Deja Vu
Interview: Bruckheimer and Scott on Filming Deja Vu in New Orleans
“I didn’t feel Long Island, because I had a vision of the movie and a town for the movie and I felt that the city should be a third character in the movie, and I'd never been to New Orleans and I knew there was a ferry down there, did my homework,” said Scott. “And so I spent an hour or two saying I want to do the movie here because it’s a city in a time warp, it's very romantic, it's very strange and it felt a perfect backdrop.”
Once the hurricane hit, the filmmakers obviously reconsidered, but Scott fought for his vision. “Immediately after it happened, I said, ‘Listen, the city’s going to recover. Let’s go back’ and I wanted to incorporate more post-Katrina into the story, and I did, and then that got sort of shot down because it was detracting from the original story too much. But we did incorporate Jim [Caviezel]'s character into the Ninth Ward but it's hard getting back there because people didn't want to go back there because of health insurance and all that stuff, but I had such a vision and such a fix on this city as this backdrop for this movie, so I didn’t want to let it go.”
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer had practical concerns but supported his filmmakers. “It was frightening [whether or not] the town could accommodate us, although we had a lot of assurances from our production people that felt they could,” said Bruckheimer. “And Denzel in particular wanted to go back down. He took the biggest hit because we delayed the longest. We had him in August, October ‘til February so he had to push his other movies back which means he lost a lot of money. But he was pretty adamant that we go back there. So was Tony. Tony wanted to go back for other reasons. He wanted to help the city too but he loved it visually.”
Tony Scott on set of Deja Vu
Star Washington clarified his position on the location. “Number One, I didn't insist,” he said. “It was Tony Scott's decision. It's his movie. He wanted to make the film in New Orleans before Katrina. Post Katrina, he looked at other locations that he didn't feel comfortable about. He felt that New Orleans was the place, and I may have said, if that's what you feel, let’s do what you want. But I insisted? It's really the filmmaker's decision, not the actor's. There's no reason to shy away from it. And yes it's a good thing to spend money there and put people to work there, but I think fundamentally it was an artistic decision by the filmmaker. This is what he saw and this is what he wanted.”
Once there, Washington immersed himself in the locale. “I went all around the city. I'm glad to have been a part of helping to get the film community back in there. There’s tremendous devastation, there was a lot of listening to people's stories of what they'd been through. There's a long way to go there, and I was glad to be a part in some way of helping to spend a little money down there and putting people to work.”
His costar, Paula Patton, put her fortune to be cast in a big blockbuster in check when she witnessed the real struggles of New Orleans’ citizens. “I went to New Orleans feeling so happy and so blessed, and suddenly, I was in a place where people were so unlucky and devastated,” she said. “And it really changed my outlook on life, what's really important? It's not the job that you have, and the success or the failures, and the car. All these things are really temporary. We don't have a hold on them. And what you realize is in the end, all you have is what's inside of you. Your spirit, your heart, and your soul, and that's what gets you through in the end of the day. And so it made me realize, ‘Don't overthink [that] getting this movie, that means that your life is perfect. You still need to hone in on working on being a good person.’ Because when you meet people from New Orleans, you realize how strong the human spirit is, and the will to survive, even when you've lost everything, that you go, ‘You know what? I've got my life.’ How many people said, ‘I'm happy. I have my life, and I'm going to get back.’ You wouldn't believe how many people say that to you.”
Deja Vu opens to theatres on November 22nd.
For the trailers, one-sheet, stills, synopsis and more movie info,
go to the Deja Vu
Movie Page.
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