Steven Schachter
A Conversation with Steven Schachter
(Director / Writer / Producer)

Q: How would you describe THE WOOL CAP?
A: I think this story is about two very odd people who impact each other's lives and come out the other end much more whole. It's about people who have been shut off from love and how they are able to open themselves up again to love.

Q: How were you able to direct the actors when the main character doesn't speak?
A: We wrote his lines in the script so that when the other actors were reading it, they would know what he was trying to say. When Bill and I were writing this, a lot of time he would stop and say, "Wait a minute. How am I going to say that?" I would just respond, "Don't worry, you'll say it." But once we got to set, it was a little more difficult, but it worked. I knew if anybody can make this part work, Bill Macy is the guy. I can't think of another actor who could do this. I just had to make sure what Bill was communicating was clear. There's one scene where Bill's character confronts his father after so many years of not communicating with him, but he does it through an interpreter. This was very unique to have this very intense encounter through an interpreter.

Q: How did you choose Keke Palmer to play the role opposite Macy?
A: What I love about Keke is she has this sort of urban, inner-city background. She's from Chicago. She's the real deal. She and her family just recently decided to move to Los Angeles and maybe take up acting. We did a nationwide search for this role. We knew she had to be good because she carries so much of the movie and we found the one girl, in this entire country, who could do it. It just has magically worked for her. We're very lucky to have her.

Q: How did the idea of the monkey come about and how did you cast?
A: When I was on vacation in Northern California, I came across this organ grinder monkey and thought how fantastic it was. That's exactly what the character needed -- the monkey was the perfect foil for him. We had a casting session for the monkey. There was one monkey and trainer who came in and our first question was, "Is this monkey toilet trained?" The trainer answered yes, but then the monkey starts peeing everywhere and attacking people. When Crystal and her trainer came in, she just stole all of our hearts. She would come on set and would jump on us and smack us on the head. She just warmed us all up. I love that monkey.



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