Here’s my conversation with David Evanier, author of the new Woody Allen biography, “Woody.” Our conversation ranged from Allen’s early days in standup and television through his nearly-half-century movie-making career. Among our topics:
- How he got an initially reticent Allen to sit down for an interview;
- Allen’s screen image vs. real life.
- The older man/younger woman theme that has recurred so many times in his movies;
- Allen’s reputation for writing good female characters;
- How Andrew Dice Clay ended up in one of his movies;
- Whether Allen cares about his movies’ commercial success or holds any of them in high regard;
- His work as an actor in other people’s movies, including “The Front,” “Antz,” and “Scenes From A Mall”;
- Why Allen was not allowed to direct the movie version of his play, “Play It Again Sam”;
- How “Annie Hall” originally didn’t include a lot of Annie Hall;
- How far Allen’s creative control goes;
- And, of course, the sexual molestation charges filed against him in 1992 by Dylan Farrow.
By the way, David is a cousin of my friend Mark Evanier, who he quotes several times in the book.
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