Until quite late in the process of crafting “The Last Movie Stars” — a six-hour deep dive into the on- and off-screen lives of Hollywood golden couple Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, now streaming on HBO Max — director Ethan Hawke resisted the notion that he was making a TV series.
“I don’t like episodic. I don’t like the nature of false cliffhangers. My brain is allergic to that,” admits Hawke, who unveiled an hour of the project at the South by Southwest film festival in March, then two more segments at the Cannes Film Festival in May. “When I started, I really wanted it to be short enough that you could watch it in one sitting. I wanted to lasso it into the size of ‘No Direction Home’ or something like that.”
But the more he dug, the bigger it grew, expanding beyond the couple’s career successes — which...
“I don’t like episodic. I don’t like the nature of false cliffhangers. My brain is allergic to that,” admits Hawke, who unveiled an hour of the project at the South by Southwest film festival in March, then two more segments at the Cannes Film Festival in May. “When I started, I really wanted it to be short enough that you could watch it in one sitting. I wanted to lasso it into the size of ‘No Direction Home’ or something like that.”
But the more he dug, the bigger it grew, expanding beyond the couple’s career successes — which...
- 7/22/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
HBO Max’s new documentary is putting the spotlight on Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. The streaming service will debut all six parts of the Max Original documentary, The Last Movie Stars, on Thursday, July 21. The documentary, from CNN Films and HBO Max, explores Newman and Woodward’s romance, family, careers, and causes. Martin Scorsese serves as executive producer, with Ethan Hawke directing. HBO Max Central to the documentary is a project that had been abandoned and Newman commissioned from his friend and screenwriter, Steward Stern. For Newman, Stern interviewed close friends, family, and artistic collaborators including Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet, Karl Malden, Sidney Pollack, Gore Vidal, Jacqueline Witte, and Woodward for a planned memoir. Stern also spoke with Newman about his youth, his first marriage with Witte, his romance and life with Woodward, his personal demons, and the loss of his son, Scott. For the documentary, which includes archival interviews with Woodward and Newman,...
- 7/7/2022
- TV Insider
HBO Max will premiere its six-part original documentary from CNN Films, “The Last Movie Stars,” on July 21. The docuseries centers on Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, and explores their personas, talent and love story. Four-time Oscar nominee Ethan Hawke (“Seymour: An Introduction”) directs, with Academy Award-winning director, writer and producer Martin Scorsese as executive producer.
The docuseries incorporates an abandoned project that Newman commissioned from friend and screenwriter Stewart Stern, who interviewed close friends, family, and artistic collaborators including Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet, Karl Malden, Sidney Pollack, Gore Vidal, Jacqueline Witte and Joanne Woodward for a planned memoir. Newman was also interviewed by Stern, and discussed his childhood, his first marriage with Witte, his romance and life with Woodward and more.
Actors Karen Allen, George Clooney, Oscar Isaac, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Zoe Kazan, Laura Linney, Sam Rockwell and others voice parts of the original transcribed interviews. Hawke also interviewed some of Newman’s daughters,...
The docuseries incorporates an abandoned project that Newman commissioned from friend and screenwriter Stewart Stern, who interviewed close friends, family, and artistic collaborators including Elia Kazan, Sidney Lumet, Karl Malden, Sidney Pollack, Gore Vidal, Jacqueline Witte and Joanne Woodward for a planned memoir. Newman was also interviewed by Stern, and discussed his childhood, his first marriage with Witte, his romance and life with Woodward and more.
Actors Karen Allen, George Clooney, Oscar Isaac, Latanya Richardson Jackson, Zoe Kazan, Laura Linney, Sam Rockwell and others voice parts of the original transcribed interviews. Hawke also interviewed some of Newman’s daughters,...
- 6/21/2022
- by Sasha Urban and Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
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