The runaround (table)
One is the loneliest number, except when it comes to interviews. So you’re assigned to interview some sort of luminary, but the catch is, you’re not doing it alone: you get a precious short amount of time, plus you’re forced to do it with a group of other journalists. How do you make the most out of a roundtable interview?
“I’ve had many experiences with clueless journalists who waste time asking questions they could have have just as easily found on the Internet,” says Nathan Rabin, Head Writer of the Onion AV Club, for whom celebrity interviews are a regular assignment. “For example, ‘When were you born?’ ‘How tall are you?’ ‘Is this your first film?’ (this question is dumb under the best circumstances, downright insulting to people who’ve done a whole mess of films nobody saw).
“My advice for roundtables is to do your homework and be prepared,” continues Rabin. “Asking a question that shows that you’ve followed a person’s work and take them seriously is a great way to set them at ease, just as asking a really stupid question that betrays that you know nothing about them is a good way to get off on the wrong foot. For example, I once did a junket for “Your Friends And Neighbors” and I asked Natassia Kinski if she learned alot about acting from her dad. Later on I learned that she was horribly estranged from her father, who was a monster and a tyrant. Also, be professional. Don’t ask for autographs or swoon. Also, try and ask original and probing questions. Most people doing roundtables have been asked the same question literally hundreds of times (‘What was it like working with Leonardo DiCaprio?’ ‘How are you like this character?’) and will give the same rote, boring answers every time. Try and ask a question nobody else has. It will impress the person you’re talking to and hopefully get them to open up.
“My roundtable horror stories all come from doing junkets with junket whores, the lowest form of pseudo-journalist,” he says. “These people invariably refer to movie stars by their first name, as if talking about their bestest buddy (‘Julia was so open this morning. She and Cameron really seem to like each other!’) and adopt an attitude of entitlement that somehow renders them even more insufferable than usual, sometimes even complaining about the swag they got for free (‘Yeah, they gave us a free bathrobe but it’s not even made of that good material’).”
However, what if you’re not as prepared as you’d like? If another writer asks a probing question that you hadn’t thought of, can you poach it? “It depends on the publication,” says Rabin. “We at the Onion have a policy against using quotes from other journalists.”
Leonard Pierce, a freelance writer in Chicago, has also had roundtable experience, namely interviewing Charlie Kaufman and Michael Gondry for UR Chicago. “One way to get around the issue of who asked what question is to not write it up as a Q&A, but just use the subject’s quotes, but that’s up to your editor.” To be prepared, he says, “I always like to show up early, because sometimes you can get some good quotes off the cuff before the actual roundtable interview starts.” In addition, “Always have more questions than you need, because the odds are pretty good that someone will ask one of “your” questions before you get the chance. Make sure your tape recorder works, too.” Like Rabin, he advises, “Make sure you clear with your editor how they want to handle the nature of the interview. Some places are sticklers for mentioning it was a roundtable and not a one-on-one.”
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