In nearly every Woody Allen movie, from Bananas to Midnight in Paris, which opened this year’s Cannes film festival, there is a central male character who’s a facsimile of Woody Allen (neurotic, brainy, urban). And, like a sun encircled by planets, Allen surrounds his cinematic twins with a constellation of fascinating, beautiful, and unique women. While the Allen men are consistent and familiar, his female characters are surprising—they defy the industry standard of one-dimensional moms, babes, or best friends. In his 11 showings at Cannes, the 75-year-old director has introduced such striking and diverse characters as Mariel Hemingway’s precocious teenager in Manhattan; Scarlett Johansson’s seductive and doomed would-be actress in Match Point; and Penélope Cruz’s crazy, enticing Maria Elena in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. Allen was clearly inspired by Mia Farrow, and her versatility in his Cannes films—from brassy blonde in Broadway Danny Rose to innocent time traveler in The Purple Rose of Cairo to unofficial matriarch in Hannah and Her Sisters—is remarkable and has unfortunately been overshadowed by their personal turmoil. In the end, although the work endures, Allen quickly moved past Farrow: He has, seemingly, no shortage of muses. In this year’s Midnight in Paris, he tweaks Rachel McAdams’s good-girl image, reimagining her as a socially ambitious, fast-talking nag. “I wanted her to play the bad girl, the girl who’s sexy enough to be negative and still interesting,” Allen told me over the phone this spring. “But I’m crazy about Rachel. I have great adoration and lust and interest in all of the women in my films. It would thrill me to go out with all of them.”
As a former stand-up comedian, Allen initially wrote his scripts for himself. “I was the male,” he explained. “And I played the lead. I never used to be able to create parts for women. But then I met Diane Keaton, and we started dating and moved in together, and I started writing for her. She had a huge influence on me. Keaton has that large, large personality: I’d write the jokes for my character and she’d get all the laughs. By the time I got to Annie Hall, I was more comfortable writing for women than for men.”
Since Allen hates holding auditions, he spots most of his actresses in other movies. “Casting is so awkward,” he said. “I’m too shy to meet them. I have the women come in and I don’t let them sit down. I make up some questions, but I couldn’t care less about chatting. I only see them to make sure that they haven’t gained 200 pounds or had five face jobs. I want to see that the woman I saw on the DVD is still intact.”
