>> THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT I’M
TAKING ADVANTAGE OF.
AARON, SO LONG AGO, IT FEELS
SEVERAL, MANY YEARS AGO WHEN YOU
FIRST SAID TO ME THAT STEVEN
SPEILBERG BROUGHT YOU AN IDEA
ABOUT THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7
AND I THOUGHT THAT WAS IN
DEVELOPMENT FOR A WHILE AND
NOTHING HAPPENED AND THEN HERE
WE ARE.
>> YEAH.
IT’S BEEN 15 YEARS.
SINCE 2006 ON A SATURDAY
MORNING, STEVEN SPEILBERG ASKED
ME TO COME TO HIS HOUSE.
TO BE VERY CLEAR, THAT’S NOT
COMMON.
I DON’T HANG OUT WITH STEVEN
SPEILBERG ON SATURDAY MORNINGS.
HE SAID HE WANTED TO MAKE A MOVE
ABOUT THE CHICAGO 7 AND I SAID
COUNT ME IN.
THAT SOUNDS GREAT.
IT’S GOING TO BE A FANTASTIC
MOVIE.
LEFT HIS HOUSE, CALLED MY FATHER
AND ASKED HIM TOWHO THE CHICAGO
WERE.
I WAS JUST SAYING YES TO DOING A
MOVIE WITH SPEILBERG.
I KEPT WRITING IT AND WRITING IT
AND WRITING IT.
AND NOW IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN
AT ALL.
FINALLY, DONALD TRUMP STARTED RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AND HE GOT
RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT AND HE GOT
ELECTED AND HE HAD RALLIES AND
THERE WOULD BE A PROTESTER.
HE WOULD BE NOSTALGIC ABOUT
THOSE GUYS, WE WOULD CARRY THEM
OUT ON A STRETCHER, LET’S PAY
THE CRAP OUT OF THEM, I’LL PAY
YOUR LEGAL BILLS.
STEVEN DECIDED TO DO THE FILM
NOW.
I HAD DONE MOLLY’S GAME AND HE
SAID I SHOULD DIRECT CHICAGO 7.
WE THOUGHT IT WAS RELEVANT LAST
WINTER WHEN WE WERE MAKING IT.
WE DIDN’T NEED IT TO GET MORE
RELEVANT BUT IT DID IN MAY WITH
THE KILLINGS OF GEORGE FLOYDnd
BREONNA TAYLOR, PROTESTERS TOOK
TO THE STREETS ALL OVER AMERICA.
IN A NUMBER OF CITIES THE
PROTESTERS WERE MET AGAIN BY
RIOT CLUBS AND TEAR GAS.
AND THEN FINALLY ON JANUARY 6th
DONALD TRUMP STOOD AT A MOBILE
PHONE AND DID EXACTLY WHAT THE
CHICAGO 7 WERE OP TRIAL FOR
DOING.
>> SACHA, YOU LIVED A GREATEST
DISTANCE FROM THE STORY.
AARON WAS TOO YOUNG TO HAVE
LIVED THROUGH IT.
WHAT ATTRACTED YOU TO THIS
SCRIPT?
>> WELL, I HAD FIRST HEARD ABOUT
ABBY HOFFMAN WHEN I WAS A
STUDENT IN CAMBRIDGE RESEARCHING
THE JEWISH BLACK ALLIANCE IN THE
’60s.
AND LOOKING AT JEWISH LEFT-WING
STUDENTS WHO WENT DOWN SOUTH TO
FIGHT FOR, AGAINST SYSTEMIC
RACISM.
ABBY WAS ONE OF THOSE.
THAT GROUP OF STUDENTS WAS THE
EPICENTER OF THE ANTI-VIETNAM
WAR MOVEMENT.
AND SO, YEAH, I KNEW ABOUT THIS
FROM THE AGE OF 20.
THEN I ALSO HEARD THAT SPEILBERG
WAS MAKING THIS MOVIE.
CALLED HIM UP.
AND I CHEEKILY ASKED WHETHER I
COULD AUDITION.
>> THAT WORKED OUT.
LET’S LISTEN TO WHAT JERRY RUBIN
SAID DURING THE TRIAL.
>> AS I SAY, YOU KNOW, I SAY
IT’S IN A WAY I WANT TO LAV
BECAUSE THE STORY IS KIND OF
EXCITING.
I THINK WE OUGHT TO MAKE A MOVIE
AND HAVE PEARSON BE THE
DIRECTOR.
THE GREAT STORY, THE DIARY, IT’S
RIGHT OUT OF THE LATIN AMERICAN
REVOLUTIONS AND OUT OF JAMES
BOND AND EVERYTHING AND PEARSON
IS A HERO.
I DIG IT.
I SAT THERE SAYING, IF THIS WERE
A DREAM, IT WOULD BE GREAT.
>> SACHA, DID YOU STUDY A LOT OF
VIDEO LIKE THAT OF THE
CHARACTERS IN THIS MOVIE?
>> OH, YEAH.
I MEAN, I, YOU KNOW, THIS WAS AN
INTIMIDATING CHARACTER TO TRY TO
PORTRAY, PORTRAYING SOMEBODY WHO
IS REAL, SOMEBODY PEOPLE KNOW
ABOUT.
MANY PEOPLE LIVE NOW ACTUALLY
KNEW.
I GOT HOLD OF EVERY BIT OF VIDEO
I COULD GET FROM HIM.
I READ ALL HIS BOOKS.
I MANAGED TO TRACK DOWN RADIO OF
SOME OF HIS STAND-UP TOURS.
HE WAS A HUGE FAN OF LENNY BRUCE
AND KIND OF APRILED HIS COMICAL
STYLE.
SO, YEAH, I TRIED TO GET
EVERYTHING I COULD.
OBVIOUSLY, TRYING TO MASTER THE
ACCENT, BEING AN ENGLISHMAN WAS
A CHALLENGE BECAUSE HE IS BORN
IN BOSTON, WAS EDUCATED IN
BRANDICE AND BERKELEY.
SO, YEAH, IT WAS TOUGH.
AND I’M HALF A FOOT TALLER THAN
HIM.
>> YES, THERE’S THAT.
WELL, YOU HAD YOUR DIRECTOR TO
FIX THAT FOR YOU, THE HEIGHT
PROBLEM.
AARON, I GOT A TWEET SENT TO ME
BEFORE THE SHOW TONIGHT.
THIS IS NOT SOMEONE I KNOW.
HE SAID, SORKIN IS THE ONLY
WRITER THAT CAN MAKE ME FEEL SO
PATRIOTIC THAT IT BRINGS TEARS
TOY EYES AND I’M CANADIAN.
AARON, DO YOU THINK OF YOURSELF
AS A PATRIOTIC WRITER?
>> I DO.
FIRST OF ALL, I WANT TO THANK
WHOEVER WROTE THAT TWEET BECAUSE
I ALWAYS WANTED -- LISTEN, I
WROTE THIS FILM OVER AND OVER
AND OVER AGAIN.
IT TOOK A LONG TIME.
BUT I ALWAYS WANTED PEOPLE TO
FEEL GOOD AT THE END OF THE
MOVIE.
I JUST WANTED PEOPLE TO FEEL
TALLER.
AND I THINK THAT THEY DO.
AND YOU KNOW FROM THE TIME WE SPENT TOGETHER ON THE WEST WING
SPENT TOGETHER ON THE WEST WING
THAT I LIKE RECLAIMING THE IDEA
OF PATRIOTISM FROM THE SILLY
IDEA OF PATRIOTISM.
YOU KNOW, JUST FLAG WAVING, THAT
KIND OF NONSENSE.
YOU KNOW, THE CHICAGO 7, CHICAG
FUNNY GUYS AND THEY WERE
TERRIBLY SERIOUS GUYS.
THE CHICAGO SEVEN WERE CALLED
UNAMERICAN, UNPATRIOTIC, AND
ANTI-AMERICAN, OVERLY EDUCATED,
IT’S STILL AN INSULT THAT I
DON’T UNDERSTAND, LAME PANSIES.
OKAY?
AND THEY ARE ANYTHING BUT LAME.
THEY RISKED THEIR LIVES.
THEY RISKED TEN YEARS IN FEDERAL
PRISON.
I THINK IN ORDER TODAY, IT’S
WIDELY ACCEPTED THAT THE
PROTESTS THAT THEY LED ARE, THE
THOUSANDS OF OTHERS WHO
PROTESTED WITH THEM.
HASTENED THE END OF THE