November 21, 2005

Interview: Michael Barnathan

POZ interviewed Rent co-producer Michael Barnathan earlier this year about the November 2005 release of the film. Here are a few excerpts from that conversation:


POZ: Right before Rent debuted on Broadway in 1996, creator Jonathan Larson made a big poster collage and members of the cast and crew attached articles about what was going on with AIDS at the time. Was there any AIDS education on the set of the new film?

Barnathan: Not really, but six of the eight original cast members are in the movie so they bring with them all the experiences of those first years. Back then, some of them didn’t know much about what was happening with AIDS, so I think Jonathan felt he needed to expose them to it. For instance, he brought in a woman who ran a life support group for AIDS patients.


Why did you choose to stick with most of the original cast?

Casting the same people brought all of that earlier understanding to the film. They brought so much passion because they’ve been through it all.


What about the stars who weren’t in the original production?

Rosario Dawson grew up on the Lower East Side at that particular time [when the film takes place]. Her mother was a squatter.


How has the script been updated at all?

It hasn’t been updated except for what film allows us to do—get off the stage. It’s opened up and we see more of NYC, more of the Lower East Side. It’s set in the same time period. It ends sort of ‘89-91. In terms of the story and the characters, [director] Chris Columbus was very much trying to keep what Jonathan had written. He didn’t feel it was his place to start changing it.  


Has it been difficult to work with the script of a deceased writer? To know what his wishes were?

Chris didn’t have a problem with it. He went back to the original text and asked a lot of questions to people who knew Jonathan well, from his sister and father to the music director of the original Broadway show—who was also the film’s musical director.


How did you and Chris come to acquire the rights to Rent?

While shooting Stepmom in New York, Chris saw the play and said, “You guys have to come and see this.” I think it was its first year on Broadway. We were all blown away. Chris had said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we did a movie with this kind of emotion and this kind of passion?” It wasn’t about doing Rent—just about a movie that had this kind of energy. We kept track of the movie rights because Chris was very passionate about it and eventually, we were able to get involved.


What were the challenges in bringing it to film?

Recapturing that magical thing that happened on stage. The original cast of the show felt a certain meaningfulness about the show and then, with Jonathan dying, it became a memorial to Jonathan its first year—as well as to all the people of the world suffering and dying of AIDS. To recapture that on film is probably the biggest challenge—to not let any of the darker elements of the show bring down its positive message.  


Do you fear it will be tough to sell AIDS to American audiences?

We don’t have a film as a film about AIDS.  Nor do we view Rent as a show about AIDS.  AIDS is an element of it.  People are sick. People are dying. But what the show is about is living your life and living for today. The movie has a beautiful, positive message. 

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