[This interview was conducted in 2001 in conjunction with the release of Blow. It was first published in the Harvard Crimson, hence the use of “THC” to signify the questions I and the rest of the interviewers asked. Sadly, Ted Demme passed away on 13 January 2002 from an accidental cocaine-induced heart attack.]
Ted Demme, the 37-year-old director of Life and Beautiful Girls, strides into the MGM screening room on 56th Street in Manhattan, ready to answer questions about his latest film Blow, the biography of cocaine importer George Jung.
The Harvard Crimson: How true was the movie to the actual story? How did you pick Johnny Depp to play George Jung?
Ted Demme: The movie’s based on Ted Porter’s novel Blow, which I purchased six to seven years ago and optioned. The final cut is based on George’s life, remarkable as it may seem. We did make two changes: the character who we made Diego in the movie actually got busted in real life. George Jung testified against him and moved to Cape Cod. But George was such a raging alcoholic. He got busted again in a pot deal, and got 20 years. There were four of then. Everyone else got 20 months. But we didn’t want another drug-bust scene in the movie. Otherwise, George did what he said he did. He’s a very intoxicating character. When he walks into the room he takes the room over. As a filmmaker, if I could bring a character to the screen that was so ambiguous, that you kind of have a love-hate relationship with, I had to find an actor who was sexy, funny, cool, scary and make me cry – and go through the mullett hairdo transformation. [Laughs.]
THC: You use a lot of small-town characters in your movies.
TD: Well, it’s where I’m from. I grew up in Long Island and went to school in upstate New York. Everyone gravitates towards big city characters. But I’m drawn towards antiheroes, not your normal kind of leading me. The older I get the more I realize there’s no real good guys or real bad guys, and I’m curious about how the good guys got good and how the bad guys got bad.
THC: This is a fairly international cast – there’s Cliff Curtis [who plays Pablo Escobar], Penelope Cruz, of course, and Rachel Griffiths. Given that this is a very American story, what do you think these international actors brought to it?
TD: I was influenced by European movies, old Fellini, old Kurosawa – any sort of foreign film. And when Run Lola Run came out, I really wanted to work with Franka [Potente]. As for Penelope Cruz, we cast the movie a year and a half before Penelope-mania started. I’d seen Cliff Curtis in Three Kings and I knew I wanted to work with him. But at casting, he comes in with a deep New Zealand accent and we go, “Oh my God.” Then he says, “hold on,” comes back in [indicates combed hair], and he’s totally Escobar. Usually, when you see movies, it’s the same group of actors working over and over again, and I thought I’d shake it up a bit.
THC: Unlike some of your earlier movies, Blow is a very visually-driven movie. What made you decide to film the movie this way?
TD: I knew I had the opportunity to play around, more than in the past. A lot of it was screwing around in the cutting room. You know the scene in the airport? The freeze frame there came by accident. We were looking for a way to ID the location without just putting in IDs. I’ve only cut one movie on film. The rest I’ve done by computer.
THC: What are your views on the drug trade?
TD: We’ve done an awful job of every facet of fighting drugs. I don’t know if legalization is the answer. I definitely think pot should be legalized. What’s changed is how our country treats drug offenders. A first-time offender, bam, he gets 20 years – what do you think that kid’s gonna do when he gets out? Like the whole Robert Downey Jr. thing, it’s a joke.
THC: There’s a lot of emphasis on family in Blow for a drug movie.
TD: There are a lot of films that are drug dramas, and we didn’t want to tell Scarface again. We spent a lot of time with [George Jung]: me, Nick Cassavetes [the screenwriter], Johnny. He really broke down and told us how much his childhood affected him. His mom was a terrible alcoholic and beat up his dad in front of him, and he couldn’t believe he turned into everything he didn’t want to. I really believe parents are responsible for providing an environment for their children.
THC: You thank Kristina and Mirtha Jung at the end of the movie. Did you actually consult them in making the movie?
TD: Yes. They live in North California now. Mirtha’s been clean and sober for 20 years, and she’s made her peace with George. Kristina hasn’t seen him yet. She’s not ready to make peace yet. She’s 21, she has to deal with the same things you guys do.
THC: What does George Jung think of the movie?
TD: I showed him my first assembly [of the movie], and he really liked it a lot, really laughed. He couldn’t believe how much Johnny Depp got it. [Puts on Jung’s hoarse voice] “Jesus Christ, even the way I smoke a cigarette.”