Morgan Neville Talks Steve Martin’s Filming for Apple’s ‘STEVE! (martin)’

Morgan Neville has a unique eye for capturing the complexities of the artistic mind. Who better to tackle the Mount Everest of Hollywood geniuses than Oscar-winning documentarian Steve Martin. The result, the STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 partsis an insightful film divided into two stylistically distinct parts. Part one traces Martin’s path to “wild and crazy” comedy stardom; Part two explores his decision to step away from touring to pursue filmmaking, playwriting, art, and quiet self-exploration. Neville, an Emmy nominee for Outstanding Directing in a Documentary/Nonfiction Program, spoke with THR about the daunting task of capturing someone as complex and beloved as Martin in just over three hours.

“The best fish” [a gag poster where Martin had a fish sticking out of a his blazer] It was the perfect comedy for a boy. There was something joyful and ridiculous about it.

It was silly, but clever. I didn’t get all the jokes. My dad loved Steve, too. I asked him to take me to see Steve in Las Vegas do stand-up when I was 12. It was one of his last stand-up shows, at the Riviera in the summer of 1980. When that documentary came out, I thought, “There’s no more perfect subject for me than Steve.”

How do you adjust to the daily, intimate life you lead with a lifelong hero like Steve?

The person I meet when I start the movie is just Steve. He’s not “Steve Martin,” the superstar. Steve was like, “Okay, if I’m going to do this, I’m really going to do it.” We started having these conversations where I went to his house and recorded our conversations for hours. You also build a relationship and I understand how he sees his own story and everything. But the fan part doesn’t totally go away because sometimes you say, “Tell me about the first time you were involved in SNL.”

I just saw the Faye Dunaway documentary and was disappointed that so few people came forward to pay tribute to her. I guess it’s the other way around: everyone wanted to say something about Steve in the film.

I could have interviewed any young actor and he would have said yes. You get the idea, any one. SNL Kimmel, Conan, Fallon, Mulaney, they would all have talked. Judd Apatow and Patton Oswalt are obsessed with Steve. But I don’t like that kind of documentary, where someone is telling me why someone is great. If I have that person, I can see why they’re great. I was trying to connect with him more.

I guess spending so much time with subjects is starting to feel like therapy.

Oh, 100%. Being a documentarian is often a para-therapeutic relationship, where you ask people what the most important things in their lives are and you try to make sense of them. And Steve has done a lot of therapy. There was this period in the ’90s that we talked about in the film…