Asteroid City: Scarlett Johansson And Jason Schwartzman Enjoy The Small Things About Wes Anderson - Exclusive Interview
Wes Anderson brings his proclivity for colorful palettes and giant ensemble casts to his latest feature — "Asteroid City." While there are meta sensibilities around the formation of the plot being a stage play, most of the action takes place in a fictional town in the American West. Many families and troupes have gathered to attend the Junior Stargazer convention to give praise to young inventors. Everyone is there from a different background, putting war photographer Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) and actress Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson), who's loosely based on real-life Hollywood starlet Bette Davis, on a collision course with each other.
The two get off to a somewhat confrontational start when Augie takes Midge's photo in a diner, but upon realizing they're staying next to each other at the local motel, they form a bond. Their relationship takes some interesting turns, and it wouldn't be a Wes Anderson movie if there weren't a tinge of melancholy associated with their newfound friendship. Theirs is just one of several relationships that are forged throughout the events of the film, and it may just be Anderson's most mature take on finding connection in his filmography.
In an exclusive interview with Looper, Schwartzman and Johansson discuss the latest Anderson film. Both have worked with the auteur director before. Johansson did voiceover work on "Isle of Dogs," and Schwartzman is pretty much a Wes Anderson staple at this point, getting his breakout role in 1998's "Rushmore." But "Asteroid City" was something special for each of them in more ways than one.
The joys of working with Wes Anderson yet again
You both worked with Wes Anderson in the past. Was there anything about his directorial style that took you by surprise with "Asteroid City," or is it kind of second nature at this point?
Scarlett Johansson: I'm surprised that you can hear him laughing during the take.
Jason Schwartzman: That's true. That's true.
Johansson: I wouldn't have expected ... You can hear him making little delighted glee noises, which is really charming. I like that.
Schwartzman: That's great. One thing I noticed on this [film] is he would wait a little longer to say, "Cut." I can't articulate what that means other than a kind of waiting. [That's] not to say that "cut" was like, "All right, cut. Nevermind. Nothing's happening." But there was just like a ... [pauses] Happy in the moment.
On finding their characters
Scarlett, as an actress playing an actress, was there anything you took from your own personal experiences to help define your character?
Johansson: Yeah, there was. The environment of that kind of theater troupe reminded me of different acting groups I've been a part of or work environments I've been a part of, and the relationship between the students and Willem [Dafoe]'s character, the teacher, and how we're all hanging on his every word, waiting to be called on, waiting to interpret, waiting to impress the rest of the class — that stuff is very familiar. As far as Midge, the film actor, she's so aware. She's aware she's being observed, and almost to a ... It's to excess, obviously, but there's enough baked in there that I can relate to and contribute to.
Jason, what is it that drew you to "Asteroid City" and makes you want to continue working with Wes Anderson after all these years and working with him so often?
Schwartzman: I just love the script so much. I thought [about] all these layers and this idea of playing two characters and playing with reality and not reality, and what is reality? I love everything that the movie's about. I remember after I finished reading it the first time — because you read it a bunch of times, start drawing out drawings of what you think everything's meant to look like, because I was getting confused. There's so many people. I was always so happy at the end of reading it and wanting to read it again. I couldn't wait to get into that world. If I wanted to jump into a movie, I felt like that. We got to do that.
"Asteroid City" is currently playing on limited release and comes to theaters nationwide on June 23.
This interview has been edited for clarity.