Michael Jackson wanted to be in Men in Black II. He told me he had seen the first Men in Black in Paris and had stayed behind and sat there and wept. I had to explain to him that it was a comedy.
Barry SonnenfeldI'm an unusual director in that my cut is usually shorter then the final released film. I like short films.
Barry SonnenfeldMichael worked one day. Everybody was a little freaked out and nervous because he's a really big star. We were already working with really big stars, but Michael is Michael.
Barry SonnenfeldThey want to let the audience figure things out and let the reaction shot get the laugh.
Barry SonnenfeldWhen I move from being a cameraman to being a director I looked at a lot of other cameramen who tried to make the move. And in each case they moved up their camera operator to be the DP, which really meant they didn't want to give up being the DP, and really wanted to do both. And my feeling was if I was going to succeed as a director, I had to just be a director and give up the safety net of being a cameraman.
Barry Sonnenfeld