keep that way of working going for as long as
I could, I’d be happy until the point when I had
to go do a studio movie.
Did you talk to Jim and Quentin [Tarantino] about
that? They got to the position where they don’t
hear the word no.
Quentin never did a studio movie until now.
I don’t consider Dimension a studio. That was
such an independent studio, so scrappy. They
were so thankful to have a filmmaker who
worked for them. I had final cut over there and
you could do anything you wanted, any kind of
movie, whether it was a kids’ movie orSin City.
They would do it instead of having me go make
it for someone else. I had a lot of freedom. It was
like having your own studio, really. I did my own
promo campaigns and everything. Quentin
worked there too. Jim, though. He’s built himself
up to be such a force. A lot of it independently.
First withTerminatorand then withT2, by the
time he was making studio movies, even for Fox,
he had such clout they were more like his studio.
He had a lot of battles, but he was such a force
that it felt like he was making independent films
within the studio system. They weren’t the best
examples of other filmmakers who were having
a tough time! Other filmmakers who were having
a tougher time, I can look at and say, “I don’t
really think I wanna go that route. I like the
comfort zone on this. I like making these movies
under my own guidance.”
There was nothing that caught your eye untilAlita.
I dabbled in a few things here and there. I had
a couple of things being developed untilAlita
took over and I went to do that instead. I was
looking for titles that were interesting. A lot of
them you’d come up against and go, “That’s an
interesting idea to do, but why don’t I just go and
create my own version of that genre? Rather than
try to revitalise someone’s property, why not go
and make my own property? If it works, that’s
mine.” I was really inspired by someone I got to
know later, George Lucas. He couldn’t get the
rights toFlash Gordonso he went and madeStar
Wars. It’s a better way to do it. Don’t go do one
of their properties that you don’t own. Go do
something similar, that’s got the vibe you’re
looking for, and make it your own. That’s
yours. That’s real power. You can create your
own franchises.
Throughout your career, that’s where the
Mariachitrilogy came from, that’s where
Spy Kidscame from.
Yeah. EvenMacheteis like that. He’s the first real
Hispanic hero we’ve had, besidesDesperado.
That’s a badass who people know. Even Danny
Trejo’s mom calls him Machete. That’s something
you’vecreated. You created that very iconic
character. It’s more satisfying to do something
like that. I’m sure it’s satisfying to take a
property that’s been dead in the water and
revitalise it, but I think it’s more [satisfying] when
you create something that gets out into the
zeitgeist, that came out of your own brain, and
you made it in your own backyard.Throughout your career, you’ve been a one-man
army. Here you were focused on the directing.
Are you a bit of a control freak? Was it difficult
to pull back?
Not at all. It’s not hard at all. I think when
people work with me they see I’m not a control
freak at all. I’m an efficiency freak. OnMariachi,
I had to do all the jobs. Rather than not make
a movie, I just went and did all the jobs. And
I liked a lot of the jobs. OnDesperado,Four
RoomsandSpy Kids, I had a DP, Guillermo
Navarro. I’d always edited. That was such
an important job. For me, editing is really
important. Everything becomes a food analogy.
Filming is like going to the grocery store, you get
the best ingredients, the best performances, and
then the editing is like when you bring it home to
cook. If you’re not in the kitchen cooking it, tooClockwise from main:
Danny Trejo inFrom
Dusk Till Dawn(1996);
2001’sSpy Kids; Salma
Hayek and Antonio
Banderas inDesperado
(1995); Tim Roth and
Quentin Tarantino in
Four Rooms(1995);
This year’sAlita:
Battle Angel; Antonio
Banderas as El Mariachi
inOnce Upon A Time In
Mexico(2003), and
Rodriguez and Johnny
Depp in a publicity still
for the same.ALAMY, ALLSTAR, SHUTTERSTOCK