At the global press conference for Asteroid City, Wes Anderson and the cast spoke about the film’s ideas on grief and how they build camaraderie on set.
When sitting down to write the film that would eventually become Asteroid City, Wes Anderson, along with his co-writer Roman Coppola, had one name in mind: Jason Schwartzman.
“We wanted to write a part for Jason Schwartzman at the center of a movie that would be something he hadn’t done before,” Anderson said at the global press conference for Asteroid City. “That was number one. That’s the beginning. And we didn’t really know what it was, but we sort of had a few notions about what this character was going through.”
Schwartzman first found out that Anderson wanted him to be the star of his next movie in July 2019. Schwartzman knows the exact day, July 11, when Anderson called and pitched him the idea.
“I know it was my anniversary, and I was going with my wife, but Wes was calling, so we pulled over,” Schwartzman explained. “And he said, you know, what I’m sure everyone here gets excited to hear, which was, ‘I’ve got an idea for something. I’m working on it with Roman. I can’t tell you much, but we have an idea for you for something. And we’re gonna work on it, and we’ll get back to you when it’s more completed. But you should be excited.’”
Anderson also wanted to explore two additional concepts: New York theater in the 1950s and the play the actors put on. The play is set in Asteroid City, and the film alternates between the New York theater and the colorful Southwestern desert.
“This interaction of a black and white New York stage and a color cinema scope-ish western cinema kind of story,” Anderson said regarding the two settings. “And everybody’s both an actor and the role they’re playing, but there’s sort of one thing, too, and they kind of mix together. And that is how I got the idea for Asteroid City.”The exploration of grief
In the fictional Asteroid City, a group of students and parents converge in the desert for the Junior Stargazer convention.
