I wouldnt do anything unless I had my own angle.
You merely have to look at Shakespeare to know this.
Stories are a dime a dozen and everybody has them.
There was a previousHamlet, but not now there isnt.
I dont believe in addiction.
There are substance dependencies but those are also voluntary.
If you look at an addiction, so called, you always find self-indulgence or wilfulness.
Just because people have careers saying otherwise doesnt make it true.
We also still have vicars on salary.
That doesnt mean theyre doing anything but talking into a hatbox.
As for Jim being privileged, rich people can be and are as unhappy as anybody else.
In fact they have more latitude for full-bore existential crisis.
When I was a young man and had no money I thoroughly enjoyed myself and appreciated things more.
That is not the case with wealthy people, who can be very unhappy and complicated indeed.
Most literary art is about aristocrats with problems or working class people with ambitions.
The middle class is deluded, vain, and boring.
Its not enough to live in a yurt and believe in polyamory.
It certainly doesnt hurt to be a genius, does it?
No one would ask a similar question of an athlete, and theres possibly a problem in that.
Everything anybody writes is de facto based on his experiences even if youre doing a space opera.
Had I not done my own thing no one would have ever done the picture.
That actually came from reality.
I had the idea at school that Camus character reserved the last bullet for himself.
It seemed to work in the story.
Jim had to talk about something and have a history as an academic person.
How did the process of writing The Gambler compare toThe Departed,which was a far more loose remake?
There was no difference in process andThe Gambleris in fact not less loosed from the original.
Perhaps thats more visible with text, but no one provides texts.
The Gamblerwas shot off the first draft.
The issue one normally has is that a script times at a page per minute.
You have to be made out of very cold steel to periodically undergo global abuse for someone elses decisions.
Thats all part of being a big boy and being worth anything in this profession.
Draft work is always an interesting learning journey if one has a master collaborator.
How did the version ofOblivionalter from your draft, for example?
I never tried for credit.
The director and the studio made their bed and they can have it.
Not taking credit probably cost me a significant amount in royalties, but I dont care.
WithKingdom Of Heaven,it must have been frustrating to see the film edited so heavily for cinemas.
Was it a relief to see the Directors Cut emerge to much greater acclaim?
Theres no point in being bitter.
This is a one-shot business based on one-shot productions and one-shot releases and people inevitably make their mistakes.
A playwright can do another production, but in film you have your production and thats it.
What are your memories ofKingdom Of Heavens making?
We stayed in old monasteries in Spain and had a marvellous time.
I visited theLawrence Of Arabialocation in Seville, and I bought my novel back from its publisher.
It was gestural but it meant that I was where I intended to be.
Top men, to say that.
To make a point of saying that.
I cant imagine anything finer than the best English sword-masters saying Were doing yours.
I dont think Im prouder of anything.
However, during that period I was ill and didnt know it.
I started to get fat even though I ate and drank normally.
I felt like shit and I survived on coffee and tea.
That I was a high achiever and maintained my schedule was regarded as a miracle.
I was drowning every night.
Apnea really gets you.
I directed a film while unwell and nearly dead and never missed a mark.
I dont know how I did that.
Now I sleep well and wake up feeling fine.
Its a luxury I never knew for most of my adult life.
Its interesting to get fat when youve been heedlessly fit, and perhaps vain.
You learn a lot about people and yourself and vanity never resurfaces.
Did working with directors like Ridley Scott and Martin Scorsese prepare you for your work as a director?
Yes, inevitably, in an observational way.
But my education in taking precautions was not complete.
I never get stabbed in the front for various reasons, but my back looks like the cutlery department.
How did working with Rupert Wyatt compare with the other directors youve collaborated with?
Rupert is a very great director.
He has great focus and intensity of a kind I have seen before.
He is a born and brilliant director.
There was a 100% division of labour.
I wrote the script and he went off and shot it.
I was doing something else.
I didnt bother him.
Might we one day see your screenplay ofBlood Meridianbecome a film?
I dont think so.
I think it has too much money against it for anyone to pick it up.
Its one of the best scripts Ive done.
It is also very violent and I dont think that can be stomached at the budget necessary.
I wouldnt want to see a version that pulled punches.
Would you publish a collection of your unfilmed screenplays if you could?
I do intend to do a volume or three calledFirst Draftsone of these days.
Its not unfortunate that some films are never made, so much as its merely the case.
William Monahan, thank you very much.
The Gambleris out in UK cinemas on the 23rd February.
