Art Imitates Life
by RAPHAËLLE DEDOURGE
May, 16th 2005
(Transcribed by Talia Soghomonian from the sonicyouth.com board.)

IN ‘LAST DAYS,’ Michael Pitt brings the legend of Kurt Cobain to life through a fictional character. He opens up to Metro about the experience.

-Kurt Cobain has become such an icon, it must have been difficult to portray a character modeled after him. How did director Gus Van Sant guide you through the role?

--Gus is very free. For me, he is such a good director that you don’t necessarily have to be that great of an actor for him to make a good movie. His direction is minimal. He says what he thinks works and what doesn’t, and he leaves the rest up to you. I've been able to work with lots of good directors, but Gus is by far my favorite to date. The experience of working on that film was a dream. I think it cannot be compared to any other experience.

-Can you think of any anecdotes that sum up his style as a director?

--I remember a lot the first day… and the last day. The first day was basically me, Gus and [cinematographer] Harris Done: we bring the camera into the woods, we go to a place near a tree, we look at each other and we say: “OK, now what do we do?” That’s how it started. Completely improvised. It was exciting.

-Were you inspired by Sonic Youth when you wrote the first song you play in the movie?

--The way I recorded that song was an autotuning, which is similar to what Sonic Youth does. I grew up listening to them, so a lot of what I do is inspired by them.

-What’s happening with your band, Pagoda?

--We’ve been together for three years now. We've just recorded our first album. It should be out about next year, hopefully on Thurston Moore’s label.

-Who are other influences on your work as an actor and musician?

--The Pixies and PJ Harvey.