“I told [Soderbergh] he was gonna ruin everything for every director, and every production designer, and everything else, because he made the movie for 25 cents — I know that’s what I was paid,” Streep said. “Then it was made in two weeks, and it was a free ride on the boat.”

Bergen also said, “I think [Soderbergh]’s the most fearless filmmaker, and his intellect is so piercing. He was doing the camerawork, so you sort of watched his brain right behind the camera, spinning like a top. It was really interesting. And short.” Related ‘I Hate Suzie’ Is the Perfect Feel-Bad Show for the Holidays How ‘South Side’ Pulled Off a Hilarious Batman Parody Tribute Related Oscars 2023: Best Original Song Predictions The Best Film Sound of 2022
Wiest also revealed the film was shot with “no equipment. The only equipment was sound equipment. Steven held the camera in a wheelchair and just rolled along. None of the lights, and the trucks, all that stuff that goes into making movies, there’s none of it. There was Steven and this new camera.” The guerrilla filmmaking style on “Let Them All Talk” was reinforced by the lack of a script, with Soderbergh handing his ensemble basic outlines of scenarios to experiment with in terms of the dialogue. “Improvised feel? Well, yeah, it does, because it is,” Streep said. “I mean, they would give us the outlines of a situation, and then we knew where we had to end up. But they didn’t tell us how to get there.” The film is inspired by a short story from author Deborah Eisenberg, who also had a presence on the set and receives a screenwriting credit. “She was always there. She was there all the time, and she was so generous, and you could ask her anything,” Wiest said. “She would tell you what might come up next, and remind you, because we shot in sequence, which was another incredible gift that Steven gave.” “One night, the next day I was supposed to be giving a lecture, and the auditorium was going to be filled with real people,” said Streep, who plays an acclaimed novelist accepting a prestigious award in the movie. “And there was no lecture in the script! I said, ‘Well, what is she gonna say about this author from another century?’ And so overnight, [Eisenberg] produced this enormous bunch of ideas, and a biography. It was a very rich kind of Bible from which to draw. But it was terrifying every night, because you just had to get ready and think [of], you know, what you’re gonna say.”

“Let Them All Talk” is set to launch on HBO Max in December. Soderbergh most recently served as executive producer on the Quibi series “Wireless” as well as “Bill and Ted Face the Music.” Soderbergh is meanwhile at work on another film for HBO Max and Warner Bros., “No Sudden Move,” starring Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, and more. He’s also working on new edits of several earlier films, as he revealed to IndieWire over the summer. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.