Director Bennett Miller’s first two feature films, Capote (2005) and Moneyball (2011), were both nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. Whether his third, Foxcatcher, will reach the same high bar remains to be seen but suffice it to say, the film is off to an auspicious start, having earned Miller the Best Director honor at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
Foxcatcher relates the real-life story of the strangely disconcerting and ultimately tragic relationship that develops among multimillionaire John du Pont, Olympic wrestler Dave Schultz and his brother, wrestler/coach Mark Schultz. At first, du Pont (portrayed by Steve Carell) seems to be an odd benefactor to Dave Schultz (Channing Tatum), providing the young athlete with financial support and residency at the du Pont family estate/compound which becomes a state-of-the-art training facility and home to the U.S. wrestling team, with brother Mark Schultz (Mark Ruffalo) later coming on board as live-in coach.
But du Pont’s idiosyncrasies slowly become more disturbing and can no longer be dismissed as eccentricities. In his self-delusional role as a “mentor” and coach, du Pont develops a bizarre fixation on the brothers, which ultimately spirals out of control and yields a devastating conclusion.
The film almost feels like a documentary yet at the same time is cinematic–with both genres combining to create a captivating mix. This delicate balance is both unsettling and fascinating as we witness the complex psychological relationships between characters unfold–and unravel–before our eyes. The capturing of these relationships has in a very real sense sprung from the working relationships Miller enjoys with his cast and crew. In that vein, if the goal of this Directors Profile is to shed some light on Miller, perhaps rather than just focusing on the filmmaker, the better means toward that end is to delve into the collaborators who teamed with him to realize Foxcatcher.
“First calls”
Miller said that his “very first calls” typically are to Jess Gonchor and Kasia Walicka-Maimone, production designer and costume designer, respectively, on all three of the director’s feature films. Gonchor and Walicka-Maimone have another common bond–prior to collaborating with Miller on features, both worked with him on commercials. “Kasia was costume designer on the first commercial I directed back in 1999,” recalled Miller. “And I like to brag that I got Jess his first job as a production designer in commercials [back when Miller was at Hungry Man; he now directs spot and branded content via Smuggler].”
An Oscar nominee for Best Achievement in Art Direction (with set decorator Nancy Haigh) on the basis of the Coen brothers’ True Grit (2010), Gonchor has a 15-year collaborative relationship with Miller. Gonchor earlier told SHOOT that Miller has been generous and played a pivotal role in his career.
Besides landing Gonchor his first production designer gig in spots, Miller also gravitated to Gonchor for Capote, which was the first feature for both the director and the production designer. Foxcatcher too afforded a new opportunity to Gonchor who did double duty on the film as production designer and second unit director.
“Being a full-time production designer, you know the material so well–your work is all linked to the story,” said Gonchor. “I asked Bennett if I could do some of the stuff that he couldn’t get to with the first unit. He was gracious and trusting enough to say that was a great idea. He took a chance and it was a wonderful experience.”
Meanwhile, Walicka-Maimone is a two-time Costume Designers Guild Awards nominee–for Capote in 2006 and Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom in 2013.
“Kasia, Jess and I talk about every single component of the film and filmmaking,” said Miller. “Our exploration and exchange of ideas goes beyond their specialities. We deal with casting, cinematography, story and performance. We’re all working to make the work better, to do full justice to the story.”
Greig Fraser; trio of editors
Like Gonchor and Walicka-Maimone, cinematographer Greig Fraser first worked with director Miller in the commercialmaking arena. Unlike the production designer and costume designer, however, Foxcatcher marked Fraser’s first feature collaboration with Miller. “I did a commercial with Greig four or five years ago; it was a really good experience and he stayed on my radar,” said Miller. “I then saw the film Bright Star [directed by Jane Campion] and was so impressed–it was beautiful, elegant and haiku. I checked out some of his other work and saw how he adapted to so many different styles and how completely he was able to author them. Zero Dark Thirty (directed by Kathryn Bigelow) and Snow White and the Huntsman (directed by Rupert Sanders) come to mind.”
But beyond the work, Miller extols Fraser as a person. “To have a collaborator like Greig is everything. He’s very sensitive, deeply cares, knows what the film is about, who these characters are and he’s not going to allow superficialities to distract from what really matters.”
Among Miller’s other collaborators on Foxcatcher were three editors: Jay Cassidy, ACE, a three-time Oscar nominee (American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook, Into The Wild); Stuart Levy, ACE; and Conor O’Neill. The latter two teamed to earn a primetime Emmy nomination for Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming on the strength of the documentary Crossfire Hurricane.
Of the three editors, O’Neill worked previously with Miller, having served as an additional editor on Moneyball. O’Neill got the Moneyball gig based on Miller being favorably impressed with the cutter’s work on the documentary Murderball as well as various commercials. “He showed a real sensitivity and sensibility that I could relate to,” said Miller about O’Neill. “On Moneyball, he came in during the middle of the process and was able to learn the language of the film pretty quickly. Within two weeks he was able to become an author of the language of that film.”
As for Levy, Miller said that the editor “found me,” pitching hard that he would give himself to the Foxcatcher story. “I hired him off a conversation and a referral from Oliver Stone. Stewart represented himself as somebody who would put the project first–and he did.”
According to Miller, O’Neill and Levy cut for the first long stretch of Foxcatcher. “They did the bulk of the editing, then the film release got pushed back and both guys went onto other jobs. For some fresh blood and perspective, we got Jay [Cassidy] and moved the editing from New York to L.A. “I found him to be very in tune to what the film is,” assessed Miller. “Working with him was a great experience.”
Steve Carell
As for Miller’s cast collaborators, the biggest buzz has been generated by the astounding performance of Carell as du Pont. Best known for his comedic touch, Carell would on the surface seem to be an odd bit of casting for the measured performance needed in Foxcatcher.
“It’s counterintutive,” acknowledged Miller regarding the casting of Carell. Yet when Carell’s name initially came up, Miller recalled, “It stopped me in my tracks. There was something about it that somehow made a lot of sense. Steve as a performer feels benign in the same way that du Pont feels benign–no one thought he could do what he did.”
Miller observed of Carell, “There’s a lot more to him than he shows the world. You don’t become a comic without having a secret store of hidden feelings. I started to think this might work when I went to have lunch with him. I found that he had done his homework. He knew quite a bit about du Pont. I saw the seriousness he had for the project and the role. There were certainly more obvious choices to play du Pont–actors who would be viewed as lower risks. But I felt that if this would work with Steve, the reward for the risk would bring the highest return.”
Fall 2014 Directors Intro
Lance Acord
Debra Granik
Rory Kennedy
Theodore Melfi
Bennett Miller
