Paul McGuigan considers himself the lucky one.
In chatting with Hollywood.com, the Scottish director–who gave us the intense little film Gangster No. 1 and the weirdly romantic Wicker Park–feels like he got his dream cast with his latest film, Lucky Number Slevin. The taut thriller stars Josh Hartnett, Bruce Willis, Lucy Liu, Morgan Freeman and Ben Kingsley and revolves around mistaken identity, hit men, feuding kingpins named The Rabbi and The Boss–and of course, The Girl Next Door.
Hollywood.com: First of all, the title is very clever.
Paul McGuigan: Oh really? You’re about the only one that thinks so. I think there’s an Internet thing saying it’s the worst title ever. I kinda like that its so crap, you know? Lucky Number Slevin–seven–but you know that’s good for the people so they could change the “L” to a “7” on the posters.
HW: What were some of your thought processes when you put this together?
PM: My main one was not to f**k up. It shifts in tone quite a bit and I wanted to allow Josh to be quite light on his feet, you know? He’s quite light for the first hour or so, which you don’t really get to see him do very often. I knew that it would kind of interesting. It’s one of those kind of films that’s made for the DVD audiences because I’m sure when you watched it, you went, “Why is he not freaking out? Why is he not scared?” But when you go back and watch it again, you understand how good Josh did his part. Slight on his feet, very subtle part, you know? It’s very much [screenwriter] Jason [Smilovic]’s voice and I didn’t want to cut that out.
HW: This isn’t your first gangster movie either. What is it about the genre you like the most?
PM: The suits. And the wallpaper…no, I don’t know if its one that I enjoy working in, just one that I get asked to do…quite frequently. And I’ve always said no until I got Slevin. I just thought it was a great script that wasn’t just about being gangsters or being violent. Actually, it’s the opposite. It’s such a great film about language and I think that’s why we got such a great cast. I wish I could take all the credit for assembling such a great cast. But it’s got nothing to do with me, really.
HW: How did you luck out?
PM: They only way to get a cast like that is to pay for it or have a good script. We certainly didn’t have any cash to pay them, so it was because they just wanted to come and play. When you have roles that are so clearly defined–The Rabbi, The Boss, The Girl Next Door, The Hit Man–the actors like that. They like to know what to play and then put their own stuff in without having to angst over, “Who am I? Where am I? Was my father killed when I was two?” or whatever. Whatever process they go through, these characters were very clearly defined.
HW: Filming the scene with Morgan Freeman (The Boss) and Ben Kingsley (The Rabbi), were you saying to yourself, “I can’t believe I’m doing this?…”
PM: I was like a little kid. I was so excited on that day. I just kept walking around with a big smile on my face. But then when it came down to [shooting the scene], I became quite serious, you know? [Freeman and Kingsley] have great respect for one another. There was a feeling that something great was going to happen, put a lot of pressure on me. Usually, when you’re directing [actors in] a film, you’re looking at things that are not really there, and you try to work things out and get what you want out of them. But when you are directing them, you have to be on your game. So yeah, I just watched it really. And occasionally said “action” and maybe “cut,” if I could remember. I couldn’t help but just have a big smile on my face. I was mesmerized. And Josh and Lucy Liu also came in, on their day off, to watch, sitting on the floor beside me. That day kind of summed up what it was like to shoot this movie, you know? Everyone was on the set most of the time, they were really into it.
HW: Bruce Willis (The Hit Man) is also quite good. You know, he can skate through the dumbest movies but when you give him something to really sink his teeth into, he shines.
PM: He’s amazing. He used to annoy me, calling me up every f**kin’ day before the shoot, “Paul, I’ve got this idea…Paul, I’ve got this idea…I want to wear this shirt, these socks…” I was like, “Bruce, I thought you were suppose to just show up and do it! I didn’t know you were going to get all involved and s**t!” [Laughs]. He wanted to look different because [hit men] always come out in the black suits and slick-backed hair. It made me understand that guys like Bruce don’t take where they are for granted. Because they have to work at it, you know? He didn’t just turn up. I’m sure he’s done that, we’ve all done that, but he was really into the film, embraced it. He likes filmmakers as well. He called me two years ago out of the blue and said, “Hi, this is Bruce Willis. I just saw your film, Gangster No. 1 and I wanted to call you up and tell you it’s a great movie and I’m screening it tonight for my friends. Do you want to come over?” And I was like, “All right, of course!” We became good pals after that.
HW: And what fun for Lucy Liu (The Girl Next Door) to play someone kooky for once!
PM: She’s like this bundle of energy. We had to redesign sets for her because she was just flyin’ all over the room. She eats like a truck driver, steals food from everyone’s plate. I’m thinking what’s wrong with this woman? But then suddenly you see where the energy goes. She needs all that food to keep going. It’s unbelievable. We light the sets 360 degrees to give her the freedom to do long takes. I never cut a scene up. She’s the nicest girl, sweet and lovely. Everyone was just falling over themselves. It was nice to see her enjoying herself.
HW: The ending is certainly surprising. Did you want it to work out that way?
PM: Because I’m very Scotland, we always look dark side of things. It’s in our culture. My ending was, let’s just say, was a lot darker. But then everyone told me I was an idiot. They wanted a resolution. And it’s true. I had to accept that. But [Scots] are like the French, “Life is s**t,” you know?
HW: So you’ll probably never do a romantic comedy with Reese Witherspoon then?
PM: Oh, I’d love to! I’d love to do a kid’s film, too. I don’t see why not. People do tend to put you little boxes and go, “OK, he’s really good at this,” which is fine, you know, because maybe I wouldn’t be great at a kid’s story. But I think I would ‘cause I have two children of my own and would want to spend some time in their little imaginations, you know?
HW: How did you get hooked into filmmaking?
PM: I started out photographs of famous people, rock stars and beautiful models. Then I got totally disillusioned by the whole artificial world of making people look interesting and beautiful all the time. Then I went about making documentaries—I did a film about kids with HIV/AIDS in the States called Playing Nintendo with God, which won at the New York Film Festival a few years back. I did another one on transvestites in Istanbul. I still try to make documentaries to understand how people really talk, body language. It really helps me as a filmmaker.
Lucky Number Slevin opens in theaters April 7.
