From the beginning, though, things were a little weird. In stark contrast to the dignity of the ballroom of the Dorchester Hotel, the Goats conference was held in Screen 5 of the Vue West End, in London’s Leicester Square. This set up a bizarre situation of sitting in a cinema seat, staring at real-life actors, in front of a movie screen, while a bank of photographers and film crews (sitting in the audience) are furiously snapping and recording away. But do read on, as there are some enlightening gems about the genesis of the film – and book – among the recurring conference characters and tabloid rag antics. Including an epiphanic moment, in which Spacey and Clooney talk about the cult of celebrity. [Film Critic Quentin Falk]: Jon, were you at all nervous about what they [the filmmakers] would do to your labour of love? [Birmingham Post and Mail]: A question for the actors, did you go home and try and practise some of the techniques covered in the film? Kevin Spacey: Yes, I can admit I ran into a lot of walls in Puerto Rico. JR: The physics is that the atom is mostly made up of space, and the wall and the human body are mostly made up of atoms… And, to me, the key word in all of this is ‘mostly’. The main wall-walker, actually, was a guy called General Stubblebine, and he was going through a messy divorce at the time, and he subsequently told me that one time he turned up with a bruised nose, but decided that if anyone asked, he could just say it was domestic abuse. [Reading Post]: For George, I was wondering what you like to do when you’re in London, and what you like or dislike about the city… GC: I’ve been here for about 30 hours so far, and I’ve already been to the festival once. I’ve eaten in the hotel once, or twice. And I’ve done two press conferences. So this hasn’t been one of my greater get-out-and-visit-London kinda things. I haven’t been able to hit any of the pubs or anything. I haven’t done much of anything. [Press Association]: Question for George about working with goats. I know you’re a bit of an animal lover yourself… GC: Sure, I’m from Kentucky! GC: Yesterday I was a fox, now I’m working with goats. I tell you, this goat was a particularly nice goat. We spent a lot of time together. He wanted to go over dying around me, so we worked on that for a while. The funny thing is, the goat was a great actor. He walked in, and we said, ‘ok, stare at the camera’, and he was like [makes a goat noise]… [Persistent Lady from Channel 5 News]: George, hello! It’s me again! [PLfC5N]: Thank you for recognising! GC: Well, I couldn’t help it, because of the one you wore last night… GC: …I can see what you’re wearing under that jacket now, and I can’t answer that question… [PLfC5n]: Fabulous, well I’ll see you on the red carpet later, I’ll be there about 6.37! [Dazed & Confused Magazine]: I thought the end of the film was great, and was just wondering which members of the panel had actually experimented with LSD at any point…GC: I’m on it right now! [D&C]: You were quite convincing, I thought… Kevin Spacey: Put that shovel down, put it down… [Masterful Gossip-hound from RTL]: It’s not about kids or marriage, don’t worry, George. [RTL]: I was wondering… have either of you ever had anything happen to you of the supernatural variety? Did you have a special connection with your pig, Max, or dogs you’ve had? KS: [to GC] I think working with you is about as paranormal an experience as you can have… [RTL]: You don’t think that, as the film talks about fate, that if you meet somebody, like Elisabetta [Canalis]… GC: Oh, see now, there it was! Man, this is such a beautiful move. You know, I have to applaud [claps]. It was a fantastic move, because it did go from here – the paranormal – to there. That was hard to do. That was really good. [Mumbling TV Correspondent]: Kevin, you’ve been away from the screen for a while, as you’ve been focusing on the stage. Just wondering whether you’re waiting for the right script in order to take a lead role again, or if you’re just taking a break. KS: I don’t know, I did three movies last year, I did two movies the year before, and I did two the year before that… I don’t know what this break is that you’re talking about. An actual lead? No, I don’t do those any more. I just finished two films in a row where I’m the “actual lead”. A film called Casino Jack, about Jack Abramoff, who was a Washington lobbyist, and a comedy I just did called Father Of Invention. I suppose I’ve just been focused on building the theatre company over the last six seasons, and things are going very well there, so I had an opportunity to go out and do a couple of movies that I really enjoyed, and I enjoyed the scripts, and I enjoyed the experience of doing them. But my priority for the next six years will continue to be the Old Vic, and I will make films when they suit my schedule… GC: [laughs] Any answer you give, you’re dead, right? I’m the son of a newsman, I grew up around the news. I can understand the issue, as papers are losing subscribers, and there are becoming less and less outlets… it’s a tricky thing, you’re going to have to sell papers, I get it. The problem is that there’s so little reporting any more, as you all know, and you fight it every day when you go to work – somebody will write a story, and it will be in 1800 different outlets from one person’s story. And you have no recourse. It’ll be false, and you’ll say it’s not true, and they go ‘we’re not saying that, we’re saying a “London tabloid” said it’. So they’re just reprinting and reprinting things that aren’t necessarily true. It used to be two reliable sources, and that doesn’t seem to exist as much any more. I understand the problem with it, and I understand why that happens, but it’s still an issue. KS: I don’t get it, I don’t understand the notion of people who might call themselves journalists, who would just make up stuff – I don’t understand why that’s of interest to somebody, to write something that is false, so that 1800 outlets will print it. And obviously we live in a time, and maybe always have, I don’t know, where if you even bother to say ‘oh, that story has no wit of truth to it’, they don’t write that the story is false, they write that you denied that the story was true – which is not the same thing as saying ‘what we wrote was absolutely wrong’. So there are some people who try to fight these kind of things in the courts, and there are those who choose to go ‘it’s yesterday’s news, it’s fish wrapping, and I’m not going to worry about it’. GC: …nice! [laughs] We have time for one last question! [CQC]: No, no, one last question, he’s surrounded by controversy all the time, and you’re still the most desired man in the world, what is your magic?
