Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso The Noah Baumbach Retrospective
Nov 23, 2025
Filmmaker Noah Baumbach discusses his new film, Jay Kelly, drawing on three decades of personal experience in cinema. He shares how a 'quiet crisis' after White Noise reignited his passion for filmmaking. Baumbach reflects on his childhood surrounded by film, including the emotional connection movies provided. He delves into his writing process, revealing how therapy influenced The Squid and the Whale, and his collaboration with Greta Gerwig. Finally, he pays tribute to his mentor, Peter Bogdanovich, and explores themes of legacy and identity in his work.
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Creative Burnout Can Be Situational
- Noah Baumbach checked whether filmmaking still gave him joy after White Noise and realized the problem was the film's COVID-era making conditions.
- Making Jay Kelly revived his energy because the shoot was a pleasurable, invigorating experience.
Body Snatchers Shaped Childhood Fears
- As a child Noah saw Invasion of the Body Snatchers at age nine and kept returning to its terror in therapy.
- He connected the film's theme of people seeming themselves but actually not to his parents' slow divorce.
E.T. Gave Language To Loneliness
- Noah repeatedly watched E.T. and cried because its loneliness and surrogate-parent themes resonated deeply.
- His father framed E.T. as a surrogate father for Elliott, which gave Noah language for his feelings.
