Last week I drank a Diet Coke from Woody Allen’s refrigerator. For some reason that feels like a more intimate act than me actually sitting down and chatting with him. Luckily both things occurred, as a podcast of me drinking a celebrities’ private beverage stash wouldn’t be all that entertaining.
Woody Allen doesn’t do a ton of press nowadays. Some of the reasons are obvious. And that’s a shame really because back in the early days of chat shows he was just about the best there was. But of course he’s 78 now so when I sat down with him for an intimate talk in his office I prepared myself for disappointment.
Instead I found a quick witted and thoughtful consummate storyteller. I had just moderated the press conference for his new film, “Magic in the Moonlight,” a press gathering that was filled with Woody regaling a crowd with the meaninglessness of life (no one else can make this subject more entertaining).
As I mentioned in my podcast with him, I feel a huge personal connection to the work of Woody Allen. If you know me at all, this is about as unsurprising a thing as I could say. I grew up in New York City. I worshipped film and comedy. The first movie I ever saw with my wife was “Manhattan.” I could list a dozen other reasons for why I own no less than three books of collected conversations with Woody Allen.
So yes, sitting down with him and sharing a Diet Coke was an out of body experience but it also felt profoundly familiar, as if this was a dialogue I’d been engaged in my entire life. It just so happened this time Woody Allen was actually sitting there in front of me.
If you’re an admirer of his work, I know you’ll get a kick out of the conversation. We cover a good amount in an all too brief 30 minutes, from his reluctance to release “Manhattan” and why he’s never worked with Jack Nicholson to his shocking disdain for bagels and seeming ignorance of the work of Michael Bay. It’s the tip of the iceberg for a man with countless stories and insights.
I hope the conversation will continue.
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