AT THE TOP OF HER GAME Nancy Meyers Delivers a Hit for the Holidays

Nancy Meyers looks like she could star in her own films. Much like her movie heroines, Meyers is attractive, stylish, well spoken, classy and very funny. She has the wry experienced point of view of a woman who has been there, done that, and never mind the tee shirt, she wouldn’t wear it anyhow. In fact, the best way to describe Meyers is via some of the titles of the films she’s written (and often directed.) After experiencing Irreconcilable Differences (1984) following The Baby Boom (1987) and the The Parent Trap (1998) with her then husband Charles Shyer, Meyers, who knew What Women Want (2000), began to direct her own scripts. She decided Something’s Gotta Give (2003) and ignored Protocol (1984), writing both remakes and original screenplays with much success, sometimes too much, as often work kept her from taking The Holiday (2006). Although Hollywood has changed a lot since Meyers began her career, she continues to flourish and has the freedom only a few trusted and successful filmmakers (mostly men) are allowed. She admits It’s Complicated (2009) but she loves what she does.

It’s Complicated, Nancy Meyers’ latest film, opens Christmas Day, and trust me when I say it’s one of the best gifts you’ll get this year. By turns hilarious, and charming, this story of love, divorce, and everything in between stars Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin, all three of whom turn in award-worthy performances. Meyers’ forte is the romantic comedy and nobody knows it better. In addition to those already mentioned, Meyers wrote screenplays for Father of the Bride (1991), I Love Trouble (1994), Father of the Bride Part II (1995), and the Goldie Hawn classic, Private Benjamin (1980). She is one of, if not the most, successful female directors in the film industry, and the reigning queen of “the chick flick.” Along the way she’s worked with wild child stars Lindsay Lohan (The Parent Trap) and Drew Barrymore (Irreconcilable Differences), beautiful unknowns like Sharon Stone, also in 1984’s Irreconcilable Differences, and the comedically gifted Steve Martin (Father of the Bride 1 & 2) and Diane Keaton (Baby Boom, Father of the Bride 1 & 2, Something’s Gotta Give), throw in a once hunky Mel Gibson (What Women Want) and a still hunky Jude Law (The Holiday) and the all-of-the-above Jack Nicholson (Something’s Gotta Give) and you realize just how talented the prolific (and incredibly charming) Nancy Meyers is.

Venice Magazine: What a perfect trifecta of a cast you assembled for It’s Complicated. How did that happen?

Nancy Meyers: Actually, when I was writing the movie, I wanted Alec and Meryl; I saw them in my head. I do that, I go online and get pictures of actors I’d like to use and I really think about them, whether or not I end up getting them for the film. But I like having the idea, because you know I’m not writing a novel, I’m writing a part for an actor, a character that has to be portrayed by somebody. So I think about the actors ahead of time, and for this movie, I met with Alec. I had met him years ago and known him a little, but not really. So he came to my house and I pitched him the whole move and he really liked it. And Meryl, well, I sent it to her and she was great, we had met once at the Lincoln Center awards event for Diane Keaton, but we didn’t really know each other, so I flew to New York and met with her and she agreed to do it. Sometimes it just comes together. And of course Steve (Martin) I’ve known for many years, and we’ve remained friendly since the Father of the Bride films and I’ve always wanted to work with him again. He’s such a doll and he’s just a cool easy guy, a pleasure to work with. I also think he’s genius level funny. It was so fun doing some of the more comedic scenes with him because I can make a suggestion like, “You can’t stop laughing” and he’ll say, “Really?” and he’ll get it done in one take. He simply knows how to do what he wants.

How did you end up with the very funny John Krasinski?

John Krasinski is so great. I’d worked with him for one day on The Holiday and I was nuts about him. I remember that was Cameron Diaz’s favorite day of shooting on that film because John was there. He’s so fun and completely adorable, so when I wrote this film I had him in mind for this part and thought maybe he’d do it. When I went to him, he was up for another movie at the same time, but it turned out that he could do this and I was so happy because I love working with him. We talked a lot about his character and how he knows what he knows and how he’d interpret that. My take on it was that he’d be the worst person to know this type of secret because he’s a coward, and being a coward in that scenario would create a lot of humor. John had so many great ideas, and although I’m not a big fan of improvising, with John, we played around with that, more than I usually would. He just has great instincts.

What was the toughest part about making this movie?

Well, we shot the movie in Brooklyn during the winter and that was hard. Even though the film is set in Santa Barbara, we couldn’t shoot there due to cost. We got a good break financially by going to New York but I had to compromise some visual ideas because I couldn’t get outside as much as I wanted. All the outside scenes were shot in California; just every time they went inside, we were in Brooklyn. That was the hardest part for me. [laughs] That, and the title of the movie.

It’s Complicated? Had you planned to call it something else?

Well, the title had come early and then it came late. I had it quite early when I was writing and then I didn’t have a title and I’d forgotten I had come up with that. It was called “untitled” for a year. It feels very hard sometimes to name a movie. [laughs] I came up with What Women Want on the day I started writing it. Sometimes it works that way.

Most screenwriting teachers and courses advise to “write what you know,” so in keeping with that theory since most of your films have female protagonists, how much of “Nancy” is in the female characters you have created?

There’s a lot of me in all of them. In this particular movie, well, I’m divorced, I have children the same as Meryl’s character, and I have a career like she does, but it’s not the same thing. What I do is, I base the heart of the movie on what I know, but I make up the plot. I’ve used this method from Private Benjamin on. In Private Benjamin, Goldie’s character came from a background like mine, but I’d never joined the Army. I start with a premise from what I know and go from there. It’s Complicated turned out to be about being a divorced person, but later. I never wanted to write about going through a divorce or getting a lawyer or custody issues, but the state of being divorced ten years later is interesting to me. I’ve never seen a movie deal with what it’s like to be the person who used to be married to that person who is across the room at a party, so that’s where this came from.

All of your female protagonists are dynamic, stylish, funny women with big careers. There is almost a prototype of a Nancy Meyers character, why is that so?

I do like putting that out there. There are plenty of women on screen that are marginal and uninteresting so I don’t feel the need to show that. There is a certain humor about my characters but I don’t know how to explain it. There’s a certain voice that writers have and I can’t masquerade mine with something else from movie to movie especially since I write the same genre every time.

Most of your female characters have upscale homes and wardrobes. In particular, the last few films have gorgeous kitchens in them. In Meryl’s case she plays a professional baker, but the other women aren’t cooks per se. What’s that about?

I do have a kitchen like the one Diane’s character has in Something’s Gotta Give, but her character didn’t really cook; neither did Cameron or Kate in The Holiday. I do cook, but not as much as I used to. But every time I finish a film I think I’m going to get all new pots and pans and start cooking again. I love food and I like that Meryl’s character cooks. [laughs] I had no idea that Meryl had just shot a movie about Julia Child. When I was writing this script, I wasn’t focusing on what other movies were being made. So when I went to send Meryl the script, someone told me, “You know she just finished a movie where she plays a cook,” and I thought, “Uh oh,” but it all worked out. Meryl is very confident in the best way; she’s very secure

When you were in partnership with (ex husband) Charles Shyer he directed the films you did together. What motivated you to become a director yourself?

I started producing in 1980 and didn’t begin directing until 1998. That’s eighteen years and, well, it was time. I had been so hands-on during all of our movies; I was there every minute and sitting at the monitor and ironically, I didn’t have a huge desire to do it until I did it. I was raising two kids and writing and producing movies, that’s a lot of jobs, and I didn’t need another one. But at a certain point, producing felt like not enough.

Why did you decide to remake The Parent Trap for your first directorial effort?

Well, I loved the first (original) movie as a child. And at the time I had a ten-year-old daughter and she loved it. We were always watching it at home. Also, I love the idea that there’s “another you” out there; it’s a bit of a fantasy. I had worked for Disney a lot, so I went to them and I asked Joe Roth, who was the head of the studio at that time, if I could have it to remake. I think also that after the Father of the Bride movies they felt secure with us in that way and they said okay. The same way revivals are done on Broadway, there’s just something in it that will work again and again.

Did you ever meet Hayley Mills who starred in the original The Parent Trap?

Yes, we had a royal premiere of The Parent Trap and Hayley Mills was invited. I was very nervous to meet her because I am such a huge fan. In the afternoon they had a rehearsal for those of us going through the receiving line, the right way to talk to and address the royals properly. So they had this rehearsal for everybody who was going through the line and nobody showed up except for me and Hayley Mills. So I introduced myself and said I was the director of the “new” Parent Trap and she was polite, but distant. I remember getting dressed for the premiere that night and feeling so bad that she was one of my idols and she obviously wasn’t happy about this. When the movie was over she hugged me and she was very nice. She said nice things and was just so kind. She was nervous because the original film was so meaningful in her life but once she saw it she was so welcoming because she felt so good about it. I think we preserved what was good about that movie.

Lately your characters have gotten older while Hollywood films tend to promote youth and seek young audiences. Have you encountered any resistance towards these characters of a certain age?

No, I can honestly say that I haven’t. When I pitched Something’s Gotta Give I had no actors attached and the studio did not say to me, “Make them younger, have them be in their forties.” They knew where I was headed and they were fine with that.

You pitched the movie before you wrote it? Why not write and then sell the script?

I sold the idea because I don’t like to write on spec. I often do that, because I need the pressure of knowing they’re expecting it.

You wrote about a nasty divorce between the characters, who are both filmmakers, in Irreconcilable Differences, but at the time you were still with your husband. In your case, is life imitating art? Is your relationship with your ex husband cordial?

Absolutely. We email and talk on the phone and we’re both the parents of our children. Irreconcilable Differences came out of our own experiences when we wrote Private Benjamin. That was our first movie and it was a success. It was a big deal at that time because it was Goldie in a female lead without a male lead. She was the star of the film. We got a lot of attention from it and that’s what we wrote about in Irreconcilable Differences—that success in Hollywood can sometimes bring out the worst in people. It was based on our own lives, but we imagined it.

You cast an unknown Sharon Stone in a supporting role in that film. Did you ever think she’d become a huge star years later?

I thought she was the most gorgeous girl I ever saw in my life. You almost couldn’t look at her she was so gorgeous. So, no, I wasn’t surprised.

If you are always writing what you have lived through, did Baby Boom come from your own experiences juggling motherhood with a busy career?

I was pregnant with my second child when we did that movie. I was already raising one child and about to have another and, obviously, I didn’t just inherit a baby like Diane’s character did. But the truth of that movie, the reason she was fired, was about how men had so many more opportunities as parents than women, without anyone judging them, without having to do any “grunt” work. That was everything that we were going through as a couple with children. I didn’t resent it, I loved being a mom, but I was firsthand living how the culture worked and so we wrote about it. At the time we did a lot of research and more new companies were started by women because they wanted to have a family and a career and not sacrifice one for the other. We wrote that script on spec and then we sent it to Diane’s agent who got it to her. Diane is a good match for my writing. She speaks in a way that I write that works really well for both of us.

Speaking of writing, what led you down that path?

I was originally a development executive at a production company. I really, really loved working with writers. I didn’t love reading scripts, but I really enjoyed working with the writers when they were hired. One writer said to me, “You should be doing this.” I didn’t have the courage to declare it, I had to warm up to it and build my confidence, but reading other people’s scripts taught me a lot. I had some ideas but I was nervous about putting them on paper. I would go home at night and just write my ideas and I kept doing that.

Hollywood and filmmaking has changed a lot since you began your career. What do you see as the biggest differences from when you began?

Well, marketing executives are now running studios. For me that’s the biggest change because marketing used to be a separate person from the person who ran the studio, but now that’s the business. What hasn’t changed is the audience’s reaction to what they like: It’s exactly the same as it’s been forever and ever. Romantic comedy as a genre has morphed a bit over the years and it doesn’t feel that people are always striving for excellence. I write for myself, at least it feels that way sometimes. When I was younger, I felt that the studios often didn’t trust me, or what I was doing, but now they do. They trust my instincts and let me make my movies and there’s a freedom in that confidence.

What’s up next for you?

I don’t have a thing, nothing, zero. It’s this way at the end of every movie I do. I know everybody thinks writers have a drawer full of ideas to work on, but I don’t. There’s nothing in the zeitgeist. I’m a huge worrier, too, but the one thing I don’t worry about is this, having a new idea for a script. The only thing I can say is that I don’t want to write about anyone falling in love. But at the end of every movie I say I’m going to retire and I never do. [laughs] ▼