By: Izumi Hasegawa December 3, 2015
Youth’s stars gathered together again for a press conference. Michael Caine, Harvey Keitel, Rachel Weisz, Paul Dano and Jane Fonda talked about their ideal retreat and shared their thoughts on speaking to fans about their previous work.
Q: What kind of environment would you prefer for your ideal relaxing retreat?
Michael Caine: Me, I go to the sunshine always. In The Man Who Would Be King, I played a guy called Peachy and I had sent the message: “Just tell him Peachy’s gone south for the winter.” That sums me up. I hate the cold. And I don’t wanna go skiing. Everybody I see who goes skiing, they’ve got their arm in a sling. I say, “Why did you go skiing?” Because you could fall over.
Harvey Keitel: I love weather. Relaxes me.
Rachel Weisz: I just want to be able to be relaxed enough to answer questions like Harvey. But I think you mean not having a schedule, like suddenly having a couple of hours without anything to do and just going on a walk, even around Manhattan where I live, and just people-watching. That I find very relaxing. But the place in Switzerland – there are places like that. There are spas with doctors, so there are people with clinical expertise that are like looking at your stool. I just had to say that. Sorry.
Paul Dano: I’m fortunate to get to travel for work, so I think actually home is where I wanna be.
Jane Fonda: I think I kind of am at my best at 14,000 feet, so that would be ideal for me. Top of a mountain. I like climbing mountains. I like it to be so high that the air is thin. Some people get sick. I become my better self. Don’t know why.
Q: In the film, fans approach Fred to talk about his famous work, Simple Songs, but there are other pieces he’s created. Do you have your own thing that fans always ask you about, and what movie would you rather talk about?
MC: Yeah, I don’t like people that bring up flop films that you’ve made, you know? Because it’s sort of unkind. You didn’t know they were a flop when you were going in. You know? And so, they don’t give you a chance at failure. You’ve gotta be a success every time. And so, that’s why they’re talking to you, and you’re not talking to them.
HK: My turn? I surrender. I like when people ask me about any film I’ve done because I feel the film speaks stronger than I can speak for the film. The pleasure is in the work, creating the work. One little moment and you know you’ve found the truth of that moment is enough satisfaction for me and especially in Youth. I mean, if it was a Dostoevsky novel, and you said to me, “Well, what’s it about?” I’d say, “Read it.” So, you ask me about that, I would say, “Watch Youth.” It can tell you all about everything that I think you have questions about. I could’ve shortened that up, by the way…
RW: I just love what these guys just said. I mean, I agree with Michael, but I think failure is incredibly important – everyone, in whatever they do. So, I guess you gotta cherish your failures and not feel that you’re gonna be attacked for them. And I also agree with Harvey. It’s actually so wise, you guys, that work should speak for itself. I don’t know, it’s also nice to have… This is not something that people come up to me and talk about that I wish that they hadn’t. The thing that people most talk to me about is The Mummy, and I’m very proud of that film. I love it. So, I’m happy to chat about it. But yeah, failure’s important.
PD: I think when I was a little younger, I probably felt self-conscious about things. Now, I sort of embrace anything. I remember doing this movie called The Girl Next Door when I was younger, and I was very self-conscious about it for a while because I wanted to be an actor. You just sort of felt like it’s so easy to sort of get typecast and this and that. And now, I love when people come up to me and they’re like, “We watched that in my college dorm room, and it’s f***ing awesome.” And so, I think it’s definitely a lot more fun to just embrace it than to let it be something that hangs over you.
JF: I agree. I don’t care what anybody asks me. It’s up to me whether I want to answer it or not, but bring it on.
MC: Sometimes when people ask me what it’s about, I say, “It’s about an hour and 50 minutes.”
HK: Can I just say one more thing? Because I didn’t explain it well enough. I don’t want to be misunderstood. What I meant is I like talking to people about the story. I just don’t like being put on the spot to say what the film is about. Our pleasure is in creating the story so we can talk about it. That’s the reason to go to the theater so we can discuss those obstacles and those problems.
Youth opens in theaters on December 4th.
