Joss Whedon interview
Ran across this online:
EW's Entertainers of the Year:
Joss Whedon on how 'The Avengers' exposed his angry inner Hulk
There are good years, and then there are great years, and then
there are the kinds of years that Joss Whedon had in 2012. In
May, Lionsgate released Cabin In The Woods, the long-delayed,
widely acclaimed po-mo horror flick, co-written and produced by
the cult pop auteur. (Drew Goddard co-wrote and directed the film.)
In July, Whedon attended Comic-Con and celebrated the tenth
anniversary of his gone-too-soon TV series Firefly at one of the
most emotional panels the annual fan-fest has ever seen. In
September, Whedon went to the Toronto International Film
Festival and premiered Much Ado About Nothing, a micro-budget,
literally homemade adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy. ”That
was an incredible experience,” recalls Nathan Fillion, who stars in
the film (set for release next summer). “The man got three standing
ovations before he got on stage. That’s just indicative of the kind of
fandom that Joss creates. I have never seen anything like it.” In October,
The CW aired - for the first time on television - Whedon’s 2008
Emmy-winning online opus Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Shortly
before Halloween, the man who created Buffy The Vampire Slayer,
Angel and Dollhouse took to the Web to say a few words about the
defining issue of the 2012 presidential campaign - a zombie apocalypse
- via a very funny, very personal, very partisan video viewed by over 7 million people.
Oh, and there was Marvel’s The Avengers. Whedon wrote and directed that, too.
Grossed $1.5 billion worldwide. Maybe you saw it.
In an interview with EW for our Entertainers of the Year issue, now on sale,
Whedon said a year of overwhelming success has left him feeling extremely
grateful, a little tired, and more busy than ever: We met with him just days after
he had submitted an outline for the 2015 sequel The Avengers, and as he
was in the midst of preparing to shoot the pilot for what could be his next
television series: S.H.I.E.L.D, a spy-fi drama tracking the ongoing adventures
of the secret agents and superhero wranglers of Marvel’s movie world. If ABC
he picks up the series, Whedon will remain involved as exec producer, and
frequent collaborators Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible)
and Jeffrey Bell (Angel) will serve as lead showrunners.
Yet Whedon says that his emotional reaction to his most Marvel-ous year also
included “a little bit of anger.” He elaborates: “I’ve had a wonderful career, and
I’m grateful for it. But like every writer in Hollywood, there have been many times
where I’ve said, ‘I swear to God, if you just me do this the way I’m thinking of doing
it, it’ll work out!’ and I’ve been thwarted.” The success of The Avengers, then, felt like
validation, but also exposed his need for validation… as well as a deep, dark want to
avenge old grievances with black magic necromancy. “Once you get to this place,
where people will listen to you, give you the benefit of the doubt, and will get out of
your way, all of the stuff you’ve learned to live with and tamped down, you don’t need
to live with it anymore” - and here, he goes spooky voice to evoke an image of
summoning ancient demons - “and so the basement door opens … and you go
down into there … and read from the diary that raises the dead.” He laughs. “It’s
a weird little counter-intuitive thing.”
In retrospect, Whedon sees his anger - about life in general, not just old Hollywood
slights - reflected in The Avengers, and specifically in one of the film’s best-realized
characters: The Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo. “What was most astonishing to me about
making that movie was how personal it was,” he says. “I literally had the I’m-always-angry
revelation during production. I had this certain amount of back-burner simmer of rage that I
was completely aware of, but apparently I wrote it for Bruce Banner, going (to myself): ‘I think
this is what a guy like this might go through!’ Interesting! What guy, Joss? ‘I don’t know! Some
guy. I can’t think of anyone in particular, or why this is coming to me…’ Really, Joss? Really?”
To be clear: Whedon thinks going totally Loki is a thing to be avoided. “For the most part,
I’m psyched. But you have to be careful that self-righteous umbrage doesn’t determine
how you act around people, or how you behave artistically,” he says. “You don’t want to
be the guy who’s like: ‘OF COURSE I’M RIGHT! I’VE ALWAYS BEEN RIGHT ALL ALONG!”
And then suddenly, you’re making your worst stuff, because you’ve lost that checks-and-balances
thing you need to manage yourself.”
Original Source
I totally get what Joss is saying about anger than simmers.
I have the same sort of thing. Guess that is why my temper
is so quick to flare up. Just wish I could use it to be as creative
as Joss Whedon.
EW's Entertainers of the Year:
Joss Whedon on how 'The Avengers' exposed his angry inner Hulk
There are good years, and then there are great years, and then
there are the kinds of years that Joss Whedon had in 2012. In
May, Lionsgate released Cabin In The Woods, the long-delayed,
widely acclaimed po-mo horror flick, co-written and produced by
the cult pop auteur. (Drew Goddard co-wrote and directed the film.)
In July, Whedon attended Comic-Con and celebrated the tenth
anniversary of his gone-too-soon TV series Firefly at one of the
most emotional panels the annual fan-fest has ever seen. In
September, Whedon went to the Toronto International Film
Festival and premiered Much Ado About Nothing, a micro-budget,
literally homemade adaptation of the Shakespeare comedy. ”That
was an incredible experience,” recalls Nathan Fillion, who stars in
the film (set for release next summer). “The man got three standing
ovations before he got on stage. That’s just indicative of the kind of
fandom that Joss creates. I have never seen anything like it.” In October,
The CW aired - for the first time on television - Whedon’s 2008
Emmy-winning online opus Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Shortly
before Halloween, the man who created Buffy The Vampire Slayer,
Angel and Dollhouse took to the Web to say a few words about the
defining issue of the 2012 presidential campaign - a zombie apocalypse
- via a very funny, very personal, very partisan video viewed by over 7 million people.
Oh, and there was Marvel’s The Avengers. Whedon wrote and directed that, too.
Grossed $1.5 billion worldwide. Maybe you saw it.
In an interview with EW for our Entertainers of the Year issue, now on sale,
Whedon said a year of overwhelming success has left him feeling extremely
grateful, a little tired, and more busy than ever: We met with him just days after
he had submitted an outline for the 2015 sequel The Avengers, and as he
was in the midst of preparing to shoot the pilot for what could be his next
television series: S.H.I.E.L.D, a spy-fi drama tracking the ongoing adventures
of the secret agents and superhero wranglers of Marvel’s movie world. If ABC
he picks up the series, Whedon will remain involved as exec producer, and
frequent collaborators Jed Whedon, Maurissa Tancharoen (Dollhouse, Dr. Horrible)
and Jeffrey Bell (Angel) will serve as lead showrunners.
Yet Whedon says that his emotional reaction to his most Marvel-ous year also
included “a little bit of anger.” He elaborates: “I’ve had a wonderful career, and
I’m grateful for it. But like every writer in Hollywood, there have been many times
where I’ve said, ‘I swear to God, if you just me do this the way I’m thinking of doing
it, it’ll work out!’ and I’ve been thwarted.” The success of The Avengers, then, felt like
validation, but also exposed his need for validation… as well as a deep, dark want to
avenge old grievances with black magic necromancy. “Once you get to this place,
where people will listen to you, give you the benefit of the doubt, and will get out of
your way, all of the stuff you’ve learned to live with and tamped down, you don’t need
to live with it anymore” - and here, he goes spooky voice to evoke an image of
summoning ancient demons - “and so the basement door opens … and you go
down into there … and read from the diary that raises the dead.” He laughs. “It’s
a weird little counter-intuitive thing.”
In retrospect, Whedon sees his anger - about life in general, not just old Hollywood
slights - reflected in The Avengers, and specifically in one of the film’s best-realized
characters: The Hulk, played by Mark Ruffalo. “What was most astonishing to me about
making that movie was how personal it was,” he says. “I literally had the I’m-always-angry
revelation during production. I had this certain amount of back-burner simmer of rage that I
was completely aware of, but apparently I wrote it for Bruce Banner, going (to myself): ‘I think
this is what a guy like this might go through!’ Interesting! What guy, Joss? ‘I don’t know! Some
guy. I can’t think of anyone in particular, or why this is coming to me…’ Really, Joss? Really?”
To be clear: Whedon thinks going totally Loki is a thing to be avoided. “For the most part,
I’m psyched. But you have to be careful that self-righteous umbrage doesn’t determine
how you act around people, or how you behave artistically,” he says. “You don’t want to
be the guy who’s like: ‘OF COURSE I’M RIGHT! I’VE ALWAYS BEEN RIGHT ALL ALONG!”
And then suddenly, you’re making your worst stuff, because you’ve lost that checks-and-balances
thing you need to manage yourself.”
Original Source
I totally get what Joss is saying about anger than simmers.
I have the same sort of thing. Guess that is why my temper
is so quick to flare up. Just wish I could use it to be as creative
as Joss Whedon.