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- All of these projects are so ambitious.
I'm curious, what was the biggest fight you had to take on
to get what you needed?
- On "Sharp Objects," and on every project,
there's always fights, but I always, on every project,
now I fight for a number of things of shooting.
And nine to six, I don't wanna shoot before 9:00 a.m.
I'm 56.
I'm tired. - Wow.
- Can I come work on your sets?
- Didn't even know that was possible!
- I start at nine a.m.
- This is so European.
- Oh my god, yeah.
- You're from Montreal, right?
So it's...
- It's gotta be a 9:00 a.m. call
on the call-sheet.
If it's not nine, I'm like, I'm sorry.
- [Patty] Wow.
- Yeah, I'm a responsible filmmaker,
and we finish at six,
and I fight for music budget.
- The producer's cringing. - This is the nature of
the storytelling,
putting the music in the center of the stories
and on "Sharp Objects" so it was
this music budget and we fought for Led Zeppelin,
for Led Zeppelin to become the sound of "Sharp Objects."
And then we fought for the house,
to have a very specific house
that became almost a character.
And Amy needed to shoot in L.A.,
so we found a house in Northern California.
It was taking place in the South,
in Missouri,
so we didn't find one over there.
We built the house, the interior of the house
with the porch, onstage in L.A..
And we shot the exterior scenes in Northern California,
so that was a big expense.
But HBO are such great partners.
Great partners.
And they're aiming for quality
and they know when it's time to take a decision
and "all right, let's put money there and there."
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- Jean-Marc, tell me about
how you worked with the actors
when the material was so dark?
How did you sort of help them
handle that weight?
- Every project's...
On Dallas, there was a very damaged person there.
The character of Matthew McConaughey.
This one, it was about...
It's a family story, "Sharp Objects,"
where there's a history of abuse
between the women of the family.
So, of course, it comes from a book
and we love the book
and it was our Bible.
So, how we worked, I mean,
Amy and I had a routine in the morning
where we had to talk about the day.
How she was having two hours of makeup
with all these scars on her body.
And, talk about the day and the scenes,
and where she is, where's she's going,
what's the emotional
target, objective, goal today.
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- You know, as a director,
you're obviously making a million decisions a day
and you are the leader of this team.
What do you do when you feel unsure?
Have you ever stepped onto a project
and thought "I'm not ready for this,"
and how did you deal with that?
- I think it's part of the job to feel unsure.
The more I work,
I feel more confident about my tools
and the craft and how I'm going to shoot.
I accept to be creative on the day.
Before I needed to
shot-list,
storyboard,
and be creative before the day.
But now, I don't shot-list,
I don't storyboard,
I feel unsure sometimes and, okay,
but I know I'm going to figure it out
with the actors and the crew.
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Choosing your film is choosing your lifestyle.
- It's really is.
- How you're gonna, yeah...
Are you going to be happy waking up in the morning
doing this and serving it?
- I'm gonna be happy now 'cause I'm gonna start at 9:00 a.m.
(laughter) 9:00 a.m.
- Producers are freaking out - You're not happy when you
- all across Los Angeles. - wake up at five.
- This is the thing.
Truly, I can never say that.
I feel like I can never ask for that.
- Why?
- None of us could, by the way.
- [Ava] I feel like I can never say...
- That's madness.
Clint Eastwood and you,
those are the only two people who could do that.
- I can never get away with it.
No one's gonna...
First of all,
I would be seen as a diva, truly.
I don't work before nine.
I just can't.
I think 'cause your accent, we allow.
- It's definitely the accent.
- It's 'cause of your accent, man. It is.
- Please, let's talk about how you do this
and let's...
- By the way, he's from the Bronx,
he doesn't really have...
It's all an act.
- He's been acting his whole...
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