We were discussingEzra, his new film as director.
Theres been a real shift in our business.
I hope it swings back,Oppenheimeractor Goldwyn sighed.
Robert De Niro with Bobby Cannavale and William Fitzgerald in a scene from Ezra & Tony Goldwyn directing newcomer William FitzgeraldJohn Baer
In the 90, the marketing of films became so expensive that movies likeEzrajust werent made as often.
More often than not there are exceptions, of course those pictures with their marketing hooks are instantly forgettable.
UnlikeEzra, which I cant seem to shake.
Tony Goldwyn (Getty Images)
Ezracaught me unawares, though.
I did not want to go there, butEzraunlocked a door in the dark that I never open.
This door hadnt been stepped through in four decades.
That would have been the last time I saw her.
My foster sister was autistic.
Lets not use her name.
We grew up together, but she didnt go to the same schools as the rest of us kids.
Four times a week, shed be driven to a special-needs school.
We all cared for her and looked after her.
The last time I saw her was in 1980.
Goldwyn andEzrascriptwriter Tony Spiridakis (Queens Logic) have been friends for more than 40 years.
So for many years, I was just a sounding board for him.
All that changed two years ago, when Spiridakis announced hed rewritten what was then calledInappropriate Behavior.
Goldwyn ready it, and it just hit me very hard.
And I surprised him by saying ,Tony, I think I want to direct this.
I think we should do it together.
Cannavale had some thoughts on the script that took a month or so to address.
The script went out to De Niro.
Then when Bob said yes, it was going to happen.
Finding a young teen to playEzra, though, was key.
Without Ezra, the movie wouldnt work.
Barden and Schnee did a lot of outreach through the autism community.
They put kids on tape, with their parents permission, in a very safe environment, Goldwyn stressed.
Those they found compelling would be invited to anticipate in a Zoom callback.
Kids accompanied by their parents arrived from across the country.
They were wonderful young actors, but they werent the right kid.
And I said, Weve got to keep looking.
And we were about three weeks away from filming, still alarmed after all this time.
So it was getting a little nerve-wracking.
That weekend, Kerry Barden called.
He was just a natural.
Hes sort of a show-off, and she just thought it would be fun.
The kid, hes just gifted, Goldwyn gushed.
The first wow moment for Goldwyn came upon first meeting the youth.
The creatives were bowled over.
Williams just completely comfortable being himself, and hes very, very present when he works.
He has a kind of innate confidence as an actor.
He just gets it, Goldwyn noted, admiringly.
He and Bobby started improvising immediately.
Hed never acted before, and they were just making stuff up, and hes just very present.
He just wasnt intimidated.
It didnt even occur to him to be intimidated, he said with a smile of approval.
I learned a lot from him, honestly, as a director, Goldwyn said.
So I had to be extremely precise about what I was asking of him.
He was way ahead of me on almost all counts, he marveled.
Normally with an actor, I want to get into a conversation and have a creative discussion.
And William just wasnt having it.
Hes like, Yeah, I get it.
Let me just do it.
And Goldwyn was right to let William just do it.
Its an unbelievably spot-on performance.
The chemistry with De Niro seemed so real.
The relationship was beautiful, Goldwyn exclaimed.
He really connected on a personal level with all the actors, and it was thrilling.
Its thrilling watching what this young man achieves.
William is superb with De Niro.
Same too with with Cannavale, once they get out into the countryside.
It turns out that Ezra is more kind of grown-up than the adults.
Thats the thing about Max, Goldwyn said.
And in this story he learns he doesnt have to fight.
Hes on the right track.
He just needs to love, and thats what we all need to do.
The other layer that had me shifting in my seat with more guilt had to do with parenting.
But my sense of propriety forbade it.
Max will do any crazy thing because he loves his son, unconditionally.
And thats OK. Thats a bad paraphrase of what he says, but its true.
I trotted out that overused lyric from Philip Larkins poem This Be the Verse.
They f*ck you up, your mum and dad.
They may not mean to, but they do.
And add some extra, just for you.
Goldwyns directorial debut was the seductiveA Walk on the Moon.
Goldwyn has a way with actors.
He followed that with 2001sSomeone Like You, starring Ashley Judd and Hugh Jackman.
He was very happy to have had that job but dismissed the rom-com as a studio movie.
It was a fine experience, Goldwyn clarified, but it wasnt from my heart.
It was a job assignment.
I thought, Making movies is hard.
From now on,I only want to do movies if I really, really connect to them.
[Spiridakis] happens to be someone I love, and it was important to him.
And it was his story and what it was saying the potential impact on the autism community.
But then he started acting in high school plays just for fun and was immediately hooked.
And then it became, Oh God, how do I avoid this?
So I guess it was in my blood.
Hes a grandson of Samuel Goldwyn, who helped created Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios.
Didnt his grandfather ever sit him on his knee and tell not to go into show business?
Not exactly, he laughed.
I was 14 when my grandfather died, so we didnt talk about the business, Goldwyn said.
But I think my father felt that way because he was terrified for me.
But just know, its tough.
He had tremendous trepidation, but he never once said, Dont do it.
Which wasnt pleasant to hear early on, but I was grateful to him.
And then once I started having some success, he took great joy in it.
season, running November 1-5.
And then well see if we move on to Broadway after that, Goldwyn declared.
Asked if hed thought about making a newPal Joeymovie, his eyes brightened.
Ive thought about it, Goldwyn said.
If all goes well, I think its got real potential to adapt into a feature.
George Abbott produced and directed.
