From Broadway to Feature Film: A Conversation with Alexander Dinelaris

BIRDMAN (or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is a black comedy that tells the story of an actor (Michael Keaton) – famous for portraying an iconic superhero – as he struggles to mount a Broadway play.

In the days leading up to opening night, he battles his ego and attempts to recover his family, his career, and himself.

The Fan Carpet’s Marc Jason Ali had the chance to talk to co writer Alexander Dinelaris for the home entertainment release of Birdman: (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), he tells us how he got involved with Birdman, his influences, casting Michael Keaton and his reaction to the Oscar buzz…

How did you first get involved with Birdman?

I had met Alejandro, he was in one of my favourite plays called Still Life and I helped him work on the draft of his film Beautiful. The idea of Birdman came up and he said that he’d love for me to join and that’s how I got involved with Birdman.

The score plays a big part in the film. How did you arrive at the decision to almost make it a character in itself?

That was Alejandro’s idea, I felt it influenced the writing process. Alejandro is a very musical person, it’s very much a part of what he does. The drum track added that sense of claustrophobia and momentum alongside the writing.

Who were your inspirations whilst crafting the film?

I sort of leant back on my theatre background and I knew the language would have to be something that had a rhythm to it. I knew the dialogue would fall on my shoulders and I felt they would be like rhythmic fills that had a sense of music and life on its own.

How did you first get involved in this career?

I started in theatre, but I started writing plays in 1999 and I felt that was going better for me and was what I was getting paid for. I started working on two plays, one of them being Still Life after my father died and then the beginning of Beautiful. Still Life changed my life, it got me my production in New York, and an agent and it brought me to work with Alejandro and from there on I had work with TV, Broadway etc.

You’ve got a phenomenal cast in Birdman lead by Michael Keaton, how was it for you when you found out those actors said yes to being cast?

It was a dream cast and they all got along really well. A lot of people thought that we had actively written the role for Michael Keaton which we hadn’t and I guess that’s the ultimate compliment, that he was so perfect for the role. The whole cast was absolutely a blessing, Emma stone is just a genius, Zack Galafianakis, Amy Ryan, it was one after another. That the thing when you work with Alejandro, actors know they’re going to be part of something special and he managed to get those actors on board with not a lot of money. We were blessed and the film wouldn’t be the same without them.

Speaking of Michael, the film has been seen as art imitating life in a way, do you think that was true to an extent?

No, we didn’t think of it, it didn’t come up. When you first start writing, names come up. I remember we had just finished a draft and we were talking and it came up at the table and someone said , hey, you know who this is? This is Michael Keaton. After hearing that, he just seemed obvious for the role, but really what it was for Michael was a combination of three things. One, you needed a character that’s sympathetic to an audience because of all the narcissistic things he would do, you would still want them to love him, and Michael is that person. Two, he needed to be able to handle comedy and Michael is extremely gifted at that. And three, he needed to be able to act his ass off and he’s a real actor. So that’s why it ended up being Michael.

What do you have planned next? Will you be collaborating with Alejandro again?

Oh sure we are, we’re all like brothers. We’re working on a series at the moment called the One Percent with a brilliant cast starring Hilary Swank, Ed Harris and Ed Helms. Nico and I are writing and Alejandro and Armando are directing and we’re currently in the middle of writing the first season right now, so it should be able to be seen by next spring.

Is that just going straight to series?

Yep, we have the first ten episodes going straight to series. And I’m working on a new film with the great director Guillermo del Toro, which will be happening very soon.

Birdman obviously created a lot of buzz when it came to Oscar season, how was that feeling for you when your film came up?

I mean, it was entirely surreal. Birdman is a very polarising film, people who are passionate about it really love it and people who are not so passionate about it end up hating it and I find that fascinating and I’m kind of grateful for it. So to think it would go on and get the reception it did is sort of a miracle.

A lot of the film looks as though it had been taken in one shot. How was that decision made?

Before we even had the idea for the film, Alejandro had the idea that he wanted to do a dark comedy in one take. From there we found everything else. We had the idea of the theatre, which Alejandro thought was a great idea as you have the ability to make the dialogue flow through more like play, things you don’t normally get to do in a film script.

Do you have any particularly memorable moments from set?

One of my favourite moments was shooting the scene when Michael finally shoots himself on stage. It was the last day of the theatre and Michael was getting frustrated and disappeared into his dressing room to get it together, but he came out and barely spoke to anyone. He sort of snickered at the end when he said ‘I don’t matter’ and we hadn’t seen that all day. That performance was something he came back to and we were transfixed to the monitor, it was amazing to watch.

Aside from film, what else are you a fan of?

I’m a fan of any form of storytelling whether its performance art or anything, I just love hearing stories that why I love telling them. But I also love sport, European football and baseball, those are the two sports I enjoy the most.

Birdman: (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Film Page | Birdman: (Or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Review

BIRDMAN: (OR THE UNEXPECTED VIRTUE OF IGNORANCE) IS OUT NOW ON BLU-RAY AND DVD