We had our first major disagreement among the producers and director last week. It started with this phone call:
Director "Tucker, I have an idea, let me run this by you. Now, stay calm when I say it, and hear me out, because I know your first reaction will be negative."
TM "Me blow up over nothing? Never."
Dir "OK, one of my best friends just cast this guy in a movie, and has the highest praise for him. I am pretty sure we can get to him, but I want to see what you think about this before I even try: Justin Timberlake to play Tucker Max."
TM "Nope. Nope. Never. End of conversation."
Dir "Now listen, hear me out..."
TheDirector went on to list all sorts of reasons we should consider Justin Timberlake; he is an underrated actor, he gets comedy, he is a huge PR draw, he is a cool guy in real life that would get along with me, etc, etc. I listened, and then said one thing:
Tucker "Let's assume everything you said is true--he's a great actor, he could nail the part, he would be available, he would want to do it, etc--even if all that is true, you forgot to add the crucial thing: He's the biggest pop star in the world. No matter what he does in that role, he will never be Tucker Max, because he is already Justin Timberlake. He'll always be Justin Timberlake. We need an actor that will become Tucker Max. That will occupy this role and become who the public sees as 'Tucker Max' and for the rest of his life be known as Tucker Max. That role is so big and so defining and so new, we have to have a nobody--someone without any baggage from any other roles--come in and make it his own and become Tucker Max. Justin Timberlake can't do that because he will never be anything but Justin Timberlake."
We went back and forth for another ten minutes, but TheDirector got it pretty quickly and understood my point. It took at least another hour to explain it to TheProducer, and she still could not understand why we wouldn't want someone as big as him in the role. I couldn't understand why she didn't understand why Justin Timberlake was the single WORST pick to play Tucker. As smart as she is, sometimes she just can't shake the bad studio habits and thought processes. But it's OK, because in the end I make the calls, and I told TheDirector to not go out to JT.
This is PERFECT example of why I did this movie as an indie, because this is how movies get ruined. A great script starts down the development path, and some executive gets a hair up their ass about some stupid idea, and all of a sudden Justin Timberlake is attached to play Tucker Max, and the whole fucking thing becomes a disaster.
If we were at a studio right now, and this decision was made over my objections...I would kill a motherfucker. I am not kidding. I have an anger problem, and some fucking shortsighted suit who has no creative sense ruining my movie and shitting all over my name and my life because he wants to cover his ass to his boss by casting a big name despite the fact that he's completely wrong for the role--that's a stabbing. I can deal with a situation where I fuck up. I can't live with someone else ruining my work.
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