Interview with Successful Actors

I decided to bring to you, dear reader, 2011 interview with Ewan McGregor and Leonardo DiCaprio. Two of my favorite actors and people. They are re-prints from a blog called The Talks. The links will be added below. You can always go to their website www.the-talks.com and sign-up to their Newsletter.

From time to time, when I will need a break from writing my blogs, I will post interesting interviews from different sources and introduce you to those sources that you could sign-up or follow them yourself. Most of the time, I share interesting articles and not put them on my blog. Enjoy!
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EWAN MCGREGOR: “I AM QUITE HAPPY BEING ME”

SHORT PROFILE

Name: Ewan Gordon McGregor
DOB: 31 March 1971
Place of Birth: Crieff, Perthshire, Scotland
Occupation: Actor

Mr. McGregor, it seems like your motorcycle adventures are beginning to overshadow even your film career.

Is that right? (Laughs) Well, I like being out there. I think if you can encourage people to do something, if it is to go out and explore the world and see parts of the world that you might not otherwise see, and appreciate that people’s lives are very different from ours here in Europe and in America, then I think that is a good thing to do. I am happy to have done that, whether it be the movies, a perfume ad, or the series about my motorbike trips. Do you know what I mean? If they stand for that, then that is good.

Are the road trips with your best friend your way of soul-searching? Do you reflect about your life and your career while you are on the road for hours and hours?

It is totally a time for all of that. It is time for reflection, because you sit on the bike for eleven hours a day, so you’ve got a great deal of time to think about things. But it is also a time to stop thinking about certain things and let your mind rest and just ride the bike. And it is a time to explore and encounter people in very different situations than my own. That becomes entirely food for your soul. It is incredibly fulfilling.

What is the best soundtrack to ride a bike?

It depends where you are. On the Africa-trip we had quite a good system to listen to music all the time, but my taste changes on a daily basis. I think Pink Floyd is difficult to beat when you are on a motorbike. Just lots of Pink Floyd, that’s good. Sometimes my best friend and I just become ridiculous on our bikes. Just dancing and being foolish and enjoying life to the fullest while we listen to loud music.

Would you allow your children to ride motorbikes?

Yeah, yeah, of course. I would because then I would teach them to ride. My wife would never allow it, so they won’t. They will probably never ride bikes. But I would teach them how to do it properly. I drive quite safe; I am not a particularly fast driver. I am much more interested in the feeling of it and the relaxing nature of it. If I go out and ride too fast on roads that I am not too familiar with I get in trouble and then there’s fear and that’s not what I want to experience. I drive slowly and I’m quite happy with it like that.

Do a lot of people recognize you on those trips?

It depends where I am. But quite often, yes.

Does it bother you that you can’t escape your fame no matter where you go?

No. Because I don’t have a problem being Ewan McGregor. I am quite happy being me. I don’t have anything to run away from or escape. I am able, on the whole, to live my life in a fairly normal way other than being away a lot. I’m not mobbed by people or paparazzi. I have a fairly normal time with it. In that respect I am not trying to get away from anything. Getting away from something often implies that it’s a negative pursuit, but it’s not in my case. It is a pursuit that is about taking things in.

But don’t you meet every criteria to be chased by paparazzi?

No. I don’t meet their criteria. I am happily married and have had kids for quite a long time.

Isn’t that what they are looking for: inside looks into private moments with the family?

No. They are generally looking for actors who are going out with other actors. Someone whose life they can document falling apart. That won’t happen to me.

That last sentence matches your image as a nice guy.

Yes, I am a very nice guy. Please write that down and make sure you don’t forget it! (Laughs)

Is that one of the reasons why you get so many good parts? Do people want to work with you because you seem to be so uncomplicated?

I think it ultimately doesn’t matter to the work. I have worked with really difficult actors who are great on screen, but I had a horrible time working with them. There is no rule about it really, in terms of whether the work is good or not. But I think in terms of a human being and going to bed at night and living in this world, your behavior makes a big difference. I wouldn’t want to work and live like that.

Somehow it is almost expected for big actors to have a certain arrogance.

People pay us an enormous amount of money for us to do what we do so I think we should be there on time and do our work. Sometimes the more money they get paid, the less they care about their behavior, that’s true. It is a kind of embarrassing attitude if one thinks that he is the next royal, the next prince or princess of Hollywood. But those kinds of demands are embarrassing to me.

You never thought that you were Hollywood’s next prince?

No. And I’ve always been paid very well. Since my first job I’ve gotten paid more money than I could have ever imagined.

So how do you remain the same?

I don’t. It is part of human nature to change all the time. It’s just the older you get, hopefully the more you realize which things in life work. You realize which things make you happy and which not. If you keep your eyes open your life becomes easier and clearer with maturity.

So what is your vision of a perfect life?

I think the things that make me happy are my family, my work, and my bikes. Those are the things that work for me, so it becomes quite clear. My focus is on those things and therefore I become better in it.

http://the-talks.com/interviews/ewan-mcgregor/

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LEONARDO DICAPRIO: “I AM A LOT CALMER NOW”

SHORT PROFILE

Name: Leonardo Wilhelm DiCaprio
DOB: 11 November 1974
Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, USA
Occupation: Actor

Mr. DiCaprio, wouldn’t it be nice to do a shitty romantic comedy every once in a while?

I am completely open for doing at romantic comedy but I will never do something just for the sake of doing a specific genre or because it’s the time or place to do a different type of movie. I think that would be a huge mistake. Ultimately I read a script and I say, “Woah, I am emotionally engaged in this.” I never think about the subject matter, what it will be to popular culture, what it means historically – ultimately all that stuff passes and this movie will come out and it’s either good or it’s not. So that’s the only way I know how to pick films, otherwise I am not connected to it.

How important is it for you to challenge yourself even further with every film that you do?

That really depends on the role. It’s always this grand search in the industry to find good material. Whenever there is good material they all jump on it and it’s like a food fight to get it made. That’s why so many things take years and years to develop because it all shows up on screen. If there are holes in the story structure, if it’s not a compelling, moving narrative, that shows on screen and the movie fails.

You seem to be winning the food fight, considering the material that you get.

It’s been director driven. I have to say that whatever decisions I make, I really do think that movie making is a director’s medium. They are the people that ultimately shape the film and a director can take great material and turn it into garbage if they are not capable of making a good movie. So that is why I have chosen to work with directors that I feel can transport themselves in the audience’s mind.

You have worked with Spielberg, Nolan, Eastwood, Mendes, Boyle, Cameron, not to mention you are a regular with Scorsese. Is there anyone left on your list?

There are a lot of directors I’d still love to work with. Paul Thomas Anderson is someone I’d love to work with. I think Alejandro González Iñárritu is very talented. Ang Lee is very talented. I mean, there are a lot of people. There are many great directors out there.

How much of your life involves making movies and thinking about movies?

A lot of it, that is for sure. (Laughs) I can’t say that it isn’t the most dominant thing going on right now. Look, the truth is that I always wanted to be an actor; it was always my dream and now is the time where I am really able to choose my own parts.

You have been able to do that for a while…

Yes, but I know a lot of actors who I grew up with in the industry – growing up in Los Angeles – that don’t get to do that. I just keep imagining myself thirty years from now thinking, “Why didn’t you take advantage of all the opportunities you had? Look at all the people you could have worked with, the roles you could have done. Go for it.” And that’s what I am thinking.

So do you put other things aside?

No, I don’t. Either they fit in in a natural way or they don’t. I never want to force anything but I do know that ultimately this is what I love doing and those other things will find a way to happen.

So you always knew that acting is what you wanted to do?

I really don’t remember. But I do remember loving to imitate my mother’s friends. I’d do little performances imitating them, making fun of them, making her laugh, making my grandparents laugh.

You seem a lot calmer now.

But I kind of am an energetic person. It seems calmer now, but you should have seen me when I was younger. Whew! I would have been very difficult to be around, especially before I became a teenager. I don’t know how my mother dealt with me. I was just running, constantly doing things. I am a lot calmer now, but I still have a lot of energy.

Do you ever think you’ll lose that energy and try something else completely?

I could one day. But I happen to love acting, I happen to love doing movies. We are all shaped from these memories we have as young people and those were my earliest memories: wanting to be an actor, pushing my parents to take me out on auditions. I didn’t even know you could get paid for it but I wanted to do it. When I found out you could get paid for it then I said, “Okay, this is what I really want to do.” I am getting to fulfill that so I am not going to do anything, for now anyway, to change that.

Is it strange when you reflect on how completely you’ve achieved your childhood dream?

I sometimes have to look back and say, “Wow, this is amazing what has happened to me. I have been able to fulfill a lot of these dreams that I had when I was very young.” I would have never guessed that I would have gotten to have one tiny role in a Martin Scorsese film and to have done four now, it’s pretty amazing. I have to say it’s a pretty amazing feeling. But at the same time it becomes addictive! So yes, my dreams have been surpassed.

http://the-talks.com/interviews/leonardo-dicaprio/