Leonard Goldberg

Charlie's Angels

Interviewed by James Mottram

Does it feel strange to have a modernised version of a show you made in the 1970s?

I'll tell you the truth. If someone had told me in 1975, when we were starting the "Charlie's Angels" TV show, that in the year 2000 you'll be at a Royal Premiere of the "Charlie's Angels" movie, I'd have said "I don't know what you're smoking but pass it over, because I'd like a hit!" At the time no-one thought about taking a television series and making it into a movie. Television, at that time, was looked down upon as secondary popular entertainment.

Were you worried that the series wouldn't translate to film?

Yeah. The big question mark was "What is it going to be?" To just do a two-hour version of an old "Charlie's Angels" show - who would be interested in that? The tone was very important. We didn't want to do a spoof, like "The Brady Bunch", because that would be wrong. I didn't want to spoof my own stuff. But it was not to be a serious homage to "Charlie's Angels". The audience are just supposed to have fun.

Were you worried that rumours about on-set tantrums and the script needing 30 re-writes would affect the film?

There's nothing you can do about rumours and gossip. Fortunately, in the entertainment business, there's an end product, so let them view that. The director had a very clear vision about what he wanted it to be. Due to the commitments of the stars, we had to start shooting before we had a third act - that's why we had so many writers. We had to do it on the fly, but his vision was always very clear.

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