IGN FILMFORCE: Congratulations on Heartbreakers. You must be very pleased with it. MIRKIN: Thanks. Yes. We had a very, very good time. The cast was just awesome. (The cast was) so much fun to work with. We had lots and lots of laughs. I was so lucky to get that cast. To get those people, even doing the small roles. IGNFF: The first thing I have to ask you about is that scene on the yacht where Ray Liotta shoots the fish... MIRKIN: Funny that you should say that because it was one of those things I came up with on the day [of filming that scene]. We were kind of in the middle of nowhere. We were down pretty far into the Florida Keys to get to the point where that boat was. So it was far south, and I didn't have everybody on the crew with me for that scene. We left our big giant trucks behind because it gets very thin out there and you couldn't bring a lot of this equipment. And I looked at my prop guy and I said, "Do you have Ray's gun?" He said, "Yes." "Do you have bullets?" And he said, "Yes." I said, "Okay, then we can do this joke." But he had said no, the joke wouldn't be in the movie. I just thought of it when we were there. I mentioned it to Ray, and he loved it. And he went out there and did a great job. I think it should say one cat and three dogs were killed during the making of the film, and everybody else was fine. IGNFF: Sigourney said she had to send over a tape from Galaxy Quest to audition for the film. MIRKIN: That's the brilliant people at the studio who want to see a tape like that. It's typical that with a studio you are kicking and screaming and dragging every them step of the way. There's very few films, particularly good films, that you're not in a fight at every road. And they'll turn people down. It was like another film I was doing – it was a couple years a ago – it never got off the ground. I was with the head of casting at a major studio, and I said I'd like Cameron Diaz. And the head of casting said to me, "Well Cameron Diaz, she really had her chance and she's never going to break. And she's done My Best Friend's Wedding, and she's done The Mask" And this was right before Something About Mary – and the fact that she couldn't see that as the head of casting – that's sort of what you're dealing with all the time. For someone to question Sigourney Weaver at this point in her career about her being funny, or sexy¿ you look at Ghostbusters, you look at Working Girl, you look at Dave. There's a woman that's a brilliant comedian. That's typical. I know that probably in her mind was that the studio was saying we never would have requested this if we weren't saying anything but yes at that point. And I was thrilled when I sent her the script and she responded to it. It was great because, not only is she funny and sexy, but this is very important for the film, she's the kind of actress who does not shy away from the darker aspects of her character. She's not looking just to be cute all the time and loveable all the time. Just the very nature of who she is makes her incredibly likeable. That's part of what's amazing about her, but she doesn't try for it in her performance. She's going for what's true to the character, even if that's dark and twisted. IGNFF: What really impressed you about the script? MIRKIN: I turned the script down three times. I did not like the script when I got it. I did a rewrite on the script. That took about a year. They sent me the script and I said I like the idea of two con women, mother and daughter con women. And I liked some of the bones of the story. But the script that I received early on was really broad. It had no emotion in it. It wasn't clever. And I think that con comedies have to be smart because the con artists are smart. Where if we're watching a con and we're ahead of it, then we're not going to fall for it. I said I was considering this movie, but I would have to do this rewrite. And they said "No, we like the way the script is" a couple times. And on the third time when I turned it down again, they said, "Well, what do you want to do?" And I sat down with them and I told them of my extensive plan, and they said, "Okay." Of course, various things happened¿ about a year of writing. And then that's the script that I passed on to Sigourney. <img src="https://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/hp-hackman_golf.jpg" width="252" height="346" align="left" border="0" alt="
Gene Hackman as tobacco tycoon William B. Tensy" />
Gene Hackman as tobacco tycoon William B. Tensy
IGNFF: How were you able to get Gene Hackman on the team? MIRKIN: That was an example. There was basically no part for Gene before the rewrite. It was a tobacco guy, but he wasn't a smoker. He had one line about getting a greater yield of nicotine from tobacco. Part of the rewrite I did was to make the character obsessive and mean and smoking endlessly, in an effective way. I knew that would attract somebody like Gene. Luckily it did. He really got a big kick out of it and thought it was funny. He's one of the very very few people on the face of the earth that could have pulled it off because you had to be gross but likeable. IGNFF: Was he your first choice? MIRKIN: He was the first choice, and we got him. That's what was nice. It was amazing. I thought it was going to be a money issue too, and that's where the studio was incredibly supportive. I thank them for that, to come and get Gene for that role. And Gene also had a funny cough. And that was effective to cough and be funny. Not everybody can cough and be funny. IGNFF: How was Jason Lee brought to your attention? MIRKIN: It was an interesting decision, and I'm so happy that Jason came out on that. The idea of a male lead¿ I didn't want to go with a classic hunk, not that Jason isn't an incredibly good looking guy. That was also part of what the rewrite was. That character wasn't an environmentalist – in the sense that he liked looking at stars – and he would just go from bar to bar and he wasn't particularly funny. I wanted somebody that could really charm a girl not just on his looks, but really with his mind and with his wise-guy comments; someone who could see through the nastiness of this character (Page) and see who she really is inside. So instead of going with a typical hunk, I wanted to have somebody who was more offbeat. Jason's work I'd been aware of from Mumford; his work with Larry Kasdan; his work with Kevin Smith and his movies. And I knew that he was in Almost Famous, which Cameron was just getting ready to finish, he was just starting to mix it. It was a very early point in (the casting of Heartbreakers), and Cameron – who's a friend of mine, and very, very dear; he's so nice that it's annoying... I'm not kidding – said, come on down. Let me show you Jason's stuff. [Cameron] took time when he was incredibly busy to show me all of Jason's scenes from Almost Famous. Upon seeing that, I knew that Jason was going to be right. He had come in and read, and I really liked his reading, but I wanted to see how his presence had even grown more on screen. He was fantastic, and he just completely nailed an incredibly difficult role. I just think he's terrific. <img src="https://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/hb-steadicam.jpg" width="252" height="222" align="left" border="0" alt="On location in Florida, a steadicam operator prepares to film Hewitt and Weaver.
On location in Florida, a steadicam operator prepares to film Hewitt and Weaver.
IGNFF: What kind of a shooting schedule were you looking at? You weren't in southern Florida during the election were you? MIRKIN: No. But we had much to do with that. We did a little preliminary stuffing of the ballots. (Laughs) This was all before that broke. But when you're there, you could easily stray off the path. It's very hot. People don't think clearly. (Laughs) It was about a month and a half in Florida, and the rest was in Los Angeles soundstages. [There was] some doubling up of things, like that beach scene where they're looking at the stars. I was originally very insistent on the fact that that had to be Florida. I went and scouted the beach in Florida where we were going to shoot it, and the mosquitos were so bad we were wearing full mosquito netting. Even getting through that, they'll search for one place where they can touch your skin and they'll find they're way through it and bite you. The actors would have been covered in fifteen minutes. They would have been unshootable. So I wound up shooting that at night on a Los Angeles beach. When they're walking with the lighthouse [in the background], that's in Florida. IGNFF: There's one shot at night that establishes Jason on the beach, just before Page arrives, and there's a yacht with cabin lights in the distance. It's an amazing shot, almost 3-D... MIRKIN: Oh, good! I'm glad that looks good. That's CGI magic. That's good to know, because that's part of what [Page's] change is all about is that I keep putting her in spiritual, natural situations which she's never experienced before. That's what Jason represents. So I wanted you to see all that stars and prettiness of that and where they are together. IGNFF: As producer of The Simpsons, there's one character to whom you bear a slight resemblance¿ MIRKIN: Aaaaa¿ Mr. Burns. (Laughs) IGNFF: And there was another character on the show who looked even more like you. MIRKIN: Yeah, there was a character that they drew when we had the Thelma & Louise-type episode. There are a couple of tough guys that come up to Marge. I think we've used them since then. Well I'm in the movie. Did you recognize me being in it? IGNFF: I thought you were in the movie... MIRKIN: I'm the lawyer. Jack's lawyer. IGNFF: Oh, right! MIRKIN: Don't tell anyone I'm bald. (Laughs) IGNFF: Was it difficult for you to go from an animated series – which you still do – to a live action feature? MIRKIN: It's amazing. I've done The Simpsons for a long time, but I've always done live-action simultaneously. I started on Three's Company and The Newhart Show – the Vermont Newhart Show – and I wrote, directed and executive produced that show, and I created a show called Get a Life with Chris Elliot, which was a very strange, quirky show. IGNFF: That was a great show. MIRKIN: Then I took over The Simpsons. You're working with live actors on that, and you work with them in the exact same way that you would work with actors in a physical situation. You do it like a radio program. Even though I did an enormous amount of directing before that, and then on The Larry Sanders Show as well, and writing The Larry Sanders Show too, you're just working with great actors. The Simpsons was a fantastic directing and writing experience, because in a year's time I would direct Michelle Pfeiffer, Meryl Streep, Anne Bancroft, Mel Brooks, anyone you can think of. Any time you direct someone, if you're a good director, you're learning from the actors as much as they're learning from you. You learn. That's what it's all about. You're like a sponge, always wanting to figure out new stuff. <img src="https://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/hb-bancroft-weaver.jpg" width="252" height="164" align="left" border="0" alt="Anne Bancroft and Sigourney Weaver in Heartbreakers." />
Anne Bancroft and Sigourney Weaver in Heartbreakers.
IGNFF: Is that how you were able to get Anne Bancroft to do Heartbreakers? MIRKIN: It's one of the ways. She responded to the material. I did have a relationship with her from The Simpsons. We had a great time on The Simpsons and I openly and willingly begged her to do this, and she was kind enough to do it. She's great. I've just been putting together the DVD and we have some fantastically hilarious outtakes of her on the DVD. She just went off beyond the camera, and boy she's hilarious. IGNFF: The TV remote that Ray Liotta dodges – is that CGI? MIRKIN: That's real. I'm actually putting together attempts of that on the DVD. It was very close. I threw it at Ray about four times, and each time he had a different reaction. He's a very creative and funny guy. That last one got really close. I let it run long on the DVD, and you get to see how happy he is (after the remote misses his head). He smiles and everyone claps. He stood up and said, "That's it!" He wasn't going to give me another one. He says, "You got it!" And he was right. IGNFF: In order to get the PG-13 rating you had to tone down a couple risqu¿ elements; stuff featuring a couple dresses that Jennifer Love Hewitt wore. Will those be on the DVD? MIRKIN: Could be. The DVD extra stuff will not be rated. I never know what the MPAA would say about it if they saw it. That's very possible because we had big fights to keep this movie from being an R. They look harder now because of all the congressional stuff. The congress stuff coming down is a censorship kind of thing. It's unfortunate because¿ the problem with censorship is it paints everything with the same brush. You know, who's to choose what's right and what's wrong? It's very difficult. I had to point out to them – and the studio did in a good way – you're going after some language and stuff that's on Friends and on The Simpsons at eight o'clock at night; at seven o'clock at night in reruns. I said, "What are you worried about? People are not complaining about it all the time." So, yeah, there's a couple of scenes with Jennifer in new and more revealing outfits. IGNFF: These were forced changes? MIRKIN: Every single movie that you see has always been altered a little bit; [just so] the MPAA ... can have a reason for existence. But nothing major. It comes down to framing, here and there. My belief is that sometimes censorship makes things – in your head – dirtier and more suggestive. There's a specific place in [Heartbreakers] where Ray is kissing up Sigourney's leg. That shot used to go a little bit longer. He kissed up her leg and he'd get to her middle area, and he would just kiss up her leg and go to her stomach. You would completely see him avoid the questionable area. They said, "He got too close." So, when he gets to that point, it now cuts to Sigourney's reaction, and then it cuts back to him on her stomach. Now it gives you a much clearer suggestion that he kissed her directly on her private. That's what I'm talking about. Censorship like this is bizarre because it often creates a bigger problem than what you had before. Here you can clearly see that he was only close. And he was actually very demure and didn't go there. Now it looks like he went right there. It happened. It's their choice. They wanted me to try and cooperate with them. I think they're good people (the MPAA). Censorship is a difficult thing, particularly when you're hairsplitting like that. It's a weird thing. IGNFF: And you'd spent a lot of time in preproduction deciding on the wardrobe. MIRKIN: An enormous amount of time with that. Anne Roth – who is a legend – and Gary Jones just killed themselves in getting gowns for Sigourney and Angie Healy getting clothes for Jennifer. Again, incredibly lucky to get that caliber of people. And we needed it. We wanted a sexy, expensive look. <img src="https://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/hp-hewitt-mirkin.jpg" width="252" height="345" align="left" border="0" alt="Jennifer Love Hewitt and Director David Mirkin on the set of Heartbreakers.
Jennifer Love Hewitt and Director David Mirkin on the set of Heartbreakers.
IGNFF: Any chance a Heartbreakers cast member will appear on The Simpsons? MIRKIN: Yes. We'd love to have Sigourney and work out a time for her; and Jennifer and Ray; every single member of that cast. IGNFF: Have you lobbied and of them? MIRKIN: Always (Laughs). We have a list of amazing actors who would like to do The Simpsons and we don't like to waste them. We really wait until we have a good script so we don't just take a fantastic actor for the sake of having that actor and not have a role that's good for them. That's part of what takes time. IGNFF: Is there anyone you've requested to appear on The Simpsons who you're still waiting to hear from? MIRKIN: I don't have that list in front of me, so I don't want to say anything and everybody would be, "Wow." IGNFF: In some cases it's the actor's children who convinced them to be on the show. MIRKIN: Right. There's various things that go on. Some way that we get people to do the show; the way I got Susan Sarandon to do the show was because she wanted to show off to her daughter. That was going to make her a big hero. For a movie they could care less, but to be on The Simpsons, "Oh, Mom is something!" IGNFF: What was the best catch? MIRKIN: For me the most amazing was we've had all three surviving Beatles. And I always tease and say, "Why don't the others call and meet?" (laughs) For Paul McCartney, I flew to London and went to Paul's home/studio, where The Beatles had just recently reunited, and spent the day with him and Linda. It was an amazing thing. He showed me around the studio. He said, "Dave, you remember the song 'Because.' This is the harpsichord from 'Because.'" And he started playing "Because"; and the chimes from "Penny Lane"; and the harmonica from "We Can Work It Out." There's nothing really to describe that on earth. He had James Taylor on, who was actually first discovered by The Beatles. IGNFF: True. They signed him. MIRKIN: They signed him. He recorded his album right around the down time of the White Album sessions. That when James recored his first album, "Carolina On My Mind." It has Paul on bass and George singing harmony. It's amazing. When he sings in "Carolina On My Mind," "A holy host of others standing around me," he's talking about The Beatles. [On The Simpsons,] McCartney was amazing, James Taylor was amazing, Anne Bancroft was amazing. There was so many. IGNFF: Recording Paul's voice and performance for his episode¿ MIRKIN: It was just me in England with them and I would play (in Apu's voice) all the other characters. (Laughs) IGNFF: What are you doing next? MIRKIN: If they don't kick me out of show business. I'm writing something; screwing around with The Simpsons some more – still addicted to that. It's taking a while [to decide on a project] because I'm picky. It's hard to direct a movie. It's enormous fun, but it's so much work. You just have to have something to carry you with enormous passion. I get offered so many things, but it has to be something that going to work for me. IGNFF: Is there anything happening with a Simpsons feature film? MIRKIN: Because we're all writing [the series] now and because The Simpsons is six months of the year where we're working on two seasons at once, we never have a down time. It takes a year and a half to do one year of the show. Once the show has run its course, I think a movie will come because there's money to be made. Any time there is dime, you can depend on Fox. I'm sure it'll happen. IGNFF: You used Beck's "Tropicalia" a couple times [in Heartbreakers]. It's an awesome song. Are you a Beck fan? MIRKIN: I'm a Beck fan. That song was perfect for the dark Brazilian music that I wanted to use. Oddly enough, the Jobim music (Antonia Carlos Jobim's "The Waters of March") also has this wonderful sexy darkness to it. I looked all over and listened to all Brazilian music. It's funny, when I was in Florida, there was a lot of Brazilian music in Florida. I thought it was going to be Cuban, and I didn't want to go with the Gloria Estefan thing. It's been heard so much. It's kind of on the nose. It's not as sexy to me as the quieter. And that's what these women are. They come at you in a kinky seductive way. And I went right back to the very beginning the of the Brazilian explosion, which was Carlos Jobim's and it worked really good. And the Beck song fit right into the pocket on that IGNFF: With "Tropicalia," you faded out just before the lyric "Mystery waits in grand hotels" right when they came into the hotel... MIRKIN: Yes. And then it comes back again when they're on the boat, so you hear more of it there. I was really happy because we sent the footage to Beck. And he viewed it, and he gave a thumbs-up for that. <img src="https://moviesmedia.ign.com/movies/image/hb-hewitt-neelon.jpg" width="252" height="173" align="left" border="0" alt="Jennifer Love Hewitt puts the moves on Kevin Nealon." />
Jennifer Love Hewitt puts the moves on Kevin Nealon.
IGNFF: And Jo¿o Gilberto. He has a vocal in the film. MIRKIN: There is. He's singing "Meditation" when Kevin Nealon is on, and it comes back again when Sigourney is seducing Jason Lee. IGNFF: I liked the use of "The Waters of March" too. MIRKIN: Isn't that a great song? That was a great version. Another great version of that that would have been right for the movie is by Art Garfunkel. All of the music is very strong in this movie. We were very happy with the music. And we were fortunate to get that John Lennon song ("Oh My Love"); a secret John Lennon song a lot of people don't know about.
