If you watch the late night talk shows, one thing you tend to notice is that while they love to have celebrities as guests, it's not often that they actually invite directors to appear on the programs. This is particularly true if you're a filmmaker with a reputation for making "quirky" or "artsy" films -- which is why it's such a rare treat to be able to go back and find two clips from early '90s episodes of Late Night with David Letterman featuring appearances from two directors who many fans like me can't get enough of: David Cronenberg and David Lynch.
Cronenberg made his Late Night appearance back in 1992 as part of the promotional tour for the Canadian director's latest project -- the adaptation of William Burroughs' novel, Naked Lunch. Cronenberg is fun and engaging in the nearly five minute long segment, bantering with Letterman, talking about how it's not nearly as much fun to make special effects-driven films as most people assume, and sharing quite a bit about William Burroughs. Letterman does his usual cornball shtick, but Cronenberg never lets it knock him off his game. You come away from the segment reminded of how damn smart and interesting the guy is.
The segment wraps with a minute or so of footage from Naked Lunch -- footage that probably had most of the audience scratching their head in befuddlement. That alone is almost worth the price of admission.
Jump past the break to view both clips and read about David Lynch's chat with Dave.
Filed under: Interviews, Trailers and Clips, Stars in Rewind
Continue reading Interesting Interviews: My Two Favorite Davids (Cronenberg & Lynch) on Letterman
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