So many times in the middle of an interview I’ve had people say, ‘Can we go off the record?’
I am repeatedly asked in interviews exactly ‘what’s wrong’ with me, and I always give them the same answer; I don’t identify the name of my condition in an interview unless it’s relevant to the context of the story.
‘Interview with a Vampire’ made vampires sexy.
Growing up people would tell me: ‘Yo, you only can do one thing. If you’re going to rap, just rap. If you’re going to sing, just sing.’ It boxed me in. But I just figured out a way to show everything. It’s like if you have a job interview, you want to present as many skills as you have.
I like getting to the meat of things. You can’t get it in a five-minute interview. I like to hone a person. I like to make eye contact.
I had the great good fortune to interview Peggy Lee. Her memories of working with Walt Disney and his team were warm and upbeat.
I think my younger self would be more amazed to know I was doing an interview for ‘The Spectator.’
In almost every interview someone asks what does HIM stand for. I can’t even remember our latest lie about that. When Hanson was hot, we said it means Hanson Is Murder. The name doesn’t have a particular history. His Infernal Majesty was a totally different band. I think HIM derives from some death metal joke.
When I first went to interview for ‘Misery,’ they were saying things like, ‘You’re not Michelle Pfeiffer, you know.’ And I just don’t get the relevance of that remark. I’m not Elizabeth Taylor, either. I’m not Sean Connery.
It is tiring to be Turkish. The country is badly polarised, bitterly politicized. Every writer, journalist, poet knows that because of an article, a novel, an interview, a poem or a tweet you can be sued, put on trial, even arrested. Self-censorship is widespread.
I think somewhere along the line probably Tony Hancock did an interview and claimed that he was terribly depressed, and that he was hiding his depression with comedy. So then it’s been used as a template for every comedian since.
The scene that has raised the most objections in ‘The Interview’ is at the very end, when Kim’s head dissolves into flames. To me, it feels gratuitous.
I don’t roll like that but I’ve never been with a hooker either. Yeah, that’s good to say in an interview cause I feel bad a little because people grew up watching me and that’s a little disturbing.
I’ve had trouble gaining access to certain people I’d really love to interview because they’re worried I’ll make fun of them. I’m a pretty private and self-conscious person, so I relate to that concern!
I never recreate dialogue. I have often been asked by people, ‘You must have made this up because this is dialogue, right?’ Anything in my books that is in quotes comes from some kind of living historical document: a letter, a memoir, a court transcript, a newspaper interview.
Over the last half century the television interview has given us some of TV’s most heart-stopping and memorable moments. On the surface it is a simple format – two people sitting across from one another having a conversation. But underneath it is often a power struggle – a battle for the psychological advantage.
In those days I would go for an interview and find myself competing with this other chap who would always be younger and taller, and much handsomer than I.
I entered the work force cleaning breast pumps at a pharmacy! It was a part-time gig while I was at school… no interview required.
It’s nice being able to speak for myself. Every interview I did for so many years and every time I was in front of the camera, pre-Twitter, there was no way for me to speak for myself. Every interview started with, ‘What was it like to work for this man?’
I remember I heard it in an interview with Michael Jackson one day, saying the art is gone, everybody makes records just to make a record. See, I always want the artist that try to build a whole body of music on one album, so you can enjoy it. So you could say, ‘I went with him here, I went with him here.’
When you’re in the middle of an interview, it’s so easy to stop listening and think about the next question you’re going to ask. You can miss that golden moment which might take you in a different direction or a direction you didn’t expect.
I get accused of talking about records. But it’s the guys who interview me who ask about them.
Had it not been for ‘The Apprentice’ and Donald Trump, I wouldn’t have met my wife through an interview with ‘E! News.’
Diplomats willing to sit for an interview usually prefer the terra firma of CNN over the whoopee cushion of Comedy Central.
