Interview:
Jon Favreau,
actor/writer/director,
"Chef"
Writer/director Jon Favreau’s Chef is equal parts food porn and social-media cautionary tale. He stars as an L.A. chef who loses his job following a Twitter war with a prominent restaurant critic (Oliver Platt). Stuck in a creative rut, the chef is prompted by his ex-wife (Sofia Vergara) to return to his native Miami to buy a food truck from her ex-husband (Robert Downey Jr.). The drive from Miami to L.A., which includes a stop in Austin (above), affords Favreau the opportunity to bond with the tween son he barely has time for. In addition to Favreau, Chef also stars John Leguizamo as Favreau’s friend and sous chef and Scarlett Johansson as a restaurant manager. Chef marks Favreau’s first low-budget independent character study since his 2001 directorial debut Made, which he followed up with Elf, Zathura, Iron Man and Iron Man 2, and Cowboys and Aliens. I attended a press conference with Jon Favreau that was held the day after Chef premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival. He was joined by the film's consultant, L.A.’s Kogi BBQ Taco Truck & Catering chef Roy Choi. Chef opened May 23 in Austin.
Aired: May 22, 2014 Web site: http://chefthefilm.com/ |
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