Lawrence Kasdan
Lawrence Kasdan
Lawrence Edward Kasdanis an American screenwriter, director and producer. He is best known as co-writer of the films The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Return of the Jedi. Kasdan co-wrote the Star Wars sequel trilogy film Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and will co-write the series' Han Solo spin-off film...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFilm Producer
Date of Birth14 January 1949
CityMiami, FL
CountryUnited States of America
The great thing about Stephen is that he sees the movie as a separate thing, I think. He wants it to capture the essence of the book, and if he feels that's been done, then he's not too particular about the details. I think that's why he's happy.
But, George and Steven asked me to write the Indiana Jones sequels, and I didn't want to.
I didn't really want to do another sequel. I go to those movies, and I just sort of enjoy them like a viewer.
The movies that made me want to make movies were action movies, and thrillers, and Kurosawa films, you know, where you have an opportunity every day to shoot it in an unusual way. I was looking for something like that.
The kind of pace that you want to use in a Western - just to acknowledge the land in the distance that everyone has to travel, and the way things develop sort of slowly - it's almost the antithetical of what's currently going on in the movies, you know.
I want everything I do to have humor in it, because it seems to me that all of life has that.
You know what, almost all of the genre movies that had a big impact on me, people have tried to do them again, and they're never any good.
One is that I'm not good about going to the theater and being frightened. Something about sitting there with other people makes me twice as anxious.
I've done two Westerns, and I feel that about Westerns. What a Western is, is a picture frame, and you can put any kind of picture you want in there.
It's hard enough to get any movie made, and when you take on these tough genres - and I've done it a couple times - it just makes the whole struggle more.
I tell you, I feel like a real novice as far as horror goes.
You know, Stephen says, in the movies no one ever goes to the bathroom. They shave, they brush their teeth. He goes right at this sort of funny taboo we have about the bathroom, and he turned it into this nightmare, you know, your worst fear of what's in there.
What you hope for, like Unforgiven did a lot to give you a chance to do it again sometime.
I mean, I really liked those guys and the experience of doing Raiders was really good for me, but I did not really want to be involved - I only did Jedi, as I really owed George a favor.