keepthatwayofworkinggoingforaslongas
I could,I’dbehappyuntilthe point when I had
togodoa studiomovie.
DidyoutalktoJimandQuentin[Tarantino]about
that?Theygottothepositionwheretheydon’t
hearthewordno.
Quentinneverdida studiomovieuntilnow.
I don’tconsiderDimensiona studio.Thatwas
suchanindependentstudio,soscrappy.They
weresothankfultohavea filmmakerwho
workedforthem.I hadfinalcutoverthereand
youcoulddoanythingyouwanted,anykindof
movie,whetherit wasa kids’movieorSinCity.
Theywoulddoit insteadofhavingmegomake
it forsomeoneelse.I hada lotoffreedom.It was
likehavingyourownstudio,really.I didmyown
promocampaignsandeverything.Quentin
workedtheretoo.Jim,though.He’sbuilthimself
uptobesucha force.Alotofit independently.
FirstwithTerminatorandthenwithT2, bythe
timehewasmakingstudiomovies,evenforFox,
hehadsuchclouttheyweremorelikehisstudio.
Hehada lotofbattles,buthewassucha force
thatit feltlikehewasmakingindependentfilms
withinthestudiosystem.Theyweren’tthebest
examplesofotherfilmmakerswhowerehaving
a toughtime!Otherfilmmakerswhowerehaving
a toughertime,I canlookatandsay,“Idon’t
reallythinkI wannagothatroute.I likethe
comfortzoneonthis.I likemaking these movies
undermyownguidance.”
TherewasnothingthatcaughtyoureyeuntilAlita.
I dabbledina fewthingshereandthere.I had
a coupleofthingsbeingdevelopeduntilAlita
tookoverandI wenttodothatinstead.I was
lookingfortitlesthatwereinteresting.Alotof
themyou’dcomeupagainstandgo,“That’san
interestingideatodo,butwhydon’tI justgoand
createmyownversionofthatgenre?Ratherthan
trytorevitalisesomeone’sproperty,whynotgo
andmakemyownproperty?Ifit works,that’s
mine.”I wasreallyinspiredbysomeoneI gotto
knowlater,GeorgeLucas.Hecouldn’tgetthe
rightstoFlashGordonsohewentandmadeStar
Wars. It’sa betterwaytodoit.Don’tgodoone
oftheirpropertiesthatyoudon’town.Godo
somethingsimilar,that’sgotthevibeyou’re
lookingfor,andmakeit yourown.That’s
yours.That’srealpower. You can create your
ownfranchises.
Throughoutyourcareer,that’swherethe
Mariachitrilogycamefrom,that’swhere
SpyKidscamefrom.
Yeah.EvenMacheteis likethat.He’sthefirstreal
Hispanicherowe’vehad,besidesDesperado.
That’sa badasswhopeopleknow.EvenDanny
Trejo’smomcallshimMachete.That’ssomething
you’vecreated.Youcreatedthatveryiconic
character.It’smoresatisfyingtodosomething
likethat.I’msureit’ssatisfyingtotakea
propertythat’sbeendeadinthewaterand
revitalise it, but I think it’s more [satisfying] when
youcreatesomethingthatgetsoutintothe
zeitgeist,thatcameoutofyourownbrain, and
youmadeit inyourownbackyard.Throughoutyourcareer,you’vebeena one-man
army.Hereyouwerefocusedonthedirecting.
Areyoua bitofa controlfreak?Wasit difficult
topullback?
Notatall.It’snothardatall.I thinkwhen
peopleworkwithmetheyseeI’mnota control
freakatall.I’manefficiencyfreak.OnMariachi,
I hadtodoallthejobs.Ratherthannotmake
a movie,I justwentanddidallthejobs.And
I likeda lotofthejobs.OnDesperado,Four
RoomsandSpyKids, I hada DP,Guillermo
Navarro.I’dalwaysedited.Thatwassuch
animportantjob.Forme,editingis really
important.Everythingbecomesa foodanalogy.
Filmingis likegoingtothegrocerystore,youget
thebestingredients,thebestperformances,and
thentheeditingis likewhenyoubringit hometo
cook. If you’re not in the kitchen cooking it, tooClockwisefrommain:
DannyTrejoinFrom
DuskTillDawn(1996);
2001’sSpyKids; Salma
HayekandAntonio
BanderasinDesperado
(1995);TimRothand
QuentinTarantinoin
FourRooms(1995);
Thisyear’sAlita:
BattleAngel; Antonio
BanderasasElMariachi
inOnceUponA TimeIn
Mexico(2003),and
RodriguezandJohnny
Deppina publicity still
for the same.ALAMY, ALLSTAR, SHUTTERSTOCK