‘Bombshell’ Director Jay Roach On Striving For Authenticity And Whether He’ll Ever Return To ‘Austin Powers’ [Interview]
By Alex Arabian/Dec. 17, 2019 2:00 pm EST
When I started making comedies, that was a kind of accident. I was writing in sci-fi. I was writing family dramas. I was doing adaptations. And my real launch into comedy was through Austin Powers. Mike Myers and I used to talk about World War II history and became friends on very esoteric discussions. Then he let me read the script, I gave him notes, and then he offered me the job of directing it. And it was just so much fun. I got to meet so many incredible collaborators and work with so many people like that that I just kept doing it. It was unbelievably compelling. It was actually a very good career to have at that time – to be making comedies.
Humor is a great coping mechanism for many people experiencing suffering. It definitely came off as authentic.
When you go from those very light-touch, darkly satirical moments with Kate and Margot all the way to after Margot’s been harassed by John Lithgow’s character, Roger Ailes, and she has to explain the idea of being ashamed of what happened, even though she’s the victim, to Kate, that is so devastating. You’ve experienced them as having that ironic awareness earlier, but now, it’s all just horror. If you take the audience on a journey like that, it’s more effective than starting with the get-go, “Hey. This is going to be serious. Pay attention.”
Colleen Atwood, a four-time Oscar winner does an impeccable job at the costume design.
From all the Tim Burton stuff. Oh my god. She’s great.
We show that there is a somewhat triumphant takedown, but there’s also a clear instance in this story that at the end that the women didn’t really bond very much over this in that particular organization, maybe because they didn’t have the #MeToo thing yet to use as their commonality. There’s so much more to talk about. Even just in the simple thing of men should give more accusers the benefit of the doubt. Maybe we can be a little less complicit by just trying to ignore like Rob Delaney’s character does and stay out of it. It’s pervasive to this day. We were just watching the Uber numbers. Oh my god. Women should be safe at work, on rides, and when they go work in a fast-food industry. When they work at a hotel. It seems like such an obvious thing, and it’s something we should all have in common, but it becomes politicized. It becomes controversial. Some people don’t want to think of themselves as feminists, but this is a fundamental thing we can pretty much all agree on. Women should be safe.
I think the world may just be ready for another Austin Powers movie. Have you put much into a sequel of late?Not more than I have for the past 17 years since the last one [laughter] because we’ve always hoped we would land on something that would earn a sequel. Mike’s thought about it, and it’s so much more up to him than it is up to me.What do you have in the pipeline that has you excited?We’re working on a story about Kent State to maybe do as a limited series. It’s a really powerful story. And even some other comedies too. We could all use a little comic relief right now.
