INT: Does the writing process stop at the point you start to shoot and if it continues please explain why?
RA: The writing process used to stop before we shoot because whatever was on the page is what you have to shoot. But no, the writing process never stops, in my mind. Example, I did the play CAINE MUTINY COURT MARTIAL, SAMUEL FRENCH copy in my pocket. Actors, knew me. One of them said I don't want to say it that way, I'm going to say it this way. No you say exactly way it's written. I thought, this is a trial. You're not supposed to be comfortable, not supposed to be telling the truth, not being truthful. Use words you don't really understand. That doesn't sound like you. Well, you don't have to do things the same way.

RA: I used to always move the camera. They said no, you can't make the cuts. Well, moving the camera is the only way I could figure out how to show this is really something in 3 dimension, you're changing what I see, movement of the camera has many reasons. Best film I've seen ever CITY OF GOD, I don’t know how they made that film. How did they get car on top of the chicken? Now, acceptable material. Granddaughter married to camera operator, makes his living off of Steadicam. Makes pretty good living, I never used a steadicam. If I want the thing to look handheld, I can handhold it just as well and it's forcing you to use wider lenses. Now, not jiggly enough, we want to see more cinema verite. All the things we tried not to do are the things we try to do. This is going to constantly change. I've looked at some of my old films. Space is so contrary to today's pace that it almost becomes arresting in itself. Now what used to be the standard and then became different is not becoming standard again.

RA: It's like painting, photography. Ads, commercials, they'll do this whole thing, 5 frames with name. That to me is great. They don't have to shove that. [INT: Is that the reason why all the commercial directors are now being hired to make films in Hollywood?] It's a lot of the reason. Because they're saying oh I like that, that went fast, it was good. JOE PYTKA makes these wonderful commercials. But they put more into those Nike commercials than into average feature, and they cost more and they're terrific.

INT: You were talking to me about what you did with the voices, after you did the overlap?
RA: The whole thing about overlapping dialogue. Nothing new, HOWARD HAWKS' films have had that for years. Attribute it to CARY GRANT, and all those fast talking people, and the writing, performed in a different way. So many elements that go into answering this. What works for some doesn't work for other. In THE PLAYER, how am I going to grab people's attention? Shoot 8 or 9 minutes in first scene. Now this stuff is easy to do but at the time it got attention. You wouldn't have noticed except in process I'm telling you about it. We're commenting and showing off. Once that attention got, they knew what kind of theater they were in. Opening, important. In theater, if a movie is an hour and 48 minutes, it's that every single time it runs. In a movie everyone there for different reason and the film has to try to get everyone on same track, to same tempo. You'll never succeed so I think that it's important to put audience on notice that you better pay attention or you're going to miss this. Get that immediately.

RA: Nowadays, they tell you everything, bored to death. I think the success of SOPHIA COPPOLA's film, they set it up and let it fly, you knew the answer. We did that in GOSFORD PARK. I didn't wind up all those stories, you know the story, you're having nice Christmas tree and children are about and doorbell rings and there's the little match girl. You don't have to tell anymore of that story. But you have to end someway. How did it end? I go back to this, death is the only ending I know of, everything else is in process. [INT: GOSFORD PARK was all process.] We wrapped up the one story between the two sisters, EILEEN and HELEN and that was kind of a catharsis. Everything else we let fly. I never gave you endings to any of them.

INT: What attracted you to the COMPANY?
RA: I was pursued with a great deal of vigor by NEVE CAMPBELL and BARBARA TURNER. I said no, don't know anything about it. Then I thought, that's cowardly. Opportunity to go into something I know nothing about and consequently learn about it. This is a movie I must do.

INT: In GOSFORD PARK, you produce all these movies?
RA: I have to because nobody else will. [INT: You have to get money for all these movies?] Oh I'm terrible at it. Long run looking back, I feel that I'm proving to them, these bankers, oh if you let me do this movie, I'm going to take nothing, faith I'll ride on the thing, when they say ok, I have to make one and a half pictures every year just to keep my office open. All my life I haven't worried about anything because I thought next year I'll do something else. Fun is this survival pursuit. These DVDs come out, finally the director's cut. I'll never have one of those because there's no film of mine that wasn't my cut from the beginning.

INT: What methods do you use to choose your actors?
RA: Mostly, just familiarity. HELEN MIRREN, I cast in GOSFORD PARK because I met her at your house. JUDI DENCH is who I wanted, couldn't be involved, met HELEN. [INT: All of the people you use in repertory, LILY and LYLE, ELLIOTT...] These people you work with them and it's comfortable and you know what they're range is and every time I do a film, I'm casting from the film I had done previously. When we did a WEDDING, I was in Palm Springs doing THREE WOMEN, JANICE Rule with husband, BEN GAZZARA, and SISSY SPACEK and SHELLEY DUVALL. Idea of a wedding came up. Journalist came up asked next film, I was hot, pissed off, said it was going to be a wedding. Farm our and film weddings. Smartass answer. Then thought, that's a pretty good idea. People backed out, now opening in Chicago as an opera.

INT: Don't you feel, you talk about painting, that music is like everything is inner ear music to you, it seems.
RA: I have mixed emotions about that. It's like seeing your new mother in law drive your jaguar off a cliff. You don't know which comes first. These are ideas that occur, then the seeds take and they grow, on their own accord. Long trip from this woman from Mother Jones coming to interview me and saying what's your next film, and I was so pissed I said A WEDDING, and then end up saying that's a good idea. That's something that could turn around and have a life. Tells you how important or unimportant the idea is. It could've been the birth. Which was in DR T, the birth. Everything has value. WEDDING ideal for dramatic situation, 2 families who need to get together but don't want to, all the age elements, different attitudes. Impossible not to have something kind of interesting going on.

INT: Now you have to have stars. Especially now. To get the money.
RA: Yeah, but most of these stars are really good actors and that's why they became stars so that didn't bother me. [INT: Do most of the people you can get money on, are dying to work on your films?] Well, not really because they now they don't get a pay day. [INT: But when I was working, it was always one for them one for me.] The pressure that's put on them by their business people, their agents, the public, their egos, it's hard to say oh this will be fun to make and about 18 people are going to see it. And it isn't going to further your career. Everyone's tried it. You see the people who went to work for KUROSAWA or FELLINI or BERGMAN and ANTONIONI film. They find that these films have never been particularly geared to a mass audience and their careers are geared to a mass audience, whether they like it or not. My sister, first film I'm in, that's a big deal. I don't think my sisters have seen more than maybe a fifth of the films that I've made because they're not interested in them. Don't fit in. MASH, my dad called my aunt, don't see it, dirty film.

INT: Do you rehearse with your actors?
RA: I do whatever my actors want to do. But I don't particularly like. What do you mean? Do you mean practice or to see if it works or not? [INT: To explore] Tape not that expensive. Easier to explore at the time. PAUL NEWMAN says when are we going to rehearse. I said I'm terrible at that, go and practice lines, but I don't want to be there. I'll go if they want me and I'll learn something but it's not my process. I let things occur. 6 of those peaks came from accidents, that just occurred. So, how do I know that mistake is going to happen at the moment or if it's been practiced too much maybe that's going to dull down the possibility of those mistakes to happen. I go along with the crowd. If I go do a picture with NEWMAN I'll rehearse because it makes him feel better. BEATTY no point in rehearsing. KUBRICK did tons of takes with SCATMAN CROTHERS. I can't do that. Those things aren't important to me. It's different painters. It's where you put your value.

INT: I think that part of your exultation is the unexpected.
RA: I did a terrible thing once. I did a film called IMAGES, which I wrote before I did mash, and we went to Ireland in 72 with SUSANNA YORK and it she's hallucinating at different times in the film, I tried to set an atmosphere and she's been seeing these phantoms, now go through the house and you're sure somebody's going to be behind one of these doors but you know no one is. There's this one door that left to the garage. Rake and leaned it next to the door and she didn't know about it. What it did is it damn near took her two front teeth out. I said it's improper you can't do that. They're actresses, you can't surprise them like that. Every time you do it doesn't work. You get a reaction from the actor not the character. You can't use that. You can't do that. You can let the actor fool himself, encourage actor to fool himself, but I can't fool the actor, that leads nowhere.