Interview: John Hawkes, Director Ben Lewin on ‘The Sessions’

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HollywoodChicago.com: Well, touch has become more sexualized in society and you seemed to do something different. Were you thinking about that as you were writing the screenplay?

Lewin: It was kind of a revelation for me, although it shouldn’t have been, when I was unraveling Mark’s story. It’s a cultural thing regarding touch, that varies from person to person. In London, for example, you don’t make eye contact with people. It’s regarded as a hostile thing to do there. But in Los Angeles, people are always making eye contact, to say hello. At first I thought it wasn’t sincere, but now I’ve grown used to it. So in some cultures, bodies in proximity to each other demand some kind of connection, you don’t ignore it. It varies from one place to another.

HollywoodChicago.com: In developing the story, were there any roadblocks in making sure the interactions between Mark and the people around him were truthful?

Lewin: One of the biggest surprises to me, when I read Mark’s article about hiring a sex surrogate, was how explicit and ‘full frontal’ it was. I thought I wanted to go in that same direction. But when I was writing it in script form it really made me cringe. There were sexual elements that were difficult to show on screen, just using me as a test audience it was too much information. I found that the priest character, beyond being a spiritual adviser, became sort of a conduit to move the explicit stuff from the bedroom to the confessional. So instead of making you cringe, it would make you laugh. His reaction would make you laugh. That unexpectedly developed during the writing.

HollywoodChicago.com: You had a news report in the beginning of the film that highlighted the clichés of the handicapped – the courage, heart and feel good aspect. How did you deflate these clichés in writing and directing Mark’s stories?

Lewin: I actually liked that opening cliché news report, because we read it for exactly what it is, so old fashioned that it’s almost politically incorrect, almost patronizing. I like kicking it off like that, because he was a poster child for independence with his handicap, with the most unlikely type of independence you can imagine, to live in an iron lung and somehow control your own destiny.

Otherwise, I don’t adhere to any political correctness, humor is a way to defy that correctness. The very character of Cheryl [the sex surrogate] in calling a vagina a vagina, is like learning to drive and here is the steering wheel, we don’t call it anything else. It was part of the whole language of the movie, so I hope it puts a dent in the culture of political correctness.

HollywoodChicago.com: You have two religions interacting in ‘The Sessions.’ in their interaction with the physical form. What forgiveness were you seeking from the Catholic and Jewish faiths?

Lewin: It was encapsulated in the line where Mark says, ‘you can’t have too much insurance.’ I would describe myself as a fundamentalist atheist, but I am fascinated on how religion plays into people’s lives. I’ve come to respect it more and more, there are reasons people have religion and they have it in very personal ways. I don’t think everyone does it according to the ‘book,’ I don’t think he did. I hope I was saying something about the flexibility of religion. That God is someone you can blame as well as worship.

HollywoodChicago.com: Was William H. Macy a recovering Catholic? He seemed to play the priest like he was.

Lewin: I think Macy tell you more about sin than I lot of people I know. So in that sense, I think he’s an ideal Catholic. [laughs]

HollywoodChicago.com: This spirituality in the film, you seem drawn to it, in the sense that everyone has their own journey?

Lewin: As a writer, you have to appreciate people who are poets – even though I’m not one – because I relate to people who are. They re-interpret life, and that re-interpretation is often what we call spirituality. You translate the mundane details into something a little bit larger. I was groping for that kind of thing, without having a particular angle. For me, the cat in the beginning of the film is a spiritual element. By chance, it became part of his story.

HollywoodChicago.com: Why did you include his unrequited relationship with the caregiver in the beginning of the story? Was it to establish his desire?

Lewin: He wrote so much poetry about that girl, that obviously that he had an ongoing obsession that went for years. It went from total devotion to fiery anger, which everyone has problems letting go of when we’re more naive. I thought that was good kicking off point for him to consider what it is all about.

HollywoodChicago.com: I had read that you considered disabled actors for the role, but what was it about John Hawkes that had you know that he could take on the part?

Lewin: Partly a casting director, who took the project very personally. She seemed to think that John would give it more than anyone else, really bring soul to it, I was inclined to believe her. When I met him, I did feel an affinity between him and the character of Mark.

There was a wryness about him that I related to, and that’s the way I wanted Mark to be portrayed. John is also a sweet natured guy, nothing like the creepy parts he has played. Also at a physical level, I was looking for a small framed actor, because I didn’t want to do computer generation or body doubles, it would be a total nightmare. We could cheat a bit, because people don’t really remember what having polio looks like. I had a doctor friend who looked at a rough cut, and was convinced that John was a real polio victim. I felt that John had the right physical frame, and the right motivation to accomplish the transformation. I just felt like I was on a roll, and everything that happened was meant to be.

HollywoodChicago.com: In your immersion into this story, what did you learn personally about love?

Lewin: If I didn’t know it already, I became more aware that sex is only the beginning. That moment of disillusionment that he has, as in is that all there is, is part of the journey. In the sense that I have any messages about love, maybe it was that the priest, in all his verbosity, had nothing to say. [laughs] I think also that in the end, whatever it is, you’re just not going to put your finger on it. It’s not definable.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com [email protected]