Daniel James Brown on Adapting “The Boys in the Boat”
“We writers, for the most part, don’t often find ourselves in such situations, so I just want to take the time to appreciate it.”
Q&A with Zibby Owens
Daniel James Brown is living every author’s dream! A bestselling book? A film deal? George Clooney directing? What more could you ask for! In an exclusive interview with Zibby Mag, Brown shares what it’s really like to have his book adapted for the big screen, what he learned about writing from the process, and his big plan for premier day! Read on for all the behind-the-scenes tidbits, and don’t miss The Boys in the Boat in theaters on December 25th!
Zibby Owens: What was it like having your book adapted? Better or worse than you expected?! (We won’t tell.)
Daniel James Brown: Well, first, let me say that it’s a great honor to have a book adapted to film. So many worthy books never make it to the screen. In my case, except for a very long delay, it’s been an entirely pleasurable experience for me. Since the project landed in the hands of George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and the team at MGM I’ve felt it’s been in good hands.
Tell us what working with George Clooney as a director was like. What surprised you about that experience?
I can’t really say that I’ve worked directly with George, but he did take the time to call me before he began work on the film and we had a long, fruitful conversation. It was clear to me right from the beginning that he “got” the essence of the story. He talked about how he had grown up without much in Kentucky and how his early struggles trying to make a living helped him empathize with Joe Rantz and all those working class boys who had this audacious dream to go to the Olympics in 1936. We talked again after he invited me and my family to an early screening of the film, and I was happy to share with him that I thought he captured the spirit of the story very well.
Did turning your book into a film teach you anything that you’ll take into consideration when writing your next book?
I think it did. Any movie adaptation of a book is bound to highlight certain threads of the story and leave other threads out. Otherwise, the film would be four or five hours long. Seeing what the screenwriter, Mark L. Smith, included and what he didn’t was interesting to me in terms of what he found most suitable for the screen. So I learned a lot from that. Not that I would write the book any differently if I were to do it again after reading the screenplay. I enjoy the more expansive format that a book provides. It allows me to dive more deeply into the characters’ backstories and motivations than could possibly happen in a two-hour feature film. But yes, if I write another book the experience of having seen this one adapted will probably affect that next one.
Speaking of which….what will that book be?
I’m not entirely sure. I’m playing around with an idea for a novel. Actually, I’m well into writing it. But it very much remains to be seen whether I can make the jump from nonfiction to fiction at the level that I expect of myself. Ask me again in a year and I may be able to answer that.
Who do you think should see the film? Should they read the book before or after?
I’d recommend the movie to everyone and anyone who enjoys a good, uplifting, fun night at the theater. You definitely don’t have to be a fan of rowing or a sports fan to appreciate this story, either in book form or movie form. In both cases, it’s about the human heart. I guess I’d suggest reading the book first, if only because you will have a broader context for what you see in the movie. On the other hand, if the characters and the themes and the story you discover in the movie appeal to you, I think you’ll enjoy diving deeper into them in the book after seeing the film.
What’s the secret to longevity as a working author?
It’s really all about getting started in the first place, summoning up the energy and the resolve to keep trying to get those first works published, pushing it out there until something finally clicks and you find the right material and the right voice with which to tell a good story. Like most things, it takes a lot of trial and error, and often a lot of failure, before you discover who you are as a writer, what your niche or role should be. But once you get started, as long as you are moved by good stories and feel a compulsion to share them, you will never age out of being an author.
What would you have told yourself when you were, say, 25 years old?
Start now. Be patient. Understand that you’re probably only half baked, so keep the oven on.
What was your favorite part of the movie? Was it also your favorite part of the book — if you have one?
In regards to the book, I particularly enjoyed writing about the Poughkeepsie “national title” race in 1936. It was a spectacularly dramatic come-from-behind win for “the boys,” and trying to recreate it on the page was a challenge but a fun one. In regards to the movie, I particularly like the way it builds toward the climactic gold medal race in Berlin. I found myself really getting swept into the emotion of that even though I wrote the book and have replayed that race a thousand times in my mind.
What are your big premiere plans?
I’ll be attending a special screening in Seattle and then a few days later the formal premier in Los Angeles. I’m really looking forward to both, but not really sure what to expect at either. I suppose I’ll just be trying to take in the spectacle of it all. We writers, for the most part, don’t often find ourselves in such situations, so I just want to take the time to appreciate it.
Daniel James Brown is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Boys in the Boat, The Indifferent Stars Above, and Under a Flaming Sky. He has taught writing at San Jose State University and Stanford University. He lives outside Seattle.
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