ZOOEY DESCHANEL: The Hollywood Interview

"One day, you'll be cool." - Zooey Deschanel in Almost Famous.BEHIND BLUE EYESThis article originally appeared in the February 2003 issue of Venice Magazine. Deschanel hadn't headlined a feature until that month's release of All the Real Girls, although she had been on the Hollywood radar for some time. My opening paragraph speaks about how she never looks quite the same from film-to-film and how that's given her a certain anonymity as an actress....

Read More

Mike Leigh: The Hollywood Interview

Filmmaker Mike Leigh. MIKE LEIGH:THE LORD HIGH EXECUTIONER SPEAKS OUTByAlex SimonEditor’s Note: The following article appeared in the February, 2000 issue of Venice Magazine.Mike Leigh was born February 20, 1943 in Salford, Manchester, England. The son of a doctor, Leigh went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the Camberwell Art School, the London International School of Film Technique and Central School of Arts and Crafts. Moving...

Read More

Ridley Scott: The Hollywood Interview

Filmmaker Sir Ridley Scott. RIDLEY SCOTT: CAESAR CINEMATICA MAXIMUS by Alex SimonEditor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the May 2000 issue of Venice Magazine. Ridley Scott has been one of the cinema's most successful commercial filmmakers, boasting one of the most distinctive visual styles in film history. Born November 30, 1937 in South Shields, England, he entered the BBC in the mid-60's as a set designer, and soon moved on...

Read More

Joe Eszterhas: The Hollywood Interview

Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas. JOE ESZTERHAS IS TELLING NO LIES IN AMERICA By Alex SimonEditor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the October 1997 issue of Venice Magazine. Joe Eszterhas has been one of Hollywood's top screenwriters for the past fifteen years. The author of such diverse works as Jagged Edge, Music Box, Basic Instinct, Flashdance and Showgirls, Eszterhas is a man of many voices and many lives, his having begun...

Read More

Jim Jarmusch: The Hollywood Interview

Filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. JIM JARMUSCH: GHOST STORY By Alex SimonEditor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the March 2000 issue of Venice Magazine. Jim Jarmusch's hip, urban, comic jags arose from the same East Village-New York University explosion that nurtured the relentlessly contemporary films of Susan Seidelman and Spike Lee. Jarmusch offers lowlife reflections of post-modernist communication and mis-communication between characters...

Read More

Jerry Bruckheimer: The Hollywood Interview

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer. JERRY BRUCKHEIMER: KING OF THE BIG-TOP By Alex SimonEditor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the June 2001 issue of Venice Magazine. You don't hear the word "impresario" used much in the 21st century vernacular. If you don't know it's meaning, Webster's defines impresario as "one who puts on or sponsors an entertainment (as a television show or sports event)." Dry, dictionary-style definitions aside,...

Read More