STACK January 2016 Issue 135

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32 JANUARY 2016
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Talking the Walk
A Walk in the Woods is the first film
adaptation from the best-selling works
of Bill Bryson. Detailing the author’s
sudden whim to walk the treacherous
Appalachian Trail in the 90s, and with Robert
Redford and Nick Nolte playing the famous author
and his colourful larrikin companion Stephen Katz,
respectively, it’s of note this may have been a
very different project had the film been green-lit a
few years ago.
“Oh yes, this was supposed to be the reunion
of Redford and Paul Newman on the big screen,”
says Bryson today, explaining that the rights
were purchased 12 years ago and it’s taken
quite a journey for the film to reach audiences.
“It would have been a fascinating movie – but
obviously a completely different experience, and
it would have been much less faithful to the book,
I think. Paul Newman, you know – I cannot see
him playing Katz, as Katz is to me in life. There
would have been great banter, but they would
have hyped them as more of equals I’m sure. You
could not improve on Nick Nolte; he is the perfect
Katz!”
Indeed, Nolte’s performance as Stephen Katz,
the longtime pal of Bryson and the only guy silly
enough to agree to such an arduous journey, is
a return to form for the unpredictable actor. In
fact, Bryson is amazed at most of what happens
in Tinsletown, and certainly won’t be switching
careers anytime soon.
“Anytime a movie gets made, I guess is
some kind of miracle… even if you’re Robert
Redford, even if you’re Russell Crowe. It doesn’t
make any difference, it’s still really hard to get
movies made at all. To then get movies made
well or intelligently, well that adds another layer
of complexity and challenge. I presume there’s
endless amounts of pitches and sucking-up to
people and all that kind of stuff too; I just go to
lunch with my publisher and they say ‘yes’ to my
idea, we shake hands and a contract arrives the
next day.”
Bryson readily admits that great fortune
and a certain lack of ambition mixed with
naivety was his secret to success.
Being the undisputed ‘highest selling
writer of paper books without recipes
in them’ in his home country of
Britain, the Iowa-born ‘man of
the world’ first wanted to be a
freelancer and earn enough money
to do little else. Yet when the novels started
selling in the millions, life changed.
“Most of the credit goes out to my wife, she
more or less bullied me into doing it,” he laughs.
“My ambitions were simply to write newspaper
and magazine articles, I didn’t see any further…
now everyone is expecting you to be the funny
author, and kind of irreverent and not take
anything too seriously. And then on the other
hand there are times when there are things I do
feel serious about. When you’re writing a book
you just can’t say, ‘Well seriously folks, now we’re
going to have an interlude
where I’m quite somber
about something,’ so keeping
the mood going and bouncing
back and forth between different
ones is a little bit tricky – I’m not sure that I’ve
always mastered it as well as I’ve wished I had.
“S.J. Perelman was the biggest influence on
me, ” he continues, “A man largely forgotten now.
He was not only very funny, he was elegant. If
you ever see me using a big word or trying to
be classy, it’s because I’m trying to be like S.J.
Perelman! Even now, after all these years, I still
bow down to him ‘cos he was just brilliant.”
Also citing David Sedaris and Clive James as
authors of admiration, Bryson feels he’s personally
remained enigmatic when it comes to writing
about what’s really going on inside his head.
“I’m in a funny position that I write an
awful lot of personal books, and I’m the
centre, I’m the narrator – but at the same
time I don’t really give a lot of stuff away. I’m
not really a very confessional sort of person.
I guess I don’t feel that I have a lot to
confess, it’s not like I’ve got some deep
dark secrets or anything hidden away –
but at the same time you know, you
have to kind of guess my politics and
my religious sentiments and things
like that.
Best-selling author Bill Bryson talks to STACK's Chris Murray about the first film
adaptation of one of his books, AWALK INTHEWOODS.
Anytime a
movie gets
made, I guess
is some kind of
miracle…even
if you’re Robert
Redford