Benny Safdie Instagram – Actor and Director Benny Safdie Does It All.
Throughout his fifteen-year moviemaking career, director and actor @bowedtie has been drawn to naturalism and first-time performers. Fittingly, his recent collaboration with comedian @nathanfielder (āNathan for Youā) was a perfect match.
Benny joins us today to discuss their satirical black comedy series The Curse (9:10), the timely premise that inspired the show (13:35), and Safdieās history of capturing real-life personalities on film (15:58). Then, he describes his early connection to the 1979 movie Kramer v Kramer (19:00), a New York encounter with photographer Robert Frank (23:18), and how directors Robert Bresson and Frederick Wiseman opened his eyes to the possibilities of street casting (26:05).
On the back-half, we dive into Bennyās co-directing work alongside his brother, Josh Safdie (29:55), a heartbreaking scene from their debut feature Daddy Longlegs (34:30), and the projects that followed: Good Time (40:00), Lenny Cooke (42:45), and Uncut Gems (55:00). To close, Safdie talks about why he worked as a boom operator while directing (48:15), his recent pivot to acting (52:35), and his full circle moment of playing a physicist in @oppenheimermovie (1:00:40).
Original painting by @krishnabalashenoi | Posted on 27/Nov/2023 00:30:03
