Years later, when she was in her twenties and living in Los Angeles, she observed first hand the party scene which drew the hippest crowd in Hollywood to the Chateau. “Yeah, in my college days, my early twenties, my friends and I hung out there,” she smiles.
So when, a couple of years back, she started writing her latest screenplay, Somewhere, about a successful young actor who has lost himself in a vat of booze and pills and suddenly gets a wake up call when he has to look after his 11-year-old daughter, the Chateau came to mind.
“There were a few things in the news about different young actors having these crises and I was thinking about that lifestyle,” she explains. “And then I thought, ‘where would this young actor live?’ Of course he’d be in the Chateau Marmont and not really have a home because a lot of guys have had their time at the Chateau Marmont.”
Johnny Marco, played by Stephen Dorff, is living the kind of life that on the surface at least, many young actors would aspire to. He’s rich, he’s successful and he’s the embodiment of the celebrity dream – there are plenty of beautiful women ready to sleep with him at the drop of a hat and there’s a ready-made party happening wherever he goes.
But Marco is lonely and at a crossroads where his life could spiral totally out of control – and that’s when his daughter, Cleo (Elle Fanning) shows up and changes everything.
Stephen (Dorff) was telling me how specific you can be with everything from clothes to locations. Tell me about the hotel suite in Milan with the swimming pool. Did you know that place yourself?
Could you have set the film somewhere other than the Chateau?
It definitely had to be the Chateau and I’m always like that. My producers want back up choices but I never have a Plan B. I don’t have a back up like that - I have an idea and I have to figure out how to do it, or not do it, but the Marmont was essential to Johnny’s story. That kind of guy would stay at the Chateau Marmont, so to me it doesn’t work somewhere else. It’s part of that iconic element of the LA culture.
And did you know the Marmont from your younger days? Did you kind of hang there sometimes?
Yeah in my college days, my early twenties, my friends and I hung out there. But even when I was younger, before it was revamped, I remember visiting there as a kid and there’s always so many stories about the Chateau Marmont - it’s always an interesting place to be and I thought it would be an interesting place to use in a story.
So what came first with this story? The Marmont or was it the character?
The character came first. I first thought of this character and I thought of Stephen playing him very early. I met him years ago through a friend and we became friends and just him as this character came into my mind. And then there were a few things in the news about different young actors having these crises and I was thinking about that that lifestyle. And then I thought, ‘where would this young actor live?’ Of course he’d be in the Chateau Marmont and not really have a home because a lot of guys have had their time at the Chateau Marmont.
Staying at the Marmont is almost likes a rites of passage for some actors…
Yeah. I think it’s also the aspiration to get to the Chateau Marmont but what happens when you get there?
But did you think of Stephen as Johnny Marco because he had lived that lifestyle for a while?
No, I wasn’t basing the character on him, but I thought about him playing that guy because I know he’s really sweet and has a lot of heart, which is sort of a contrast to the other stuff going on. He’s so sweet which is a great contrast to that lifestyle that you see and that kind of macho guy that he plays. I liked that there was this other side to him that was sweet and then I thought about bringing in the character of the daughter and I knew that he would be nice with the kid.
You’ve seen that hedonistic lifestyle up close. Are you using the film, at least in part, to show how you disapprove of the casual sexual encounters, the booze and the pills?
Yeah, well I imagine that’s what it would be like. I can have fun too, (laughs) but I think if your life is consistently indulging, where there is not any kind of balance with something real, that’s not so good. Maybe it’s fun at the beginning but after a while where is it going?
The relationship between Stephen and Elle is obviously crucial. How did you help them to prepare to play father and daughter?
Well, we did rehearsals and improvisations and I had Stephen pick Elle up from school. It was like ‘Off you go, pick Elle up from school and hang out together..’ And so they did things together which helped them bond. And that was important, I felt, because it made them more relaxed when we started filming. And we all did stuff together – like we went bowling together with Chris Pontius, who plays Johnny’s buddy in the film. We all did things together so that we could hang out.
Does LA feel like home for you?
I lived in LA for a long time, but I grew up in Napa so I don’t totally feel like I’m from there. A lot of people come there to become famous (laughs), so it attracts a certain type. But I have a lot of family there, so I do feel at home there in a certain way, but it’s also an exotic place to me, (laughs)
Are you still in Paris?
I’m more based in New York but my boyfriend is French and we have a place in Paris and we are kind of in-between the two, but more based in New York this year. It’s really nice to have both because I like to be in Paris but then I miss my country, it’s so nice to be in New York, we edited in New York.
Music is a big part of your films. Do you know what songs you are going to use before you start filming?
I’ve always listened to music when I’m writing. A lot of times I’ll be listening to a song when I’m writing, and it will end up in the movie because it was like the mood of that scene or something, so I have things in mind pretty early on in the writing process, and then at the end, then it’s also fun to try different things. With this one I wanted it to be more sparse with the music. I didn’t want to have that relentless song after song that you get with some movies. I’m kind of tired of that.
Tell me about the twins who play the pole dancers in the film. I believe that the first time you met them was at the Playboy Mansion. What was that like?
They were rehearsing there (laughs)
I can’t see you at the Playboy Mansion no matter how hard I try...
I know (laughs), it’s pretty funny, it was fun though. I had this idea of these characters that were twins, and my friend watches the reality show that they are on, The Girls Next Door, and she said, ‘oh you’ve got to meet those twins!’ So we met them and they were really bubbly and enthusiastic and we thought, ‘oh they’re perfect.’ And they’re cute too; they have a freshness to them…
Somewhere is out on DVD and Blu-Ray on May 4.
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