CITY Issue 55 - (Page 45) / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / ///// IT WAS A VERY DEMOCRATIC HOTEL, A CHEAP HOTEL, AND A LOT OF PEOPLE COULD HAVE AFFORDED TO STAY THERE BUT IT WAS ALSO MAGICAL IN A WAY. IT REALLY DID HAVE ALL THOSE GHOSTS WHEN YOU WALK IN. JULIAN SCHNABEL’S SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER (PICASSO PAINTING NO. 2) HANGS ABOVE A FIREPLACE IN THE LOBBY OF THE RENOVATED GRAMERCY PARK HOTEL. at two in the mo ning, th ee in the mo ning?” nd he’d be like, “No, it’s g eat. We’ e doing the lighting, we’ e doing the lighting! It’s going to be g eat. I’ve been waiting to see this.” But it was shocking in a good way how much he ca ed. He doesn’t leave it up to othe people. He wo ies about eve y detail. [It was] inc edibly imp essive. What do you think about Julian Schnabel’s design? Was this his maste piece? Well, now that he has a hit movie, you bette like it. . . . [He lau hs.] I will say that [He to this day, and I don’t know why, but I love going to the hotel. I love sitting in the lobby in f ont of the fi e. It’s p obably pa tially because I p actically lived the e at the time Ian was edoing the hotel. But pa t of it is that I can go into the lobby and sit in a chai and be in f ont of the fi e and just look at the Cy Twombly painting, which is inc edible [Ed.: thou h ecentl otated out], and, since I [Ed.: out], don’t have one in my home, I love that. I used to send Ian emails saying, “I’m sitting he e sta ing at the Cy Twombly and it’s just my favo ite thing to do.” nd I meant it. What is you fi nal opinion on the hotel? Pe sonally, I think the hotel is genius. Do I want G ame cy Pa k Hotels in New o k? No, but I love the hotel. I think it’s ve y special and I like it a lot and I think that Ian in a way kind of did his maste piece. But I mostly spend my time going to dives so I’ll always miss the old hotel as well. How does it feel to be a etu ning fi lmmake to T ibeca this yea athe than as a fi st-time ? It’s a g eat festival. I was like, “We’ e not eady! We’ e not eady! We’ e not going to be eady!” nd eve ybody’s like, “ ou’ve ot to be in T ibeca. That’s the hometown festival. It’s the G ame c Pa Hotel.” nd I was like, “I’m so y. We’ e not eady. I am fi nishing this fi lm. The fi lm is fi nished when it’s fi nished and it’s not fi nished.” So we did fi nish and Jane Rosenthal [co-founde of the T ibeca Film Festival] was inc edible to me. I’ve known he fo yea s, and when we sc eened Seamless, she was eally inc edible and I was a ne vous w eck. I’m not fond of public speaking and she was just b illiant. She calmed me down b illiantly and took ca e of me. nd she was wonde ful. So I’m th illed. I’m th illed to be the e and eally looking fo wa d to it being ove because it’s the most wonde fully ne ve-w acking thing a di ecto can do. 45 we en’t going anywhe e. nd I met I a [Gasman, -yea esident of the hotel] and I kind of fell in love with him. nd I met Regina [Godf ied, -yea esident of the hotel] and I kind of fell in love with he . ou know, they’ e just lovable. I fell in love with them because they ep esent a past that is apidly disappea ing. I a is this B oadway vete an. He just ep esents what I think people we e so upset with when they hea d the hotel was closing — a sense of t adition. It was a ve y democ atic hotel, a cheap hotel, and a lot of people could have affo ded to stay the e. But it was also kind of magical in a way. It eally did have all those ghosts when you walk in, whethe it’s the ock-‘n’- oll e a o whateve . When you walked in the e in the ’ s you kind of felt it. It seems like eve y pe son in New o k has stayed the e at one time o anothe . We always called it a beloved institution, but it was, and I loved the hotel. How coope ative was Sch age with you filming? Was he happy that this was going on? Was he happy? I don’t think Ian is eve happy to be in f ont of a came a. He’s actually a shy pe son, and he, I believe, says in the movie, which is t ue, that Steve [Rubell, his late, longtime business pa tne ] was the f ont man and Ian is the mad scientist, the maste builde . One of the things I had a ha d time with was captu ing him because I neve felt like he came off on came a the way he eally was. I had a ha d time captu ing his giddiness and, in spite of all the ha dships and the difficulties, he loved doing it. He was ext emely gene ous with his time and he’s neve done this befo e with anyone. I doubt if he’ll do it again with anyone because it was ha d fo him. He doesn’t like to be the f ont man even though he is. The one thing that I just couldn’t believe about Ian is what a pe fectionist he is and how involved he is in eve y single detail. I’d be in the hotel at two in the mo ning shooting details o something, and Ian would show up fo a lighting test o something and I would just say, “Don’t you wo k ha d enough in you -, -hou days? Do you eally have to be he e
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