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Reiner shotShock and Aweat the height of the 2016 presidential campaign.
Youve told stories about Washington, D.C. before but theyve mostly been from the top down.
How does telling one from the bottom up change your approach?Its about telling the story.
So its not a different approach.
So were telling that story, and thats a story that Ive wanted to tell for 15 years.
Thats something we put in the film, the character that I play says that at one point.
The reason I think its important now is because we see journalism under attack more now than ever.
The president calls them the enemy of the people, fake news and all that.
To me, there have been some great movies made about Iraq.
What were we doing there?
How did we wind up there?
And why didnt the public get the truth as to what was going on?
Thats where we are and thats what I wanted to tell with this movie.
Im curious what it was like making this film at the height of the 2016 election.
Again, I dont feel that the mainstream media did their due diligence during the campaign.
They dont realize that this is going on.
But its happening right now.
You dont usually cast yourself in such a major role for one of your films.
I thought, Oh my God, this is just unbelievable.
To be honest with you, I dont like acting and directing.
Its too much of a split focus.
But, you know, as they say, I was available.
And I work cheap!
I jumped in there …
You were definitely going to be on set every day.Yeah.
Michelle gave me the one bit of direction that I tried to live up to.
I was playing this editor John Walcott, and she said, attempt to be less Jewish.
I tried to take her direction, I dont know if I pulled it off or not.
Youve been on Twitter for two years now.
So its very much the way I felt when we were heading into Iraq.
Thats when I started tweeting.
I said, I cant believe this is happening.
Best snake oil salesman ever!
The one thing he is good at is selling himself, and hes done that.
Now hes got this cult of people following him no matter what he does.
Hes got them all worked up and angry.
Hes a real con man.
I mean, P.T.
Barnums got nothing on this guy!
This is the first year since 2014 that we havent had a 30thanniversary of one of your films.
What is it like to be asked to reflect on your earliest work every year?Its weird!
I think next year is, like, the 30th anniversary ofWhen Harry Met Sally.
It is, andMiseryafter that.
I get a great kick out of that.
When we made the film, it did okay.
It wasnt a big hit or anything like that.
It just kind of did all right.
I attempt to find my way into a story.
So thats what I do.
Television has taken over because you could do better work on television than you could in films.
When I was there, there were three networks, essentially.
Now youve got over 60 outlets creating product.
Theyre seen on television, but theyre also seen on laptops, and iPads, and smartphones.
Theyre seen in all kind of ways, but I guess its not made for the big screen.
I see so many good things on television.
They only make franchise pictures.
These are big investments.
Its like a start-up every time, a new business.
I met her during the making of the movie and I changed the ending because of that.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
