Interviewing a film celebrity

James Lipton and George Clooney on Inside the Actors Studio

Radio interview techniques in film…

James Lipton: You have acted in many films.

George Clooney: Over 60, yes.

James Lipton: And as producer or director.

George Clooney: 30 times.

James Lipton: Do you work for money?

George Clooney: I work because I want to enjoy what I do. The money and fame doesn’t matter. I choose films I want to make and will make a statement; ones that will leave a legacy.

James Lipton: Have you ever felt rejected?

George Clooney: Actors feel badly rejected when they don’t get a role. They’re selling a product - themselves. If they get rejected, that’s personal.

James Lipton: What do you consider your best film?

George Clooney: One that I feel was worthwhile doing was Good Night and Good Luck. My father was a news anchorman and I majored in journalism at college so I had a special interest in doing the story of TV journalist Ed Murrow and his battle to discredit Joseph McCarthy’s anticommunist hysteria in 1953.

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Voice-over

James Lipton is famous for reading his questions off index cards and then staring at the interviewee. Although his Inside the Actors Studio celebrity interviews are filmed, this technique would also work well as a radio interview. Or as a podcast.

Some of his interview question techniques:

Get the background out of the way with a statement: “You are… You have…”

Use research to praise: “Do you work for money?” Obviously not.

Use something surprising to probe for an uncomfortable insight: “Have you ever felt rejected?”

End on a high note: “…your best film?”

And then turn the show over to the student questions.

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Leveraging in an interview

Beginning an imaginary interview with a real interviewer…
wh5: You are a very successful interviewer of a surprising number of top-flight film actors and actresses in your career and you've won prizes for your program, Inside Actors’ Studio. When did you start this program?

JL: In 1994.

wh5: And you have interviewed 200 of them. That’s about ten each year.

JL: Yes, about once a month on average.

wh5: You are 85 years old. Where do you get your energy to perform?

JL: I’m very low key. I know how to pause. I know how to listen. I ask short questions. And I leverage. Most of my questions require long answers from the guest. They do the work.

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Voice-over

So far, 200 of the world’s best-known actors, actresses and directors have been interviewed on Inside Actors’ Studio. James Lipton begins by noting achievements to establish ethos and relax the guest. Then he jumps out of the bushes with a surprise question – surprise is the drama. His guests are people who like to talk. That’s their job. And surprise sets them off.

Following James Lipton’s strategy, imagine you are interviewing a movie star.

(1) How would praise them? Establish the public image.

(2) How would you surprise them? Ask a private question. What do you think their reply would be?

(3) And finally, what Proustian question would you most like to ask the guest?

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