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Exit Interview: Adam McKay
By Richard Rys
AM: Nora Ephron and her sister Delia had already written a draft, and I was brought in to rewrite it with them. It was a blast. All my friends were giving me a hard time, thinking of Nora’s movies as light romantic comedies, but she is as hard-funny as anyone you’re going to meet.
EI: But I assume that as “hard-funny” as she was, no “purplish, veiny [rooster]” jokes made it into the movie.
AM: [laughs] That’s true. Although Nora would laugh at that. But no. No no no. No purplish veiny [roosters] in Bewitched.
EI: Is it possible to assess Kidman’s comedic talents, or do you just stare at her and say, “Can you read that again, slowly, with the accent?”
AM: She is stunningly gorgeous, there’s no doubt about it. But you’re going to be shocked at how good she is in this movie.
EI: Have you seen her eat? I’m not convinced that she does.
AM: [laughs] You’d be surprised. She swims with sharks and likes boxing. She’s tough.
EI: I read that your pitch for Talladega Nights was six words: Will Ferrell as a NASCAR driver.
AM: Well, it was more than that, but yeah, the initial idea was “Ricky Bobby — no brakes, no fear.”
EI: Similar to that, I’ve got a few pitches to run by you. Feel free to move on these.
AM: I’ve got two lines on the phone, so if one’s really cooking, I’m going to make it happen.
EI: Absolutely. I just want some points on the back end. And merchandising. And my name above the title.
AM: We’ll wire some money directly into your account.
EI: Will Ferrell as an easy-listening DJ whose station flips to urban format.
AM: [laughs] There's a restaurant called Earth, Wind and Flower. We used to joke that that’s a movie pitch, and that’s what this movie would be called. You could actually sell that idea.
EI: That’s kinda sad.
EI: But I assume that as “hard-funny” as she was, no “purplish, veiny [rooster]” jokes made it into the movie.
AM: [laughs] That’s true. Although Nora would laugh at that. But no. No no no. No purplish veiny [roosters] in Bewitched.
EI: Is it possible to assess Kidman’s comedic talents, or do you just stare at her and say, “Can you read that again, slowly, with the accent?”
AM: She is stunningly gorgeous, there’s no doubt about it. But you’re going to be shocked at how good she is in this movie.
EI: Have you seen her eat? I’m not convinced that she does.
AM: [laughs] You’d be surprised. She swims with sharks and likes boxing. She’s tough.
EI: I read that your pitch for Talladega Nights was six words: Will Ferrell as a NASCAR driver.
AM: Well, it was more than that, but yeah, the initial idea was “Ricky Bobby — no brakes, no fear.”
EI: Similar to that, I’ve got a few pitches to run by you. Feel free to move on these.
AM: I’ve got two lines on the phone, so if one’s really cooking, I’m going to make it happen.
EI: Absolutely. I just want some points on the back end. And merchandising. And my name above the title.
AM: We’ll wire some money directly into your account.
EI: Will Ferrell as an easy-listening DJ whose station flips to urban format.
AM: [laughs] There's a restaurant called Earth, Wind and Flower. We used to joke that that’s a movie pitch, and that’s what this movie would be called. You could actually sell that idea.
EI: That’s kinda sad.
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