The Knockturnal’s OJ Williams sits down with ‘Sorry to Bother You’ writer and director, Boots Riley.
When sitting down with Boots Riley, The Knockturnal first asked the director to describe his first thoughts when writing Sorry to Bother You.
When answering the question, Riley said “when I first started writing the script I was just going to write a movie that took place in the world of telemarketing, and I knew that there was going to be a struggle that the main character had to decide what side they were on” Riley went on to male the point, “as I kind of just let myself go it quickly became something”. He goes on to mention that as the script grew and came together it became better for him to change reality instead of using a typical dialogue. By changing this reality Riley says that the audience get to “experience the same emotions that he (Cash) does”.
With Sorry to Bother You having both fantastical and real qualities, The Knockturnal asked Riley how he found the balance between the two as he directed the film.
Riley told The Knockturnal that he did this in two ways, “one was with production design, pushing the envelope not too much, but definitely pushing the envelope”. He then says that the “main thing [was] making sure that we had actors that were down to give a naturalistic performance”. With these two things, Riley was able to direct the film with a perfect balance.
As the interview continued, Riley made the point that it was extremely important that the audience saw the characters as real people and not just characters in a film. “You feel that they are a person, as apposed to this soap opera dude, that you know shaved his goatee a little different this time”. Riley says that once the audience sees the characters as real people then anything can happen from elephants running through to the ground cracking and opening up.
To watch the full interview with writer and director Boots Riley, click the video above.