Back in May, the acclaimed director Richard Linklater’s new film Hit Man hit theaters in Israel. The film follows a nerdy guy who teaches at a college and simultaneously goes on assassination missions. Although it's a crazy comedy, it has a somewhat tragic side: after years of working on the film, the individual on whose life the screenplay was based, Gary Johnson, didn’t live to see the final result.
"He died right before we started filming," Linklater said in our meeting in Venice. "Gary served in the Vietnam War, and many of the guys who came out of there have Agent Orange in their bodies (a code name for a defoliant and herbicide used by the U.S. military to deny the Viet Cong cover and food). Gary had pulmonary fibrosis or something like that due to this chemical, and he died relatively young. Gary was a big guy, but when he got sick, he weighed 38 kgs, and his death happened very quickly."
Did you get to meet him?
"No. We only talked on the phone for several years. At some point, the film's production didn't take off, so I got tired of disappointing him and stopped contacting him. Gary didn't really care. He was indifferent. Ultimately, I wrote about him in the film: 'The chillest guy there was,' and that's who Gary was to me."
'They're all acting, but aren't we all?'
The idea to bring Johnson's story to the screen came from actor Glen Powell, who starred in “Top Gun: Maverick," among other films. This year, at 35, Powell has become a sex symbol and one of the most glittering and hottest stars in Hollywood.
He made headlines in gossip columns due to rumors of a romance with Sydney Sweeney, his co-star in the surprise hit "Anyone But You," and was also reported to have been seen on a date with former Miss Israel Noa Cochva.
But it turns out Powell is much more than a sought-after bachelor with a sculpted body and perfect face. He also has artistic aspirations, and to achieve them, he began working on "Hit Man," which was showcased at several prestigious festivals over the past year (Sundance, Venice, New York).
This isn't Powell's first collaboration with Linklater. "I've known Glen since he was a teenager when he had a small role in my 'Fast Food' movies," Linklater recalled. "A few years later, when he had already become Glen Powell, I cast him in my college comedy, 'Everybody Wants Some!!'. I was very impressed with how he had grown.
“I told him: 'Wow, sh*t, you're smart, funny, charming.' I wondered when he had time to go through such a transformation. He became so funny and unique. Everyone around him knew that he was a star without a doubt; the question was just when the world would recognize it. He knows how to collaborate wonderfully, and of course, he's very talented."
From this friendship, "Hit Man" was born. "He called me up over the pandemic spring of 2020, I guess summer. And he had read the article talking about it and asked if I had ever read it. And like, yeah, I read it when it came out. I'm friends with Skip Hollingsworth, the writer. And so we just started talking about it."
The conversation eventually turned into an amusing and enjoyable thriller comedy. "Because of the pandemic, we created the film through correspondence and Zoom calls. I sent Glen what I had written and vice versa. We just worked on it; no one commissioned the project, and we had no organizational commitments.
“Glen is a brilliant storyteller, so nothing he does in the future will surprise me. I give all the credit to Glen for pushing me out of my comfort zone in making 'Hit Man.' I'm just kind of a just-facts guy, and Glen made me laugh and loosen up a bit. It would have been a very boring movie if it was just the same. It would be funny, but the sequential nature is like the same thing happens repeatedly. So, I think we wanted to take you on a ride, see, just enough of that, and then depart from it,” he added.
And now, we too can join this fun roller coaster centered around an undercover cop and professional hitman who sets out to save a woman he loves. During his assassination missions, Gary constantly changes personas, adapting his character to fit the nature of the person he's supposed to kill.
"What intrigued me most about his story is that he made a living by being someone he's not. The fact that he played all these characters. By nature, he was a good teacher—quiet, meditative, Buddhist, considerate, teaching about Jung and Freud. Then he goes out into the world and acts as if he's a murderer. Gary says in the film, 'I was too shy to go out for the school plays.' But so, he found his audience. A lot of actors are shy and they're hiding behind characters. They're all role-playing, they're all acting, but aren't we all?”
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'Hit Man' stars Glen Powell and Adria Arjona with Linklater
(Photo: Jack Plunkett/Invision/AP)
'It's Donald Trump's fault'
The film also touches on the idea that one can become a more attractive version of oneself. Do you believe in it?
"Well, I think everyone tries to be attractive, right? In every relationship, you try to present yourself in the best light, groom yourself, do everything to bring out the best in yourself. But how long can you maintain that?" he said, laughing.
Some people have argued that Hit Man is immoral because the killers aren’t punished. Did you want the film to deliver this message?
"I thought it immorally ironic. I don't know that that Gary seems to have gotten away with what he used to put people in prison for attempting not even doing. So like I said, that's the dark heart of the. Dark comedy. Everything's on the table, you know this century truth is upended and everything's inverted. Moral. Immoral. What is that? No. So I don't know. it's very valid. I want people thinking about that.”
“It's all Donald Trump's fault basically," he added. "The movie says pretty clearly you're going to risk the death penalty for someone you just met or not that much money you. I am very much against the death penalty—I worked on a film about it and learned about the historical relevance of the death penalty. We live in a culture based on law and order that is falling apart; the worst thing that can happen as a result is lynching and extrajudicial executions."
Did you know three other films about hitmen and assassins are being shown at the Venice Film Festival alongside yours?
"Yeah, it's quite strange. There are a lot of hitmen in the world, but I want to believe that my film deconstructs the concept of 'the assassin' a little. Assassins are great characters in stories. What attracts us to them? In our minds, there's the fantasy that 'if someone messes with me, I can kill them. I mean, I don't want to kill them myself, but I can order their death.'"
Have you ever wanted to kill someone?
“Well, no, I take that back. I'm in the film industry, of course I want to,” Linklater said laughing. "No, no, I'm a I'm a total pacifist. I would never have gone to war. I wouldn't do that. But no, I mean, we're all capable of it. I have kids. Someone did something. I mean, you don't know what instincts you might possess."
'As filmmakers, we are all nomads'
Originally, Johnson worked in Houston, Texas, a city where Linklater was born, lives, and creates. Nevertheless, Linklater chose to move the story to New Orleans. "Part of the consideration was, of course, economic, because Louisiana offered incentives. As filmmakers, we are all nomads. You go to where it makes the most sense to shoot a film, and I'm fine with that. Moreover, New Orleans is very similar to Houston; they’re both southern, very humid cities located on the same line. Both are also full of crazy characters.
"The people in New Orleans are amazing. It has so much life and adds character to my film, but it also has an element of chaos that doesn't match its charm. There's something messed up beneath the surface. One day, we arrived on set and were told, 'It's good you came just now. There was a murder down the street, and the ambulances will be here until the afternoon.'"
Linklater, 63, is one of the most versatile and decorated (111 awards) creators in contemporary American independent cinema. In his 35-year career, he has created a beloved romantic trilogy ("Before Sunrise," "Before Sunset," "Before Midnight" with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy), animated films ("A Scanner Darkly," "Apollo 10½: A Space Age Childhood," which also featured Powell), comedies ("School of Rock" with Jack Black, which grossed $135 million), and others.
"You're always trying to do something different. You know, like you have a new interest or you're trying to achieve something else or challenge yourself,” Linklater explained. "I love comedies, I've made things that are musical, like School of Rock and things, I just love musicals. See if I can pull one off."
What keeps you making films at such an impressive pace?
"When you make a film, I don't know, I feel Cathartic. That was so personal to go on that journey and to be done with it feels strange. You set out to do something and you had that experience that you knew you would have, so why not take a trip? Because you want to have an experience. You don't know what exactly, but you feel compelled to travel, or so it's the same thing when you go to make a movie.”
There's something sentimental in all of your films. Do you agree with that statement?
"Sentimental? I don't feel sentimental. Sometimes I feel hopeful, romantic, and optimistic. I'm an old-fashioned romantic."
Many people became vegetarians and vegans because of your film "Fast Food Nation," based on the bestseller by Eric Schlosser.
"After I read Eric's book, I said, 'I don't want to support this industry.' For many, 'Fast Food Nation' was quite an off-putting film. No one wants to see where their food comes from. It felt like being a war photographer like I discovered a genocide and I took pictures of it. You’re bearing witness to something you have feelings about, but you're kind of powerless to stop in your life. All you can do is throw something out there. So, I'm glad it had that effect. I think we need more of that.”
One of Linklater's most well-known and decorated projects is "Boyhood," starring Ethan Hawke (his frequent collaborator) and Patricia Arquette. The film was shot over 12 years and followed the coming-of-age of a boy from Texas, from age 6 until his entrance into college.
"Boyhood" won three Golden Globe Awards (Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role), was nominated for six Academy Awards (winning only one – Arquette), and Linklater was even awarded Best Director at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Linklater is now involved in a similar project, which he also intends to shoot over several years – "Merrily We Roll Along," about a talented Broadway composer (Paul Mescal) who abandons the theater and his friends in favor of producing films in Hollywood.
"When I worked on Boyhood it was so private. But this one is of a higher profile. It's based on a Stephen Sondheim musical. One of my favorites of his. Takes place from 1957 to 1976, so it's very different than Boyhood, even though it's this longitudinal shoot, the music is already written. I have a structure. I'm just trying to make it work the way it might work in a film, so I’m adapting. It's an adaptation process from stage to screen, so that's the challenge there. We'll see. It's fun so far,” he said.