Richard Linklater on making Me and Orson Welles: 'He was the patron saint of indie film-makers'

The director of Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise and School of Rock tells Jason Solomons what drew him to the story of new film Me and Orson Welles, why his movies keep returning to the themes of youth and the future, and how he would love to do a musical

Contributors

Jason Solomons, Elliot Smith and Henry Barnes

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
Film review: Me and Orson Welles

Orson Welles, that brilliant beast of the prewar theatre jungle, is here reduced to a gentle moggy, says Peter Bradshaw

Peter Bradshaw

04, Dec, 2009 @12:01 AM

Article image
Richard Linklater: 'I'm not like Orson Welles. I'm a quiet director'

The indie film-maker talks about his new film Me and Orson Welles

Xan Brooks

01, Dec, 2009 @12:05 AM

Article image
Film trailer: Me and Orson Welles

A teenager is cast in a production of Julius Caesar directed by a young Orson Welles

18, Sep, 2009 @8:00 AM

Article image
Zac Efron is a revelation in Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles

The High School Musical star comes into his own in Richard Linklater's period charmer, out in the UK on 4 December, which goes behind the scenes of Orson Welles's infamous production of Julius Caesar. Watch the world exclusive UK trailer here

Catherine Shoard

18, Sep, 2009 @9:04 AM

Article image
Christian McKay on playing Orson Welles: 'He gave me confidence'

British actor Christian McKay, who plays the celebrated director in Richard Linklater's Me and Orson Welles, tells Catherine Shoard why the role was a comfort to him as a film rookie and why Welles's reputation and later career are ripe for reassessment

Catherine Shoard and Henry Barnes

03, Dec, 2009 @1:14 PM

Article image
Richard Linklater: how we made Dazed and Confused
‘When the studio head realised I was directing, he thought, “Oh no, it’s going to be one of those arty, jerk-offski movies.” I still have PTSD thinking about it’

Interviews by Phil Hoad

11, Jun, 2019 @5:00 AM

Article image
Prince of Foxes: Orson Welles is top of the popes in incestuous period soap
Welles has fun as stabby cardinal Cesare Borgia in this saga of Renaissance intrigue and politics – but the actual events were yet more extraordinary

Alex von Tunzelmann

05, Mar, 2015 @8:22 AM

Article image
Dazed and Confused review – Richard Linklater’s joyously evocative hangout movie
Rereleased for its 30th anniversary, this is a seemingly aimless but actually brilliantly controlled movie about Texan kids in 1976

Peter Bradshaw

15, Sep, 2023 @8:00 AM

Article image
Richard Linklater: ‘Someone’s living back there, and he’s murdered somebody’
As his lodger is re-convicted for murder, the director talks about the Texan justice system, the art of storytelling – and why he’ll always be a slacker at heart

Simon Hattenstone

30, Apr, 2016 @8:00 AM

Article image
Me and Orson Welles

A schoolboy stumbles upon a major role in Welles's production of Julius Caesar in this sublime adaptation of Robert Kaplow's book, says Philip French

Philip French Critic of the year

06, Dec, 2009 @12:10 AM