Dennis Hopper Interview about James Dean

Dennis Hopper talking about James Dean. Pretty funny… From his last interview in INTERVIEW magazine.

SHAFRAZI: How did you first meet James Dean?

HOPPER: I was walking down a hallway at Warner’s. I was on my way back to Nick’s office with my agent, Robert Raison. You’ve got to understand, Hollywood, at this time, was all suits and ties. These guys were old-school gentlemen. They smoked cigars, but they were gentlemen. Suddenly I see this guy walking toward me in a turtleneck and dirty Levi’s. He looked like he had five days’ growth, and his hair was all messed up. As we walked by, my agent said, “That’s James Dean.” I’d just seen him in East of Eden, but I didn’t even recognize him. So I had my meeting with Nick, and then I went to the drugstore across the street from Warner’s, and Dean was sitting at the counter. He had a cup of coffee and sugar, and he was pouring the sugar on the spoon until it got to be heaping, and then he would watch it dissolve in the coffee, and then he’d pour another one. He was doing this over and over. He wasn’t talking to anybody. Raison said, “Let me introduce you.” So we went up, and he said, “Jimmy, this is Dennis Hopper. He’s going to be in the movie with you.” But Dean never stopped. Never looked around.

SHAFRAZI: He kept pouring the sugar.

HOPPER: He just kept pouring the sugar and letting it dissolve in the cup. But here’s what was really important, which has taken me a long time to digest: I had never seen anyone improvise before. I really did think at that point that I was the best young actor in the world. And then I’m on set, and the first thing we’re doing is the scene in Rebel at the police station, where he gets arrested. And suddenly, Dean starts making siren sounds. When they search him, he starts to laugh because it’s tickling him, and I’m thinking, “Where the hell is this on the page? Where is this coming from, man?” I’d never seen anyone improvise before. Because I was a Shakespearean actor, I had preconceived ideas, line readings—everything was a gesture, everything was conscious.

BRANT: It was disciplined.

HOPPER: Yeah. But in Method acting, you can’t have preconceived ideas. You have to live in the moment. You have to keep yourself open. I was totally on the other side of the track. In point of fact, Harry Cohn did have something to say. [laughs]

BRANT: I remember you telling me a story about filming a scene with Dean and Elizabeth Taylor when you were making Giant.

HOPPER: We were working on Giant, and we’re out in the middle of Texas. It was a scene that takes place just before Dean discovers oil on his land, where Elizabeth Taylor comes by and he makes tea for her. It’s the first time Dean has ever acted with her. But even though we’re out in the desert in Marfa, there are a thousand people watching us film behind a rope. It’s a scene where Dean has a rifle on his back. He brings her in and makes her tea, and then, suddenly, he stops. And he walks a couple hundred feet away to where these people are watching us, and in front of all of them, he pulls out his dick and pisses.

SHAFRAZI: In front of them?

HOPPER: Facing them, with his back to the set. Then he comes back in and does the scene. So, later, we’re driving back to Marfa, and I said, “Jimmy, I’ve seen you do a lot of strange things, man, but you really did it today. What was that all about?” He said, “It was Elizabeth Taylor. I can’t get over my farm-boy upbringing. I was so nervous that I couldn’t speak. I had to pee, and I was trying to use that, but it wasn’t working. So I thought that if I could go pee in front of all those people, I would be able to work with her.” [all laugh]

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