The Moment

Neil LaBute on Truth, Connection, and Raising the Question

The controversial writer and director talks about why critics and audiences often mistake his sense of morality with that of his characters.

Neil LaBute
Neil LaBute

Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Photo by Aaron Eckhart.

Listen to this episode of the Moment with guest Neil LaBute:

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This week on the Moment, Brian Koppelman talks to Neil LaBute, writer and director of movies such as In The Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors. The two discuss Neil’s television show, Billy & Billie, and examine his process as a director by taking a closer look at his 2013 film, Some Velvet Morning. Also, Neil talks about his work as a writer and why critics and audiences often confuse his personal sense of morality with that of his characters. Plus, Brian and Neil meditate on the social utility of truth-telling and to what lengths writers and audiences are willing to go in order to feel connected in a world that’s ever changing.

Topics discussed on today’s show include:

Neil LaBute Has a Thing About Beauty” a New York Times article
Your Friends and Neighbors
In The Company of Men
Billy & Billie
Some Velvet Morning
Full Frontal
Irreversible
This Is How It Goes, a play by Neil LaBute
The Magic Christian by Terry Southern
Bash, a play by Neil LaBute
Fritzl Case
I Smile Back by Amy Koppelman
A Mouthful of Air by Amy Koppelman
The Clown by Heinrich Böll

People discussed on today’s show:

Neil LaBute
Alice Eve
Gaspar Noé
Ben Stiller
Amanda Peet
Jeffrey Wright
Euripides
Shakespeare
Nick Drake
William Golding
William Goldman
Heinrich Böll

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Twitter: @BrianKoppelman
iTunes: itunes.com/themoment