Q. Can you tell us something about your next project, a comedy with Tom Cruise?
A. It was difficult, but I just finished it. It was long and complicated for many reasons. I worked with extraordinary actors, from Tom Cruise to Sandra Hüller. It’s very different from anything I’ve done. Tom was incredible: dedication, precision, passion, overwhelming positivity and a great ability to laugh at himself. It’s a wild, funny, catastrophic comedy. I think Tom is going to surprise: he reveals himself as a histrionic, character-driven actor, one that was sometimes overshadowed by his status as an absolute master of action cinema, which he knows how to do with admirable integrity. It was a very beautiful relationship of mutual trust.
Q. And are you going to surprise as a director?
A. I composed the music, but he will play the piano solo. I edited the film at the same time as setting up this installation: so it’s my beginnings versus my latest work. I no longer recognize myself in who I was 25 years ago; today my interests are different. I look at this and ask myself, “Where did I get so much fucking energy?” But I would say that’s what keeps me alive — the curiosity to do what I don’t know how to do yet. When I know how to do something, I get bored. What excites me is learning.
