INTERVIEW: Jason Schwartzman talks new movie, fame
by Lee Escobedo | The Shorthorn (University of Texas-Arlington)
Issue date: 10/31/07 Section: News
JS: Well there's actually a thousand Hotel Chevaliers out there that got cut from the film. The short explains a lot of holes in The Darjeeling Limited. However, Hotel Chevalier was never meant to go along with The Darjeeling Limited, but at the same time, it was never meant to be separate.
TS: What do you personally hope people get out of the film?
JS: I want them to come away with two things. First, I want the film to inspire people to travel to India. If people only knew how cheap it was to get on a plane and travel to India, I think more people would. Plus, it's a country that really wants us to go over there and experience it firsthand. It's a beautiful country, and it doesn't do justice to see it on a two-dimensional medium. Once you see it with your own eyes, the colors and the majesty of the country is too amazing for words.
Second, I want people who have strife in their families or just haven't spoken to a brother or sister to reconnect with them because the film is about these three brothers who, because of their father's death, experience a lot of trauma. However, when the trip begins, all they do is bicker with each other. Eventually, they do form a bond, but it was a struggle.
I want people to realize that it's never too late to do that, and family is really important. I took my little brother to go see the film, expecting him to say, "great film, yadda, yadda, yadda."
Instead, he turned to me and said, "I don't ever want that to happen to us. I always want us to be as close as possible." His reaction really encompasses what I want people to take away from the film.
TS: I see that you've shaved the porn mustache.
JS: Yeah, I had to shave it off. I loved it, but I think I've ruined it for myself to ever have it again after rocking it for this film.
TS: How's your music career going? I know you were in the band Phantom Planet. After you quit, did you plan on doing any more recording?
JS: Actually, I'm in the process of coming out with another CD now. It kind of happened by chance. I was hanging out with a friend, and he just kind of asked me if I wanted to play some music. So I got on his drum set and played, and then he asked me if I had written any songs. I was like, "Hell yes!" I then churned out 14 songs eight days later, pretty much a week's time I had all these songs. I named the band Coconut Records, which is pretty much just me and anyone else who happened to be there to add some bass or some hand claps. This was also my first time singing on a record so I was really nervous about that. This is what I really want the people out there to know, though - this project means a lot to me.
TS: What is it like to be you? Being famous has got to have its perks.
JS: It's really weird. I guess the best way I could put it was earlier today I was on this Good Morning-type show and I'm sitting there while they ask me questions and all I can think about is "Man, this is fucking weird!" I mean who am I? I always think back to high school. I wasn't the most popular nor was I the lowest kid. I was pretty good friends with just about everyone. So, if you would of told me my senior year that one day people would want to interview me I would say, 'No way.' But here I am.
TS: What do you personally hope people get out of the film?
JS: I want them to come away with two things. First, I want the film to inspire people to travel to India. If people only knew how cheap it was to get on a plane and travel to India, I think more people would. Plus, it's a country that really wants us to go over there and experience it firsthand. It's a beautiful country, and it doesn't do justice to see it on a two-dimensional medium. Once you see it with your own eyes, the colors and the majesty of the country is too amazing for words.
Second, I want people who have strife in their families or just haven't spoken to a brother or sister to reconnect with them because the film is about these three brothers who, because of their father's death, experience a lot of trauma. However, when the trip begins, all they do is bicker with each other. Eventually, they do form a bond, but it was a struggle.
I want people to realize that it's never too late to do that, and family is really important. I took my little brother to go see the film, expecting him to say, "great film, yadda, yadda, yadda."
Instead, he turned to me and said, "I don't ever want that to happen to us. I always want us to be as close as possible." His reaction really encompasses what I want people to take away from the film.
TS: I see that you've shaved the porn mustache.
JS: Yeah, I had to shave it off. I loved it, but I think I've ruined it for myself to ever have it again after rocking it for this film.
TS: How's your music career going? I know you were in the band Phantom Planet. After you quit, did you plan on doing any more recording?
JS: Actually, I'm in the process of coming out with another CD now. It kind of happened by chance. I was hanging out with a friend, and he just kind of asked me if I wanted to play some music. So I got on his drum set and played, and then he asked me if I had written any songs. I was like, "Hell yes!" I then churned out 14 songs eight days later, pretty much a week's time I had all these songs. I named the band Coconut Records, which is pretty much just me and anyone else who happened to be there to add some bass or some hand claps. This was also my first time singing on a record so I was really nervous about that. This is what I really want the people out there to know, though - this project means a lot to me.
TS: What is it like to be you? Being famous has got to have its perks.
JS: It's really weird. I guess the best way I could put it was earlier today I was on this Good Morning-type show and I'm sitting there while they ask me questions and all I can think about is "Man, this is fucking weird!" I mean who am I? I always think back to high school. I wasn't the most popular nor was I the lowest kid. I was pretty good friends with just about everyone. So, if you would of told me my senior year that one day people would want to interview me I would say, 'No way.' But here I am.
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