[IMG:L]DJ Caruso didn’t give the Disturbia script much thought at first glance. Then he got a call that changed his mind.
“Steven Spielberg for DJ Caruso,” he remembers hearing while directing an episode of The Shield. His first thought? “Give me a break!” he says.
“It was actually Steven, and he heard that I read the script and liked it, but wasn’t going to commit to directing it,” Caruso explains. “He basically called and reached out and said ‘I really believe in this movie’…and when the great one calls, you go ‘I’ll be there.’”
Caruso took the film–about a teenager under house arrest who suspects his neighbor is a serial killer–and made it his own. He nixed the ending, transformed it into a character driven piece and hired Shia LaBeouf, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Morse and Sarah Roemer to get the job done, and the film became a surprise hit earlier this year.
Hollywood.com caught up with Caruso at the film’s DVD launch party at the posh downtown Standard and found out more about the behind-the-scenes thrills of making Disturbia.
Hollywood.com: Why were you so apprehensive about doing this film?
DJ Caruso: At first the screenplay was good, but it had some of those [clichés]…there was an evil twin at the end and some things that I had to excise out of my mind. Then I found the Say Anything/John Hughes niche into the character, like to really have a character piece and then scare the wits out of everybody. So when I got on that train I got really excited about doing it. I think Steven challenged me to make the film mine and not just see what’s on the page and go out and shoot.
HW: Shia is really exploding right now. How did you find him?
DC: He came into a casting session very late. I was getting a little frustrated because Say Anything was sort of my pattern movie and I said “I want a young John Cusack, I want the young John Cusack.” And when Shia came in and read, I was just completely blown away. We started playing in the rehearsals and adlibbing and I just knew like right away that this was the guy. But it was sort of at the end of a five- or six-week casting process that I finally found the guy I knew was right for the film–and it worked out really well.
[IMG:R]HW: What did he bring to the table?
DC: He was incredibly accessible. He’s got a great sense of humor, He has the most expressive eyes. Because there is a lot of pain early on in this movie and he really can express it when it is him and the camera alone together. He just has such a great gift of being the guy next door that the guys like and the girls like and they feel like they can get him and the guys feel like “I can hang out with this guy and have a good time.” He just kind of walks that line. He’s not pigeon holed into one category but sort of skirts between a bunch of them and to me that is an interesting character.
HW: How did David Morse’s method acting affect the atmosphere on set?
DC: I don’t think David could comprehend as a person to be nice and enjoy [Shia] on the set because he’s tormenting [his] character’s life and everything that he’s done. Shia kept saying to me “He doesn’t like me. He doesn’t like me. He won’t talk to me.” And I said “That’s part of the process, don’t worry about it.” And then actually later on in the film when they actually got to engage in physical things they became really good friends. David is a really smart actor and doesn’t really want to give anything away.
[IMG:L]HW: Was David your top choice to play the villain?
DC: He was my first choice. You know why? Because I remember him from St. Elsewhere and he played this character called Boomer who was the nicest, sweetest, most endearing guy. I thought if you could have that quality in David’s body and David’s presence, he’s one of those guys….even as a person when he speaks with you he really thinks about what he’s saying and he’s just very engaging and has this weird power and aura you don’t know if it is good or evil.
HW: Your own children play the naughty neighborhood kids in the film. What was it like directing your own family?
DC: It was fun. I didn’t want “actor” kids. I wanted real kids, because these guys live in Pasadena and they play baseball, so [they were good] with the water balloons and riding bikes. We had a good time. It is a good job–and if you can bring the family in there and have a good time, why not?
HW: If you were stuck at your house for three months like Shia’s character Kale, what would you do to entertain yourself?
DC: I would have Netflix coming day after day! It would actually be heaven for about three months just to catch up on all the movies that I want to see and basically just probably gamble my head off online and watch sports.
[IMG:R]HW: On the DVD, we hear you talking about voyeurism and the fact that we are all curious about each other’s lives. How do you think reality TV plays into that?
DC: I think obviously it is part of the whole culture…unfortunately reality TV has now gotten to that point where everyone is aware that the cameras are there so you aren’t really getting the real person. I remember seeing the Real World on MTV–the very first one–and going “F**k, this is cool.” Just the culture–computers and Myspace and what are people really doing–I think it is a big part of our culture and instead of turning away, I think everyone knows that they do it [voyeur] but no one ever really talks about it…I think it is just time to acknowledge it.
HW: With the success of Disturbia, what’s next for you?
DC: I’m doing a movie called Eagle Eye for Paramount and Dreamworks again. Steven Spielberg is executive producing and Shia is going to star in it. It is a political thriller and it’s got a lot of hardware and action in it and it is really cool…We start shooting in November.
Disturbia comes out on DVD Aug. 7.
