Jason Schwartzman Talks Wes Anderson And ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ In Exclusive Video Interview

Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel is nominated for nine Academy Awards this year, including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. Frequent Anderson collaborator, and co-star of The Grand Budapest Hotel, Jason Schwartzman, spoke to uInterview about the film in April.

Anderson and Schwartzman first worked together in 1998, when Schwartzman starred in Rushmore, Anderson’s second feature film and Schwartzman’s first. Since then, they have worked together in a handful of films, most notably The Darjeeling Limited (2007) and Moonrise Kingdom (2012).

“Wes’ movies – they’re epic in many ways, but they’re focused on very small worlds, and relatively easy things to miss, and they’re invented, in these worlds many times. And I do feel like Wes hears things and sees things in our lives, in the real world, that people do kind of miss, and he finds them funny. Like, especially when people say things maybe incorrectly, or words come out oddly. You just kind of keep going, but I think Wes is tuned to that kind of stuff and makes movies that approach the world from that angle maybe, or slightly slanted,” Schwartzman told uInterview of the director.

The Grand Budapest Hotel has earned Anderson his first ever Oscar nomination for Best Director, and he has a total of three nominations this year, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. The film recently won Best Motion Picture Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes. Perhaps one of the reasons Anderson’s film is so beloved by the Academy is because of the effort the director puts in to making the set an inclusive environment.

“I think that Wes goes out of his way to make sure all the actors are comfortable and are in contact with each other…he goes to great lengths to get everyone to live together and makes it very nice for the actors,” Schwartzman said, adding that the entire Grand Budapest Hotel cast, which included Jeff Goldblum and Ralph Fiennes, lived together in a small hotel.

The Grand Budapest Hotel is nominated for Best Original Score, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Original Screenplay, Best Director and Best Picture at the Oscars. Awards will be handed out at a live televised ceremony on Sunday, Feb. 22, on ABC.

Article by Olivia Truffaut-Wong

Olivia Truffaut-Wong was born and raised in Berkeley, California, where she developed her love of all things entertainment. After moving to New York City to earn her degree in Film Studies, she stayed on the East Coast to follow her passion and become an entertainment writer. She lives on a diet of television, movies and food.