Mandy Griffiths
There’s been an unusual amount of awkward celebrity interviews doing the rounds in the last week. Amy Schumer got called a skank (no offense but…), Cara Delevingne was referred to as ‘in a mood’ when she wasn’t high energy enough for asinine questions, and the poor stars of “Fantastic Four” had to deal with interviewers who couldn’t get over the concept of black and white siblings, or that Kate Mara decided to cut her hair (“You’re way way hot. Why’d you cut the hair?” was the actual question).
Having gone through my fair share of hotel room junket factory lines, there is nothing about the process that ISN’T awkward – for both interviewer and interviewee. You spend hours trying to come up with interesting movie-related questions that haven’t already been asked and fail, you’re given exactly 10 seconds to try and build a rapport before you’re ‘on’ and the interview’s away, and no matter how lovely and well-intentioned the actor, traveling across the world and put straight to work for a two day publicity blitz is tiring – as is almost always the case in Australia.
So for an interview to come off as really interesting and enjoyable for all participants is rare. Too rare. But it can happen.
Since Facebook has ensured that anything great that Jimmy Fallon or the late night guys in the US and UK do will get the global treatment, here are some lesser known Australian classics.
1. Hamish and Andy interview Hillary Clinton – 2010
Hamish and Andy strike that perfect balance of being both interesting and positive. They are never malicious, put a lot of thought into what they’ll bring to the interview, and run with whatever the interviewee throws at them. And a shout-out to Hillary for being so game.
Favourite question: “Have you ever said the phrase ‘you’ve just made yourself a powerful enemy’?”
2. Andrew Denton interviews Steve Irwin – 2003
Andrew Denton’s “Enough Rope” series provided a huge catalogue of fascinating interviews, but a highlight would have to be the late, great Crocodile Hunter, Steve Irwin. Steve begins the interview in comfortable territory (offering to tackle and tie up Andrew like a crocodile), before being gently guided to more personal matters, including his love for his wife and family, his devastation following his mother’s death in a car accident, and his pride at swindling a big movie studio into giving him more khaki ensembles than he technically needed. You can watch the continuation of the interview here. R.I.P Steve.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPf_UfmIOYQ
3. Kerry O’Brien interviews Robin Williams – 2010
There aren’t many celebrities these days who would be as comfortable talking about their personal demons as Robin is here, but where many interviewers would be happy to let Robin run the interview with his witty asides and voices, O’Brien finds the sweet spot between the comedian and the everyday man who wants to share what he’s learned in an up and down life. R.I.P. Robin.
