like to thank you for agreeing to sit down together to do this.
John Cusack	Our pleasure.
Q	Actually, since there are two Johns in the cast, would you mind if I referred to you as Cusack and Malkovich?
JC	Not at all.
John Malkovich	No
Q	Great. You two, Cusack and Malkovich, have worked together before, in Con Air, right?
JC	That's right. After seeing his performance is Making Mr Right, I knew that John and I would work together someday. I then found out that John had seen One Crazy Summer, and I think he was moved by my performance in that as well. So we began to write to each other, and that led to a long, intricate correspondence - nine and ten-page letters to each other.
Q	Is that true?
JM	No.
Q	So was it really Con Air director Simon West who brought you guys together?
JC	Yeah. He was cooking for both of us at the time he was our saucier and he wore this nice, but kind of weird, waitressy outfit. He had his hair up in a nice bun. It worked out rather nicely. He was also our healer, spiritual teacher and friend.
Q	Is that right Malkovich?
JM	No.
Q	Cameron and Catherine, did you meet each other well before being cast in Being John Malkovich?
Catherine Kenner	Yes, we became friends when Cameron was starring in My Best Friend's Wedding with my husband, Dermot, but we never had worked with each other before.
Cameron Diaz	Although I've wanted to ever since I met Catherine: she is the most amazing actress.
Q	So, lets talk a little about the film, the characters, and the production itself. Cusack lets start with you.
JC	Shoot
Q	You play an out-of-work street puppeteer named Craig.
JC	Schwartz. Schwartz, Schwartz, Schwartz, Schwartz, Schwartz.. That's all I'd like to say about the character.
Q	Okay. You look quite different in this film, unlike anything we've seen before.
JC	Yeah, I've done a moustache and a beard before, but never to an extent of the Craig Schwartz look.
Q	Cameron, you look quite different, too, as Lotte, Craig's wife
CD	Do you think anyone will notice?
JM	No.
Q	You all had to endure some pretty harsh conditions during the filming, both script-related and production-related. Can you tell me about what you had to undergo to make this movie?
JC	Besides sweating profusely? Lets see for me, the hardest part was probably the back soreness. Spike who, incidentally hates the poor, the disenfranchised , actors, the Irish, all the races, colours, creeds and sexes and Charle Kaufmann conceived, and had sets built where tall people like myself could not comfortably act. I'm 6ft 2, and that damn 7 ½ floor was only 5ft 3 tall. Of course Spike and Charlie are both short guys they could walk around just fine, thank you very much. So it was like one of those military mindsets: "I want to keep my actors uncomfortable, keep then under my thumb, break them like horses. All that stuff I didn't really appreciate. Look at me right now: my posture is completely erect. I am a trained Shakespearean actor, and this is how I would have played Schwartz. The short sets were just another example of Spike trying to dominate the film.
CD	Cusack and I both pointed the issue out to Charlie. We said "Hey dude, what's going on here? Everbody's caged in, cramped, nobody can even stretch. My skirts were so tight I couldn't even take a full step in them. It was constant confinement. And, I got tied up, bound and gagged, locked in a cage, hung off the side of a moving school bus, dropped out of the sky into dirt in the pouring rain. Crazy stuff. It was just nuts what we had to go through for Spikes "vision".
CK	And it's not like he made the stunts any easier for us because we're women.
CD	Right! And weren't we supposed to get hazard pay or something?
CK	I don't know. But I have to admit, it was kind of fun. Getting hurled out of a bus at 35miles an hour, Cameron choking me and all I could see were cars whizzing by. And there this one stunt that was really involved. Spike wanted to do it at the beginning on the night shoot. But we also had to shoot a long emotional scene between Lotte and Maxine in the rain. Spike said they wouldn't take the whole night on the stunt so there'd be enough time for us to do the scene. But of course the stunt took nearly all night- there was only one hour of darkness left, so we had to hurry. We did one take and then Spike asked me to do something completely different. So I tried that and he came back again and he said that the first approach was better. Now there was only enough time for only two more takes before the sun came up. Spike claims that I said "Get away from me before I push you down the hill", but I don't remember that part.

Production Notes

Craig Schwartz	John Cusack
Lotte Schwartz	Cameron Diaz
Maxine	Catherine Kenner
John Horatio Malkovich	John Malkovich

Compiled by Tyneside Cinema

10 Pilgrim Street Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 6QG

With the assistance of Northern Arts.