Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric sat down with actor, producer and documentary filmmaker Colin Hanks. Hanks is the director of the new HBO emotional and intense documentary "Eagles of Death Metal: Nos Amis (Our Friends)," which premieres on Feb. 13. The film chronicles the experiences of the American rock band before and after that tragic night and examines the deep bond between the band's co-founders, Jesse Hughes and Josh Homme. Hanks and Couric discussed the film, his thoughts on President Trump, the recent immigration "muslim ban," Hollywood's and reaction and more.
Watch the full interview on Yahoo below:
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Interview highlights include Hanks on:
What motivated him to want to make the film and tell this story - "The simple fact that they were going back I think was the starting point for us, which was, they're going back to finish this concert, there are millions of questions as to is it too soon, can they handle it, are people ready for that, what is the concert going to be like? There were just lots of questions, as there often are in these sorts of scenarios, and I felt that once we were having the sort of conversation about whether we should even make this film, the thing that I latched on to was twofold. First, the act of going and playing this concert, there would possibly be a chance to show something positive come from this -which is not just the band going and playing the show and their experience doing it, but the band and their relationship with the fans, and they have a very close relationship with their fans, - but the collective act of everyone helping each other go through this experience and taking that proverbial first step and moving on with their lives, I thought was an interesting opportunity. But also the second part of it is actually maybe, could maybe seem selfish but really the intention is pure, is that I wanted to help my friends in any way that I could, and if making this film would help them so that they would never have to speak about this event publicly again, maybe that would be worth the effort. Maybe that would be something that would be worthy enough of it. And so, those two things hand in hand I think were really sort of the thing that made us all sort of agree that it was worth doing."
[CLIP]: The emotional return to Paris for Eagles of Death Metal
His reaction to President Trump's immigration "Muslim ban" - "Well it's funny. You know, I sort of went into this whole election sort of pulling a page from the Elvis playbook of not really saying anything. But you know, I will say this - I don't think that a Muslim ban-I mean just those words together seem like the most un-American thing there is. A ban on religion? That's not what America stands for... But America was built by immigrants. It was built by hardworking people that were trying to escape dire circumstances, and, you know, I would say that we already have rather extreme measures in place to make sure that the people who are trying to hurt us can't get here. And we didn't do this after 9/11, so I don't really quite understand why we're doing it now, but, you know, this is the world that we're in now and I'm just trying to make sense of it like everyone else."
Whether Hollywood should protest or speak out against Donald Trump - "Look, I feel that we are now living in an era in which I think people should be able to express their views and if a protest is good, I think it's healthy, and as long as its nonviolent, I think that people should be able to protest whatever it is that they feel the need is-and if that is a way that they want to protest, I think that they should feel free to do so....I feel if they feel the need to [speak out against Trump], that they're allowed to do it. I understand people's opinions about they don't want to hear something they don't agree with, or they don't want to hear a celebrity or an actor, because they feel like the actor is out of touch or any number of things-which you could argue until you're blue in the face, and maybe you're right, maybe you're wrong-who knows, but you won't know until you live in that person's shows for a little while. And it goes both ways and I think, ultimately, I would never tell someone that they can't express themselves or give their political opinion based on anything. And so if an actor or whomever has an opportunity to say something, I think, well, this is the United States of America, they're allowed to do it. And that to me is, whether I agree it with it or not, whether I feel it's appropriate or not, that is none of my business and they should be able to speak their mind, and I think that goes for everybody."
Whether he has plans to return to "Fargo" during season 3 - "I don't know, you know that is all up to Noah Hawley, the writer and showrunner of "Fargo." It was his sort of baby, sort to speak, and I just always sort of said I can neither confirm nor deny anything but as soon as [if] Noah wants to give me a call, he'll give me a shout when he's ready."
Why he thinks shows like "Life in Pieces" are resonating with fans right now - "I think it's because, and I'll speak for only for my experience with "Life in Pieces," what drew me to the show was that it was a show about a multigenerational family. And so, for lack of a better phrase, there's a little something for everybody, every demographic, from the grandparents down to the grandkids. And that I think is worth something. I mean I can't tell you how often people have said to me 'I'm so grateful to have this show because I can watch it with my entire family.' I think there's something incredibly valuable about that. And for me as an artist, I just started having children so I was sort of familiar with some of these stories and I saw that there was obviously a lot of opportunities there to tell some funny stories and to tell some heartwarming stories, which I think the show is able to do quite well."
