With his HBO special coming up on April 13th, Louis CK has been reappearing in the press lately. In this week's interview with the NY Times, he tells Dave Itzkoff about Louie, the special, working with David Lynch, and delivers this charming anecdote about how he got involved in Woody Allen's upcoming film, Blue Jasmine.
So how did Woody Allen approach you?It just came out of nowhere. I got this e-mail: Woody Allen wants you to come in for something. I’ve been waiting for that e-mail my whole life. I’m not going to pretend I’m above that. I went into his office and read for a part that Andrew Dice Clay ended up getting. Woody said: “I know you can act. I just don’t know if this is the kind of guy that you are. This is a very mean guy, and you’re not a mean guy.”
And I read it, and I was like, yeah, I’m not getting the part. I can be working class. I can’t hit my wife. So I’ll talk the way I would say these things and I won’t get the part, but I’ll leave with my head up high. And that’s precisely what happened. But I was very emotional, because I had just met Woody and he was very kind to me.
Two weeks later I was told, “His assistant is bringing something to your apartment.” It was some pages from the script and a letter from him. And it said: “You were too sweet a guy to do the other one, but this is one you could do. If you don’t want to do this, we’ll do something, someday.” So I read the lines, I was laughing out loud. So I hand-wrote him a letter saying unequivocally yes, and sent it off.
Doesn't it just make you feel good to know people this sweet can find success in this world of wickedness and deceit?
