Traffic

“Traffic. My dad’s in Traffic. My dad has one scene in Traffic and my dad was complaining that he only had one scene in a movie. And I saw this movie, and I called him and I said, “Do you know how lucky you are to be in Steven Soderbergh’s Traffic?” A non-linear style, I don’t know, there’s something about the anecdotes of looking back and connecting different points in your life and seeing where they intersect, and creating a whole narrative out of that. And Traffic is brilliantly done.”

“God, Steven Soderbergh, Traffic. Just seminal. It’s about the drug trade and its many impacts and manifestations. This movie made a massive impression on me. God, this is unbelievable. I can’t even like… Being in here is so…”

“Traffic, yeah, by Soderbergh. It's a fantastic movie. For me, Soderbergh is jazz, yeah, it's a band. I have always the feeling that he's not an auteur like an artist of the 19th century, that he needs a band and they make jam sessions, and the movie is the jam session. Ocean's 11 is like a band who's who has a concert in Amsterdam or concert in Rome, yeah, and Traffic, it's a concert in the middle of the American heart.”

“Traffic. Amazing film.”

“I’m going to… grab Traffic because Steven Soderbergh is one of my favorite directors. I think that he is so incredible. And you know what? His style seems to me to change based on the story he’s telling. It’s not like he has one particular style, one particular look. It feels so inconspicuous to me, even though something like this is interesting because, in Traffic, it’s the story of drugs and politics and sex, and we’re seeing different storylines that are differently color-graded to distinguish between them, which is so cool, and yet it doesn’t feel ham-fisted, it doesn’t feel put on, it feels completely organic to the story. I know he also operates camera a lot. And I know he, like, edits dailies at the end of the day. And I think – I’ve read this – that he has cast and crew come in to watch, which I think is so interesting because some directors I think are really precious about that separation between the actor’s work and then seeing what’s on film, until it’s completed. But I think that’s such a good thing to invite the actor to be a part of it. We often say when we’re making something, “Do you want to watch playback? Do you want to watch this?” Because, at least for me as an actor, sometimes seeing it helps me understand it. And also having read the way that he responds to notes, because that’s a big part of making films, and I think it’s a really interesting thing when you’re able to incorporate feedback and elevate the work, and I think Steven Soderbergh is someone who can do that. So… Someone who’s all about the story, lets that lead him and the audience. You don’t feel his hand too much. And that, I think, is part of the artistry of it.”

“I wanted to grab one of Soderbergh’s movies. They have Traffic here. I like Traffic for a very special reason. So I’ve done, I think, ten movies with Steven Soderbergh. I absolutely adore him. I love working with him, for so many reasons. I mean, he cuts in camera. He is the editor, he’s the director, he’s the cinematographer, and he’s the camera operator. And he cuts the work you do the day you shoot it and he sends it to you, so you can watch the movie develop as it’s going. When he won the Oscar for directing this movie, he kind of scoffed at the idea that he would do anything like it ever again. It’s a remarkable movie, incredible performances. Benicio. Everybody in this movie is great. Benicio is absolutely out of this world, he’s phenomenal. But I’m taking it as a reminder to, when things go really well in your life creatively, never protect your beachhead. And that’s a conversation that I’ve had with Soderbergh many, many times. You want to keep pushing. You do not want to just do the same thing over and over and over.”