Alex Billington of FirstShowing.net has this great interview with screenwriter Christopher McQuarrie. The primary focus is on the release of Valkyrie, a movie McQuarrie co-wrote with long-time friend Nathan Alexander. One thing I found quite interesting arose from Billington asking a question I think that has been on the minds of a lot of people since the wonderful script McQuarrie wrote for the movie The Usual Suspects: “What have you been doing?” Here is McQuarrie’s response:
Yes, well that’s primarily what I’ve been doing is rewriting studio movies to support myself while I’ve been developing historical projects, a lot of times with first-time screenwriters. I work with guys who have a real passion for the research and the history and want to get into screenwriting but really don’t know where to start. And I give them the sort of comfort zone that they need. They don’t have to worry about the movie part. They just have to worry about putting history in script form. And I will dramatize the script that they have written. And so what happens is I learn a lot about history as we’re writing the screenplay. And so it allows me to learn as I go which keeps me engaged. It keeps me really fascinated in the material. And at the same time, it prevents me from getting overwhelmed by the history. If you know too much about the history going in, it’s very difficult to determine what to leave in and what to leave out. By having a partner whose job it is to defend and protect the history, I can be a lot more focused on story and what matters to the movie.
This is like the reverse of what screenwriter Ron Bass does with a group of assistants, sometimes called “The Ronettes,” who engage in extensive research and brainstorm plot possibilities, enabling Bass to knock out several script projects per year. Apparently McQuarrie works with first-time screenwriters and slowly over time brings historical projects along. Presumably not as financially beneficial as Bass’ approach, however perhaps McQuarrie is earning some good karma along the way in helping out young writers.
McQuarrie’s credits include The Usual Suspects (1994), The Way of the Gun (2000), and Valkyrie.
