:09:01
I had to get enough knowledge to
be able to ask people questions. . .
:09:07
. . .that wouldn't be insulting,
and be able to listen.
:09:10
And after all the information I got,
I had to. . .
:09:13
. . .pass that on to different people
making a movie.
:09:17
I met survivors in Europe,
L.A., Poland, Israel, all over. . .
:09:22
. . .just scores and scores of them.
And I became quite knowledgeable.
:09:27
Kazik was very helpful. His influence
was details, factual things. . . .
:09:34
There were kids running, people
starving, feathers floating. . . .
:09:38
You say, ''This looks incredible.
So real. All these buildings. ''
:09:43
Then you see this man standing there
and he's laughing, smiling or staring.
:09:49
And you realize,
wow, he was here.
:09:51
He looked around and he pointed to
a third floor in the square and said:
:09:57
''That was my apartment. '' I think
we all had chills down our spine.
:10:01
I thought for a second or a minute. . .
:10:05
. . .that I am back in
the Warsaw Ghetto.
:10:08
It was something unbelievable.
Really, it was shocking.
:10:14
And action!
:10:17
To create these bodies, these actors,
these characters. . .
:10:22
. . .was an enormous challenge
as a filmmaker.
:10:25
Much of the cast wasn't Jewish.
It didn't even begin whatever it is. . .
:10:30
. . .that being a Jew is, just as
being black is or being Spanish is.
:10:35
I believe actors can play
anything, PC or not. . .
:10:38
. . .that's what I felt.
:10:40
Jon Avnet was very persistent.
I said, ''I'm not Jewish. ''
:10:45
When I was in university,
I wished I was Irish or Jewish.
:10:49
I so regretted my wretched blue eyes.
:10:53
He convinced me that I could play
that character and that I was Jewish.
:10:59
I'd say, ''Let's do this scene. ''
And they had to be ready.