My friend TV is working on a film in Austin, TX with the legendary director Terrence Malick, and sent me a little anecdote about an interaction with him:
“So, last night Terrence Malick gave me a fist-bump. It was one of the weirder moments of my life — he’s not exactly the fist-bumpin type. He came into my edit suite, excited about one of the scenes I was working on (not my work in particular, just how the scene had come out)… then suddenly reached his fist out towards me with a goofy smile (and a ton of rumpled notes, pens, folders, etc in hand). It waited there for several long moments as I tried to come to grips with the situation. Finally, with ZERO self-assurance, I hesitantly pushed out my own fist and gave him a gentle “tap” before he snapped back to rambling about the scene and left the room. I’m sure I’m dramatizing it in hindsight, but it was weird. I don’t know him very well yet, but he’s a funny guy (not talking about his sense of humor) — an awkward introvert who decided a long time ago that he wouldn’t suffer contact with people unless it was necessary for the things he found important (like making movies)… He’s perfectly friendly, but I would never describe him as “fun.” Maybe he’s just starting to warm up to me, and he’ll be perfectly fun later on … he does seem to enjoy drinking (and apparently enjoyed a lot of cocaine in his youth). I’ll keep you posted … maybe we’ll become best of pals — but I doubt it.”
To be a fly on that wall!
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