The Writers: “Waking nightmares”

The second of four Variety end-of-year articles on screenwriters:

To arrive at an Oscar-worthy screenplay, scribes must fend off writer’s block, fill in plot holes, and solve even the thorniest writing puzzles. These four writers wrestled with, and eventually conquered, scenes that proved to be nightmares:

A few of the featured writers:

John Logan “Coriolanus” adaptor

In adapting Shakespeare’s “Coriolanus,” Logan’s biggest challenge was emphasizing the intimate relationship between Coriolanus (Ralph Fiennes) and his mother, Volumnia (Vanessa Redgrave).

“To me one of the most brilliant things about that amazing play is that for all the complexity it really comes down to a mother and son,” says Logan, adding it was “important and challenging to try to communicate how insular their relationship is.” His toughest scene is when Volumnia describes to Coriolanus her political ambitions for him and is briefly interrupted by Coriolanus’ wife, Virgilia (Jessica Chastain). It was Logan’s idea to set that scene inside a bathroom, while Volumnia bandages Coriolanus’ wounds.

“That was a way to suggest she’s been intimately taking care of him, the same way your mom bandaged your knee on the schoolyard.”

Will Reiser “50/50” scribe

Reiser says the scene in which the audience first sees Katherine (Anna Kendrick) “actually being good at her job” as a therapist was difficult scene to write. Though he was constantly taking input from co-producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, and director Jonathan Levine, Reiser hadn’t finished the scene until an hour before it was shot. For Reiser, the determining line was when Katherine says, “So, she’s got a husband who can’t talk to her and a son who won’t,” to Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), about his mom.

“That line to me, that line completed this puzzle,” without it, the second act of the movie wouldn’t have made sense, he says.

For more of the article, go here.