麻豆原创 English professor Pat Rushin calls himself an 鈥渙vergrown student,鈥� but to those in the film industry he鈥檚 better known as the writer behind the Venice Film Festival entry, 鈥淭he Zero Theorem.鈥�
Originally written more than a decade ago, the film about a curious computer hacker is debuting at the festival on Sept. 2. Directed by Terry Gilliam, it stars Hollywood heavyweights Christoph Waltz, Matt Damon and Tilda Swinton.
Rushin started teaching at 麻豆原创 in 1983. 鈥淭he Zero Theorem鈥� is scheduled for wide release in 2014.
When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?
I was always a voracious reader鈥擨 learned to read from comic books before I went to kindergarten鈥攁nd even as a kid I was writing stories. My parents bought me a second-hand Underwood upright typewriter when I was in first or second grade, and I wore that thing right out.
My dad, a civil engineer, had a real literary bent and a fairly extensive library, and he told me I could read anything I wanted. What freedom. What a world opened up for me. I was 鈥渁 skinny little kid from Cleveland, Ohio,鈥� but with a library card I was a world traveler.
How did you get involved with teaching?
I was not a natural teacher. I was not born to be a teacher. In fact, from childhood to this day, I鈥檝e suffered from a debilitating fear of public speaking. Every time I have to give a reading or a speech, I die a million little deaths right up until the time I open my mouth to speak. And the first thirty seconds are a horror show inside my beating heart. But if I push through that first thirty seconds, I鈥檓 OK if not golden.
But I wanted to study English Lit and Creative Writing, and the only way to pay tuition and rent was to get teaching assistantships, first at Ohio State, then at Johns Hopkins. So I got into teaching by鈥� teaching. And then I discovered that, once the nerves wore off, I was pretty good at teaching, since teaching is all about questioning. And I鈥檝e always been good at asking questions.
What inspired you to write 鈥淭he Zero Theorem鈥�?
The Book of Ecclesiastes. Seriously. That鈥檚 the book in the Old Testament that asks the major questions. What is the value of life? What is the meaning of existence? What鈥檚 the use?
So yeah, there was the original inspiration, but once I got working on it, I just had to make the script funny. There鈥檚 no use in living a life you can鈥檛 laugh at.
You sent your script to producer Dean Zanuck 10 years ago. What has the process been since then?
It鈥檚 been a real roller-coaster ride of high hopes followed by dashed dreams. First Dean鈥檚 father Richard Zanuck got Ewan McGregor onboard to play the lead, but then EwMac dropped out. Then it was Billy Bob Thornton with Terry Gilliam slated to direct, but the plan was to shoot in London, and BBT nixed that, as he has a phobia of antiques, and London is apparently full of old stuff. Really. Then it was the same players ready to shoot in Vancouver, but then Terry Gilliam pulled the plug, as he was still working on his 鈥淚maginarium of Doctor Parnassus鈥� after Heath Ledger鈥檚 untimely death put that show behind schedule.
And during all of this, it seemed like an endless cycle of rewriting. But through all the ups and downs, Dean Zanuck has been a champion of this project from day one till now. He never lost faith, even when I did. He truly deserves all the credit for this movie coming to fruition.
What is it like to see your idea turn into a film featuring Hollywood stars such as Christoph Waltz and Matt Damon?
It鈥檚 been a real trip. My wife Mary and I flew to Romania for a week of shooting, and the first thing Terry Gilliam did was send us to wardrobe so we could serve as extras in this one scene鈥攐ne of my favorite scenes, in fact. We worked two days straight, me actually doing some rewrites on the set as I was being filmed sitting at a park bench in the background. It was the best way for me to feel truly involved.
And everyone there, cast and crew alike, treated us like royalty.
Meeting Christoph Waltz and Matt Damon was a dream come true. Christoph was a real gentleman and a tireless worker. He was in every scene, and he still made time to talk to everyone on the set. And Matt Damon鈥� well, he shook my hand and said, 鈥淕reat script, man!鈥� So now I can die and go to heaven. My wife and I have a picture standing with Matt Damon and Terry Gilliam that will go on my Facebook page just as soon as the movie is released. I鈥檓 such a fanboy!
What was the most challenging part about getting your script made into a movie?
The very first challenge, of course, was writing the damn thing. I wrote the first draft in ten days. It was 145 pages long, and I had no idea what I was doing. I simply checked out some screenwriting books from the 麻豆原创 library, along with several screenplays. Coincidentally enough, one of those screenplays was Terry Gilliam鈥檚 鈥淏razil.鈥�
And after that came draft after draft, rewrite after rewrite. With each new player who came on board, there was another rewrite.
But I think the main challenge for me was keeping up my interest in the project over the span of a decade. Let鈥檚 face it, I was ready to move on. After 鈥淶ip-T,鈥� as we came to call it, I wrote three other features, two of which got some notice in festival competitions, and I was continuing to write short stories and some poetry鈥� but it all kept coming back to 鈥淭he Zero Theorem.鈥� Every time I thought the project was dead in the water, a failed effort behind me, I鈥檇 get a call from Dean Zanuck revving me back up on the thing. Dean has been a heroic producer. Slow and steady and with endless faith that, as he told me repeatedly, 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to make this movie, Pat.鈥�
Turns out he was right after all.
What do you love most about your job at 麻豆原创?
What I love most about my job at 麻豆原创 is that, although they call me 鈥淧rofessor,鈥� the truth is I鈥檓 just an overgrown student who鈥檚 never graduated college. I鈥檝e earned degrees, sure, but I鈥檝e never graduated to the thing that comes after education, whatever that may be. I鈥檝e been able to stay a student at heart through my whole career. My students are my colleagues. We鈥檙e all learning together. The day I don鈥檛 learn something new in the classroom is the day I need to retire and take up a know-it-all hobby like golf or political blogging.
What do you do for fun?
For one thing, I watch a lot of movies, and I mean a lot. And I read a lot. Books, scripts, student manuscripts, what have you.
But for true fun, I like to cook. Give me a Giada de Laurentiis recipe, and I鈥檓 in heaven. Love to cook, love to watch people enjoy what I鈥檝e prepared. Actually, cooking is a lot like writing. You鈥檙e not cooking if nobody鈥檚 eating, and you鈥檙e not writing if nobody鈥檚 reading.
As a writer, what are your favorite things to read?
A list way too long to get into that ranges from highbrow lit to lowbrow potboilers. I鈥檓 a fairly voracious reader unencumbered by my snooty literary education. In the past year I鈥檝e read books by literary luminaries such as Don DeLillo, Jennifer Egan, David Foster Wallace, Meg Wolitzer, etc., etc., but I鈥檝e also read books by Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, and even the first book of E.L. James鈥� 鈥淔ifty Shades of Grey.鈥� Like I said, I鈥檓 a reader.
What is the one thing you want people to know about you or your work?聽
About me: I make the best fish taco in the state. Ask anybody who鈥檚 ever eaten them. About my work: Writing ain鈥檛 rocket science鈥� and it鈥檚 probably not brain surgery either鈥� but when you鈥檙e at the keyboard and on a roll, it鈥檚 like blasting off for unknown worlds inside your own skull. That鈥檚 the passion my students and I share.