Tom Hanks and Marty Baron on ‘The Post’ Movie | The Washington Post

still there so there you go welcome to my own when Meryl and Steven leave it's like I'm still waiting in baggage claim for my trunks to come down happy to be here well thanks for doing this Tom thanks for doing double duty today appreciate that and I just want to remind everybody that you can find video of the session tomorrow morning on Washington Post live.com so there you go you can watch it yourself actually so and did a great job so I want to thank Ann for the the interview she did so we're so lucky to have her and she left me a few questions to ask so in preparation for this this role I understand that you got been lessons from sally quinn as ever I had I had a long what is it been long laundry well you know I had I had already looked at an awful lot of the material and and I mean I had dinner at Ben and Sally's house back in the day through Nora Ephron and a few other people when it was great kind of like salons where you kind of think it does everybody love each other or hate each other I've been to I've been to a few of those yeah not quite sure but it was it was kind of like his about his joy of wife I mean you know his his his enthusiasm his love of what he did is his sense of what was right and wrong and what was what I loved was everything I've heard from people who knew and loved been in great detail there is all a reflection of of the same image his chatting with him on occasion was exactly like reading his his memoir a good life it was exactly like every piece of a video that I've seen every interview I've seen he's good he is this the same genuine interested man he was he and in particular in regards to the the Pentagon Papers in that same Poynter Institute interview that I talked about he said you know yeah you look at it now well you know what was the big deal you know it was it was an old document had been sitting around for for five years and then you think about it why was that worthy of an assault on the First Amendment and a threat to throw everybody in jail simply because it said what Dwight Eisenhower said in 1952 and that that that that kind of long long-haul marathon like perspective was something that I think he I think it was part of his his his credo of how to put out a newspaper and how to tell the story and how to how to get to the truth how to be I don't know how to be cynical without being a cynic you know how to understand that anybody in power even if they're just the head dogcatcher of you know of Claremont Montana might tell you a lie in order to protect his job in his private parking place and you just think what why would anybody in power lie oh well it's in order to maintain a status quo or to gain some sort of purchase and knowing that they do that is one thing but constantly expecting them them to lie all the time is something else and I think for that reason he was he was a magnificent guy to a time and place and job and responsibility and what do you think the lessons are for today for for journalists today from from been and I'm gonna tell you not to get it wrong this is another thing that he said I says you have to have all the confidence in the world that that story you're putting on the front page is the truth because if it's not you said you have to eat it but 24 hours and it doesn't taste good and that was back when you know an incorrect story or inaccurate story would would you'd have you know 24 or 48 hours in order to clean it up now it has all sorts of repercussions that go around the world much much faster and I think that is I think that was a paramount if I was going to divine what was the what is the lesson to learn from then and now is number one you never stop but number two it's got to be right and you examples of it if there's so much of a sliver a crack in the authenticity of it there is a not only is there a certain price to pay but you give an opening to the liars to to make hay of that yeah these repercussions are instant and then they last actually more than 24 hours the well yeah now they'll base policy on it you know all right or you know continue on a guerilla war against the Fourth Estate that will just go on and on and on oh and fueled by inaccuracies right so so how do you think journalism is doing these days what is your assessment well I think it's killing this movie is this movie is about courage in journalism and great journalism but what's what's your thought on journalism today are we doing well and you don't have to be kind just because you're here at the Washington Post thank you well I am now to the point that I have removed all news alerts from my phone really I don't I'm not part of any email chain because I found that there was a ton I mean it was ringing it honestly every three minutes from some source or another I also got rid of solitaire so I'm not playing so much of that because the the the the volume of it is is too ongoing and I found myself a reading looking at the headlines and yet yet not reading in the stories just because there were so much I think bona fide good true reflection of the Fourth Estate as it is meant to be is is is fabulous now because it's more valuable than ever before the the war that is going the guerrilla war I think that it's going on in by obfuscating and denigrating you know the aspect of what journalism and what a Free Press means is really meant to do one thing and one thing only and that is to give somebody plausible deniability if you keep saying it's fake it's false it's a lie it's a lie it's a lie when the truth comes out you have a pretty good record of saying that it's a lie it's a lie it's a lie and at the same time of course there is legitimacy of that that brand of outlet that is hell-bent on putting out false news or innuendo true treating a fantasy or you know conspiracy as outright fact and by that you delude the playing field which I think again makes the work of journalism as defined by the great American tradition of it more valuable than ever before there's a there's an adage that that just the truth will out at the end of the day the the nonsense disappears by the wayside and the truth remains it's you know lies are made out of sticks and and gossip is made out of straw but the truth is made out of brick and it stands there for a long time it stands the test of time and you still believe that because these days a lot of people are worried that the public won't be able to distinguish between fact and fiction they won't know what are the falsehoods and what is the truth I am there breaking into this of tribes it's as very tribal environmental I am I am a lay historian by my choice I read history for for enjoyment and there has always been this has always been there has always been a father Coughlin on the radio or a Colonel McCormick with a great metropolitan newspaper writers disposal there has always been this and yes they hold sway they're able to they were able to steer public issues for a while but eventually they fall down they because they're because it's it's a it's it's it's a porous enterprise and it is based on an agenda and eventually people catch up the reality is of course is that the technology is is letting all that happen on at hyperspeed on steroids but along with that to the truth can go around the world almost as fast as a lie and a lie will disappear in time and a truth will remain as constant as a speed of light and so therefore I think I think of people who have that same ethos and have that same sense of responsibility of let's get it right because if you get it right all they can do all they can do is disagree with it they can't argue with it they can only tell you whether or not it's important or not and time tells that right in terms of the press this is a movie I love lathering a roomful of journalists well they're not a room for analysts they're not a roomful of journalists but they're tell me what acting to let you lecture us or more actually here because I want to know whether you feel that the press is I mean it's a movie about challenging Authority and the sort of the highest authority and in this country the the presidency and the entire federal government are we is the press doing that enough these days do you feel that it's challenging Authority and the way that it ought to oh yeah I think it is but absolutely constantly is whether or not it gains purchase is is does it hold sway I just saw a Katy tour actually I was on the Stephen Colbert show with Katy tour and what she went through on the on the on the campaign trail of literally being vilified in the center of an arena with you know eight thousand angry fans who felt a little bit like she was in a Roman Coliseum there for a little bit so that that exists because the volume of information that's out there the volume of vitriol an opinion let's just say opinion is out there and it's it's so massive but I think that the well you know in the in I was I'm not a news junkie I don't watch everything all the time all the time but even and even in the Alabama race and the coverage up to it I saw much much more coverage of more than I did see of Jones III I don't think I was ever saw a bit of Doug Jones's campaign stump speech and yet we were seeing the same footage over and over of Rome or and like the question I would have is why why is that why aren't we getting some of the message that's coming across from the other side but we're it's as far as a TV go well here's here's a here's the one of the great difficulties I think because I know people that that work for the network's and it's if I decide I'll just a euphemism and just pulling the sat on my head if you find out that say coca-cola can kill you over time it could give you diabetes it can make you obese it's mostly made out of sugar it will rot your teeth where'd you get that idea and if you want to do a three minutes story on how it's really really terrible for you to drink do you think it's going to appear on the CBS Evening News it's not because coca-cola pays mil billions of dollars in advertising revenue for football and for everything else that dichotomy is in place and I think we sort of know it and maybe we accept it but you have to read that type of store and I'm not taking on coca-cola because I have type-2 diabetes so I could speak for an experience you have to be able to find that that's somewhere and you might have to turn to you know less organ organ z' in order to find that out but as long as you can still find that out you might be slightly ahead of the game I don't know that print journalism has the same sort of Dickel but you know you guys are owned a lot of magazines and newspapers are owned by other greater conglomerates that might have a problem doing that and this is just you know some aspect of the corporate hackery that goes on daily in daily life in the United States of America so we it's the amount of hopefully there's I think Merrill said it best you guys here for when Merrill spoke when she says we did you know it's to step forwards and and and one step back and I think we can just keep our nose above water if we continue at that pace so you get covered a lot yeah I do and so what do you make of what I make of coverage of yourself I mean I people try to obviously they want to know more about you I you know they would like to know more about your private life you're very private and I recall I read a quote about you for example what did I say I got to tell you you said quite frankly I think I just never trusted the press to get it right so what did you mean by that well let me Marni let me open my heart that's what we're here for I remember a long time ago a friend of mine this is when actually when I was promoting splash that was very young man and I thought they had vented had invented the press junket just for us movie because our movie was so special and a friend of mine said hey I got it I got our interview I got a call from the the the report is going to be entering me and she said do you think tom is more like the next Cary Grant or the next James Stewart and the guy said you know I think he's the next Cary Grant he's good-looking enough and you know he can handle the repartee and uh he's good with dialogue III think he'd be the next Cary Grant and the journalist said but don't you think he's the next James Stewart so there is there is a sort of editorial decision that has been made before you said that unless of course you say something so stupid that they Hantz you've bored my f-bomb the that will haunt you for the rest of the day but also part of it is also well you know it's it is it really ridiculously important I think I discovered and might be got lectured long ago that what you do is you you don't lie you must not lie to the press I don't I don't think I've said outright lies but you also just tell them enough of the truth one of the jokes I always say in long interviews which this does not rate as Marty aniseh is that your your job is to find out what makes me tick right and my job is to make you think you have found out what makes me tick in which case I'm just like anybody new in so I'm just trying to maintain my place on the food chain [Laughter] so I wanted to get back to there was a discussion in the previous session about the role of women in the film industry that sort of thing you know what how does the industry deal with that how do you get more women in in prominent roles how do you get women more as producers and women well you know I am I am extremely lucky and for some reason I'm ahead of the curve because I have had so many women bosses as I was coming up Penny Marshall gave me my first you know you know big kind of like movie that landed Nora Ephron I've worked with Amy Pascal was my boss on like four movies over at Sony a Stacy Schneider has been I have worked with an awful lot of women and powers of authority my luck because you know that they got their jobs through a meritocracy regardless of their gender in order for there to be a bona fide change Meryl has talked about this it requires the movement of women into positions of power and responsibility simple as that when there is that type of closer parity literally in percentage of men versus women in decision-making processes in the in the green lighting and the creation and the writing and the designing of a directing and films there will be a whole different sort of there will be a different brand of uptake I think one of the most exciting things you could say about what happened is I forgive me I don't know her name but the woman who directed Wonder Woman delivered something that it was assumed that women by and large could had never really delivered before a big Rock'em Sock'em action tentpole movie that is going to you know hold up for a lot of other sequels now you know that's an important aspect of the Commerce of the industry and more of that is has to happen I mean there's no other way of give more women jobs if you want to truly camp in and then obey or agree to I think a code of ethics that goes along with not just to behavior but a code of ethics this is what's what are your principles as far as as making movies go and putting out product I think in a lot of ways television does a much better job of motion picture still then out there the women women are writing directing producing designing and making decisions for for television shows to a much much greater number than motion pictures simply because of the money structure and the economics is so expensive when it comes down to making money but parity in the boardroom and in the in the in the writers room across the board that will make a huge difference and I loved what Meryl said earlier there will be a backlash and there will be a backlash to the backlash and beyond that will come will come some other well it will settle down and I think they'll start cutting off the names of people's at the top of the resume so you don't know if it's a man or a woman right it seems like you've been somewhat of an ally and a advocate for bigger women women's roles as well and in movies that you've been involved in you know you were and you produced Big Fat Greek Wedding and Mamma Mia also been a co-star where women have played large large role and that's not an output that's not an altruistic choice quite frankly I mean that would just you know that's the way it all worked out mmm maybe I should say no those were specific choices because I want a badge gamut I want a badge that says good guy I would a good guy bad but that's it honestly it does it does go it does go back to the the great good fortune and exposure I had early on I I can't can't quite pay much attention to it I will tell you this I have never been more afraid of a boss no man has scared me as much as Nora Ephron did when I write when I was working for her and and by I have never been more more happy with myself at pleasing a boss when Nora Ephron told me that I'd done a good job so is that why you dedicated the movie Turner well that was that was so Stevens choice Nora Nora nor is connection to all of this is is pretty you know pretty extraordinary yeah because she was she was a great journalist who you know one of these days someone's going to play Nora Ephron in a movie and I hope they get it right it'll be a hard thing to do on there's been a bit of controversy about this movie it's come from a competitor of ours the New York Times yeah which has been kind of apoplectic about the idea that this movie about Pentagon Papers is focused on the Washington Post when the New York Times broke the Pentagon Papers case mm-hmm what's your what's your what your thoughts on that well they don't have Katharine Graham in all honesty we okay all right if they've had a catheter am it would be I'd be we'd be calling at the Times and we'd be here and you guys would be pissed off so at the moment we have no complaint we actually we read I saw an op-ed piece before we just would the day after the movie was announced which else how dare they from the perspective of the New York Times we give it all that we give it all the credit and credence that it's due we are playing catch-up to the New York Times they break at the Neil Sheehan story it's a main story point of what we're going and and there is a type of movie to make about the New York Times getting it but it's not going to be as interesting interesting as the post because of Katharine Graham this the the our screenwriter Liz Hanna and then Josh singer as well captured the zeitgeist of this moment because it does take place at in this critical week where she went from being the daughter or wife of the man who ran the paper and on the paper to being the owner and Runner of the paper and she had to she had to make the decision that could have easily cost her everything and it had to be done very quickly because the press is needed to roll in another hour and 45 minutes with her and they're in all of the attendant attention that it gets into the gender politics as well as the historical perspective of those great shots of her not not being listened to or her being the only woman in a room full of suits of being told what she had to do or if she would be ruining her legacy and in the newspaper that's what just kind of like Jax's movie out of being a story of how a story a movie about how a particular story was broken those human details I'm not saying that New York Times could have had fascinating human details but I don't think they're gonna top Katherine gran becoming Katherine Graham you could just call this movie Katherine and it would be and would be as accurate about what's going down as if you called it the Pentagon Papers of the post and that's that's a screenplay actually I read in February before it became much more detail-oriented that Stephen brought to it and I thought that's that's that's enough that's enough right there so god bless him I it's funny that I can't imagine they'd see this movie and still be as pissed off as they are but they're a cranky bunch up there aren't they yeah they are they are I can say that for sure you know actually everybody slack so I'm not going to cut them any what do you think of that I with you there for sure I've actually talked to a lot of people there and they've some of the people that the New York Times has suggested that there ought to be a movie focused on about Watergate sat in the newsroom of the New York Times there you go so you're interested in let them chase it and let go like that on yeah who would I play in the previous session it certainly delved into the realm of politics and political statements and important public issues do you see that as something an important role for you as an actor that you should have a role in shaping public opinion I adhere to the Shakespearean definition of what my responsibility is and that is to hold the mirror up to nature I am very suspect of any film that is bent on altering a consensus I'm all in favor of films that are built on enlightening people to facts or ideas or making making things like acceptance so glamorous in a movie that everybody wants to try to do it themselves in their own lives but as soon as you start trying to alter the conscious bend that to a particular kind of will it's like didn't gurbles try to do that isn't that what what what he set out to do it's not propaganda I mean there is propaganda we see it all the time and there's in regards to nonfiction stories there's an awful lot of revisionist history that can go into it sometimes it just to make the story a little bit cooler or to raise the stakes or make the jeopardy more more palatable to a palpable to an audience as well but there is a there is a there is a danger there I mean I will say that every time I've played somebody who was alive Richard Phillips or Charlie Wilson for Charlie Wilson's War Jim Lovell Sully I've sat with him and I said now look I'm gonna say things you never did I'm gonna go places you never were I'm gonna do things that never occurred outside of this I'd like to be as authentic as poss so help me reconcile the fact that I'm a fake you and so that it cancels so that it can withstand some degree of long-standing viewing look these are all documents whether they're good or bad they go into they go into a file I mean Gone with the Wind has looked at in one way in order to be a reflection of what slavery was like in the United States for good or for bad that's true this movie will go in up onto a shelf and someone is going to look at it and weigh it as far as its it's a authenticity or not and I think that if you're doing that about the past that's incredibly important because I believe that is what Shakespeare told the the advice to the players hold the mirror up to nature try not to make things up try to be true to the do not only the details but the behavior of the people involved because when you start paying attention to the logic of it this is I'm a big guy on logic police on movies I I beat I beat the living daylights out of screenwriters both as an actor but also as a producer and say explain this to me how did these people get to this position you're making an assumption there on what is or what is not important don't monkey around with the motivations who were there but in any more than you'd much Iran with where North Dakota is on a map we know where North Dakota is on a map they'll put it somewhere else just because you want to you want to have a palm tree in North Dakota it's a wet that's a weird way of talking about it but that's actually what it comes down to you don't always get you know like if you're running around the Louvre trying to figure out what da Vinci wrote on the back of a painting it's not exactly the same requirements but you you don't laughs come on like you do however want to live in the same physical universe that everybody lives in even if you're not living in the same you know sort of like rule of behaviors it's very hard to drive across Paris in 20 minutes but you know you could you can fake that for a movie but you are responsibilities I think at the end of the day is is is really quite large and it does go back to that brilliant thing is what an actor's job is is to speak the speech I pray you trippingly on the tongue as I pronounced it to you and to hold the mirror up to nature that's that's our job - Spencer Tracy said our job is to hit the marks and tell the truth when that is expected of you it's a lot easier it's a lot easier to to give in - right well in this interview the the other day with BuzzFeed I think Merrill expressed some reservation about being a little too political being out there politically she's been outspoken on a number of issues and as have you do you have any reservations along those lines or do you feel well the truth is no nothing you do goes uncommented uncommented on that's just that you're these people no good deed goes unpunished well now no good deed goes unpunished but that's alright the the there are types of people that are specifically out there you know pretty with a very kind of specific political message or agenda or I'm not quite in that realm but I do choose the work I do I wanted to to accurately reflect you know sort of where we are as a society one of the in one of the areas that I'm quite particular about is the standards construct of the story often is antagonist protagonists that means there has to be a bad guy in every story and my question is why does there have to be a bad guy in every story there is one in in ours but its dick Nixon you know that that we knew we knew what he was up to there's no other there and there's some people say and it's all kind of like reflective and accurate they're not not to jump on the the Hamilton bandwagon but there's a there's a magnificent scene in Hamilton in which it's a wrap that's going on that lin-manuel Miranda wrote in which Thomas Jefferson is arrival to Hamilton and Jefferson speaks and you agree with everything Jefferson just said and then Hamilton speaks contract contrary to what Jefferson said and you can't help but agree with Hamilton says and it goes back and forth and back and forth it's not somebody trying to crush the dreams of somebody else it's not that line that happens in an awful lot of movies where sooner or later someone says something like well before I kill you Mr Bond perhaps you'd like a tour of my installation look notice ventilator shafts wide enough for a man to crawl through unfortunately you will not have that opportunity Mr Bond you don't you don't get in that kind of thing I'm growing tired of this game I don't I don't like I'm not interested in those kind of stories and I never have been and so politically I find putting out any sort of any sort of statement with the choices which is probably the best way anybody can be you know be a socially politically active is to well you you got it you gotta weigh the difference between being evil and just being not correct or having somebody have a better idea than yours right we're out of time Marty very much everybody's talking about Janelle thank you very much thank you thanks for staying everybody [Applause]

Channel: Washington Post

Views: 12,210

Rating: 4.7647057 out of 5

Keywords: marty baron, tom hanks, ben bradlee, katherine graham, the post film, washington post live, washington post, steven spielberg, the post movie, the post, washington post movie, The Washington Post, Washington Post YouTube, katharine graham washington post, Washington Post Video, journalism

Id: cm32Sc_4pGM

Length: 31min 13sec (1873 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 15 2017