Yep, that squares with the stories I’ve heard.

I’ll play along with your “celebrities I’ve peed next to” thread and raise you Richard Schiff and Jake Johnson.

This is like an angrier/crazier version of the Gosling/Stone meeting at the beginning of La La Land.

Out of curiosity, what did Ellroy say to make you hang up on him? I’ve never had to hang up on an interview subject, but I wonder where I’d draw my line.

I’d actually rather them not show up at all than show up and be mocking, combative assholes about it. I posted in another thread that friends of mine who worked with Cusack on Runaway Jury and The Butler all said he’s an everyday asshole (and those are interactions I’d trust more than interviews).

Ha, the possibility of a language barrier occurred to me, but the interview really does give off the vibe that all but one were just doing the “too cool for school” shtick.

Here’s another one for you, then. I rode the train from NYC an hour to some small town where a friend was getting married. Her husband’s been in PR forever. On the train ride back to Manhattan, I sat with another guest who’d worked decades in PR for the music industry (she was even quoted in the I Want My MTV oral…

Just to be a contrarian and spread good cheer this holiday season, the nicest two celebs I’ve had more than a “hello” or “thank you” interaction with are Matthew Modine and Keegan Michael Key. Both told great stories and both engaged in normal decent human behaviors like appearing genuinely engaged and interested when…

Yeah, since most of our interactions with celebs (unless you worked with them) are so brief, it’s usually really pointless to say “he/she’s nice” or “he/she’s an asshole” because we all have bad days and bad moments, but in this case, this is straight-up calculated cruelty and I feel totally comfortable agreeing that…

I haven’t interviewed as many as you, but the ones I’ve interviewed have been at least professional about it (granted, I’ve never interviewed some of the most notoriously hostile celebs like, say, Tommy Lee Jones).

There’s absolutely no other evidence of Curt Schilling behaving in an asshole-ish fashion, so clearly this story must just be an outlier. (sarcasm font)

The nicest refusal story I’ve heard comes from a friend who spotted Paul McCartney. Sir Paul was in a hat and shades, obviously trying to be incognito. But when my friend talks to him, he engages my friend in a little chit-chat. My friend asks for an autograph and McCartney says “Sorry, if I do that, people will…

I did a junket for Skeleton Key and Hacksaw Ridge. Gena Rowlands and John Hurt were incredibly charming. Kate Hudson & Peter Sarsgaard were fine. Mel Gibson is intense, but gave very detailed, thoughtful answers. Vince Vaughn seemed like he didn’t want to be there, but at least answered the questions. Teresa Palmer…

There’s a video of them online basically giving 1-word answers to a flummoxed interviewer for 5-10 minutes.

I have friends who worked with Cusack on Runaway Jury and another who worked on The Butler. All described him as a miserable little prick to deal with on a day-in, day-out basis.