-== INTERVIEW ==-

ADRIAN WOOTTON: Moving on to Robert [Forster, star of JB], what kind of opportunity did Jackie Brown represent to you. Quentin has talked about how he walked in and decided you were Max Cherry. What kind of experience for you working on Jackie Brown?

ROBERT FORSTER: This eclipses anything I have ever done actually. I had a five year first Act to my career and a twenty five year second Act to my second career, and this is way beyond anything I have ever done. This makes a new ball game for me and for all my kids, and for my ex-wives. Everybody is thrilled for me! (Laughter)

ADRIAN WOOTTON: Following on with Lawrence [Bender, producer of JB], you worked with Quentin right the way through. What kind of working relationship do you have? Do you automatically agree on everything you are going to do together in deciding from a long way out, "Yes, we are going to do Rum Punch". Is it a combative relationship or a very easy collaborative relationship?

LAWRENCE BENDER: It is like being married, I think. I am not married yet, but I think ultimately in a good marriage it is the relationship which is the most important thing. It is not a matter of who is right and who is wrong; it is a one plus one equals more than two. Sure, there are plenty of times we agree and there are plenty of times we disagree but it is really not about that. The only time we really had a problem - shall I mention the rest day?

QUENTIN TARANTINO: Yes.

LAWRENCE BENDER: Anyone who tells you making movies is easy is full of shit; it is a tough thing to do. We love to make it fun, and since it is what we do for a living, we try to have a good time. We had a thing called "the grips". Basically, there was one day on the set where every guy has to come to the set wearing a dress. So one of our disagreements was about what kind of dress I was going to wear that day. I forgot my dress. I had to go shopping. It was really funny for guys who had never worn dresses before - this was a realisation to me - that you actually get into it, and you start to think, "Well, man, I don't quite look that sexy in this dress." I was looking kind of frumpy actually. Quentin had this kind of kilt thing.

QUENTIN TARANTINO: A Catholic school girl uniform.

LAWRENCE BENDER: I had to learn to not sit like this. (Laughter) I was looking kind of frumpy so I had to get the wardrobe department to cut my dress up to here to make it a little sexier. That is one example of how we disagreed.

This is a question for Pam [Grier, star of JB]. Did working with Quentin differ from working with other directors?

PAM GRIER: Working with Quentin was a true celebration of life, because not only is he inclusive, but he works in a way where actors really get a parameter and they get a sense of the beats in Quentin's beats and we have a rehearsal process that is a luxury. Now Quentin can interpret his blueprint and say, "OK, I want to hear your thoughts. We want to develop the character together." We actually went through hairdos of how Jackie would look; her uniform; her development; her process; her walk. She has various walks and moods during the film. Then we have to read about where she is and how she feels about her life. All these things were part of our process. Not many directors give you that time. Nor do some really care. The fact is that every actor got a chance to sit with Quentin and call him day or night. I had to give him a lot of my tenure on this planet, and come on with no make up, hair out to here, being myself and knowing it is what he wants and that it is a safe place for me to really live and be Jackie, and know that I am not going to be pummelled by a look or a snide remark, that I can really be free with her. These luxuries I have not had in many processes. I will not mention the other films I have done where the directors didn't really care.

Actors really love to work with him. When he invested two years of his life to write this piece for me, or one year, I wasn't going to turn him down. Not only was it an honour, but I knew he had great humility because we made a pact. I said, "You watch my back and I'll watch yours, and don't let me fall. At the end of the day, make sure we get what we need to get." He said, "Don't you let me fall" so it showed me that he had great humility and we might stumble along the way to get there, but we are going to get it before we go home, and that is a rare and wonderful quality.

ROBERT FORSTER: Let me just jump in there. A couple of tiny things about Quentin. Not only does he inspire real confidence from his actors, but, for instance, he uses music occasionally. In the scene, when Pam walks towards me, the first time I see her, unbeknownst to me, from the sound department came that tune, and that swelled everybody's feelings in the shooting process. He did that in the car playing The Delphonics, and one thing I never saw anyone else do and which is the way it ought to be done, when you did a telephone conversation with another actor, that other actor was on the other end of the phone even if it was in the middle of the night, and we had to wake up Sam Jackson at 4 o'clock in the morning. This guy does all kinds of little things that makes the actor know that not only is he in their corner but he wants them to be great. It inspires tremendous confidence amongst all of the actors in the picture.