David Straithairn

…on the challenges in preparing for the role of Edward R. Murrow.
Well, you mentioned how much there is accessible information and image and sound of him, the challenge is—in this one in particular —in weeding through all of that information and to figure out what apropos for the moment in the film. I mean we weren’t making a biopic about his time in the fields in the North West or his Washington State University time or even in London (Murrow is remembered for his broadcasts from the British capital during the Second World War). So, part of the challenge was selecting moments about him, information about him that I could apply to the film. And trying to replicate respectfully the image that people have of him and also to objectively present a person who a lot of people have know idea who he was. And to weave that into our ensemble so that it is part of the story and not is something that would derail an audience’s appreciation of the film…

… on the role of the artist.
(There is) this phenomenon of the artist in society and an artist as a voice and even more specifically as an artist to whom people go for certain kinds of support, political people in particular. The artist was the most revered voice in the Greek society. That is where they found out about their Gods. And the artist is somewhat culled from the herd in many ways positively and negatively by what they do vis-a-vis popular culture. Do we represent it? Are we a conduit for it? Are we a shill for it ? Or are we an illuminator for it. All of those exist in our culture. It is up to every individual artist to choose which thing they want to do. I personally believemdash;as this film doesmdash;it is the artist’s responsibility if they pick up the gauntlet of being a voice for their world. It is their responsibility to be as objective as possible. That’s with this film. Now people are going to take runs at this film. But that is just their own particular agenda. People may look at “Guernica” and say this is (just) a black-and-white mish-mash. Or they may look at Goya or they may listen to Phillip Glass…or they may watch reality TV. It all depends on what the culture we are talking about wants. So there is a double-edged responsibility. You get what you deserve. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the artist should cater to one particular thing. I think it is our responsibility to honor an age-old notion that we are somehow conduits for what is happening around us. That is why it is sad that you don’t see films like this. But it is because we are not asking for films like this. For the most part. And it takes intelligence, it takes bravery, it takes money, it takes accessibility, and it takes a sense of history—all of which George brings to this film—to actualize it. I don’t know. Artists are citizens first. They just choose to be artists. And it’s a fine line. And to be maligned for saying, “Look at this and think about this.” I mean, Murrow was an artist. He was a poet, he was an amazingly articulate man, and he was professional and at bottom he was a common, common man, very much a product of the American way. There is a lot in there.