Vincent Gallo
has the transfixing, agonized gaze of a saint, or a serial killer.
Musician, painter, filmmaker, and actor, his newly
released, self-titled album is receiving frequent airplay on KCRW.
He stars in "Get Well Soon" with Courtney Cox, to be released
in 2002, and is embarking on his sophomore directorial effort.
Something of a Hollywood anomaly, he has no publicist,
is relentlessly candid and unguarded in conversation with the press,
and is a Republican. He directed and starred in the highly acclaimed,
"Buffalo "66", and has nothing good to say about
a couple of his co-stars since.
He declines to discuss or promote his follow-up project
other than to say there is one. Some of his utterances strike one
as deliberately provocative, yet he is also thoughtful, articulate
and uncompromising. Topics ranged from politics, "The Partridge
Family", and therapy to Charles Manson, music, and the Sofia
Coppola documentary that wasn't.
the book: how do you explain your popularity
with European audiences and filmmakers? gallo: quite frankly
I have very little interest in Europe. My popularity there is not
something I'm aware of, or can explain, because I don't identify
with it. It's hard for me to identify with any success I have outside
of America. So how did I wind up working in Europe? Well, unfortunately,
only Europeans found me interesting, or only European producers
were willing to put me in a movie, or only European art collectors
bought my painting, etc... I've often felt Europeans reacting negatively
to things I love about America, and positively to things I think
are pointless about America. I'm not interested in the films of
Jim Jarmusch, Harmony Korine, or Darren Aronofsky. Europeans are
not honest about how much they've been impacted and influenced by
the most banal, American mainstream.
the book: why is "crazy" the worst
thing someone can call you? gallo: because it invalidates
me as conceptual, passionate, or reasonable. It creates a sense
that I'm misunderstood and insignificant. A lot of people like to
think of themselves as crazy or outrageous. I don't, so when people
think I'm crazy, it makes me feel terrible.
the book: is it true that Sofia Coppola is
making a documentary about you? gallo: my response to that
is, who cares what Sofia Coppola is doing? Her work doesn't interest
me in any way whatsoever. Nepotism can be only so intriguing, and
in her case, not at all.
the book: what are your thoughts on the state
of independent filmmaking? gallo: what offends me the most
about low budget cinema these days is that it's low budget mainstream
movie making. "The Opposite of Sex" is a mainstream film
in every sense. It's predictable, redundant, it follows all the
cliches of script-writing, except one character's gay. That's what
most people feel makes something outside the mainstream. And what's
worse, is there's this entitlement about these left-wing commie
people who call themselves artists, who feel that it's okay to cheat
people out of salaries. There's this asshole producer, Don Murphy,
who wants me to play Charles Manson.
They keep offering me the film, it keeps hovering
over me. It had a 6 million dollar budget, and I asked for a little
more than 10% of that, which is normal for me at this point, because
it would take two years of my life, preparing for it, doing it,
and then promoting it. It's emotionally difficult material, and
they would be able to sell the film in territories that I've had
some success in. They keep telling me I should want to do this for
all these "We're all doing this because we believe in it"Áwhat
the fuck does that mean? I believe in things I have 100% control
of. I never would ask anybody to work for free or to take a cut
in pay because of artistic vision, that's just so rude.
the book: are you still thinking of taking
the role? gallo: I wouldn't play Manson for that asshole
for a trillion dollars, and as a matter of fact, I'm thinking of
doing my own Manson film, just to show how ridiculous his film would
be, and whatever retard that he gets to play Manson.
the book: is America better off under George
W. Bush? gallo: I feel very happy that Bush is our president.
One way that you can tell we have a good president, is by how much
the French dislike him. The more the French hate him, the better
he must be. And they hate this one.
the book: what went on the set of "Get
Well Soon"? gallo: I had a bad experience with that
film, because immediately after I signed on, the producer made a
negative pickup deal with Lions Gate films, who were completely
unethical with me on "Buffalo ¬66". My reaction was to
completely lose interest. Then they got me to get Courtney Cox in
the movie, and the director was not so nice to Courtney, and in
doing that, he was being not so nice to me. But the truth is , I
play a talk show host who only reads from cue cards, and I thought
it was interesting conceptually to do all my scenes from cue cards.
And by not speaking to the director, it helped me in my character's
alienation and desperation. I felt I needed to transcend the material
in my own way. I showed up on time every day, ready to work, and
wanting to do the best job I could.
the book: so you weren't trying to sabotage
your own performance. gallo: never. I would never do that.
Film is forever. There will always be something interesting about
that performance. It is as good as it could be, considering who
knows how bad the film is. It felt like I was making an amateur
film.
the book: tell us about your new CD. gallo:
I have one friend, John Frusciante (of Red Hot Chili Peppers), who
understands the deep darkness of the record, the radicalness of
the compositions, the songwriting, the sounds and atmosphere, but
I'm sure there will be listeners that don't relate to those things,
but do relate to other things, that are pretty in a basic way.
the book: so in some ways, it's a conventional
pop record? gallo: no, it's not a pop record, because, like
my painting and my film, there's nothing mainstream about it.
the book: what kind of music did you play
with Basquiat. gallo: that is an interesting story, because
Jean got so famous, the Negro celebrity of the eighties, (because
that's what he was,) that people are most interested in my band
with him. Gray was not the most interesting band of that time. Jean
is just the most famous member of a band at that time. Gray was
certainly one of the twenty good bands. The irony is that Jean's
creative direction and vision, as far as song titles, and the collage
posters we did, was very interesting, but musically he was sophomoric.
He was basically doing freeform avant-garde jazz by a non-musician.
His clarinet bursts were no more innovative than what Ornette Coleman
was doing when he smoked a lot of pot. Jean was doing an adolescent
version of that.
the book: was it difficult working with a
drug addict. You're outspokenly anti-drug. gallo: yeah, first
of all, I hate the smell of pot. I'd rather smell the asshole of
a 90 year old man than a joint. Not only that, I get contact high.
Just from the thought of it I'm hallucinating. Quite frankly, all
addicts are self-centered in the extreme, and they all give me the
same bad feeling. Jean was one of the first to give me that. And
although I have incredibly fond memories of his mind, if I'm really
honest, I didn't really like him as a person. I was the first one
to quit the band, which broke up one gig later. I didn't see him
as a necessary collaborator. I saw him as somebody who knew how
to work Debbie Harry, Arto Lindsay, John Lurie Á the in crowd. He
knew how to become the myth he became.
the book: I heard you were recording a song
with PJ Harvey. gallo: yeah. It's for a tribute album of
Lee Hazlewood music.
the book: are you a couple? gallo:
no. but I like talking to her. I like my friendship with her. I
should be so lucky to have a girlfriend like P.J., but I had a girlfriend
for a long time, Bethany, and we broke up for the third time about
six months ago, and I have behaved poorly since. I haven't had any
sexual relationships, but I've wanted to feel close to somebody,
then pushed them away. I'm just not open right now to anything like
that. I wish I was. I wish I could have worked it out with Bethany.
the book: you're infamous for being outspoken.
Has that hurt you professionally? gallo: you mean hurt me
as far as getting stupid roles in stupid movies? Yeah it's eliminated
that. You mean hurt me as far as having people that I'm not interested
in not like me? yeah, I haven't been invited to Sofia's latest party.
the book: is it true you are a fan of Danny
Bonaduce? gallo: I became an actor, because of Danny Bonaduce
on the "Partridge Family". He's tremendous, so funny and
brilliant, and we seemed around the same age, I felt I should be
on a show with him. We could have done a good spin-off, "the
Danny Bonaduce, Vinnie Gallo show", da-da-da-da- da di da da
(sings theme show music)
the book: would you still like to work with
him? gallo: I never lose my heart for anyone. Ever. I would
do anything with Danny any day of the week. And Sylvester Stallone
in "the Lords of Flatbush"--when I saw that, I was 100%
convinced that I would go to New York. and try to be in a movie.
It's one of the most articulate, insightful, flawless performances
of the 20th century. It's as good as anything as any actor has ever
done, period.
the book: have you ever been in therapy? gallo:
yes. I had a psychiatrist for eleven years, who died a year and
a half ago, and I haven't been doing as well since. I had one of
the greatest psychiatrists of the 20th Century, Dr. Malcolm Hill,
very old school, traditional Freudian. Just a straight, "uh
huh, mm hmm, what do you think? More importantly, how did you feel?"
The last of the Park Avenue geniuses, that could have helped me,
and did help me, so much, and I hope I can recover from his loss.
the book: are you happy or sad? gallo:
I'm the happiest saddest guy in the world. I'm as happy as a sad
person can be.
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