Julie Delpy can’t seem to get enough of running around Europe with men. First she starred in “Before Sunrise” with Ethan Hawke, then years later the sequel, “Before Sunset,” both directed by Richard Linklater. Now she’s directed, wrote, starred, composed and edited the film “2 Days in Paris.” It’s almost the opposite of the “Before” films, instead focusing on the trouble that a relationship can have. Marion (Delpy) and Jack (Adam Goldberg) travel from New York to her parent’s home in Paris, where their bickering hits new heights when they continue to run into Marion’s former boyfriends. I sat down the Delpy, who greeted me in a robe, but that quickly lost its allure when she explained she had the stomach flu. We spoke about going crazy putting a film together, working with co-star Adam Goldberg and dysfunctional relationships.
Bayer: The dynamic between you and Adam Goldberg was just fantastic. Was he the only choice for the role? Delpy: I wrote it for him. We were friends, and I just needed him, the character of Jack, to have that quality, which is like the angry clown. The more upset he gets, the funnier he is.
Bayer: I have a friend, and we always say we can tell when he’s happy because he’s complaining. Is that how Goldberg is in real life? Delpy: Yeah, he’s never happy. Never happy. He always complains, like now, he’s complaining. He always finds something to be unhappy about, it’s kind of funny. He’s like that in real life.
Bayer: The film has a nice homemade feel. Were you nervous with using the style where you just showed photographs and had the voiceover? Or were producers nervous? Delpy: No, it was always written like this. I knew there was going to be that Venice thing, a photo montage. I had little money to do this film. I know the budget but I don’t, because the producer borrowed money. Then we borrowed more money, then lost some. I’ll probably never know what the budget is. But it wasn’t the kind of budget where people all tell you what to do.
Bayer: I have a couple Richard Linklater questions … I interviewed him for “Fast Food Nation” and asked him the same question … If you were in control, how many more “Before” films would be made? Delpy: Yeah, maybe, there is more to explore. Why not? We have such a fantastic time working together. Ethan had ideas for a sequel (part three), but at this point, who knows.
Bayer: I interviewed Jonah Hill from “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” earlier, and this was his question to you: What’s it like working with Richard Linklater? Delpy: It’s a lot of fun. He’s actually very laid back. Everyone’s always in a good mood, there is no stress, he’s never stressed. I remember on “Before Sunrise” there was a “to be announced” scene in a café. And nothing was written, and we were two days away from shooting the scene. And he was really relaxed. I was so stressed out and I went up in my room and wrote that scene with the phone, and gave it to him. And he was like, “OK, good, so we can shoot that,” I mean he was not even stressed. I asked him what he would have done if I hadn’t gone up to my room, and he said, “I don’t know, we would have come up with something.” I’m a little more intense.
Bayer: Was your line in “2 Days in Paris,” about there being sh*t in the meat, was that a nod to Linklater? Delpy: Yeah, a little bit. I did read “Fast Food Nation” before I knew he was going to do it, but it was a little wink to him.
Bayer: You were writer, director, actress, composer, editor. What was the hardest hat to wear? Delpy: The person that takes care of the person that crashes. Going to FedEx and making copies of DVDs. I didn’t hire an assistant. I drove everyone around me crazy. I would do everything myself, because it’s hard to find a good assistant. I had an assistant editor, but at one point I found myself alone doing everything when there was no more money. The true hard part of the film was preparation. I was still writing, I was very stressed out. I knew the film had similarity to “Before Sunset,” that’s how I got the money for it, I tricked people into it.
Bayer: I would almost put it as an anti-“Before Sunset.” Delpy: The film shows two generations of dysfunctional relationships. The parents and the children will be dysfunctional. The truth is, what’s truly endearing and romantic is when people stay together even if everything is falling apart and they’re arguing. There is something sweet about knowing they’re together. I have a sweet tooth for dysfunction. I love arguing with my boyfriend. I do it all the time. Even though there are great moments as well, otherwise it would be annoying.
Bayer: Did you write and star in this because you felt like there weren’t great roles out there for you? Or did you feel like this was a story you always wanted to tell? Delpy: It’s not like a story I wanted to tell forever, or that I was saying anything really important. The film is a comedy; it’s not saying something that is going to change the world. I didn’t make it ’cause I am a frustrated actress, otherwise I would have played a retarded, serial killer on heroin … with a limp and deformed nose. But that wasn’t the purpose. I’ve written many other scripts, and writing something more on the romantic-comedy side reinsured the financiers to give me money.
*Spoiler alert …
Bayer: Are (Marion and Jack) together at the end of the film? Delpy: To me they are together in that moment, dancing, having a good time.
Bayer: I was wondering if that dance scene was real. Delpy: A fantasy. Yeah, I left it open. It’s ambiguous because my idea of happily ever after is ambiguous. I’m not sure if it’s true. I’m hoping it’s true, ’cause I would love to be with someone forever, and it’s happy and you have children, with cats everywhere. I do believe in it one day, and one day I don’t. When I was editing it, some days I believed and some days I didn’t.