Cult Favorite Charlie Kaufman Surfaces on THR’s ‘It Happened in Hollywood’ Podcast

Charlie Kaufman ELVIS BARUKCICAFP Share on Facebook Share on X Share to Flipboard Send an Email Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Print the Article Post a Comment Charlie Kaufman joined The Hollywood Reporters It Happened in Hollywood podcast for a rare interview about the making of 2008s Synecdoche, New York his dazzling directorial debut. Kaufman, 66, reinvigorated Hollywood at the turn of the millennium with a series of surreal, hilarious and deeply philosophical screenplays for films like Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (for which he won a best original screenplay Oscar). As he explains on the episode, Spike Jonze, who directed Malkovich, was meant to direct the project, which was inspired by a prompt from then-Sony Pictures co-chair Amy Pascal, who asked the duo if they would consider making a horror film. Related Stories Music Kathleen Hanna Tapped to Host New Rock Roll Hall of Fame Podcast (Exclusive) Business Dude Perfect Launching Video Podcast With Wave Sports Entertainment (Exclusive) I didnt want to do genre horror movie. I wanted to do something that was scary to me, Kaufman explains. Illness was a big thing that scares me, relationship struggles and alienation from others and from children, isolation and loneliness. Obviously, mortality. What he came up with is a strange and elaborate story about a theater director named Caden Cotard (played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman) who suffers from all the aforementioned tribulations. *Reporting by Hollywoodreporter.*