Filmmaker Marc Webb has had a fascinatingly rapid journey in Hollywood.
Heres a tangled web indeed that the director can finally spin.
And one that has been, for him, a long time coming.
Marc Webb:Yeah.
This movie, its different than Spider-Man movies.
When I thought about how to build this world, its a fantasy of New York.
Its not a gritty, realistic depiction of New York.
It is the New York I fantasized about before I ever went to New York.
You know what I mean?
I am from Wisconsin, and I think its my right to kind of play around with those tropes.
But New York is eminently cinematic.
Theres a history there.
The streets are beautiful.
Theres a style to it.
New York has that sort of its just dialed in, in a way.
That makes it fun.
But at the same time, New York is changing.
Theres a perpetual nostalgia, I think, in New York.
Everybody always thinks its greatest days are over.
I think the one constant, though, is that its always changing.
Thats impossible to deny.
But I think that its capacity for reinvention is thematically resonant for the movie.
I mean, thats what everybody is doing.
Everybodys got a facade and then it changes and evolves.
That seemed to fit well with what we were trying to do.
The backyard behind the tenement building where W.F.
[Bridges] and Thomas [Turner] live.
We were looking for a place to do that sequence.
It was originally set on the fire escape or, no, in his apartment.
Behind those buildings theres yards and shared spaces that are very private and with great graffiti back there.
It was just this kind of great little grotto that we rewrote the scene to fit in.
That was kind of a great little cove to find.
Allan Loeb wrote this about 10 years ago, how did it end up crossing your path?
So I did(500) Days of Summerand then I went to doSpider-Man.
Then halfway throughSpider-Man, I was like, it would be nice to do a little movie.
Maybe I could sneak in a little movie between [the first film] and [the second]?
It was calledThe Only Living Boyand it was set in Chicago, and it was about someone else.
I was like, what the fuck happened to this script?
I was like, whats going on?
The 30-year-old Allan just struggling in a studio apartment in Tribeca.
This also goes back, in a way, to where you started with(500) Days.
Well, I mean, its a different genre.
I was sort of fascinated by that behavior.
I think that was relatable.
I found that interesting.
Youre like, I need that person to say this because this other story point depends on it.
So I think I relate more to actors and Im able to anticipate where they might have difficulties.
Youve done two smaller films in a row now.
Did that sort of cleanse the palate after getting into the blockbuster machine for a couple years?
Theyre set up, lets do it.
Now, I feel like this is the first chapter of my career is kind of done.
Whats on your plate now?
Then nothing is certain at this point.
Im just going to take a little bit of time, maybe do some TV stuff.
Ive really enjoyed that.
Theres so much interesting stuff thats happening on TV, Netflix and whatnot.
But Im just going to finish this and then start reading.
The Only Living Boy in New Yorkis out in limited release this Friday (Aug. 11).
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