Woody Allen says the “thrill” of making movies is gone because the way people consume them has vastly changed. Nonetheless, the controversial director promised to shoot his 50th film in Paris this year before he considers retiring.
“I’ll probably make at least one more movie,” Allen said Tuesday during an otherwise dull Instagram Live interview with Alec Baldwin.
“A lot of the thrill is gone because it doesn’t have the whole cinema effect,” he continued, bemoaning people’s preference for their “television sets” as well as today’s abbreviated theatrical runs. “I don’t get the same fun of doing a movie, putting it in a movie house. It was a nice feeling to know that 500 people were seeing it at once or whatever.”
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Baldwin agreed, adding that today’s audiences “care infinitely less about experiencing the film in real time the way that the filmmaker intended” and are prone to repeatedly pausing movies to make “a pitcher of martinis” or “get some more guacamole.”
Allen and Baldwin spoke for one hour, each from their respective homes, for an interview that was ostensibly about Allen’s new collection of essays, Zero Gravity, which combines pieces previously published in The New Yorker with material that he wrote during the early days of COVID.
At one point, Baldwin brought up Allen’s wife, Soon-Yi Previn, whom the director famously met as the adopted daughter of his former partner and frequent collaborator Mia Farrow.
“One of my favorite lines was, ‘Her credit card’s still glowing from friction,’” Baldwin told Allen. “And also, in the dedication you write, ‘And of course, Soon-Yi, if Bram Stoker had known you, he’d have had his sequel,’” a reference to the author of Dracula.
Baldwin and Allen’s conversation steered clear of the director’s many past controversies—unsurprising, considering the interview was first teased in a defensive Instagram post from Baldwin.
“I have ZERO INTEREST in anyone’s judgments and sanctimonious posts here,” the actor wrote over the weekend.
“I am OBVIOUSLY someone who has my own set of beliefs and COULD NOT CARE LESS about anyone else’s speculation. If you believe that a trial should be conducted by way of an HBO documentary, that’s your issue,” he added, referring to last year’s harrowing documentary Allen v. Farrow, which covered allegations of sexual assault by Allen’s adoptive daughter Dylan Farrow.
Baldwin, who starred in Allen’s 2013 film Blue Jasmine opposite Cate Blanchett, has also been the subject of controversy in the past year after he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie Rust. Despite initially appearing together in a show of solidarity, Hutchins’ family has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the actor and the film’s producers.
The Instagram Live interview was punctuated by technical difficulties, with the pair spending close to 10 minutes figuring out Allen’s internet connection while Baldwin yelled at someone (Hilaria? A housekeeper?) in Spanish to stop his dogs from barking. At least that was somewhat entertaining.
