CHARLIE KAUFMAN

Abbot Gensler/Sony Pictures Classics

By DAVID CARR

Published: October 17, 2008. New York Times

Mr. Jonze, who is another of the film’s producers, had little doubt that his friend and longtime collaborator would find a place to stand on his own set.

“Charlie went to film school,” Mr. Jonze said, mentioning Mr. Kaufman’s time at N.Y.U., “but what really matters is that when he was on the set and started asking questions, he knew that he had the answers. For actors he writes about general things in very specific ways, creating characters that are real and believable, and they love working in his movies.”

Like, say, Mr. Hoffman: “I was sitting across the table with him at dinner, and he was telling me about this guy Caden who had just turned 40 and had a child and found that life was suddenly moving very, very quickly,” he recalled in a phone interview. “I’m sitting there having just turned 40 with a kid, and I had no trouble connecting with what he was talking about. He is a real writer, someone who has the compassion and truthfulness to never settle, to never stop asking questions.”

(READ MORE)