i n a career now spanning more than 20 years, Peter Morgan has become one of <strong>the</strong> film industry’s most reliable writers, best known for crafting screenplays based on real–life people and events. In 2006 his original screenplay for The Queen was Oscar nominated, winning numerous o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>awards</strong> including a Golden Globe. The same year he won a BAFTA award for The Last King Of Scotland. Then he won an Oscar nod for adapting Frost/Nixon (2008) based on his own play. This year, he is writer and executive producer of his latest film Hereafter, directed by Clint Eastwood. A complete departure from his previous scripts, it’s a mult–character study telling three distinct stories about people affected by death or near death. It’s also <strong>the</strong> most personal of all Morgan’s work and something he wrote on spec not knowing if it would ever be made. DeaDline: What was your reaction when you saw <strong>the</strong> movie? peTeR moRgan: I spent most of <strong>the</strong> time when I watched for <strong>the</strong> first time loathing my work, wishing I had done more here or <strong>the</strong>re. And <strong>the</strong>n <strong>the</strong> second time, at <strong>the</strong> New York Film Festival, I really enjoyed it — not my work but <strong>the</strong> pace, of being allowed in. There are extremely honest things about it. I can assure you this is <strong>the</strong> most honest piece of writing I have ever done. I wrote it in a hut on a mountain for nobody because I wanted to. I don’t know, it just came to me. DeaDline: What drew you to this material? moRgan: The stuff that I have perhaps become known for that’s based on fact, and English statesmen shouting at each o<strong>the</strong>r all <strong>the</strong> time, doesn’t entirely represent who I am. I am not a politics wonk. I like <strong>the</strong> idea of my writing reflecting more about who I am or o<strong>the</strong>r people. I wrote this not thinking for a minute that it would get made. I mean, <strong>the</strong> tsunami sequence — anyone in England would know if you write something like that, it’s just going to get taken out. You can’t afford anything like that. I wrote <strong>the</strong> first draft on my own in between assignments where I was being paid. I wasn’t paid to write this. I wrote it for myself and wrote it quite quickly and left it in a drawer. DeaDline: How did Clint Eastwood become involved in <strong>the</strong> film? moRgan: I sent it to my agent and he <strong>the</strong>n sent it to producer Kathleen Kennedy and she sent it to Steven Spielberg. He rang me up. Having a phone call from him was just a fantastic rite of passage. I loved it, and he was very focused, very likable, strictly business, and really sharp. The phone call lasted about three hours and I loved his ideas. I <strong>the</strong>n changed <strong>the</strong> script based on <strong>the</strong> notes he’d given me and was thrilled with it. I <strong>the</strong>n got a phone call saying, “Would you please come out to California as soon as possible.” So I jumped on a plane, went to <strong>the</strong> Universal lot for a meeting at 1 o’clock, went into <strong>the</strong> boardroom, an assistant came in and drew <strong>the</strong> curtains and said Mr. Spielberg has taken to having his meetings in <strong>the</strong> dark. She turned all <strong>the</strong> lights off, and <strong>the</strong>n she left and I thought, “Well, he’s really not here. It must be an imposter. But soon <strong>the</strong>re he was, and we had a really long lovely meeting in which he said <strong>the</strong> notes he had given me had harmed <strong>the</strong> script and I said, “No, it was good,” and he said, “No, no, it isn’t good and I damaged your work, and I don’t want to touch it again, and I want to go back to <strong>the</strong> original script that you sent me, and I want to give it to my friend 16 deadline.com By Pete Hammond THE SURPRISING HEREAFTER PEtEr morgAN IS a maSteR oF manIPULatInG CHaRaCteRS, BUt not In tHIS SCReenPLay tHat manIPULated HIm Clint Eastwood.” Then I got this phone call saying Clint Eastwood wants to do it, and I said, “Wow, I can’t wait to start working.” But I not only didn’t have to do any rewrites, I wasn’t allowed to. I wondered why not since it was my material and I wanted to change it. But Clint said, “Don’t touch it. Don’t change it. I like it as it is. I want to make it as it is.” DeaDline: Was that reaction a surprise to you? moRgan: I’m not accustomed to that at all, I am accustomed to pain and self–destruction and draft after draft. On <strong>the</strong> one hand, you might think for a writer this was a dream come true. We finally came to this ra<strong>the</strong>r profound difference in our approaches. He likes <strong>the</strong> mess, <strong>the</strong> imperfection, <strong>the</strong> instinct. And it is full of bumpiness: it’s full of things that don’t quite add up or work that could be honed a bit more. But his view is <strong>the</strong> looseness and <strong>the</strong> imperfection allows an audience in. And it’s sort of <strong>the</strong> anti<strong>the</strong>sis of overworked controlled freakery that so much of <strong>the</strong> entertainment process is. There was something about <strong>the</strong> rawness of <strong>the</strong> first impulse that he wanted to preserve and protect. It’s a very different way of working than I’ve come across before. DeaDline: What kind of tone were you trying to achieve? moRgan: Writing this was in part an effort to help medicate <strong>the</strong> ever–present fear of death that you sort of live with. But it isn’t all about that. It feels to me like it’s a real correlation between grief and romance. And so somehow <strong>the</strong>re’s <strong>the</strong> blur between loneliness and grief in <strong>the</strong> story. The story needs to be harsh but it can be quite sweet or a sweet melancholy, and I think that was <strong>the</strong> tone I was after. I love how simple it is, and it’s not that emotionally manipulative. DeaDline: Do you feel <strong>the</strong> film was faithful to your script and were <strong>the</strong>re any scenes that weren’t shot? moRgan: No. I’ve never known anything like this before. For example, Clint told me <strong>the</strong> scenes with <strong>the</strong> Matt Damon character were shot in San Francisco. I originally wrote <strong>the</strong>m for Chicago. And Clint rang me up to say, “I hope you don’t mind, but we are going to actually change <strong>the</strong> heading of <strong>the</strong> scene to say ‘San Francisco’ on <strong>the</strong> script.” I said, “I think that’s very appropriate.” DeaDline: What is your motivation to write? moRgan: Sometimes you are lucky enough to get offered things and <strong>the</strong>re is no rhyme or reason. I am very lucky because I come from England and you have a whole range of things offered to you from television plays and shows and <strong>the</strong>atre so much more to explore, so it’s never really money. But it’s always what it is that interests you, although I’m not interested in Tony Blair so I don’t know why I keep writing about him. I am drawn to characters so full of internal contradictions. Idi Amin was one. I loved writing him. DeaDline: Do you want to direct? moRgan: The real beauty in my professional experience has been friendships and collaborations with filmmakers. I don’t want to direct. I have no directing ambition whatsoever. And as long as I meet filmmakers like Tom Hooper, Stephen Frears and o<strong>the</strong>rs who allow that collaboration, I can’t see why I would ever want to direct.
F O R Y O U R C O N S I D E R A T I O N MATT BOMER Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series - Drama “ Bomer gives White Collar <strong>the</strong> charm, wit WHITECOLLAR.USANETWORK.COM and sex appeal...” USA TODAY “ Terrific acting...” “Sparkling, snappy, bursting with energy...” LOS ANGELES TIMES “Slick and smart.” “...charming escapism.” ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY “ Mr. Bomer makes it seem entirely plausible that someone who looks like a Brioni model could have an I.Q. as high as a physicist’s.” NEW YORK TIMES “...White Collar takes off in its own refreshing directions, with enough wit and sparkle to make <strong>the</strong> time fly by.” THE WALL STREET JOURNAL WHITE COLLAR Best Television Series - Drama