entertainment industry coach question 218: "are you concerned that the content of your movie is going to make people rethink having kids?"

This was a question asked of Viggo Mortensen tonight at the Q & A after a screening of THE ROAD, I attended. I chose to address it, because we are all in this industry to tell stories. The choice of stories we tell vary. I didn't know anything about the movie I was going to see, and without giving any spoilers, I'll just say, it was not a movie I would have chosen to see had I known the content. In fact, about half way into it, I asked my friend, "why would anyone choose to tell this story?"

And then Viggo came out and spoke. And his answers about the depth of the relationships, and the choices that we make, and how people all over the world (not to mention in some of our own back yards) live desperate lives everyday. Did the movie make him sad? Yes. Did it also give him an ironic sense of hope? Yes. I didn't fully get the hope, but perhaps that was just the state I was in today.

I guess I chose to blog about this because no matter the subject of the story, or why people choose to tell them, they have their reasons, and I respect them for it. I'll never see a Saw, even though a good friend is the DP, but some people get something from it. What I really took away from tonight was the gift of hearing a passionate artist talk about his craft. I'm always encouraging you to get mentors. This is why. As sad and bleak as I felt after the movie, I was uplifted by hearing his passion, and passion's what keeps me going.

Final note: Viggo answered the question by saying that he personally would not be influenced by the book or the movie on his decision to have kids. That's not an exact quote, but I'm sure the woman who was filming him on her phone will have it up on YouTube tomorrow. (Not cool in my opinion by the way. Keep that up and people won't feel comfortable volunteering their time to come speak to screening audiences anymore... I'll get off my soap box now.)

For more tips and articles by top entertainment industry career coach, The Greenlight Coach, visit www.thegreenlightcoachblog.com