Interview (Video): Kurt Vonnegut

The famed author talks about the eight shapes of stories.

After I completed my Masters degree, I took off a year (I was supposed to go back and get a Ph.D. — that never happened) and traveled around the country. Freed from academics, I could read anything I wanted to. And what I wanted to — and did — read that summer was a lot of Kurt Vonnegut. His combination of science fiction, dark humor and satire led to some great books, many of which became movies including Slaughterhouse-Five (1972), Mother Night (1996), and Breakfast of Champions (1999). But there is one story I want to share which you very well may not have seen: “Who Am I This Time,” a 1982 American Playhouse presentation directed by Jonathan Demme, starring Susan Sarandon and Christopher Walken. Here’s the premise:

From a short story by Kurt Vonnegut. Christopher Walken is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever he takes a part in a local amateur theater production, he becomes the part completely — while on screen. Susan Sarandon is new in town, a lonely itenerant telephone company employee. On a whim, she auditions for and gets the part of Stella to Walken’s Stanley when the theater group does A Streetcar Named Desire. Before anyone realizes the problem, she falls deeply in love with the sexy brute, not knowing what the real man is like.

It’s a wonderful movie (60 minutes), human and delightful with a nifty twist at the end. So unlike other Vonnegut stories and all the more interesting for it.

Here is a 1983 interview with Vonnegut:

Here is a 2004 lecture Vonnegut delivered:

This is the lecture where Vonnegut talks about the eight shapes of story:

Vonnegut was an amazing writer and it’s fascinating to watch these videos in order to get a glimpse inside his creative mind.

For 100s more interviews with screenwriters, writers, and filmmakers, go here.