He’s done it again. The Grand Budapest Hotel is arguably Wes Anderson’s funniest film yet. Dave Calhoun speaks to the director.
Does it upset you when people say you make the same film over and over again? They think they’ve seen it all before.
I used to react more. Now I don’t feel provoked. I’ve probably got a thicker skin than I used to have. When I’m making a film, I consciously try to do something different from what I’ve done before, but when it’s put together, people say they can tell in 10 seconds that it’s by me.
But isn’t it a huge compliment when people say you have your own definitive style?
It’s an enormous compliment. Unless it’s not meant as one!
We think The Grand Budapest Hotel is your funniest film yet. What made you think Ralph Fiennes could be so hilarious?
He was very funny in the film In Bruges, and the play God of Carnage. I’d wanted to work with him for some time. I met him maybe 10 years ago when I was at somebody’s house – he was sitting in the kitchen. I wanted to find something to do with him. He’s intense. He’s like a method actor, and I’ve not worked with anyone like that.
Do you like staying in hotels?
I used to, but I’ve realised over the years that I don’t like to walk down a long corridor, get in the elevator, walk through the lobby, go down the street and realise I’ve forgotten something. So I’m a bit over it. Writing the film we travelled all over Germany, Austria, Hungary and The Czech Republic, so we stayed in a lot of places.
We heard you and the cast lived in a hotel together while shooting, and that the cast wore their PJs at breakfast…
Yes – we took over this small hotel in the city of Görlitz in Germany. We had a chef I know from Italy cook for us, and we had a buzzing dinner party every night.
You’re from Texas, but you live in Paris. Are you officially an American in exile?
I haven’t been to America for a couple of years. We’re about to go in a month or so. I have my apartment and my office in Paris, and my friend has a house in Kent in the UK, so we go there pretty often. I’m often in London, too. But in Paris I still feel like I’m an American abroad. My French is no better now than it was before I moved there.
Catch The Grand Budapest Hotel in AD cinemas soon.
