Sal Mineo interview 6 of 9

Host: How about the Directors? Mineo: “Those are the people I really did idolize when I was a kid. That’s the thing I really wanted to be, was a director.” “That’s the ultimate… I don't know what happens after that, but I’d love to direct a film.” “I’ve directed a play, I’ve directed an opera, but I want to direct a movie.” Host: Why can’t a Sal Mineo direct a movie? Mineo: “It’s a little more complicated that that. The films I’ve been offered to direct I don’t want to direct. The films I’d like to direct have not been offered to me. So it comes down to I have to do it myself.”” “And this is what I am working on now with a producer.” “I’ve bought the rights to a novel, it’s being developed into a screenplay, and hopefully in 6 months or so I will finally direct something I want to direct.” Is directing for the stage the same as for a movie? Mineo: “I think good actors tend to become good stage directors and good stage directors tend to become good film directors.” “People like Sidney Lumet, Frankenheimer, Daniel Mann — people like that have directed stage and know about actors: 'But it means nothing in the industry. People get to direct in the most bizarre way, like happenstance. There’s no formula.” (This interview was conducted on the set of PS Your Cat is Dead, the play he was rehearsing when he was murdered on February 12, 1976)