The curious mind of Crispin Hellion Glover

The eccentric iconoclast discusses his film career, his art, and his upcoming Tulsa visit

Crispin Hellion Glover is a film star, director, author, and musician. He’s George McFly in “Back to the Future.” Or he’s Layne, the over-protective best friend of a murderer in “The River’s Edge.” He’s Olivia Neutron Bomb, a re-creation of a twice fallen snowflake called Groovin’ Gary, in the cult oddity, “The Beaver Trilogy.” He’s a rat catcher and the Knave of Hearts. His body of work defines the trajectory of a subversive career. 

Now, Glover comes to Tulsa Overground with his ongoing directorial passion project, the the first two films of a three-part trilogy, “What is it?” and “It is fine! Everything is Fine.” in tandem with the live performance of his multimedia, one-man exhibition, “Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show.”

THE TULSA VOICE: Having never seen “What is it?” or “It is fine! Everything is Fine.,” I have to ask what “it” is.

CRISPIN HELLION GLOVER: “What is it?” started production as a short film in 1996. It took 9.5 years from the first day of shooting on the short film to having a 35mm print of the feature film. I wrote it as a short film originally to promote the viability of having a majority of the characters that do not necessarily have Down syndrome to be played by actors with Down syndrome. 

I am very careful to make it quite clear that “What is it?” is not a film about Down syndrome, but my psychological reaction to the corporate restraints that have happened in the last 30 or more years in filmmaking. Specifically, anything that can possibly make an audience uncomfortable is necessarily excised or the film will not be corporately funded or distributed. This is damaging to the culture because it is the very moment when an audience member sits back in their chair, looks up at the screen and thinks, “Is this right, what I am watching? Is this wrong, what I am watching? Should I be here? Should the filmmaker have made this? What is it?”—and that is the title of the film. What is it that is taboo in the culture? What does it mean that taboo has been ubiquitously excised in this culture’s media? What does it mean to the culture when it does not properly process taboo in its media? It is a bad thing when questions are not being asked because these kinds of questions are when people are having a truly educational experience. So “What is it?” is a direct reaction to the content of this culture’s media. I would like people to think for themselves.

Steven C. Stewart wrote and is the main actor in part two of the trilogy, “It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE.” I put Steve in to the cast of “What is it?” because he had written this screenplay, which I read in 1987. When I turned “What is it?” from a short film into a feature, I realized there were certain thematic elements in the film that related to what Steven Stewart’s screenplay dealt with.  Steve had been locked in a nursing home for about ten years when his mother died. He had been born with a severe case of cerebral palsy and his speech was very difficult to understand. People that were caring for him in the nursing home would derisively call him an “M.R.,” short for “Mental Retard.” This is not a nice thing to say to anyone, but Steve was of normal intelligence. When he did get out, he wrote his screenplay. Although it is written in the genre of a U.S. 1970s TV murder mystery/movie of the week/detective thriller, truths of his own existence came through. Because of the dynamic of the genre style he had written it in, truths came through much more clearly than if he had written it as a standard autobiography. It was also very important to Steve that he was playing the bad guy. He wrote about this issue and he wanted it to be understood that a person with a disability, emphasis on person, can have dark thoughts.

About a month after we finished shooting, I got a telephone call one morning that Steve was in the hospital with a collapsed lung again. He was basically asking permission to take himself off life support and he wanted to know if we had enough footage to finish the film. I know that if I had said “No Steve. We do not have enough footage. You need to get better and we have to finish the film,” he would have gotten whatever operation needed to get better and been happy to come back to the set and shoot. As it was, we did have enough footage. It was a sad day and a heavy responsibility to let him know that we would be able to complete the film.

In retrospect, Steven C. Stewart was a great communicator. Steve has had great positive influence on my life and as much as I did like and enjoy Steve when he was alive, I realize now even more how important he was to me. It may sound sappy, but if Steve were here today I would be very happy to tell him how much he ultimately positively has affected my life.

TTV: You’ve been touring with these films for a while. Do homegrown fests like Tulsa Overground get you excited? Do they feed your motivation to make these films?

CHG: Yes, film festivals like Tulsa Overground are very important in getting more thoughtful fare out to audiences that are looking for it, and to be able to interact with people at the festival is important as well.

TTV: Are the films and the accompanying “Big Slide Show” meant to be seen together as a symbiotic performance, or can they be taken on their own?

CHG: The live aspects of the shows are not to be underestimated. This is a large part of how I bring audiences in to the theater and a majority of how I recoup is by what is charged for the live show and what I make from selling the books after the shows.

People sometimes get confused as to what “Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show (Parts 1&2)” is, so now I always let it be known that it is a one hour dramatic narration of eight different profusely illustrated books that I have made over the years. The illustrations from the books are projected behind me as I perform the show. 

When I first started publishing the books in 1988 people said I should have book readings. But the books are so heavily illustrated and the way the illustrations are used within the books, they help to tell the story, so the only way for the books to make sense was to have visual representations of the images. This is why I knew a slide show was necessary. It took a while but in 1993 I started performing what I now call “Crispin Hellion Glover’s Big Slide Show Part 1.” The content of that show has not changed since I first started performing it. But the performance of the show has become more dramatic as opposed to more of a reading. The books do not change, but the performance of the show, of course, varies slightly from show to show based on the audience’s energy and my energy.

I consider what I am doing to be following in the steps of vaudeville performers. Vaudeville was the main form of entertainment for most of the history of the U.S. It has only relatively recently stopped being the main source of entertainment, but that does not mean this live element mixed with other media is no longer viable. In fact, it is apparent that it is sorely missed.

TTV: You have the only 35mm prints of “What is it?” and “It’s fine! Everything is Fine.”—having destroyed all of the digital copies. What motivated you to do that?

CHG: There were no digital copies destroyed. There was a digital intermediate between the 16mm negative that those two films were shot on and then the final medium for presentation are 35mm prints. The 35mm projection systems are the superior projection for these films. My next feature film production was shot on 35mm negative.

TTV: Speaking of celluloid film, are you a purist for 35mm as a filmmaker? Or do you embrace digital? 

CHG: There is value in digital technology. There is an aesthetically superior element in 35mm film, but again there is value to digital technology. 

TTV: Many of your performances in the ‘80s—in some very successful films—defined your image for a generation (myself included—my favorite was always Layne in “River’s Edge”). How do you feel about those early years? And do you have one role in particular that you look back on fondly? And what kinds of roles get you excited now? 

CHG: Some of the performances I like of myself are:

Layne in “River’s Edge”

Larry Huff in “The Orkly Kid”

Dr. Abuse in “Influence”

Danny in “Teachers”

George McFly in “Back to the Future”

Andy Warhol in “The Doors”

The Thin Man in “Charlie’s Angels” 

Willard in “Willard”

Bartleby in “Bartleby”

Grendel in “Beowulf”

Cousin Dell in “Wild at Heart”

Dueling Demi-God Auteur in “What is it?”

TTV: How method did you get as Jingle Dell in “Wild at Heart”? I always wondered.

CHG: Imagination and working with David Lynch was the way of making the character work for “Wild at Heart.”

People often ask about, and throw around the term “method” acting. That term was coined by an acting teacher Lee Strasberg who derived it from the great Stanislavsky who did not use that term. I did learn classical Russian psychological techniques which delve in to the psyche of the character and therefore the actor. This is still what I prefer to do. The concept of “being the character” or “staying in character” can ultimately be the best way to have a good performance, but the most important thing is to have proper concentration. If “staying in character” would detract from the concentration it would be best for me to keep the concentration of the psychology in whatever way is best. 

If the production is about staying in character and the director wants that from the performers, then there may be nothing better. But if the actor would have to enforce this concept it could be distracting because the actor might be thinking “Oh this person hates me and thinks I am a jerk because I am acting meanly.” Some actors may not have a difficulty with that but I personally do not want to have that possible distraction. 

TTV: “What is it?” and “It is fine! Everything is Fine.” are the first two parts of a trilogy? How’s the third film coming along?

CHG: I should not go in to too much detail for part three of the “It” trilogy, “IT IS MINE.,” as it will not be the film I shoot next. 

The Czech Republic is where I own a chateau built in the 1600s. I have converted its former horse stables in to film shooting stages. Czech is another culture and another language and I need to build up to complex productions like “What is it?” and the existing sequel “It is fine! EVERYTHING IS FINE.” “IT IS MINE.” is an even more complex project than the previous two films put together, so it will be a while yet for that production. I will step outside of the trilogy for a number of films that deal with different thematic elements from the “IT” trilogy.

TTV: Anything you want Tulsa to know in advance of your visit?

CHG: More information can be seen on CrispinGlover.com. I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the shows.