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Marker.
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The Menu is a film about a bonkers chef
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who decides to go out in flames, really.
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{\an8}And everything in the design,
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{\an8}every idea, every item, every pallet
within that building
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we wanted to be created specifically
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to represent the vision of Chef Slowik,
Ralph Fiennes's character.
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And on that note, food.
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For him, food is like a religion.
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{\an8}Where Slowik is in this film,
he is the master.
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{\an8}So he watches the kitchen prepare
the food that he's created or designed.
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I didn't really know this world,
so I needed people who did.
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When you're watching,
your eyes are on everything.
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Everything.
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Yeah, I saw the Chef's Table
about Dominique Crenn,
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was completely taken with her
and her whole vibe and spirit.
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And then Mark said,
"Oh, she's gonna design the food."
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So I was very excited about that.
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And then when you say, "Fire,"
then they go full force.
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Okay.
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The philosophy of Slowik
came from conversations
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with, uh, Dominique Crenn,
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who eventually would come on board
to design the menu for us.
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In this menu,
everyone's getting the same thing?
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The same thing.
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Dominique Crenn
is this extraordinary artist,
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literally
one of the best chefs in the world.
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In fact, the first woman in America
to win three Michelin stars.
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This is a part of making sure
that everyone is on the same page.
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{\an8}It was important to also get a sense
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of who he was as a chef,
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so his food tells a story of who he is.
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So it was trying to connect the food
with also maybe a part of him.
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You respect them...
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You respect your cooks.
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You respect your cooks.
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I spent a day and a half with her
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where she talked more
about the demeanor of the chef,
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the demeanor of the chef in the kitchen.
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We specifically wanted
Chef Slowik's creations
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to have an emotional coldness.
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To be beautiful, but somewhat dead.
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So that enabled Dominique
in-- in creating the menu
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to not create a Dominique Crenn menu,
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but to create a Chef Slowik menu,
to play the role.
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All those dishes that we have created
has been challenging at times,
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but yet extremely interesting for me.
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To take me away
from what I'm doing every day,
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but to also create something
that I've never created before.
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So I'm having fun here.
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This is my Willy Wonka, Juan Contreras.
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She brought with her Juan Contreras,
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her right-hand person
and-- and head sous chef,
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along with a local brilliant
Savannah chef in Georgia, John Benhase,
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who are our advisers
and are kind of key to authenticity.
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{\an8}Dominique and her team
have done such an incredible job
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{\an8}of mapping out
what most of the food is going to be.
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But then we need somebody
to make sure everything that's happening
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actually looks like
it's taking place in a restaurant.
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Staff for the kitchen,
we recruited a team of people,
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all of whom had experience in kitchens,
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and we gave them roles
according to their experience.
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In a well-run kitchen,
everyone knows precisely their place,
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both in the hierarchy and the physical
space, their-- their station.
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I want plating in five!
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Yes, Chef!
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The satirical element
was obviously take that
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into an almost
kind of militaristic zone.
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But we had to make sure
that what they were doing
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at every moment throughout the film
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was authentic and actually correct.
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We had a few days
in this warehouse in Savannah
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where John, our chef, and one of
our assistant directors, Lauren Candela,
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were basically putting all the staff
through a boot camp, literally,
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where for every scene, it was,
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"Okay, scene one,
you will be doing this at this point.
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What should we be doing now?"
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Whatever we were cooking
on the stoves or the grill or anything
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was always what the next course was,
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so it really did look like
you were planning the night.
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And if you watch the movie,
and you just picked out scenes randomly,
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you would always know
what the next course was.
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Because we were able to shoot the film
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almost entirely chronologically,
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that allowed us to stay
with this internal logic
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of working through this evening
of which the film takes place.
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I'm massively grateful to Lauren
for choreographing all that
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so that everybody knew exactly what
they were supposed to be doing for real
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at any one moment.
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Kendall Gensler was our food stylist.
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She and her team were extraordinary
in actually prepping the food daily
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that was safe for consumption
for everybody,
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that was delivered
at the right time onto set,
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so it was still hot or steaming
or whatever,
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or delivering that food in a way
that gave us that high-end food look.
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Kendall, as you know, is one of
the top food stylists in the industry,
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and we were so lucky to have her.
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And she-- she worked tirelessly.
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The food stylist
not only produce all of the dishes,
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{\an8}but, in this instance,
we had to capture Dominique's dishes.
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{\an8}They were submitted to us,
but also you have to retrofit them
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so that they work within the confines
of camera, lights, etcetera.
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We had Chloe Weaver come in
and shoot some food for us,
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who's part of the Chef's Table.
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We even needed more after that,
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and David Gelb,
the creator of Chef's Table,
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did a weekend in Adam McKay's offices.
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And some of my favorite shots
in the film came from that weekend.
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And I really felt,
as we dropped these shots in,
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that the balance of the film was just
fundamentally right, at that point.
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That was a huge moment for me.
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The actual eating of the cheeseburger--
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I have never held a cheeseburger
that big before.
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{\an8}I could not-- I tried really hard.
I gave it a good go.
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{\an8}I could not fit my whole mouth
around it, but I tried.
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I tried really, really hard.
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And it was delicious. It was lovely.
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We get from the-- the earth
to the table.
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I think being a part of it was
just maybe a dream come true.
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Everybody was, like, really cool
to work with, and they got it.
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It's exciting.
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Food connects people,
and you can tell a story through it.
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Can I get the rest to go?
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One moment, please.
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Hawthorn
is a well-nurtured, small island
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{\an8}where everything
is run and controlled by Chef.
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When you walk into Hawthorn,
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you see that everything
has been chosen for a reason.
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{\an8}The attention to detail is unparalleled.
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It's interesting
because it's an experience.
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{\an8}And all of us,
other than Margot, really,
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{\an8}are there for the experience of it.
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Food is theater.
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{\an8}Food is comedy.
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{\an8}Food is drama. Food is satire.
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And the idea
that you're pairing that experience
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with the structure of a film
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made perfect sense to me.
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Early on,
Mark Mylod, our director, and I
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latched onto the idea that Slowik
is inspired by a landscape.
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...a sort of biome of culinary ideas.
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Right. Like, it functions
like an epicurean salon.
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Hmm, no, I like biome better, I think.
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Every step of the way
that you're walking through nature,
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it's been twisted or pulled
into specific geometric shapes
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that would never exist
were it not for human interference.
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The paths are lined
with four tons of white limestone
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that meets black mulch.
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These things
don't occur naturally in nature.
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They're high contrast. They're brutal.
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They really exemplify a man
who has become so fascistic
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over his vision of the dining experience
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that he has bended the environment
to his will.
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We are but a frightened nanosecond.
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Nature is timeless.
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We wanna make it
really uniquely Slowik's vision.
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But on the other hand,
we recognize this as an opportunity
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to reference some
of the famous restaurants
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and chef's choices around the world.
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And the restaurant itself is a high-end,
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modernistic glass front
looking out over the sea.
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Open kitchen, so as you eat,
you can see the chefs at work.
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Plating in five!
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Yes, Chef!
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- I love you all.
- We love you too, Chef.
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Ralph and I spoke about his costume.
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{\an8}It was an evolution
from what real chefs wear
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{\an8}into what this person was doing,
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{\an8}what-- what this chef was all about.
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We shouldn't have
any indication on his chef's uniform
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that he's anything other than ordinary.
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It should be like a priest or surgeon.
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We did away with any embellishments,
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any little vanity insignia, anything.
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I've told you who I am. I'm
Julian Slowik and I am the chef here.
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Now, who are you?
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Margot is an enigma,
and she's supposed to be.
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And I think something that I enjoy is,
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I can see the parallels with acting.
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In a sense, what you see of Margot
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is what she wants you to see.
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This is what she's selling, and this
is the character that she's selling.
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We didn't want a stereotypical portrayal
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of what people think
an escort dresses or looks like.
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It's the balance of the products.
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You need the mouthfeel
of the mignonette.
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Please don't say "mouthfeel."
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{\an8}Tyler is a foodie.
He's very enthusiastic and loves food.
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{\an8}Thinks he knows a lot about it.
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Has been kind of corresponding
with Chef Slowik
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and is almost a disciple of his,
I would say.
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He's a fervent believer
in everything he says.
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I really wanted him to look
like he put a lot into this.
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His suit is custom-made.
This beautiful Italian wool.
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So he's put in time, effort, money...
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It's next-level badassery.
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...to make this amazing for himself.
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Tyler, you cannot speak to me that way.
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Actually, I can because, ding dong,
I'm the one who's paying.
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So maybe, shut up and eat.
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Mmm. Oh, my God.
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He's under
all these delusions of who he is,
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and he's a phony and a fake
in many ways,
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and he gets proven to be that.
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Oh, my God.
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{\an8}Elsa is a very enigmatic character.
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So, once I put on the costume,
it just changed my demeanor.
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You will eat less than
you desire and more than you deserve.
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She is almost
like the muscle behind Chef.
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No!
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She's not like any head of the house
that we've ever met before.
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I really wanted her to stand out.
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It felt like I had a corset on.
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And my shoes made me walk a certain way.
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My hair was pulled up so tight.
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I take care of the customers
so that Chef can take care of the menu.
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She maintains her composure
under all circumstances.
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Stop!
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Following through on Chef Slowik's plan.
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Please hold still.
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Go Elsa!
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We're all on set together.
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I think Mark Mylod has created a great
atmosphere of an ensemble or company,
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all enjoying each other's work
and appreciating each other.
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{\an8}I had this approach based
on Robert Altman's approach.
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His kind of semi-improvisational
approach and that looseness
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and everybody being in character
all the time.
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...off to South Africa and talk
about how racism is not so cool.
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I don't think you can go to South Africa
with a DUI.
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I didn't come
from a background of improv,
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and so I've learnt it watching people
who are really, really brilliant at it.
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You just never know
where you're going to end up.
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He's wonderful,
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{\an8}especially at finding
those moments of messiness.
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He makes it feel more like as if you are
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in a real dining room
where people are really eating
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and there are different conversations
happening at every table.
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I specifically shot the film
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so that any spontaneous moment
was covered by two cameras
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so that we could take it as a whole
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00:11:39,199 --> 00:11:41,190
and not have to manipulate it
with other takes.
242
00:11:41,284 --> 00:11:43,366
Of course it's my fault, bro.
I'm an asshole.
243
00:11:43,453 --> 00:11:46,445
- We're pathetic, aren't we?
- Oh, my God, dude. Somebody, shoot us.
244
00:11:46,539 --> 00:11:49,247
The nuances, the comedic nuances and...
245
00:11:49,334 --> 00:11:50,916
- Also, the sadness, the warmth.
- ...the sadness.
246
00:11:51,002 --> 00:11:54,040
It's so cool to watch someone
just knock it out of the park
247
00:11:54,130 --> 00:11:56,713
and communicate the thing
that you wanted communicated.
248
00:11:56,799 --> 00:11:58,335
All the actors have done that.
249
00:11:58,426 --> 00:12:00,463
We're eating the ocean.
250
00:12:00,553 --> 00:12:02,885
We're eating the ocean.
251
00:12:02,972 --> 00:12:08,217
Satire is exposing human folly
and vanity through humor.
252
00:12:08,311 --> 00:12:13,556
You'll be given a 45-second head start.
If they do catch-- Okay.
253
00:12:13,650 --> 00:12:17,268
We can see the mirror
that satire is holding up to our world.
254
00:12:17,362 --> 00:12:20,150
However, it also allows you
to laugh at it.
255
00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:22,948
Oh, everyone dying
was my pitch, actually.
256
00:12:23,993 --> 00:12:25,575
I'm super proud of it.
257
00:12:25,662 --> 00:12:27,278
Because you are allowed to laugh,
258
00:12:27,372 --> 00:12:31,616
the underlying messages can kind of be
massaged in there a little bit easier,
259
00:12:31,709 --> 00:12:34,121
so where by the end of this film,
people will sit there
260
00:12:34,212 --> 00:12:36,749
and-- and be left with this feeling
of they enjoyed it,
261
00:12:36,839 --> 00:12:40,332
but also they'll be sitting there
and wondering, you know,
262
00:12:40,426 --> 00:12:42,713
which of these crimes
are they perhaps guilty of?
263
00:12:42,804 --> 00:12:45,796
You've failed. And you've bored me.
264
00:12:45,890 --> 00:12:48,973
And the worst part is,
I'm still fucking hungry.
265
00:13:02,407 --> 00:13:04,865
Final course! Plating in five!
266
00:13:04,951 --> 00:13:06,157
Yes, Chef!
267
00:13:06,244 --> 00:13:07,951
The s'more.
268
00:13:08,037 --> 00:13:12,406
This very famous image
of Grant Achatz's deconstructed dessert
269
00:13:12,500 --> 00:13:15,208
{\an8}where they smash up the meringues
and everything on the table.
270
00:13:15,295 --> 00:13:17,377
And David Gelb's work on Chef's Table,
271
00:13:17,463 --> 00:13:20,080
they'd done this beautiful image
top-shot-down on the table.
272
00:13:20,174 --> 00:13:21,756
And I think that triggered an idea of,
273
00:13:21,843 --> 00:13:26,337
"Okay, what if the whole restaurant
became, you know, the dessert table?"
274
00:13:26,431 --> 00:13:29,344
Mark came to me, um,
about a month before the scene and said,
275
00:13:29,434 --> 00:13:31,016
"I need you
to start thinking about this.
276
00:13:31,102 --> 00:13:32,638
Draw some images. See what comes up."
277
00:13:32,729 --> 00:13:37,018
{\an8}And I began by drawing,
uh, on a-- a huge canvas
278
00:13:37,108 --> 00:13:39,475
and transforming it
into what this dessert might be.
279
00:13:39,569 --> 00:13:43,563
And from there, we had to figure out
how to pull it off logistically.
280
00:13:43,656 --> 00:13:46,694
My idea was to set up a GoPro off-set
281
00:13:46,784 --> 00:13:49,401
and to tape off the exact dimensions
of our set,
282
00:13:49,495 --> 00:13:50,735
with tables and chairs to match.
283
00:13:50,830 --> 00:13:53,288
So we started reverse-engineering it.
284
00:13:54,417 --> 00:13:59,162
You represent the ruin
of my art and my life,
285
00:14:00,590 --> 00:14:02,831
and now you get to be part of it.
286
00:14:02,925 --> 00:14:08,591
And from that came the idea
of the marshmallow straitjacket ponchos,
287
00:14:08,681 --> 00:14:13,300
so that we would actually turn the
diners themselves into human s'mores.
288
00:14:13,394 --> 00:14:18,605
We'd landed on this idea of the-- the
s'mores being this ironic final course
289
00:14:18,691 --> 00:14:20,728
before we all head into oblivion.
290
00:14:20,818 --> 00:14:24,402
So then we'd sent off this new draft
to Ralph, and he wanted more.
291
00:14:24,489 --> 00:14:28,153
The most offensive assault
on the human palate ever contrived.
292
00:14:28,242 --> 00:14:29,949
I didn't know what the fuck
a s'more was.
293
00:14:30,036 --> 00:14:33,779
{\an8}I said to them, "No one outside the US
knows what a s'more is."
294
00:14:33,873 --> 00:14:37,457
So I riffed what I thought
the chef might say about a s'more.
295
00:14:37,543 --> 00:14:39,409
It's everything wrong with us,
296
00:14:39,504 --> 00:14:42,997
and yet we associate it
with innocence, with childhood.
297
00:14:43,091 --> 00:14:45,628
Why he would serve a s'more
to his guests at the end,
298
00:14:45,718 --> 00:14:47,459
and the importance of fire and flame.
299
00:14:47,553 --> 00:14:51,387
Anyway, I was thrilled
that the writers liked this suggestion
300
00:14:51,474 --> 00:14:54,842
and actually made it a lot better
and brought their own expertise to it.
301
00:14:54,936 --> 00:14:58,520
A part of what I hope is my masterpiece.
302
00:14:58,606 --> 00:15:01,644
{\an8}Ralph sent the basic thing that he
wanted to say, and then we ran with it.
303
00:15:01,734 --> 00:15:02,974
{\an8}- It was the right move.
- Yeah.
304
00:15:03,069 --> 00:15:06,437
I think it was owed to,
not only his character,
305
00:15:06,531 --> 00:15:09,523
{\an8}but to the movie and also
to the other diners in the room,
306
00:15:09,617 --> 00:15:11,574
to have a send-off for them.
307
00:15:11,661 --> 00:15:16,155
Amy Westcott, the costume designer,
and her team created these ponchos,
308
00:15:16,249 --> 00:15:19,037
and then they all set about,
over a period of a couple of weeks,
309
00:15:19,127 --> 00:15:23,712
frantically attaching literally
thousands of real marshmallows.
310
00:15:23,798 --> 00:15:26,085
I think that people will watch the movie
311
00:15:26,175 --> 00:15:28,917
and think that these were fake.
312
00:15:29,011 --> 00:15:32,049
{\an8}And they are real and handmade.
313
00:15:32,140 --> 00:15:34,677
You couldn't move, and then
you couldn't take them on and off,
314
00:15:34,767 --> 00:15:36,132
so you have to sit incredibly still.
315
00:15:36,227 --> 00:15:37,388
{\an8}You know, so essentially,
316
00:15:37,478 --> 00:15:39,719
{\an8}you'd sit for a solid hour
without moving at all.
317
00:15:40,314 --> 00:15:42,976
Okay, if they're s'mores,
we need graham cracker in there,
318
00:15:43,067 --> 00:15:45,104
which we knew we could have
on the restaurant floor.
319
00:15:45,194 --> 00:15:46,776
But what about the chocolate?
320
00:15:46,863 --> 00:15:49,821
So we had this idea of creating
these chocolate hats for the diners
321
00:15:49,907 --> 00:15:52,114
that we could then melt.
322
00:15:52,201 --> 00:15:56,240
Shooting of the s'mores course
has been uncomfortable,
323
00:15:56,330 --> 00:15:58,116
but also full of laughs.
324
00:15:58,207 --> 00:16:00,995
{\an8}Because there's never a good time
to have, like, chocolate in your hair.
325
00:16:02,837 --> 00:16:04,669
The picture from above
326
00:16:04,755 --> 00:16:08,464
of what the whole room looks like
when the s'mores are brought out,
327
00:16:08,551 --> 00:16:10,007
and the pouring of the chocolate,
328
00:16:10,094 --> 00:16:14,509
{\an8}and the fact that we are wearing
these marshmallow capes.
329
00:16:14,599 --> 00:16:19,890
And all of a sudden, we recognize that
we are going to be placed in the fire.
330
00:16:19,979 --> 00:16:24,974
What transforms
this fucking monstrosity is fire.
331
00:16:25,651 --> 00:16:26,641
Oh, God.
332
00:16:26,736 --> 00:16:28,693
It was so surreal
333
00:16:28,779 --> 00:16:30,861
{\an8}to know that my character was dying
334
00:16:30,948 --> 00:16:33,235
{\an8}in this horrifically humiliating...
335
00:16:33,326 --> 00:16:36,114
{\an8}...ridiculous setting.
336
00:16:36,204 --> 00:16:37,865
{\an8}I was a human s'more.
337
00:16:37,955 --> 00:16:39,866
The purifying flame.
338
00:16:39,957 --> 00:16:42,949
It nourishes us, warms us,
339
00:16:43,878 --> 00:16:45,164
reinvents us,
340
00:16:45,254 --> 00:16:48,246
forges and destroys us.
341
00:16:49,133 --> 00:16:51,124
We must embrace the flame.
342
00:16:51,219 --> 00:16:56,635
{\an8}I do think that there is
a cleansing element to fire.
343
00:16:56,724 --> 00:17:00,433
- I love you all.
- We love you, Chef!
344
00:17:01,437 --> 00:17:03,804
And that's what Margot is witnessing.
345
00:17:03,898 --> 00:17:06,765
I think she's watching
pretensions and people
346
00:17:06,859 --> 00:17:10,272
that had kind of lost
the meaning of life a little bit.
347
00:17:10,363 --> 00:17:12,570
She's watching it cleanse.
348
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,000
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