- Have I let you down?
- [Nathan] In what way?
- In that I'm not the person
you wanted in your movies.
- [Nathan] Why would you say that?
- Well, because I had large roles in some of your movies,
and now I don't.
So I'm just asking you.
- Scene 27D, take one.
(clack)
- [Nathan] Why are you in my movies?
- I'm gonna break your phone if you don't,
you're filming me now, I'm gonna kill you.
I swear to God I'll kill you.
- [Nathan] Why are you in my movies?
- What a break, not having.
- [Man] No I'm tired of talking about Florence.
- Now I'm gonna yell at her like you yell at me?
I'm gonna pinch you, come here.
You just yelled.
I'm not going on 'til I pinch.
Come here.
- [Nathan] What do you think our working relationship
has been like?
- [Cindy] Like our lives together, tumultuous.
- What're you doing, alright.
Mom, mom, look, look, alright.
- I told you there's no room to...
- Wait no hold on we have to go back.
- [Nathan] You were in a bunch of my movies.
Did you enjoy the attention?
- [Cindy] It was fun to be around
all of you young people and
go to these things and
my parts I took, you know, as a joke, kind of
'cause I'm not an actress.
- Oh, remember those days.
And then look at that.
Is that like the essence of agony?
And just so you know, this table
hasn't stopped shaking since I sat down.
Why aren't you helping Robby?
- Look, alright, I actually have to go.
I gotta go back, I love you.
- You don't even have two hours?
Haven't seen you for two weeks?
- Bye, Robby.
- Would anyone like to ask me a question?
(laughter)
- [Man] Have you had a lot of acting experience?
- Oh, no but I'm in Nathan's movies.
(laughter)
- [Nathan] Reluctantly.
- Reluctantly.
Let me put it to you.
Do you think our making movies together made us closer?
- [Nathan] I think so and then,
Actor Martinez happened.
And that kind of disrupted it all.
(theme music)
(phone ringing)
- [Harvey] Hello?
- [Nathan] Hey.
- [Harvey] Hey, bud, how ya doin'?
- [Nathan] I'm doin' okay.
How's mom feeling?
- [Harvey] Ah, she's down, I don't know.
You know, I mean she's been better.
- [Nathan] You guys are still comin' to the premiere though?
- [Harvey] Yeah, we'll be there, we'll be there.
You know I mean, one way or the other we'll be there.
(street noise)
- Nicole, this is Cindy, my mom.
- Hi, how are you?
Nice to meet you.
- Nice to meet you too.
- Have you seen the film yet?
- Oh, yeah, well I was in a little of it.
- Right, right, right.
- Just at the end there's a wave.
But, yeah, I saw it at Tribeca.
Hi!
You're not gonna just come up and greet people.
- Mom, I am dealing with people down here, right?
- [Cindy] This is Nicole. - Nice to meet you, Nicole.
- Nice to meet you.
- And Eric.
(playful music)
(applause)
- Nathan Silver.
- Hey, and then the cast and crew.
And, mom, where are you?
Cindy, come up.
I know we cut you out,
but we're making a movie about you.
- So why'd you cut your mom out?
- Um, the scene just didn't work in the edit.
But she doesn't understand that.
- In this film, I do.
- Okay, well I'm glad.
(laughter)
- Previously there's been some
more difficult conflicts.
- Yes, there has.
(laughter)
You can admit it.
- Well there have been films where I've had
complete roles and they've just been disappeared.
- You always bring the thunder.
(laughter)
- Cheers.
- [Cindy] Happy Hanukkah.
May it be a great year for everyone.
- "Exit Elena" was the first time you had like a really big
role in one of my movies.
- [Cindy] Okay, right.
- So what was the aftermath of, or not the aftermath,
but like going around touring with the movie?
- Well it's strange to see yourself on...
- [Nathan] In what way?
- Well, because...
my voice always annoyed my mother.
I have a very Jewish inflection,
and I never felt I was thin enough,
or this enough or that enough.
So I had to like let go of all that
'cause I was like in this movie.
You know what, hon, don't shut it this much
'cause if you had to get out
if there's a fire or something
it's really hard.
I'll have Jim sand it a little.
And I think because the movie was so powerful and meaningful
that I almost stepped out of it being me.
- [Nathan] But you never, growing up you were never happy
with your voice or your looks?
- Well when I was a little little girl, like five,
I was really happy.
And then it just became more and more obvious that
sort of I...
I don't know if I didn't fit in in my family.
Everyone was like super athletes
and it was very male oriented.
So, I always thought, wow, here's this person like
with a Bette Midler voice and what would anyone wanna...
watch me or see me or hear me?
So, I had to like let go of all that
'cause I was like in this movie.
- People approached her
like she was some sort of special person.
I mean it was really interesting.
Like I haven't, out in California at the LA Film Festival,
I mean they were talking about,
one guy yelled out, "Gee you should get an academy award."
And then all of a sudden we realized,
she's the, it's not really Exit Elena, it's enter Cindy.
It was sorta like the whole movie's about Cindy.
What was the first showing?
- I mean, in New York, it was BAM.
- BAM. Cindy appeared in the film, people cheered.
People started clapping.
And I remember noticing.
- [Cindy] Do you remember that?
- No, 'cause I didn't sit through the movie.
- [Harvey] You don't sit through the movies.
- Oh yeah, and can I ask you before I tell any more,
why don't you sit through your movies?
- [Nathan] Why would I want to sit through them again?
I've already, I made them.
- Because you wanna, like with Uncertain Terms,
every time I sat through it,
I noticed what people laughed at,
what people really liked,
if the color was good.
- [Harvey] You would notice if people are laughing,
relating to your mother in each one of your films.
(laughter) So if you had sat through the movies,
you woulda known that and you wouldn't cut her out.
- Okay, so it was Exit Elena,
- [Nathan] Soft in the Head.
- [Cindy] Soft in the Head, Uncertain Terms,
Stinking Heaven,
- Yeah, and then Actor Martinez.
- [Cindy] Actor Martinez.
- And so Actor Martinez...
- [Cindy] Yeah well Actor Martinez
was the one that really hurt.
(suspenseful music)
(keys rattling)
(door opening)
(background noise)
- So I get introduced to Arthur Martinez, right?
Actor Martinez, and I really bonded with him.
Like he looked like Julius Caesar,
or you know, Marlon Brando.
Like I do not consider myself an actress at all.
I'm Nathan's mother and he puts me in his movies.
But I just felt like it was a very moving thing,
and it seemed to go on forever.
- [Nathan] And then what happened?
- Well...
In any case, I was cut from the film, after all of that.
- [Nathan] And you said what to me?
- And I said to you, this is the one thing I can–
I will never forgive you for.
(theme music)