Truman Capote, Al Pacino, Montel Williams and Norman Mailer are just a few of the talented people English Professor Lawrence Grobel has interviewed. However, his most famous interview was arguably a 1978 interview with Marlon Brando ““ earning him the name “the interviewer’s interviewer” by Playboy magazine.
The interview has been made into a book called “Conversations with Brando” and recently been adapted into a screenplay that is in the making of becoming a film.
At a young age Grobel knew he wanted to write as a profession. It was writing poetry and working for his high school newspaper that helped him get his start. After winning a writing contest in his native New York City, Grobel found that he could seriously pursue writing.
“At the end of the school year I went to Washington … I was going to meet President Kennedy. And Kennedy unfortunately went to Berlin. … Instead … I got to meet Bobby Kennedy,” said Grobel.
Before gracing the halls of UCLA as a professor, Grobel was a Daily Bruin columnist and later worked for publications such as The New York Times, Playboy and Rolling Stone.
After making a name for himself as a freelance writer, Playboy assigned Grobel to do a story on none other than Marlon Brando.
“Brando was a major thing in my life. It took me months to get him to actually invite me to (Tahiti). I get there and there he is … Don Corleone. It was a real challenge,” Grobel said.
It was this challenge that led Grobel to critical acclaim at Playboy, among other publications.
“That was really a huge compliment (from Playboy). It got a lot of recognition. It’s had a nice life, this book,” Grobel said.
Grobel’s resulting recognition for his interviews also got him noticed by UCLA.
“I was asked by the English department (to teach). … They knew about (my) reputation … (the head of the English department) said that “˜There are 1,400 English majors at UCLA. What are they going to do for a living if they don’t teach? You’ve survived. Can you teach a course about survival?'” Grobel said.
On Grobel’s second day of teaching at UCLA, he decided to bring in one of his friends, a friend named Al Pacino. Pacino had also encouraged him to teach at UCLA.
Grobel assigned his class, entitled “˜The Art of Interview,’ to interview someone they are inspired by. With the encouragement of Grobel, one student even traveled to New York to interview Tim Robbins. This type of proactive learning is something he imparts to all of his students.
“What I learned in class is something I can take with me and gives me more confidence. … It has given me much more confidence to pursue writing in the professional realm,” said Lygeia Ferragallo, a fourth-year English student.
Grobel’s career has allowed him to share his experiences with others and inspire others to follow in his footsteps.
“I think (Professor Grobel) is a really valuable professor to get to know and study with. He is a valuable asset to the English department,” said Tatiana Tsaloukidis, a fourth-year English student who took Grobel’s class during spring quarter.
With the help of his daughter, Grobel developed the book into a screenplay. The screenplay has been picked up by Radar Productions, where producers are currently looking for actors before moving on to production. Grobel feels it is too early to discuss who is in the film because nothing is set in stone.
With his screenplay now in the process of becoming a feature-length film, Grobel has even found a way to turn his screenplay into an assignment.
“We read his book “˜Conversations with Brando,’ … He thought it would be a good exercise to work with … and try to turn it into a treatment, a description of a movie,” said Colin Williams, a fourth-year English student.
Grobel hopes his students take away resources that will prepare them for writing in the real world.
“If you can connect with the person you’re talking to, it eases the situation. They have to trust you. I try to, in a sense, teach by example. I tell everything. I talk about how much money I make, how much royalties I get for a book, all the things you do not know about as a student,” Grobel said. “I’m trying to let you guys know about it. I look at (the interview) as an art form. It is very rare if you see it.”