Susan Orlean - Adaptation/ Susan Orlean and John Laroche Interview

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Interview: Susan Orlean and John Laroche
The author and the orchid thief answer questions from the red carpet at the premiere of "Adaptation."

SUSAN ORLEAN (Author of "The Orchid Thief")

What is the story behind your book, "The Orchid Thief?"
I heard about an obsessive orchid collector in South Florida and I thought, "What a strange and wonderful thing. I've got to look into this." The more I looked into it, the more I wanted to know more. It drew me in. It just sort of pulled me in. It was a hypnotic kind of story.

What do you think about what screenwriter Charlie Kaufman did to your book?
I think it's brilliant. It's hard to imagine that somebody could have taken the book and ended up with it here. I think that what he did was amazing.

What was your initial reaction upon seeing the script?
Shock and a certain amount of reservation, that's for sure. It took awhile until I thought, “Alright, I think I can do this. I think I can adjust.”

Your character in the movie goes through a lot of changes, and not all of them are complimentary. Are people who know you asking you why you let the filmmakers do this with your name?
(Laughing) You know my parents saw it the other day and that was the scariest part of it for me. Even they enjoyed it so it made me feel comfortable. From here on out, I figure everything is easy.

And there's also the fact that Meryl Streep plays you in the movie.
That was wonderful. It made it much easier for me to do this. I thought that no matter what, it's going to be good and it's going to be done with a real seriousness and with an effort to do something real special and great. It made it a lot easier for me.

What do you hope the audience gets from this story?
I feel like one of the things is that it really does is present the book as it is, which is a real sort of meditation on passion and this world of beauty and seduction. I feel like that's really there in the movie and it's kept really intact in a wonderful way.

JOHN LAROCHE

You are known as the 'Orchid Thief,' the inspiration for Susan Orlean's book. How would you describe yourself?
John Laroche I'm a father, I have a baby, and that's what I am and that's what I do. I'm not the 'Orchid Thief' anymore like I used to be. It's kind of like saying, “I used to be in high school but now I'm not.” Same thing.

What do you think about Chris Cooper's portrayal of you in this movie?

It's fabulous. It's exactly as I was back then.

Did he ever study you prior to filming his role?
[I] never met the man and Charlie Kaufman never met me, either. They just wrote this off of conjecture and what they thought.

How do you feel about Kaufman's adaptation of the book, “The Orchid Thief?”
You know what? It's exactly right. If you read the book, you know you can't make a movie out of the book. It's impossible. Charlie, I'm sure, saw that and said, “Alright, what am I going to do?”

Do you think he captured the spirit of the book?
Yes, it was phenomenal. He did a great job.

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