Chatting with BARRYMORE Director Érik Canuel

The play was extremely successful and critically acclaimed. Did you find it daunting to adapt it to the screen? 

Daunting is too meager a word to describe it. I was scared shitless, especially with the idea of making it a hybrid. My basic intention was to remain not necessary faithful but truthful to Bill Luce’s amazing words and to the legendary Gene Saks who brilliantly directed the original play as it translate to its cinematic incarnation. I can only hope that the film honestly reflects the integrity of the original work while being a truly original piece of fiction that everyone will respond to. I wished my father was still alive to see it. I’m sure he’d love it. 

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