Write On: 'Ezra' Writer Tony Spiridakis

“From Robert De Niro, I learned not to force anything. Not to
force your idea of how something should be and then go from
there. Not, ‘Oh, this should be funny,’ or ‘Oh, I'm going make
you cry.’ That's the wrong thing. You just need to think about
the thing the character is experiencing and don't push it – have
it happen. And he was obsessive with me about not trying to make
anything funny and he would say to me, ‘Tony, it's very funny.
But I want you to see the funny happen naturally from the
authenticity of it,’” says Tony Spiridakis on working on the
screenplay for Ezra with Robert De Niro who stars in the film,
along with Bobby Cannavale, William A. Fitzgerald, and Rose
Byrne.  


In this episode of the Write On podcast,
Spiridakis talks about how Ezra was inspired by his own journey
of raising a son with autism. The film shows the very human side
of parenting from the point of view of a standup comedian who
loves his son desperately but doesn’t know how best to help him.
Part road movie, part comedy, Ezra tackles both the perils
and heart-felt comedy of the father and son bond.


Spiridakis also talks about getting cast as an actor in Stanley
Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, then unceremoniously getting let go
from the film. He shares how he turned his disappointments as an
actor into a career as a playwright, screenwriter, and director.


“Okay, so the acting didn't pan out as I had hoped it would, but
I'm still a storyteller and I think that's the beautiful thing
about whatever it is that we gravitate towards – one superpower
or another,” says Tony.


To find out more about writing the screenplay Ezra, listen to the
podcast.