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(That latter title featured Kane in one of the most iconic, still-terrifyingopening scenes in movie history.)
That was the last time I saw it.
Im just incredibly proud of everything about it.
Its so beautifully made, and for no money.
I had such an amazing opportunity so early in my life, so young.
There are some things I wish I had done better.
The film was a small, independent release.
It must have been a surprise when you got nominated for an Oscar.It was an incredible shock!
I owe it all to this one man named Max Burkett, who the Silvers somehow found.
He was a retired PR person for one of the great studio heads back in the day.
He had done Julie Christies campaign forDarling, where she actually won the award.
He said, I like to bet on a dark horse!
He took the cans of film ofHester Streetthere, and they would have a dinner or something.
Thats how I was nominated.
This was Joan Micklin Silvers first feature.
But being a female director was a much more difficult path.
Joan really suffered from that reality.
Over the years, we were in touch, but not constantly.
We did some readings of a play that she wanted to direct.
And then I would see her at screenings that the great publicist Peggy Siegal would invite us to.
I would see her and Ray Silver, her husband who produced the movie.
I dont know whats happened to that book.
Im praying that maybe her daughter will continue and finish it.
I remember that I needed a private space to prepare.
We were in this little tiny studio on East Fifth Street just a teeny, tiny ancient place.
I dont know why that just jumped into my mind.
I end up with all the money, and that wasnt my characters intent.
It was like a silent-movie moment.
I really love that.
The less talking the better, as far as Im concerned.
Were you planning to be more of a dramatic actress?I had never done any comedy!
I thought Id be a dramatic actor since thats what I was.
But then somehow Gene Wilder sawHester Street.
I hadnt worked for a year after I was nominated a solid year.
I got a phone call from Gene about doingThe Worlds Greatest Lover, which was my first comedy.
I also think Jim Brooks fromTaxihad seenHester Street, and thats how that came to me.
So oddly enough, the first two comedic roles that I played came fromHester Street.
I pushed it away.
I just had trouble handling it.
When I finally realized I was mistaken to push these things away, they were no longer there.
That was a nice twist of fate.
And it reunited you with Al Pacino, fromDog Day Afternoon…I know!
We did two versions ofThe Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, by Bertolt Brecht.
Al is so passionate about his theatrical work.
Hes just fantastic onstage.
So there was a period where we worked together quite a bit and then not for a million years.
Then suddenly there we were again onHunters.
We continued to stay very close.
So if I got a little branded, it was worth the trade-off.
The language that Latka and Simka use, was that just completely improvised or did it have any rules?
Thats where that came from.
The lines were written in English, so we knew exactly what we were saying.
Andy said, Well go to dinner.
I went to his house up in the Hills and he had his bongos there and everything.
So I thought we should go to Mexico.
This is like seven at night, were in L.A.
Finally, I started losing my patience.
I believed him that we were going to Mexico!
But he was completely believable.
As any student of Andy Kaufmans performance art knows, he never broke character.
There was no line there where you could say, Oh, this is Andy joking.
I couldnt tell he was joking at all.
And Im pretty intuitive.
So then we drove to a Chinese restaurant in Los Angeles as opposed to Mexico.
And then he translated to the waiter what I had ordered in English.
We did that for a meal, for an hour or so.
I asked him how he created the language.
Thats what Andy did; he just did it.
Thats what the language was for Andy.
But onTaxi, Jimmy Burrows would give us some physical suggestion.
And my character was always throwing herself on the ground inTaxi.
I was throwing myself on the ground, beating the ground in hysteria and everything.
Some of that came with permission from Burrows or Brooks.
You know that if its too much or not believable, they will stop it.
So I was able to really experiment.
Do you think aWickedmovie will ever happen?
[Audible gasp.]
I dont know anything about that!
I sure would love it.
Id love to play Madame Morrible again, which I did for many, many years.
I love that part.
I wish a movie would happen, but I didnt know anything about it.
Is it being announced with Stephen Daldry?
Last I heard,Jon M. Chu was going to direct it.
The automation, Ive heard that word thousands of times.
The automation is broken!
The automation is off!
And the lighting and smoke and all of that conspires to feel even more fantasy-like than a movie.
AndThe Wizard of Ozto me is the most magical of those fantasy movies still.
And the musical ofWickeddoes that.
It must be a movie!
TheHester Streetrestorationwill play at the Quad Theater beginning Friday, October 1.
