Though Zak Penn may be best known as the scribe behind the many superhero flicks lighting up the screen every summer, his latest project is a Christopher Guest style romp through the trials and tribulations of professional poker players on the scent of a ten million dollar prize. Starring Woody Harrelson, Cheryl Hines, Ray Romano, and Mr. Kotter, I mean, Gabe Kaplan, among others, The Grand is almost completely improvised, a fact which Penn takes great pride in. Oh and he’s BFF with Werner Herzog. In a Q & A with Santa Monica hipsters, Penn answered questions about the filming of The Grand, his upcoming projects, and what will be included on the DVD.
Were in the poker games in the film played for real?
All of the poker was played for real. Lainie (Cheryl Hines’ character) wasn’t going to win originally. At the final table, everyone played a real game and Cheryl won. We just let it ride and shot a lot of different endings. The DVD will have them all, we shot like 8 or 9 of them.
How much was the movie improvised
It was completely improvised. The film was mostly done from an outline. All of the dialogue is improvised. There might be 1 or 2 scripted scenes but all the actors came up with details for their characters on their own. Chris came up with the whole “Dune” thing for his character. I would just take elements of what they came up with and work them into the movie.
Did any professional poker players consult on the film?
Yes, there were some. The guy who plays the dealer in the film is actually a pro. He gave Chris (Parnell) lessons. Gabe Kaplan is a pro.
There are a lot of TV actors in this film. Were they chosen for their improv skills?
Werner Herzog isn’t in TV! I just chose people I thought were good. I think the line between TV and film acting is a little blurred now. Look at George Clooney.
How do you know Werner Herzog? Why did you get a special thanks in “Rescue Dawn”?
We’re good friends. I’ve known him for about 4 years now and wrote a movie with him. We did The Incident at Loch Ness together. I think he’s a comic genius. He should be a Bond villain! I always had a part for him in The Grand. He improvised in the role but I wrote the part for specifically for him because I know him so well. I could write a novel in Werner’s voice. He should be on a TV sitcom as the cranky uncle.
You wrote the last two X-Men films. Are there any X-Men stories you’d like to see on screen? Will you write another one
Yes there are lots but all of it is controlled by 20th Century Fox, so it’s up to them.
Did you have to do a lot of research for this film?
The idea actually came from Matt Bierman (co-writer). He said I should do something with poker because it had all the characters and stakes built into it.
Did you base any of the characters on actual poker pros?
Yes. Cheryl Hines’ character is based on a professional player named Annie Duke.
What directors influenced your approach in this film? I noticed a lot of similarities to Christopher Guest.
I totally ripped off Spellbound, that documentary about the kids and the spelling bee. I just thought it had great structure. I did borrow a lot from Christopher Guest and hired some of the same people. I’m a big fan of Woody Allen and I was influenced by his film Take the Money and Run. Also The Usual Suspects, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Larry Sanders Show. As a director I just try to find the smartest people I can and good collaborators. The Grand really is a result of all these people’s hard work. Usually that’s a bullshit statement but in this case it’s true.
Do you like this mockumentary style of film or are you planning on trying something new? Any new projects coming up?
I’m supposed to direct this X-Men spin-off and write a TV script for ABC. The idea is to bring the naturalism of improv and apply it to a sci-fi TV show. This movie was actually cheap to film because of the way it’s shot, so if they give me more money I’ll do more scripted stuff!
What was the film shot on?
It was shot on HD.
What kind of extras are going to be on the DVD, seeing as how this film didn’t have “scenes” in the traditional sense?
For the DVD, the editors and I actually put together a lot of different stuff for each character, kind of like a greatest hits. Instead of just having deleted scenes, we just picked the best stuff and put it together. We had a lot of time to do it, partially because of the writer’s strike.
When does the DVD come out?
It comes out next summer. And the movie comes out next week!
