John Sayles: Legends are stories we tell about ourselves and we tell them to say, “This is who we are. This is why we feel good about ourselves. This is something we can be proud of.” What happens when they are more destructive than useful? What do we do with them?
Willy Chavarria: Sadly, we see so much product that is not the best, but it’s selling because it looks good in an Instagram photo.
Sayles: Yeah. That’s just the beginning.
Chavarria: Wow. [Laughs] Wonderful. The strong shoulders.
Sayles: Both of them have quite a few master shots, where the shot keeps going on without a cut, and that’s for a reason.
•••
Chavarria: I look at people walking around Midtown and walking around Queens. I love it. I would love to do that, something very romantic and violent and sad.
Sayles: You could stop and buy vodka, but you couldn’t get out of your car except at certain places to get gas and buy vodka.
Chavarria: It was nourishing and empowering and it really made me feel like I was on track.
Sayles: So that is a constant story. But that’s an old story.
Chavarria: That’s my message. That’s what it’s all about.
•••
Sayles: That’s how porous the wall was in those days.
Chavarria: Oh, man. I’m in someone else’s room.
Sayles: If you talk about it like a screenwriter pitching it, a body is found.
Chavarria: Yep. It happens at night.
Sayles: People like the acting.