Fancast: The Big Picture

GG: What was your way into the material? How did you find the cinematic story you wanted to tell and still be true to the book?

LC: The character of Homer, as well as the time and the place, were all in the book. I had to take certain liberties, though, to make it more dramatic. I also had to compress the events because the book spans four years, which would have been too unwieldy for the film.

GG: What inspired you most about the story and made you think it could be a successful film?

LC: It’s just a great, classic set-up: a kid with everything stacked against him gets out of a tough town by believing there’s something better out there and by the power of his own imagination. How could you lose?

GG: “October Sky” touches on lots of universal themes: pursuing your dreams, father-son conflicts, leaving small town life, and so on. What did you personally relate most to about the story, or, specifically, Homer’s journey?

LC: Homer’s journey was really my journey as well. I mean, I didn’t come from a coal mining town, I came from Brooklyn--

GG: Yeah, not too many coal mines there.

LC: No, but there were housing projects and I had to fight my way out of one of those--or rather, dream my way out of it. For me, it was writing, not rockets, that I discovered as a possible way out. Like Homer, I also had a father who didn’t quite understand what my talents and gifts were.

GG: Speaking of Homer, he’s played by current “A-lister” Jake Gyllenhaal, in his first starring role. How did you feel about him when you first found out he was cast?

LC: We always knew if we didn’t cast the right kid to play Homer, it wasn’t gonna fly--no pun intended. The first time I saw Jake’s screen test, he felt right off the page. He was exactly how I’d always seen Homer.

GG: Prior to adapting “October Sky,” you wrote another film based on actual events, “Ghosts of Mississippi,” the story of slain civil rights leader Medgar Evers. Did writing that fact-based film inform your adaptation of “October Sky” in any way?

LC: Not really. With “Ghosts” I felt an obligation to write the definitive historical record of that whole event, so there wasn’t a lot of latitude. The characters in “October Sky,” on the other hand, didn’t have that same kind of historical significance, so I basically did whatever was needed to make the movie work.

GG: Looking back, do you have a favorite moment in the film?

LC: Near the end, when Homer tells his father [played by Chris Cooper] that he’s shooting off his last rocket at 5:00 and the dad says he’s got too much work to do to go. And then, as the dad goes down into the coal mine in the elevator shaft, the last thing he sees is his son being handed a gold medal by another man. The look on the father’s face, maybe wondering if he’s totally missed it with this kid, speaks volumes.

GG: That whole scene and the ending itself are both so touching.

LC: Let me tell you, I’ve seen that movie just destroy grown men, move them to absolute puddles of tears.

GG: I think I was one of them. Finally, how do you think the story, though it’s set over 50 years ago, still relates to the world today?

LW: People from all walks of life have had such an incredible response to the movie. I think it’s because of those very fundamental things that people relate to--growing up, who your dad was, finding your way in the world, friendship. These themes will always have resonance. They’re timeless.

GG: Agreed. Well, Lewis, thanks for your time and congrats on having written such a memorable film.