Emmanuel Itier: How did this movie find you, Steve, or how did you find him?

Steve Buscemi: Well, I have known producer Bruce Weiss for a long time, and he called me one day and said he asked me to look at these films made by Theo Van Gogh–three films. Actually, Theo had wanted to remake them as American films, but as we all know he was killed before he could do that in 2004. And so I met with Theo’s producer, Gijs van de Westelaken, and I chose to direct this one, “Interview”, because I was really interested in the relationship between these two characters. It’s like a boxing match between this political journalist and this young actress. It’s a fascinating challenge as an actor.

Sienna Miller: Well, I know it’s not that cool to admit it, but I was available and so I got a call from my agent saying that Steve wanted me for this film and I replied, “Yes,” without even reading the script. And it was great to then discover the script as that good. I found out this character was very complex and fascinating, and this was, for me, a great experience.

EI: How long did it take to shoot?

SB: I’m quite slow, so it took me nine days! I think Theo shot it in five days! We brought over the Dutch camera crew, and Theo’s DP, Thomas Kist, shot the film for me. We also had Theo’s original assistant on the set, and this was a true international team. We shot with three cameras, the same way Theo used to do. This gives you much more freedom for long takes, and Theo loved actors. This is a great creative process for actors who can do long takes without any cut for a new set-up. With three angles at the same time covered, you come up with good surprises. When you do such long takes as we were able to do, you really forget, as an actor, that the cameras are rolling. We shot this film fast, but I never felt rushed. Also, it was stimulating to have such a great actress like Sienna to play with…

EI: What was the main challenge, and how was it to shoot a movie with, mainly, only two characters?

SB: It’s a little bit intimidating because you need, obviously, to grab your audience and make them be interested in and caring about these characters, enough to be with them for 90 minutes. On the other hand, it’s great for us to be able to focus and discover things, and have the time to explore various situations. Sometimes, when you do a film, you’re in there for such a short time that you wished you had more to do more with this or that other actor. My goal was to make a film that had as much integrity as the original. I didn’t want to make a pale copy. I wanted also to expose American audiences to the work of Theo Van Gogh.

SM: For me, it was such a short shoot that I barely realized we shot an entire film!

EI: How was it, Sienna, to play “Katia”?

SM: I met Katia, but I never wanted to watch the movie until after we shot the movie. We changed her a lot from the original film. She became more of an American woman and also more psychotic. It was really a pleasure to play her and a surprise when the original Katia showed up one day on the set and I didn’t know who she was. This was truly a unique experience for me–very moving and liberating.

EI: What are the other differences between your version and the original film?

SB: We changed little things–like in the beginning, the scene between Pierre and his brother was between him and his best friend in Theo’s film. Also, in the original, the daughter who died was much younger. The diary was different. Here, it’s a diary made in the computer, but I didn’t think I changed the spirit of the film or the relationships. It’s interesting because this film is about hurting each other, and I believe you can’t hurt somebody you don’t care about, and you can’t be hurt by somebody you don’t care about. It was great to film these two actors showing themselves and revealing themselves in a big confrontation.

EI: Do you think relationships are the same here and around the world, or not?

SB: To me, relationships are universal. You can have self-destructive and abusive relationships anywhere in the world. It’s a universal thing. We didn’t change the spirit of the film again by Americanizing it.

EI: How was it to make a movie that gives some “insight” about the celebrity status and what’s going on in politics and at the White House?

SB: I know we can talk about that, and I’m happy that people see, in this movie, what they want to see, but for me it really was about the relationship between these two characters–the path they take to meet and face each other. The purpose was not to make a comment on “celebrity” or “politics”. Even though we talk about politics, I didn’t want to be too specific. The reason is that at the time we were shooting the movie, there was a strong case about this politician having improper conduct with a minor, but I knew that by the time the film would be finished and even released, that this case would have been gone. So it’s always tricky when you deal with such content. I didn’t even want to make it about the Bush administration, but in this case, we are at war and live through difficult times, and I hope people won’t miss a comment made in the film that they are more journalists that have been killed in Iraq than in the Vietnam War. I wanted to make sure it was going to be in the film.

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