you
you used to express a desire to read
moby-dick has this wish been fulfilled
yes I read Moby Dick while I was making
the movie love and death
I filmed in Budapest and when I came
back from work each night there was
absolutely nothing to do in Budapest at
the time and I was there it was a drab
city the Russian army occupied it so I
would come back to my hotel and read
Moby Dick and and I finished it started
and finished it while I was shooting
love and death in Budapest I'm and liked
it very very much but I never would have
thought I would have loved anything at
all that remotely revolved around
whaling this is from Roe heat sang in
New York City I understand that you are
more of a musician than a singer but
when you are in the shower or in the car
alone or doing karaoke what one song do
you like to just belt out I can sing in
the shower and my repertoire is
limitless I mean I can sing anything in
the shower and I you know I sing all the
jazz and pop tunes all the colporteur
tunes I and my rendition of easy to love
by Cole Porter is probably as good as
one could hear in the shower outside of
the shower I start to have some problems
with reality speaking as a young
neurotic person as being neurotic in
life done more good or more harm in your
experience
well it's interesting people tend to
think that I'm neurotic and this I feel
is a testimony to my acting ability over
the years I've played the neurotic and I
played it so well I think it's a not a
good actor but that I can do and I
played that one little thing that I can
do well that is a neurotic character and
so effectively that people tend to think
I'm neurotic in my life when in fact the
truth of the matter is if you looked at
my entire life you would find that I am
not really very neurotic I'm very
structured normal I have wife now of 10
years
is I have two kids that I devoted to I
have been very productive my whole life
I don't sit around brooding and
contemplating suicide or getting high or
or dissipating myself I've been a very
disciplined worker I have my jazz
orchestra that I requires practice and
discipline and I play with I have my
writing and I've been able to do all
these things on an ongoing basis for
years and and a neurotic personality
would have trouble with that so I think
that that that I'm not arrived that I'm
very middle-class blue-collar
beer-drinking television t-shirt jerk at
home not someone who's ensconced in
Kierkegaard or Spinoza and but my image
is quite different because of what I
played do you agree with Picasso's quote
good artists copy but great artists
steal
and if so who have you stolen from oh
I've stolen from the best I mean I've
stolen from from Bergman I've stolen
from grab still went from Chaplin I've
stolen from Keaton from from Martha
Graham from Fellini
I mean I I'm shameless thief at what
point did you begin to note that the
character you played in some of your
films have become a pop culture
phenomenon ie that's such Woody Allen
dialogue and does that flatter you or do
you find it annoying no I've never found
it is the problem if if you found it you
found something that I've never found
I've I've never felt and I don't say
this with any bitterness or anger or a
disappointment because it's not
something that I was interested in I've
never influenced anybody to the best of
my knowledge in any way so when I see
people making films they make them like
Scorsese makes them they make them like
Spielberg makes them they make them like
Stanley Kubrick made them I make my
films for my own enjoyment my own
therapy I'm not familiar with the
phenomenon that the the questioner is
posing
you don't think that the the modern
romantic comedy however poorly done it
is at least owes to some degree to your
invention in the 70s the relationship
sort of modern man and woman comedy if
it is I don't see it I didn't see
anything revolutionary about it at that
time so so I I don't is there any
possibility you could make another movie
with Diane Keaton I've got them all yes
there would be I mean I will you know if
there was an idea for Keaton in me or I
had an idea that would be great for her
she'd be the first person that I would
call I'm we're very good friends and we
would love to work together there just
hasn't been anything that's occurred to
me that would be good for us but you
know it would be a pleasure to work with
her and we love to work with each other
Sheila Levine Simi Valley California how
is it that Woody Allen just gets better
and better looking the older he gets
well it's nice of her to say that you
know I probably started very bad when I
was younger and anything that happens is
registered as an improvement you've
worked with everyone but has anyone ever
said no thanks I'll pass
many people have there is a myth that
all I do is call up any actor or actress
and they drop whatever they're doing on
work with me nothing could be farther
from the truth I don't like to name
names here but there have been actors
and actresses that have passed because
the money was not enough passed because
they didn't like the script that I sent
them so obvious I have been turned down
any number of times now I've had a good
many acceptances but it has certainly
not been a perfect record by any means I
never ever hold that against anyone it
would never occur to me to I offered
Sean Penn three movies before he did
sweet and lowdown I've offered other
people you know that I have no problem
with that at all you could turn down my
movies
a dozen times and if I have a part
that's good for you I always offer it to
you and hope for the best
do you have a dream project a script
sitting somewhere waiting to meet made
into a film just waiting for the right
producer or the right actor no I I don't
I mean I finish a thing this way said
blue-collar before I finish a movie then
I sit around for a couple of days and
you know and I think what the hell am i
doing
you know it's boring and I start working
on something else and I try and come up
with a new idea one of those couple of
days when you're finished a project
actually like I'm trying to figure out
what it is I'm supposed to be doing to
enjoy myself and unwind having finished
a project so I finish a project let's
say on a Friday or Monday and and I go
home and I think well this is great I
finished and now I can and then I can't
complete the sentence and I I think well
what I want to do well I want to
practice my instrument and I'd like to
write these are the things I enjoy doing
so you know I kind of hold it back for a
day or two and go for a walk or but but
very quickly I can't stand it and I get
back into writing