nashville2

Henry Gibson (Haven Hamilton)
"When I first started working on the film someone said to me: ‘Working with Altman is like having sex, when it’s good it’s very good and when it’s not so good -- it’s still good." He then talked about shooting the final scene. "They did a lot of set-up for the shot and there were camera’s everywhere you looked and crowds were being assembled for the days shoot. And then it began to rain. Robert got up on stage, he looked up and he yelled STOP! I knew he was a wonderful director and I don’t claimed he has Divine powers, but I was there and it did stop."

Jeff Goldblum (Tricycle Man) mentioned how young and inexperienced he was although it didn’t matter because he had no lines and he only had to ride a motorcycle and do a couple of magic tricks. He said: "When I heard about the casting someone told me to go make a tape and send it in. So I sang two songs: ‘Jumbalia’ and that was okay, but then I sang a Frank Sinatra song, ‘Life has Been Good to Me"[it’s] about all the loves I had had all my life. I didn’t sing
very well and besides I was ignorant of myself then. I wonder if anyone has a tape of those songs?"

Michael Murphy (John Triplette)
"By today’s standards the guys Allan and I play are pretty stand-up guys. For the final scene with Allan Bob told me, ‘Go up there and have a fight with Allan but let him win.’ And while doing the scene I stuttered one of my lines and at that precise moment I watched all the color drain out of Allan’s face. I’d never experienced that but it worked. Thank you Bob for the lessons, thanks for giving me my life."

Christina Raines (Mary)
"I didn’t like to sing in front of crowds but then Bob told me I had to get up and sing. I was so nervous I felt like I wanted to have a heart attack." She talked about how she got interest in Bob’s films, "A friend and I had seen Buffalo Bill And The Indians and we staggered out and really felt we had seen something. I knew then I wanted to work with him." This memory may have been one of the lies that Altman mentioned because after her comments Bob chimed in saying that there is no way she could have seen Buffalo Bill before Nashville because it was made a year after NASHVILLE.

Richard Baskin (Frog) who was the music supervisor -- and played a bit part -- said that he was a 24 year-old starving songwriter who found a golden opportunity when his sister told him that an actress friend of hers named Gwen Welles was going to audition for Nashville. "She had to write a couple songs. So I said I’ll write the songs [for her] if I get to meet Altman." So he wrote two songs: "One, I Love You" and "Let Me be The One" that Gwen performs, with her
tone-deaf singing voice, in the movie.

Each of the cast members personally thanked Bob and acknowledged that in many ways he is more than just a director to them: He is in some ways a father figure who has had a major impact on their careers.

Matt Langdon