Written Interview: Jennifer Salt (“Eat Pray Love”)
Today’s written interview is with Jennifer Salt who after a lengthy career as an actor has turned to writing. Her credits include 19 episodes of the FX TV series “Nip/Tuck”, and co-writing Eat Pray Love with Ryan Murphy. Jennifer is the daughter of noted screenwriter Waldo Salt whose credits include Midnight Cowboy (1969), Serpico (1973), The Day of the Locust (1975), and Coming Home (1978). Found at MovieMaker.com, here are some excerpts from the interview:
Kyle Rupprecht (MM): What made you decide to retire from acting, and begin a writing career? Did your father’s success as a screenwriter have any influence over your decision?
Jennifer Salt (JS): I retired from acting because I was feeling unsatisfied with the kind of roles I was auditioning for. It’s an awkward time for a woman (being in her 40s) if she hasn’t become a household name; it was just TV lawyers and moms basically. But I also have to admit that when I began writing, it felt better than acting ever felt. I enjoyed the privacy of writing, being totally creative but absolutely on my own creatively (at least in the beginning stages of a script, before the “development process” begins). I did not start writing until after my father died; I did not even consider it. I guess he was a very daunting, brilliant presence — I didn’t resent it, I just didn’t allow myself to hear the call until he was gone.
MM: How did you get involved in adapting Eat Pray Love, with Ryan Murphy, for the big screen?
JS: Ryan Murphy had shared the book with me, just as a friend. Then, after we both loved it, he came to me and said he was going to do it as a film and he wanted me to adapt it with him.
MM: What do you think accounts for the book’s popularity? Why has it struck a chord with so many readers?
JS: It’s a book about transforming your life; giving yourself permission to do something original and personal with your life, which often flies in the face of other people’s needs or expectations. I think it’s a privilege more frequently extended to men, so this is a powerful inspiration for women, especially when you’re over 25! It takes guts. And Elizabeth had the guts, while maintaining kindness and good will toward those around her who were hurt or disappointed.
MM: What was the biggest challenge in adapting the book into a movie?
JS: How do you take a memoir — basically an interior monologue — with no real story in the traditional movie sense, and turn it into a big, Julia Roberts movie that will appeal to the big audience it deserves? We had to take out a story without betraying the truth of the book. Ultimately, the story was found in the details.
MM: What’s the best piece of advice you would offer to someone wishing to change careers? What’s the biggest challenge?
JS: The biggest challenge is how many people will tell you the reasons it won’t work, and how you hang on to a real belief in yourself while learning the rules of the game at the same time. It’s a constant juggling act — you have to be tough and fluid at the same time.
For the rest of the interview, go here.
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