You might recognize Scott Cooper’s face from his acting career, but connecting that vaguely familiar countenance to a name may prove more difficult. For better or worse, his days of anonymity are probably numbered. Cooper’s directorial debut, Crazy Heart, which he also wrote, is garnering high praise and a palpable level of Oscar buzz, especially for Jeff Bridges’ role as Bad Blake -- a perpetually soused country musician on the ignominious tail-end of a storied career. Cooper was gracious enough to sit down with two.one.five magazine and talk about his country heroes, the fate of specialty films in the age of Avatar, and the two best actors of our time (both of which, coincidentally, appear in his film).


How did you come across the novel upon which this film was based and what about it made you think it would translate well to the screen?
I had always wanted to tell Merle Haggard’s life story. I spent some time with him -- the poet laureate of country music -- and I think he lived a very cinematic life, a very rich life.  But I couldn’t obtain his life rights. An acquaintance who found out I couldn’t tell Merle’s story said “Hey, take a look at this novel Crazy Heart.” I read it and loved it, and felt that I could tell not only Merle’s life story, but Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson and Townes Van Zandt -- all my rodeo heroes all at once. The novel gave me the blueprint to do that and then I put a personal imprint on it from there.

You have been quoted as saying this film is kind of a throwback to the '70s.  What aspects of '70s filmmaking do you think have been lost and maybe you were trying to revive through this film?
Stories that deal with characterization and behavior -- a lot of times there is too much focus on CGI or effects. Also patience. We live in a Blackberry society; we’re all plugged in and we don’t take the time to really enjoy art of any kind. I mean, can you really read William Faulkner on a Kindle? I wanted it to hearken back to an era when filmmakers cared more about characterization and behavior than plot; more about a lyrical quality, a poetic quality in their filmmaking that you don’t see today because people don’t have the patience to sit with a film.

Was there ever a moment when you thought this film might go straight to DVD, or were you confident that, based upon its merits, it would find a niche?
The latter. Paramount Vantage was set to release it and as I was cutting the film they disintegrated. They put out There Will Be Blood and Babel and No Country For Old Men, so they were really the right home for it. Big Paramount maybe wasn’t because they put out Star Trek and G.I. Joe, that sort of thing. They graciously allowed my agents to take it out and we had lots of suitors. FOX Searchlight outbid everybody, but you just never know how these things are going to turn out. Look at Slumdog Millionaire -- that was really slated for DVD before FOX Searchlight picked that up, and now, Best Picture and $200 million later … When you see what Jeff and the other actors are doing in between action and cut, the music that T-Bone Burnett created, I never once felt like it was going to go straight to DVD.

Do you worry for the future of specialty films like Crazy Heart with studios like Paramount Vantage closing their doors?
Oh my God, sure. This movie wouldn’t get made today if I were trying to shop it. There are very few specialty distributors left. So you lament that, but even before those guys came on, before the big studios were running specialty divisions, these films were finding their way out, whether it’s Jarmusch or John Sayles. If you make a really good film, and it touches people, as long as you have people who are willing to take risks -- and I believe there are -- these films will see the light of day. Because we can’t all watch blue people and waterslide movies, can we?

When you were writing this, did you have Jeff Bridges in mind from the beginning?
Yes, from the outset I tailored it for Jeff. Of course he didn’t know that until I met with him. Jeff had all the physical attributes that I wanted: looks like Kristofferson or Waylon Jennings, he’s a heck of a singer, and as we say down South “a picker.” And he’s just a remarkable actor. He does things that very few people in the world can do. I really believe I have America’s two best actors in this film with Bridges and Robert Duvall. 

Bridges’ portrayal of an alcoholic was very understated, whereas other actors might have overdone the drunkenness. Was this by design?
Those are the kinds of things that get rewarded in Hollywood -- overacting -- year in and year out.  That’s why he’s never won an Oscar and Robert Duvall’s only won one. And neither of those guys are self-promoters, which is what it takes a lot of the time. Jeff gives a very nuanced performance; it’s very subtle. I wanted the film to feel almost invisibly directed, so it was all about his behavior. I didn’t want you to see the director saying “watch how clever I am.”

Was it important to you that the actors in this film be actual musicians?
Yes, and that they do their own playing and singing. Otherwise, why make it, because the whole movie is about verisimilitude and authenticity. Both Colin and Jeff did all their music themselves.

It might just be because he’s Irish, but some might think Colin Farrell was an odd casting choice to play a country musician.
I hope so. He’s getting great reviews. One of our biggest country stars today is Australian -- Keith Urban. But the reason I cast Colin was because he uses a West Texas dialect; he has that dark charisma that I think the role called for; he can easily be believed as a star because he is one; but he’s also a character actor, a very humble guy. And as an Irishman, I have a sneaking suspicion that he’s spent some time in a pub.


Read our review of Crazy Heart