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PlanetOut: You cast writers and directors as lead actors in the film. Did you take a different approach to directing non-actors? Miguel Arteta: Not really. I was really lucky because they were writers and directors, so they've been on the other side of the camera. They know how difficult it is to have an actor give you a hard time, when you have so little time. So they were actually really cooperative, 'cause they were like, "I know how it is, I'm ready, let's do it." So it was really wonderful. In some ways it was easier. I see my job as basically doing two things. One is helping them preserve their ego[s], helping them take chances. You know, I would try to make them feel wanted, needed, heard, because they have to go out there and take chances. The other thing is, you help them focus on their performances. It's really easy to lose track of what you're trying to do on a set. You do whatever it takes with each actor to help them remain focused on their performance. And then the rest is out of your hands. PlanetOut: Did you have the final say on the final cut? MA: Yeah. It took two and a half years to find the money to do Chuck and Buck, the right kind of money. Because we didn't want to play the name game, and we didn't want to not have control. When you're making a movie, that's all about your vision, and you want to be very daring with it. You can't give away those controls. So we made it for very little money, and we had total control. PlanetOut: How did you find the money that you wanted to facilitate that control? MA: Open City Films -- Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente who produced Three Seasons that did great here last year -- they started this division, Blow Up, to do digital movies in which they would give directors total control. It's great. I had met them when I was raising money for Star Maps, and it didn't work out that time. So they came and said, "We're going to do this thing...." We had seen Celebration, so we were really excited about the look of the transfer to film. We thought it would look really cool. It kind of clicked that way after struggling to get the right kind of money for awhile. PlanetOut: What prompted you to get an MFA from the American Film Institute? Did you have any conflict about just jumping in and making a film, or did you want to go to graduate school? MA: Well, I was pretty young. It seemed like film school was a good way to get the government to lend you some money so that you could spend the time to do it, and so that I could be directing again. I was like, what is the quickest way that I could be directing? Going back to school. If I had gone into the real world, I would have to have a job. It would be very hard to start directing. I thought, okay, I'll get myself more in debt, get more government loans, but I'll have two years to be directing. I don't know if it was right or not, especially now it's so much easier to get a movie made then it was back then. I would recommend people to just jump ahead and do it. PlanetOut: How would you define Chuck's sexuality at the end of the film? MA: I think the point of the film is not to -- PlanetOut: -- define -- MA: Yeah, because one of the points that the movie makes is that human sexual relationships are so complex, so irrational, so hard to understand, that sex sometimes is hard to just put in categories. I think that's one of the difficult things about life, that things are not that simple. People make their own judgments. My judgment is that he's bisexual, and he's living with a woman. PlanetOut: Is Buck's moment with a gay man at the end of the film a foreshadowing of things to come that we don't see? MA: It's possible. The idea was, you know, all through the movie he's so focused on his obsession with Chuck that he doesn't see the world around him. I think it goes both ways when you're in that kind of mode where you're so misguided that you think that just this one thing or this one person's affections is everything. Not only are you missing out on the world, but also the world can't come to you. I think what Mike [White] was trying to do when he wrote the screenplay was kind of say if you stop that tunnel vision, suddenly not only will you see things in the world but also the world will sort of open its arms to you. We just wanted somebody to sort of notice him and start a conversation with him and say, "You seem approachable now." It is kind of a teaser, you know? How much is he really getting cruised? It's open for interpretation. If you don't want to really go there, you can think whatever you want. If you want to think that he is being cruised, that's fine too. The sequel might star the two of them. PlanetOut: Beyond Chuck and Buck. MA: That's right. PlanetOut: Is there anything else you wanted to say? MA: Yes. Chuck and Buck is a movie about obsession. I think it's a movie that anyone who's ever been rejected or [has] obsessed hopefully will be able to identify with. My hopes are up for the movie. I'm very proud of the way we deal with sexuality. I think it's just a movie that is very honest, and I think it may be a great crossover film because of that. We're aiming really high. PlanetOut: From straight to gay, or gay to straight, or independent to Hollywood? MA: Both. It's not a gay film, per se, and it's not an indie film, per se. I'm hoping that people are able to look at the story on its own terms and say it's a story about obsession. It's something that I can relate to. Hopefully articulate, elaborate discussions about sexuality don't pigeonhole things. PlanetOut: I think that Chuck and Buck really makes you work for it. MA: That's great. I'm really proud of the movie. Thanks for supporting it. * Read the PopcornQ review of Chuck & Buck PQ MOVIE NEWS: PQ Video Hot List | Interviews | Advance Guide to Queer Film | Movie News Archive | PQ Video Hot Lists Galore MORE NEWS ON PLANETOUT: PlanetOut News & Politics | PlanetOutRadio | Entertainment
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