What first attracted you to George Jung's story?
Initially, the story was a classic tale of a young man trying to find the American dream, based on what he thought the American dream was and was told it was going to be. Jung - who represented many of the ideals in America - was also interesting in terms of his importance in the drug trade. But what drew me more than anything was when I met George and ended up really caring about him. Then I wanted to bring this ambiguous character to the screen.
For his faults, you present him as a dedicated family man.
This is something we took from the book and from the stories George told us. When we visited him in prison, he would hope everyday that his daughter would come to see him. Regardless of what he has done - and he has done some terrible things - the tragedy is that he will never have a relationship with his daughter.
Has he seen "Blow"?
He did and liked it a lot. He was particularly impressed by the way Johnny Depp had become him; in fact he felt the portrayal was so accurate that it shocked him.
It's a committed performance.
Johnny dove into it head first, which helped set the tone for the rest of the actors.
The father/son relationship in the film is very touching, thanks in part to Ray Liotta.
Ray is a great actor and I made a conscious decision to cast him. I said you won't get to curse or beat anyone up, which was a relief for him, I think. The father/son thing was also important as it showed a man who had worked hard all his life and yet had nothing to show. It's a prevalent theme in the minds of both kids and parents.
How did you achieve the visual look of the film?
I wanted to get the look of the period right. Being a 70s film fanatic, I worked hard at studying this period to replicate it. We even went as far to use lenses and stock from the period to achieve this.
Watch a video of Ted Demme talking at the "Blow" London premiere and read an interview with one of the stars of the film Rachel Griffiths.
