| Delta Films |
 |  |  |
Q: Did you ever turn down a role that you later regretted.
A: Nothing really comes to mind. The people that I work with know that I want to see
everything, and I do read everything. I think I have enough years to see the potential in one
read through of the script and if I’m interested I’ll read it maybe a good five or six times before I
commit. But honestly there are some big productions out there and things that I passed on that
paid well and those people that stepped in got some great recognition but I’m really TOTALLY
fine with that.
Q: What did you think of Ryan Gosling?
A: The few films that I've seen (of his) I've very much enjoyed his work. They were together
(Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) when we were filming “Married Life”. I had dinner, initially
with Rachel and he joined us at the table later on. We hung out for about an hour and talked
about… just things. I appreciate his work and he’s made some very good choices.
Q: Have you ever work together with your wife?
A: Early early on. Marrianne's second short film and really my first film we did together and that
was through a student at NYU film school who we remain pretty good friends with to this day.
(to his wife) have we done anything else? No, we haven’t done anything. Marrianne and I met in
New York in acting class and we worked on some “Morning Becomes Electra” and gosh that was
the only time we worked together. But I consider us a great team. I depend on her take. She
reads everything I get serious about. She is a screen writer and prose writer and I certainly
read her chapters and we talk back and forth. I think we work really well together.
Q: Is the material that is edited out saved so that film students can study it later on?
A: I don’t know if it’s kept or not. I certainly would like to have some of those takes. There’s
some good stuff in there.
Q: 35 years from now, when they have a retrospective of Chris Cooper on The Movie Channel,
what would you like them to say about you?
A: That I’m still alive..... My one sentence summary is that I try to make good choices and I
guess I'd like them to say “He was able to get his peers and people older than him back to the
theaters.” I’m not interested in working on material or spending so much energy playing to the
16 and 17 year old mentality that you see so much now. I think of all the great books and the
classics that we have yet to put on film.
next page----> Why do you live in Mass?
A: Nothing really comes to mind. The people that I work with know that I want to see
everything, and I do read everything. I think I have enough years to see the potential in one
read through of the script and if I’m interested I’ll read it maybe a good five or six times before I
commit. But honestly there are some big productions out there and things that I passed on that
paid well and those people that stepped in got some great recognition but I’m really TOTALLY
fine with that.
Q: What did you think of Ryan Gosling?
A: The few films that I've seen (of his) I've very much enjoyed his work. They were together
(Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams) when we were filming “Married Life”. I had dinner, initially
with Rachel and he joined us at the table later on. We hung out for about an hour and talked
about… just things. I appreciate his work and he’s made some very good choices.
Q: Have you ever work together with your wife?
A: Early early on. Marrianne's second short film and really my first film we did together and that
was through a student at NYU film school who we remain pretty good friends with to this day.
(to his wife) have we done anything else? No, we haven’t done anything. Marrianne and I met in
New York in acting class and we worked on some “Morning Becomes Electra” and gosh that was
the only time we worked together. But I consider us a great team. I depend on her take. She
reads everything I get serious about. She is a screen writer and prose writer and I certainly
read her chapters and we talk back and forth. I think we work really well together.
Q: Is the material that is edited out saved so that film students can study it later on?
A: I don’t know if it’s kept or not. I certainly would like to have some of those takes. There’s
some good stuff in there.
Q: 35 years from now, when they have a retrospective of Chris Cooper on The Movie Channel,
what would you like them to say about you?
A: That I’m still alive..... My one sentence summary is that I try to make good choices and I
guess I'd like them to say “He was able to get his peers and people older than him back to the
theaters.” I’m not interested in working on material or spending so much energy playing to the
16 and 17 year old mentality that you see so much now. I think of all the great books and the
classics that we have yet to put on film.
next page----> Why do you live in Mass?
Interview with Chris Cooper - May 10, 2008
Q: Why is it that films now-a-days are cut to only 90
minutes?
A: I hate to say it but I think the industry doesn't think we
can concentrate on a film and watch a film and enjoy a film
long enough. I think that pace is terribly important to
them. “Move it along, move it along.” And it’s also that
decisions are by committee. It’s not one person that
decides what scenes to leave in and take out.
Q: When did you start acting?
A: I didn't get serious about it until my second semester,
my sophomore year at university. But, as early as age 17,
I was at the resident theater. Offering my time doing
anything from sweeping up the isles to hanging lights or
running the light board to stage managing or building sets
or scene shifting during a production. I’d be in the wings
watching the production at the end of a scene I’d be one
of the guys who changes the set. So I think I got a real
good education from the ground up. And a great respect
for all those people, other than the actors, involved in
what it takes to mount a production. And as I said I got
serious about it at the university
minutes?
A: I hate to say it but I think the industry doesn't think we
can concentrate on a film and watch a film and enjoy a film
long enough. I think that pace is terribly important to
them. “Move it along, move it along.” And it’s also that
decisions are by committee. It’s not one person that
decides what scenes to leave in and take out.
Q: When did you start acting?
A: I didn't get serious about it until my second semester,
my sophomore year at university. But, as early as age 17,
I was at the resident theater. Offering my time doing
anything from sweeping up the isles to hanging lights or
running the light board to stage managing or building sets
or scene shifting during a production. I’d be in the wings
watching the production at the end of a scene I’d be one
of the guys who changes the set. So I think I got a real
good education from the ground up. And a great respect
for all those people, other than the actors, involved in
what it takes to mount a production. And as I said I got
serious about it at the university
