The seminal tennis match between 1970’s superstars Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King is put under a microscope in the new film Battle of the Sexes, a period piece whose politics and regulations are just as relevant today. Steve Carell plays Riggs and recent Oscar winner Emma Stone plays King. And although the film keeps them apart for most of the running time, they are electric onscreen.
Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris directed Battle of the Sexes and their approach to the film is a smart one, use minimal spectacle with the camera and let the actors bring you into the world of 1973. They also used the same hands-off approach in their biggest hit Little Miss Sunshine and both films benefit as a result.
Dayton and Faris were recently accompanied by one of their Battle of the Sexes actors Andrea Riseborough (Shadow Dancer, Oblivion) on a press tour to San Francisco to promote their latest movie. On that tour stop we caught up with the trio to talk about tennis, gender wars and the ability to love who you want. This is a transcription of that conversation.
Q: How has this press tour been treating you so far?
Jonathan Dayton: It’s fun because you work so hard on a movie and you want to encourage people to see it.
Valerie Faris: Articles like this help. Reading about our movie rather than looking at the Rotten Tomatoes score. I think those kinds of scores really hurt filmmakers and their movies. It reduces everything to this absolutely meaningless number and film criticism is a really important part of the film going experience. Good criticism actually wants to make you see the film.
Dayton: I can respect good criticism but when everything is boiled down to a number or letter grade it’s different. But we digress.
Q: In regard to a different type of criticism, how do you handle studio notes when you’re working on a movie?
Dayton: It always starts with a dialog. As a director I think your number one job is to have a point of view and then be open to new information that informs your ultimate goal.
Faris: We invite friends and people we trust to see different cuts of the movie in progress to get opinions. We like that process when it’s elective but when you’re put through the test screening process, that’s when we have a harder time dealing with it.
Dayton: Particularly on this type of movie where it’s a sports movie and a love story, those don’t always go together. People may come for the tennis aspect of the movie and then find out there’s also a love story in it between two women. For some that might be upsetting but that’s why we wanted to do it. It’s very easy to dig up public record about the tennis match but we really wanted to shine a light on what was going on in Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs’ life at the time. Something that could make people understand these real-life characters more deeply.
Q: With Bobby in particular you show him as someone who is trapped by his own addictions. Money and fame are the things he is most vulnerable to.
Dayton: Exactly right. During the pivotal match we wanted to show that Bobby was more loyal to the money his sponsorships would bring than he was to the actual match.
Faris: When it came to the characters being put in front of a spotlight for the world to see we talked to Emma about that in advance because we thought she could relate to it. You have a public that looks up to you and has certain expectations of you, those are things Emma and Billie Jean definitely shared.
Dayton: Deep down these characters just wanted to do what they truly loved. For Bobby it was gambling and for Billie Jean it was being with the woman she loved and not needing permission to be who she was.
Q: Andrea, you came to this movie at the last minute. Was it a taxing process for you to jump into the material without a lot of time to prepare?
Andrea Riseborough: A bit. I’ve been acting since I was nine and doing classical theatre when I was young. Moving around is strange but I’ve spent most of my life doing it so you get used to it after a while. I really enjoy it even if sometimes I’m pretending something extraordinary is happening to me.
Q: Like in Oblivion? Your character went through a lot in that movie.
Riseborough: Those kinds of things are a different entity.
Q: You mean studio films?
Riseborough: Yeah, I did a few studio films and they’re not for me. They can be fun too but I prefer a real artistic experience. Life is precious. When you’re working on something like Battle of the Sexes that comes from a place of love it’s really easy to get behind it. When you’re doing something that’s about space and explosions it’s not quite as easy to get behind it. I’ll be honest.
Q: I can tell.
Riseborough: Oh yeah.
Q: Speaking honestly, what’s your work ethic on set?
Riseborough: I don’t have one because I’m not looking for comfort on set. If you’re an artist and you’re looking for comfort you’ve picked the wrong profession.
Q: With all the questions you’re getting on this press tour is there one question you wish would go away?
Faris: I like what we’re talking about so that makes it easier. Women’s equality and sports are always good subjects to talk about.
Dayton: The question we get a lot is, “do you guys battle when you’re making a movie?” I guess that makes sense given the title of the movie but our first job was interviewing bands for MTV so we learned pretty fast how to get outside of the rote answers. One time we interviewed Tom Waits and I thought we had gotten the best interview with him ever. Then I saw him give the exact same answers in Rolling Stone magazine. That’s when I realized this guy is a great actor and writer because he just makes it look easy.
Q: I’m just trying to keep things fresh on my end so I don’t ask the same questions and make you doze off in the middle of this interview.
Dayton: (laughs) Mission accomplished.
Battle of the Sexes is now playing in limited release.
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