Giuseppe Tornatore said he chose Tim for the role, because he likes the fact of Tim 'somehow never actually being there' when he's acting. This sort of 'distraction' fascinates the director who, incidentally, confirmed there were some troublesome times in his relationship with the actor. They both have really hard characters and in Odessa they just talked to each other when it was strictly necessary. Things changed for the better in Rome, where the two looked like school buddies.

I recorded a long interview to director Tornatore from the radio. I thought sharing this excerpt was just worth it. I had to translate it from Italian into English, so forgive my mistakes. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Giuseppe Tornatore: After fifteen minutes from the birth of the idea for the film I thought about his face. He's a chaplinesque actor. I liked the idea of breathing an air coming from the movies of the past in this film. Roth with Pruitt Taylor Vince forms a couple reminding of Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. One of those couples which makes you think that the one cannot exist without the other. Generally in America when a director has to choose an actor, he has to talk to his agent, the agents talks to the studio, the studio talks to the actor's agents and the agents talk to the actor, then the agents tell the actor's opinion to the studios, the studios to the director's agent, and then the director knows something about it! If the chain has a positive result, finally, the director can talk to the actor. This is the procedure, even though there are exceptions because Scorsese calls his actors directly on the phone. When I thought Tim could be the right person for my film, I called his agency, asked for his telephone number and sent him a fax. After 18 hours he was on the phone saying 'I'm interested, I've seen your movies. Let's talk about it', I said I didn't even have a script but I did want to see him. He said he was shooting in North or South Carolina, can't remember which one it was. I said OK, in 48 hours I'd be there. So I met him, talked him a little bit about my idea and he said 'Yes, I'm doing it.' So, while I was starting the script, his agency and the lawyers wrote down the contract, which he signed without having even read the first version of the script. Therefore, everything started from this great encounter between Tim and I, a relationship mediated by no one, between two people who feel the same about cinema. So, if Tim can't stop talking about me, I could go on talking about him for hours as well. It is a relationship originated by matching emotions...

Q: Let's really talk about Tim then. The way we're used to look at him is through Tarantino's movies. What do you want from him and how do you think you'll change his characteristics from the way we know him.

GT: Of course I've seen him in Tarantino's movies, but the first time I saw him was in R&G are dead _I must have pronounced it completely wrong_

Q: I guess it was OK

GT: Then, I was in New York where I saw a movie which was not so good, Rob Roy, in which he played a very eccentric, strange kind of villain. It was then that his image seemed to me more complex than the one I had from Tarantino, he seemed to possess powerful means of expression. I started looking at him carefully since then. I saw Four Rooms in which he played almost a Chaplin-like character and I said to myself: this guy can draw on such a wide range of acting ability! When I read Baricco's monologue, Tim's image came immediately to my mind. I can't explain you why, there's no rational explanation, but I'm sure I guessed it right. It's not the same budget of his latest film, even though the film takes place in the thirties like Hoodlum. He plays a completely different character from that standard in which he's a master. He has even had to take piano lessons for five months. You know, actors like changing, especially when they know they can do more, and that's what attracted him.

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