David Marchese

There's an anecdote about Samuel Beckett in both the film The Friend and the book. It's sort of a famous anecdote about Beckett where he's out walking with a friend and it's a beautiful day and the friend says to Samuel Beckett something along the lines of, isn't a day like this enough to make you glad to be alive? And Samuel Beckett says, I won't go as far as that.

There's an anecdote about Samuel Beckett in both the film The Friend and the book. It's sort of a famous anecdote about Beckett where he's out walking with a friend and it's a beautiful day and the friend says to Samuel Beckett something along the lines of, isn't a day like this enough to make you glad to be alive? And Samuel Beckett says, I won't go as far as that.

And I wondered about how a line like that jibes for you, because it seems to me to capture something about you, both the sort of awareness of the beautiful aspects of life, and then there's also a melancholy to it, because I really think a lot of your best dramatic work touches on some real melancholy, like Lost in Translation, Rushmore, of Do you relate to a line like that?

And I wondered about how a line like that jibes for you, because it seems to me to capture something about you, both the sort of awareness of the beautiful aspects of life, and then there's also a melancholy to it, because I really think a lot of your best dramatic work touches on some real melancholy, like Lost in Translation, Rushmore, of Do you relate to a line like that?

Your part in The Friend, in a way, uh, reminds me of some other relatively recent parts from your career in that he's sort of a charismatic, charming guy who's also been sort of a selfish ding-dong. Sort of what? Selfish ding-dong is the way I put it. And I just recently saw something where you had done a Sundance interview with Elvis Mitchell, who was a film critic for The Times for a long time.

Your part in The Friend, in a way, uh, reminds me of some other relatively recent parts from your career in that he's sort of a charismatic, charming guy who's also been sort of a selfish ding-dong. Sort of what? Selfish ding-dong is the way I put it. And I just recently saw something where you had done a Sundance interview with Elvis Mitchell, who was a film critic for The Times for a long time.

And he brought up the film On the Rocks. And I thought, oh, the On the Rocks character and Walter, there's some similarities between them. And in your interview with Elvis Mitchell, you know, you referred to taking on roles like the On the Rocks role as a kind of penance. And I thought, well, penance could mean making amends. It could mean Punishment.

And he brought up the film On the Rocks. And I thought, oh, the On the Rocks character and Walter, there's some similarities between them. And in your interview with Elvis Mitchell, you know, you referred to taking on roles like the On the Rocks role as a kind of penance. And I thought, well, penance could mean making amends. It could mean Punishment.

What would it mean to say taking on a role is like a form of penance? And did that apply to Walter also?

What would it mean to say taking on a role is like a form of penance? And did that apply to Walter also?

You know, something that also stood out for me with the film, and it's connected maybe to what we were just talking about, there is a parallel between Walter and you in that Walter in the film has been accused of some inappropriate misconduct. And a couple years ago on Being Mortal, there was some... It was described as inappropriate misconduct. I mean, surely those parallels... occurred to you?

You know, something that also stood out for me with the film, and it's connected maybe to what we were just talking about, there is a parallel between Walter and you in that Walter in the film has been accused of some inappropriate misconduct. And a couple years ago on Being Mortal, there was some... It was described as inappropriate misconduct. I mean, surely those parallels... occurred to you?

Were you, did you think about them during the film or were you trying to work through something?

Were you, did you think about them during the film or were you trying to work through something?

And you said you think about this often.

And you said you think about this often.

Do you feel like you learned something from that experience?

Do you feel like you learned something from that experience?

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.