By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
February 4, 1999
Three years ago, Wes Anderson was an unknown writer-director winning praise for his charming, offbeat feature film “Bottle Rocket.”
These days, he’s traveling on a bright yellow tour bus promoting his latest picture, “Rushmore,” which opens Friday. (Anderson prefers not to fly.)
And check this out. The soft-spoken Anderson has groupies.
“This one guy asked me to sign his birth certificate,” said Anderson, 29. “I wasn’t sure what to do. So I signed it.”
OK. So his groupies aren’t as illicit as the ones who trolled after the band members in My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, one of the groups that had leased the bus before. But they’re relentless in their admiration for Anderson and his work.
During a stopover in Chicago this week, several fans sporting white tape on their noses (in homage to a scene from “Bottle Rocket”) roamed around outside the bus in the rain waiting for Anderson and Jason Schwartzman, the 18-year-old star of “Rushmore.”
By the time Anderson and Schwartzman finished a photo shoot inside the bus, most of the fans had dispersed.
“That’s too bad,” Anderson said. “I would’ve loved to have talked to them. It’s always interesting hearing about what they like and don’t like.”
He’s sure to get an earful once “Rushmore” opens. Bizarre but thoroughly engaging, “Rushmore” follows the life of 15-year-old Max Fischer (Schwartzman), a scholarship student at Rushmore prep school. Max could be a classic overachiever if he applied his intelligence and energy to getting passing grades.
Max falls in love with Miss Cross, a beautiful first-grade teacher (Olivia Williams), and befriends one of the school’s rich benefactors (Bill Murray), who also develops feelings for Miss Cross.
Murray’s powerful turn as Mr. Blume has spurred talk of an Oscar nomination.
According to a Newsweek article, Anderson was so awed by Murray that he whispered his direction to the comedian so he wouldn’t be embarrassed if Murray disagreed with him.
“That’s just press talk,” Anderson said. “That’s definitely not true. When I talk to any actor, I like to do it privately. (Talk show host) Charlie Rose’s research people read that article, too, so when Bill was on his show, Charlie said, `He was nervous, you know,’ referring to me. And Bill said, `No, I don’t know.’ ”
Schwartzman himself makes an impressive debut, holding his own opposite Murray and portraying Max with pathos, intelligence and the right amount of petulant brattiness inherent to teenagers.
Schwartzman is the son of actress Talia Shire and the nephew of director Francis Ford Coppola. His cousins include actors Nicolas Cage and Sofia Coppola. But entering the family business wasn’t something he dreamed about, he said.
The recent high school graduate was busy with his day job: drumming for Phantom Planet, which is signed to Geffen Records and toured with such groups as Dishwalla.
But after seeing almost 2,000 actors for the role, Anderson said he knew Schwartzman was perfect: He even had the authentic braces the character screamed out for.
“That’s called functional art,” Schwartzman joked. “Actually, I had a really good experience making the movie. This was the first time I’ve ever tried acting. I wasn’t really scared going into shooting because I had nothing else to compare it to. The casting director had explained the role to me as a teenage boy who is eccentric and horny, which sounded just like me.
“I got the script and five days later, I auditioned for Wes. I didn’t think I’d get it, so I wasn’t really nervous. I mean, I was nervous but I didn’t think I had anything to lose at that point.”
His famous uncle complimented his performance, but Schwartzman said his mother was a harder sell.
“She said, `I don’t know quite what to make of it,’ ” he said, laughing. “That’s what she said when she first saw it because she thought the movie was a little weird. But now she loves it.”
Added Anderson, “It was hard for her to see her son in a movie where he looks very different in real life. We put him in those glasses … ”
“And you made my nose bigger in the movie!” Schwartzman said. (His nose does appear much more prodigious in the film, thanks to tricky lens work, Anderson revealed.)
The two banter easily like a pair of brothers, and it appears that Schwartzman has been inducted into Anderson’s posse, which includes Owen Wilson (who co-wrote “Bottle Rocket” and “Rushmore,” and starred in the former) and Wilson’s younger brother, actor Luke Wilson.
Anderson said he and Wilson are writing parts for all three actors, as well as Bill Murray, to star in a picture about a dysfunctional family of geniuses living in New York.
“It’s hard to guess how everyone will react to a film, so I can’t let myself get too hurt by criticism or carried away by praise,” Anderson said. “I saw a trailer for (`Rushmore’) in a theater recently when I went to see `Home Fries’ (starring Luke Wilson). These two girls sitting by me said, `What is that supposed to be?’ I didn’t say anything, but it is whatever it is. It’s not supposed to be anything.”
“I don’t want to see it in a theater,” Schwartzman said. “I saw `The Faculty’ preview in a theater and all these people were booing and yelling `Rental!’ ”
Added Anderson, “Oh, my God. That’s the worst. Anyhow, I didn’t feel so bad because at the end of `Home Fries,’ the same girls said, `What was that supposed to be?’ So maybe it wasn’t me. It was them.”
