ALEX: The Master is your first film without Robert Elswit as your DP. How did you go about finding a replacement, what's the vetting process for that? And how was your relationship with him different than working with Robert?
PTA: Well, yeah, the cinematographer I came across was a young guy name Mihai Malamaire who had shot… I don't know if you saw Coppola's films, he's made three real interesting films…excuse me, on the radio I just burped.
MA: Won't be the last time somebody burps on Sirius.
PTA: And I liked his work a lot and I met him and we talked. And it was just a kind of… I felt a little bit nervous for him only because a lot of us had worked together before and you're sort of bringing someone into like a den of wolves, a dirty little family who poop and piss around each other. We're not that bad. And he really did great and blended in with everybody and we had a terrific time messing around with these cameras. He's terrific. He did great. But I also loved Robert and look forward to working with him again. But t was a very encouraging thing for me to work with somebody and grow up with somebody and to sort of get into a situation where you're not going to have them by your side. It actually gave me a lot more… I was terrified, really terrified to work without a real main partner in crime but I did it and it made me feel, by the time I got through it, it made me feel good. I can do it. I can do it on my own. In a good way, I don't have to have Robert. But that said, I can't wait to get back to work with him again.
MA: Did not having him push you in a different direction artistically?
PTA: Yeah, for sure. I mean, you're working with somebody new so you have to find new ways of discussing things and talking. And there's a kind of, initially, you have to kind of express yourself in a new way. You have to be much more polite, you know, and then sooner or later hopefully all that politeness goes away and you're just sort of working with somebody and getting on with the business of making a movie.