Synopsis From Sony Pictures Classics: Winner of the Waldo Salt Screenwriting award at the 2002 Sundance film festival, "Love Liza" features a tour de force performance by Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of this country's most original actors. Set somewhere in Middle America, Wilson Joel (Hoffman), a successful website designer, suddenly sees his world stop with the untimely death of his young wife Liza. Trying to make sense of everything that has just happened, Wilson turns to his mother-in-law (Kathy Bates) for support. Their relationship intensifies when Wilson refuses to open a letter Liza left behind for fear it will shatter his ideal of the perfect life they shared. As Wilson attempts to rebuild his life, with unopened letter in tow, eccentric behavior begins to surface taking him on
an odyssey of self-pity, self-realization and curious fascination with remote-control model enthusiasts. Through this temporary comfort, he begins dealing with his grief.
"Love Liza" is a beautifully drawn portrait of a survivor who invokes humor, humility and whatever it takes to find the possibilities for a successful resolution.
How was it working with not only a good friend Philip Seymour Hoffman but also such a consummate film and theatre actor?
It actually was worrisome going in because we are such good friends, but we slipped right into it very well.
Was there any rehearsal?
We developed the film, and I worked on script re-writes with Gordy Hoffman for over 4 years. Over that period of time every time I would see Phil we would talk about the project. We didn’t really have any rehearsal time, just because we were so low budget, but working
on it for 4 years is a pretty long time. I felt like I was living with the character.
How did you cast Jack Kaylor in the part of Denny?
My wife is a playwright and Jack works with her theatre company in LA. He’s had a pretty long career as an actor. It was tough to get him in the role because no one knew who he was, but Philip was confident with my decision.
How did Kathy Bates come to the project?
We had the idea that she would be right for it, so about 6 months before shooting we sent the script to her, and told her that Phil was doing it, and she really responded to it.
What was her first day of shooting like?
Her first day of shooting was the hardest day. We were doing the scene where she is yelling out the window and had a really bad tech problem that day, but everything went well with Kathy.
As a first time director, when you are working with this caliber of talent, what kind of pressure do you feel?
There was a lot of pressure, but what really helped was (with the exception of Kathy) everyone that we cast were friends of mine who are very close to me and whose work I really love. I knew if I surrounded myself with friends, I could freak out if I wanted to and they would be there to support me.
What’s the significance of Philip’s character carrying the letter with him, but never opening it?
He doesn’t know what’s in the letter, but he also knows it’s the last time he will ever hear from Liza. That’s one of the reasons why he doesn’t open it, because he doesn’t want the closure. The film was written to be about Wilson’s character, not about her, but about what
he is going through. There is a reason why you don’t ever see her, or why there are no flashbacks. And there is a reason that it’s a bit ambivalent before he gets to a point when he is ready to move on.
How did the idea of model airplane lobbyists come into play? Is this a culture we should know more about?
It totally exists. It’s a great fascinating little world or subculture. Guys who do it are from 35 to 70. They are really gentle people. I don’t know how Gordy came up with the idea. Early in the script I always felt that she had killed her self by shooting herself, but after my research I found out that women rarely kill themselves by shooting themselves or violently for that matter. I always sort of wondered about his sniffing gas. I like that he does it because of the sub consciousness of it. I decided to change Liza’s suicide to locking
herself in the car and that created the connection of the fumes and the gas. It’s not overtly done, but I meant it to be there subtly.
Where was the film shot?
In Mobile, Alabama and New Orleans. I wanted it to just be in the Midwest but it could have been anywhere. I also wanted it to be Columbus, Ohio. It was shot in January and near the beach too so it had to be at a warm location.
How many days did you shoot?
It was a 24-day shoot.
There’s an interesting metaphor between the airborne quality of the model planes and the state Wilson is in throughout the film. That’s what I liked about it. He is sort of regressing with what is happening to him since his wife died. Sniffing gas is a very adolescent thing to
do, so is building model planes and his relationship with Denny was very boyish. So he is regressing to this little boy state. He turns his back on his boss when she makes an advance on him but all of this is taking him to a point where he can finally come to terms with
rebuilding his life.
