One of the staff members from the fansite KStewartBR had the opportunity to see ‘On The Road’ and speak with Walter Salles while he was in South America doing press for the film’s Brazilian July 13th release.
Here’s a few short excerpts from their encounter:
About the choice of Kristen for the role of Marylou: “She was one of the first people to join the project. A friend of mine had seen “Into the Wild” and told me about her. I remember she was so unknown at the time that I had to write her name on a piece of paper not to forget [laughs]. When I met her, it was a nice surprise to know that “On The Road” was her favorite book.”
About having Kristen in the cast: “It was something great to have Kristen in the cast. Several young people who are fans of her and had no contact with Jack Kerouac’s work came to know this other side of literature. And now many of them are fans of this kind of reading.”
About Kristen and Garrett being faithful to the project: “In this movie they received the minimum wage possible, so they were shooting because they really love the book itself. They all remained faithful to the project after becoming famous. Garrett called me every time throughout the period that the filming did not materialize to know if he could accept other movies’ projects, or we were about to start filming “On The Road”, which was his priority.”
For more from the discussion with Walter, including his feelings about Cannes and what he recalls as the most difficult scenes to film, head over to KStewartBR.
