Director Taylor Hackford, 61, received a 2004 Oscar nomination for Ray. A champion of the working class and a lover of music, his films also include The Idolmaker (1980), An Officer and a Gentleman (1982), Against All Odds (1984), White Nights (1985), Dolores Claiborne (1995), The Devil's Advocate (1997) and Proof of Life (2000). I spoke to him via phone about his life's work.
It's interesting that your career is book-ended by two rock 'n' roll stories. How did The Idolmaker come about?
It was an interesting piece because, as opposed to a genius musician [like Ray Charles], it's also about another era. It's somebody who didn't make it in show business.
My favorite scene is the one in which Tony is standing backstage watching his first creation (Paul Land) perform; he's going through all the same motions behind the curtain.
Bob Marcucci, whom the movie was based on, consulted with me on the script. He still could go through all these little movements that he had taught Frankie Avalon and Fabian. I got the idea of putting him backstage and showing the puppet master really going through it. He wanted in the worst way to be out in front.
The Idolmaker makes a very interesting comparison to Ray. One is about the guy who gets left behind by the talent, and the other is about the talent who leaves everyone behind.
The Idolmaker was my first film, and it was my opportunity. Ray Sharkey was a wonderful talent, and you feel that. Ray is a very different kettle of fish. He's a true genius. But the drive is similar. Ray Charles refused to listen to those people who said "You're a cripple." He was striving to prove that he was as good or better than anyone else. I make films about working-class people. Show business is one of those things that people can use to get themselves out of the lower rung of society.
I noticed that you're very gifted at shooting music sequences. A great scene in Ray is the onstage creation of "What'd I Say." Most directors either do too much or too little.
If you zoom in and zoom out, it takes you out of the music. The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself. You come up with a visual style that allows you to get in. What I try to do is get inside.
Some might portray you as a man's man director, but you've directed several top-notch female performances: Debra Winger, Jessica Lange, Kathy Bates ...
I defy you to find a better woman's performance than Kathy Bates in Dolores Claiborne. This is not tooting my own horn; this is singing the praises of the people I work with. People look at that film, and they don't get it. Then they finally clock it that she's this walking wound. She's very smart and very aware of what causes that neurosis. There are a lot of things in that film that I'm proud of, getting into the hearts and minds of these three tough women.
You're known for working with different races, creeds and colors in films like Ray and Blood in Blood Out. Does it ever cause you any trouble in the movie business?
It's a double-edged sword. You're trying to make films in a commercial medium that are very specific. I try to make films that will convince the most difficult subject. What I was trying to do in An Officer and a Gentleman was convince Marines with Louis Gossett's performance. Blood In Blood Out is a movie about the Latino experience. I'm always interested in the working-class people. Gangster movies are as old as Little Caesar (1930). What I was doing was updating it. But when you do that, when you do something that's ethnic, you risk the general audience saying "What are you doing?" And then you get the Latinos saying "How dare you?" But when Latinos come up to me and say "Thank you," it means a lot. Today you cannot find Blood In Blood Out in any video store in a Latin neighborhood. It's always checked out.
Hackford will receive the Vanguard Director Award and participate in a conversation before a screening of The Idolmaker, Friday, June 16, 2 p.m.