>> from our studios in new york city, this is "charlie rose." is a new movie by alejandro inarritu and follows

the washed up actor once famous for playing an iconic superhero and his attempt to make a comeback. the film is preoccupied with an aging psyche but also addresses of fatherhood and personal integrity and the enduring question of the legacy he leaves behind. here's the trailer. when i lost my mind there's something so pleasant about that day emotions haven't let go, so much faith ♪ >> how did we end up here in this dump? remember. crazyaybe i'm

maybe i'm crazy 're crazyre ♪ >> you are birdman. let's go back one more time and show them what were capable of. >> want you go get your wings and your first suit, man. >> no. >> what are you looking at? >> joining me now is alejandro inarritu, the director and the stars -- michael keaton and it

edward norton. of thiss is the size darling and the size of the vulture but we all have a birdman, you said. >> i said that. it is true. i definitely connect with this character. in the torturous creative process and eternal relentless questioning of your own resolve and possibilities, that is how -- all -- my dentist, my mom, everybody. why am i doing what i am doing? i should do better. no matter what case i present. of questionnd you're asking when you said you wanted to take a break from acting? >> to some degree. i was listening to him talk i don't want to sound pretentious but i was somewhat bored.

i was bored with the sound of my own voice. the practicalities of a career are that ultimately you are going to repeat yourself. i need to grow up and except that. i wasn't enjoying it myself as i had been and i didn't think i was very good. i was going on automatic sometimes. there were things in life i wanted to get settled first. i am not good at doing things all at one time. i wanted to clear the field in my life and started dialing it back. at the same time, this wonderful script and director called. >> about seven seconds? >> i had seen his films. there are not many scripps that are that good -- scripts that are that good. they are good directors but it

is a question of are you going to get asked? know, if you have seen 30 feet of his films, you may not automatically say yes, but you say i probably want to be part of this. >> he is an actor. i kind of stress that a little bit because sometimes people have said -- he was a superstar. somebody said he was a bad actor. he was not wanteone at all. you don't get to the level that he got being a bad actor. i think it is very bush league coming from other actors when you talk about people being good or bad. it could be a very courageous thing to do, try to be an actor. he is an actor who is fallen in

a hard times not only in his career but his life certainly. extremely insecure, extremely needy. he decides to do a play in the new york city. which he loves and has connection to. he decides to direct it and star in it. in the process, he has a nervous breakdown. [laughter] >> your average -- [laughter] an actor who comes in at play inour to save the question. who is a bit of an anarchist, a bit of a pre-madonna, and method actor.

him andme to meet understand what haunts him and his insecurities. but, it's -- i think that it alejandrou know, said in the beginning this is a story about artists and performers. in much the same way, if you go all the way back to shakespeare -- shakespeare said life is a player on the stage. i think alejandro said from are lots of- there players and sticking a fork in the movie industry, artists and their pretentions. this, this is not deeply relatable by anybody who ever had that voice of their head of self questioning, then we have not gone to the level that it should function at.

i not only thing people have their birdman, i think people have flocks of birds that go around them. if you walk down the street in new york city in the middle of the day, you see people with their lips moving and a look staring into the middle distance because they are in the midst of that dialogue with the voice and the head that says "you should have more." you made the wrong choice. why didn't you say this to him? i think it is endemic to our primate brain that we have those voices. [laughter] >> you should say this now. personink the idea of a in a's spiritual, emotional crisis questioning where they are and trying in a desperate way to recover a positive sense

of themselves is something almost anybody can relate to. we happen to be in the trade that we are in but i think everybody can relate. >> absolutely. you shot it in st. james theater. >> we were lucky to have it in two weeks. barry manilow was doing a show. i saw hism in his room. it was amazing. it was not easy. two weeks in shooting of that place. >> your character is haunted by birdman in part. did batman hot you at all -- ahunhaunt you at all? >> no, i was blessed to get such a thing. if you are whining about that -- wow.

>> it is not like being in liberia right now. i get it. >> when i say it is hard work, it is hard. stop.oes not mean it means it is hard, let's get on with it. being a coal miner every morning. doctors without borders -- this is not hard. i like hard and i think all of these actors would say -- no actor would say no, i don't want to do that. i may be speaking for myself, but i like it when my back is against the wall a little bit. >> do you? >> yeah. i think it is funny because -- there is the obvious extremely

superficial connection between birdman and michael's character and the fact that michael did a couple of rounds in batman. i have been in the hulk. a lot of us have danced in that kind of construct but the irony hael's characterhe is defined and trapped by this one character he played. if you said to me or zack or anybody that grew up watching michael's films like the ones that were definitive to you -- mr. mom, beetlejuice. to us, it was cool michael played batman. not that he was defined by it. i think the notion -- to me, what is additionally impressive about michael's performance in about as is that he's

far away from that character as any actor i have met in the sense of being completely comfortable. he has a life much bigger than the role he plays. really not sos much about an actor or career, it is of a person coming unhinged and comin witto grips with the fact that everything that has gone wrong may have been because of his own ego. it is a very nuanced film, character study than a glib comparison people are making. famous fortor -- these continuous shots. do you like this? fact that it wanted to see if i could pull it off. it is not a question of the long

takes, it is a question of everything that goes on and what he wanted to try to do. i tell you -- there are people that need light shed upon them. the camera operator. this is a young man's job. alejandro and chivo work together -- the shots that were extraordinary never seemed indulgent to me. everything served this story. the long shots that a lot more than you see the first time around. there is a lot going on in those longshots and i did like to see if i could pull it off. i like the feeling that you are coming around the bend and the horse is holding back and holding back and you are coming down the stretch and it is time to let it out. let him run.

the good feeling was i am coming around the corner and i am going edward. you are surrounded by actors that are thinking like you. and then of course you screw it up. ask if it is like doing theater and it is really not. if you mess up, alejandro loses a few hairs but then you go back and do it again. there is no audience. alejandro started with short, straight hair. [laughter] is the stakes were still the stakes of a film set. you have the chance to do it again and that kind of stuff. michael that i would've been more concerned if

i felt like it was show offy and was not rooting that decision to push away convention in terms of the form of the filmmaking. i want to be inside the head of this character's anxiety. i want to be inside the clench that he feels as he gets closer and closer to this critical moment in his life. really anrm was expression of the emotional intimacy he wanted to create between the character and the audience. that becomes very exciting because then there is a really great reason to do this. now let's band ourselves to it. quacks it is nice to have actors that know what you are trying to do. >> i think we were very open.

all of us were walking in the same tightrope. fail.y fail, i nobody will help us. i cannot hide any bad scene. it is endless and it has to be tied together. i compare this experience to playing in a band. we were exposing all of us. nobody will be saved. that creates a very great collaboration, family vibe that normally films do not have because it is very fragmented. film likeer shoot a this again like i did before. it showed me what films should achieve. i feel so lazy the way ai did things. i overused everything.

it did not need it. there was a very artificial order that filmmaking established so now i am questioning my filming. speedast-paced, everything. you never really feel anything. what i learnt about this process is what i admired all the time about the great directors. think all those long takes contain reality. let you get into it. that is how we live our lives. you wake up, open your eyes and you are navigating. enjoyed time we really -- that is why we are so addicted to fiction or books because we fragment time and space. it is an illusion of mind.

that is why we say that is great. everything is synthesized but that is impossible in our own lives. we are trapped in her own labyrinth and own two eyes. in a way, that brings you to that kind of inspirational reality. >> the only thing about that is i came away lots of time from things we were doing going this is such a fantastic way to work. everything you are saying. from an actor's perspective, this is such a liberating way to work, but it takes for granted the idea that every filmmaker team has the virtuosic capability that alejandro and the dp had together. i don't think just anybody can decide to do this because of those things he is saying. it takes people who were at the

absolute peak of their own capacity and talents who have spent a lot of time really thinking about and challenging he hasm of film which done in all of his films. chivo is one of the great cinematographers working in our modern era. i think that when you watch the film, i think anybody who makes what already is realizing a miraculous achievement it is to have actually pulled off a film that does what he is saying -- it does not let the dramatic tension drop. it is very hard to do that and sustain the dramatic tension, the fluidity. >> without the use of devices. >> next time i direct, i will use as much editing as i can. [laughter] myself.y i can cover

>> an insurance package. you talk about the risk of the only person taking the risk was the option to make cuts later is really the insurance package that the director gives himself for late in the process. in that sense, he was making -- i want to say i am only the person who is actually naked. he was not a directed that was willing to do anything his actors would do. [laughter] this somethings that you would do? he said no. emily stone plays your daughter, his daughter. zach galifianakis plays to? who? >> friend, producer, lawyer. typeere you going against

in casting him? >> i met him one time and i felt he was one of those guys you wanted to bring home. i think he is extraordinary and smart. i think he has an incredible capacity that he showed. he is very funny. one of the challenges was basically to formulate a style of scene for talking heads. i tried to find a way to get around to see how this actor who was being introduced to him, waiting desperately. the other guy is intimidating. the cameras surrounding him and his guy is like a snake, manipulating and biting and writing. he is taking over. he is already setting the tone that is completely wrong. it is kind of crazy. the mirror of the mirror -- i will tell you you remember we

were rehearsing in l.a. we were trying to figure out. when i was trying to do things and i said the camera would be here. said why would the camera be here? don't you think it should be here? i look at him and say what are you saying? you are directing me. it was mirror and a mirror in the mirror. >> of that was all michael -- that was all michael. >> you see all these things. there are things that are symbolic and purposely symbolic, i suppose. and then there are things that you interpret and a servein a cn way. even that works because who is to say?

it depends on what you were seeing in it. you think it represents something into you would probably does. that is what happens in this movie. thing tory difficult o perform in front of a theater -- it is like a place of all those things were very interesting. >> as i was saying, why deny that think of this west why didn't i think of thi comic have to think. i am me. i am playing another guy swagger think like an actor. i had to be the director and watch what was going on as i was acting. you know what i mean? >> i don't know how they do it.

in order to be good, they have to be themselves. how do you do that? you have to before him another person -- perform as another person. to me, that is magical. >> people say this is a comeback. does that mean anything to you? [laughter] >> however you want to interpret it. i thought it was not accurate necessarily. then, you start to say wait a minute. it is ok whatever it is. i'm working on another movie now. up -- i willouple mess a couple up. if it works for me, i will take it. that much more is

that these other kinds of films as lovers of movies, as an toience, you wait and wait see things that are authentically different from what comes around. it is not to say it is not entertaining but anytime anyone decries the way big-budget frenc franchise films are taking over -- i think this is the film that rebuts that idea because it is entertaining and challenging. i think people are having a very good experience watching it. for us, the value is not what does it do for us. the doing of it -- you get into this to have this kind of experience with this kind of director, with these other actors. it is like -- there is nothing better than to work on this.

>> we all looked at it and the audiences and critics and the result was -- that was pretty good. i swear i would've been ok with that. >> honestly, it was a very experimental thing. there was a moment where we were doing the film and ask what was i doing. i have not talked about this to anybody. two weeks before we started, i came to new york to have lunch. i sit down with michael. a beautiful restaurant, italian. i talked to him about what i was trying to achieve. tell if it was going to be in one take -- the drums.

he stopped doing what he was doing and said you are running into disaster. this is a comedy. you have to work with this craft. he was right. and i stopped the production. you can do that. i said i could not stop. i was panicking. i didn't know to slap him or what. it was too late. he was right because he took me into a state of awareness about things that made me more conscious about how difficult it was what i was attempting to do. i appreciated his comments. >> that will teach mike nichols to have an opinion. talking aboutoff

comedy, i have no idea. >> the greatest part is and then he did it. that i love. the thing i keep saying about everybody's birdman in this mov ie -- birdman is not always wrong. he is correct in some ways of what he says and what he feeds into your head. it is not always this negative thing. i listen to it and say maybe he is not so wrong about that. or maybe i say you are a little extreme right now. let me take something out of that. >> congratulations again. ondman opens in theaters friday, october 17. do not miss it. back in a moment. stay with us. ♪

>> yo, can i ask you a question? >> yeah, what? >> why everybody messing with the batmans? >> that is what i've been asking myself. >> it don't make no sense.

>> why would you do it? >> why would you try to mess with the batmans? >> it is futile. remember, heath ledger tried to? >> the batmans has got the armor and some martial arts. the moves -- don't worry, i have armor and then the martial arts. all you have is a purple suit and some make-up. >> come on, man. why would you mess with the batmans? remember, when danny devitos tried it? walking around like -- come on, man! >> key and peele are here. there are the duo behind the comedy central show of the same name. it is a sketch comedy series that finds humor in many places, including african-american culture and race relations in america. judd apatow has said these guys are crazy funny. they are smart, satirical, ridiculous, pointless, political and important all at the same time. i am pleased to have keegan-michael key and jordan peele at this table for the first time. welcome.

>> what an honor. >> this is hardly just out. in "vanity fair." >> the whole style of that photo shoot was a throwback to old-school comedy teams. we had a bunch of pictures -- you can check out the website. >> there is a picture of us in an old set-up. >> we forget sometimes the comedy teams -- you two guys are the latest. the idea of comedy partnerships. >> there is a sense of, i think, a pattern that humans like. when you see something that you recognize, there is some comfort in that. we do try to be subversive. >> how did you guys get together? >> we were brought together by the improvisation community. it was a perfect introduction.

i saw him on the second city stage performing his character which he ended up doing on "mad tv." it was one of these transcendent performances and characters. the audience is just dying over every movement of this character. so, -- he came to -- my troup in chicago was on the second city mainstage for just a one-week showing. he saw my most popular character, the danish supermodel that did not speak english very well. >> so much brilliance in her ignorance. >> what happened? you guys said that you belong together? >> kind of. >> we went to a diner and spoke

about things we enjoyed it like monty python and "in living color." you must be talking to a comedy nerd if you are talking about monty python and "in living color." i went home later that evening which at that point was the next morning and woke my wife up and told her i fell in love. we shared sensibilities. by complete serendipity, we ended up on "mad tv" at the same time and wrote lots of scenes together. >> "mad tv" kind of made it, didn't it? >> that congealed -- we started putting together these sketches that we tried to give the best shot possible to get picked to go on air. we started choreographing these dances. this full-on, unbridled commitment to these routines so they could not pass on it. >> with you two it is different.

there is not -- you fill each other in a different kind of way. you are two comedians doing funny skits. >> we try to be complementary to each other. we try to be complimentary as well. i think there are times when we see the strength of the character to be played by this guy as opposed to that guy. we are not filling a role. >> this is a clip in which you play president obama and keegan plays luther. >> good evening, my fellow americans. before i begin, i just want to say that i know a lot of people out there seem to think that i don't get angry. that is not true. i get angry a lot. it is just the way i express passion is different from most. so, just so there's no more confusion, we have hired luther

to be my anger translator. >> hi. >> first of all, concerning the recent developments in the middle eastern region, i want to reiterate our unflinching support for all people and the right for the democratic process. >> all you dictators out there, keep messing around and see what happens. just see what happens. watch! >> also, to the governments of iran and north korea, we urge you to discontinue your uranium enrichment program. >> i thought i told both of y'all. fix your -- or i'm going to come over there and do it for y'all. please test me and see what happens. >> on the domestic front, i just want to say to my critics i hear your voices and i am aware of your concerns. >> so, maybe if you could chill the hell out for a second, maybe i can focus on some -- >> that goes for everybody, including members of the tea party. >> don't even get me started on these -- >> we will be looking for new compromises with the gop in the months ahead.

>> you know these -- will say no before i even say yes. >> i know a lot of folks say that i have not done a good job of communicating my accomplishments to the public. >> that's because you don't listen! >> since being in office, we have created three million new jobs. >> three million new jobs! >> we ended the war in iraq. >> ended a war, remember that? >> these achievements should serve as a reminder that i am on your side. >> i am not a muslim! >> and that my intentions as your president are coming from the right place. >> really good. >> that was one of the bits that we knew we had a relevant show when we came up with that one. we knew we had a show -- >> relating to the headlines of the day so to speak. >> yeah. granted, the standing president is kind of a gimmicky way to get

that, but that was one way -- we felt like that scene was a perfect usage of our strengths. we felt like it was a connection to now which was needed for us because we have so many sketches and comedic ideas that are evergreen. there are sketches that could take -- hopefully, they will be funny in 50 years. >> did you say that luther is like cory booker with three red bulls? [laughter] >> that sounds like me. >> i never heard that. >> keegan reminds me of cory booker. they both have this infectious energy. we have not had you play cory booker. >> that is true. >> they are both very open, nice and honest individuals from what i can tell. >> they are. >> this is from the new season in which president obama gives

different greetings to white and black members of the press. here it is. >> thank you and may god bless america. [applause] >> a couple of introductions. this is john. >> nice to meet you. >> peter. jerome smith. >> come on, brother. what's up, fam? you know this. >> heath williams. >> nice to meet you. >> tasha robinson. >> come on. come on. feel that? >> emily. >> nice to meet you. >> darrell stokes. >> how you doing? never forget about that because that is all we got. nice to meet you. bring it in! started from the bottom now we here. nice to meet you.

nice to meet you. >> 1/8 black. >> good afternoon. bring it in. >> i'm in there. >> you tucking it in? tuck, tuck? >> i'm in there. >> all right. nice to meet you, ma'am. oh, my goodness. look at this. she is so beautiful. i want another one. precious. what is her name? nice to meet you. come on. there he is. boom. >> mr. president. >> very good to meet you. >> it is a very loose piece. jordan said -- these little improvised moments. >> when the white woman came to hug you --

>> there is part of that that is based on reality. it is hard for me to go in and out. [laughter] we met him and he said i do a pretty good me, too. which i thought was funny. >> the president said he did a pretty good obama as well. how hard was it? is it easy to capture that thing you have captured? >> it was not easy but it took a week of really grinding and watching and watching but once i had it, i had it. >> is it the voice? >> it is the voice. it is more than the voice. i got the voice first and then they were still something missing. this at some point, i got

-- the wisdom behind the face. know he he kind of gnocchi is on the next plane of negation -- of negotiation. there is something behind the eyes that brought it together. >> it fed luther because you see a little bit of a smirk. >> there is a subtext that he cannot speak and you have luther be that. >> here is another sketch called substitute teacher. >> listen up, y'all. i am your substitute teacher. i taught school for 20 years in the inner-city so don't even think about messing with me. you feel me? ok. we will take roll. jayquellin. where is she at? no jayquellin?

>> do you mean jacqueline? >> so that is how it's going to mbbe. you want to play. i got my eye on you. blakay. today?ay >> my name is blake. >> are you out of your god in damn mind? do you want to go to war? pump the rail. you better check yourself. >> tell me about that. >> one of our writers that we have known for 10 years. he wrote on many shows. he wrote this piece and during a

pit section he mentioned the peace to us -- piece to us. he went off and wrote it. it was a wonderful marriage of this perfect concept that was put on paper. i had an opportunity to attach a character to it. what was the sketch -- we were not going to put it online. there was something else. >> this was our biggest sketch online by far. it resonated, it hit. all the elements came together. -- it was one of the first sketches that in the performance -- and there that we had to cut just to get the point of the sketch. it went off the rails so many times. him and his conversation with

a-a-ron later. it went into an imperva's and -- improvisational freefall. we get the best out of it. -- another sketch where the other performance of the sketch helped elevate the sketch, they were terrific. >> who writes the material? >> there are six writers now. ourselves -- >> you are still writing? >> yeah. >> technically, it is a staff of six but there is 10 of us that are always involved in the writing. >> i think the most important contribution besides the sketches that we will take ourselves and write, and we know what it is -- the most important directive for the writing staff is what can we pull off may be better than anyone doing it on television.

>> the tv critic for the new yorker had a very -- she calls your by racialism a golden ticket to themes really explored on television. a golden ticket. >> it is interesting because it is a ticket that has never been s wee expressed in the way do it. so, it feels like the time and the place all converged into this place where we have this president who is mixed. all of a sudden, the notion that we have a whole country of mixed kids, -- >> and growing exponentially every day. >> that is when we got our show at this time when there is this attention pointed towards this. i think this understanding that love ise in mixed race

the answer to racial hate. somewhere. or the hope that someday we will have this country and -- >> look like each other. >> you have to wade to different war. >> what was the president's response? >> to? >> you. >> i made luther. i made him. it was amazing -- >> he helped you get things across. >> it was such a satisfying thing because the only person that you really wanted any kind of confirmation was that person. and there you are in los angeles and he is saying i made luther. it was amazing, surreal. >> here is another sketch called auction block slaves. >> six dollars unlocked eight.

>> nine dollars. >> going once, three times -- sold. >> you had to buy him. that guy is huge. >> anybody would buy him. >> my question is how did they catch him? >> next. >> two dollars on lot eight. >> sold. >> that surprises me. >> that is interesting. >> it seems like at a certain point -- >> the criteria has been a little inconsistent. can a brother get on lot 8? >> here we go. >> eight dollars. sold. >> how does that happen? look at him. what can he pick?

a cotton plant is like this tall. short?e not >> you are actually short in real life and the world. >> i will not have my reputation tainted selling superficial bigoted slaves. >> the that really just come out of your mouth? s auction is over. >> it is not over. i am very strong. i can sleep in a bucket. i know magic. >> my worst quality is i am a perfectionist. >> i am agreeable to a fault. >> who created that? -- i got the idea in us sitting two of

next to a physically imposing guy in that would change that dynamic. if there is a taboo subject, i am drawn to it because you know how people are going to react. you know when the first image of that scene comes up, people are going to go -- oh, no. and appropriately so. we feel like as jesters, comedians, part of our job is to bring some light and laughter and relief to all sorts of things, including the greatest atrocity that we have dealt with. the mission with that one was to take us from this place of i am not going to like this to oh, they got me. not by exploiting victims of slavery. >> the new season -- how will

that be different? >> some cosmetic changes. we have a brand-new main title sequence. the show has these were jordan and i are standing in front of a audience but now we are driving across a desert landscape just having a private conversation inside a car. it happens in every single episode. it looks as if we are driving from sketch to sketch. >> no introducing towards a live audience anymore? >> no. u like a lot of audiences? >> yes. we have done so much alive in our life -- live in our life. when you do a lot of live comedy, you know where they are supposed to be laughing. it is the right mood for us. >> one of the things we do in sketches is make it acidic -- as

cinematic as possible. we wanted to not only parody styles, but also do it during the entire piece. the entire intro piece looks like true detective. i was in michigan visiting my mother and him in the others were talking about this. you cannot stop talk giggling about this idea. what we do something gritty and put her stupid faces in it and make it look like one of these main title sequences. >> are we going to see a hillary clinton translator? >> you know what. i don't know how you nailed that. >> how did you know that? >> we are in the works. we are in the middle of a very hillarys of casting a

and the translator. >> won't that be fun? >> that might be the showstopper. of key and peele is now on comedy central. it airs on wednesday nights at 10:30 p.m. thank you. >> what a pleasure. >> thank you for joining us. see you next time. ♪

>> with all due respect to the 20th anniversary of pulp fiction, the next half hour is going to be even more tastier than a five dollar milkshake. rick perry skips town, jeb bush skips a generation, and the democratic party skips out. what is your lead? >> let's take a look at our leaders being unveiled this hour.