Book synopsis of "Crime Family" by Cliff Dorfman:
Chase grew up with two unshakable truths: he never quite belonged, and the family that raised him lived by rules the outside world could never understand. Adopted into a powerful dynasty built on organized crime, he spends his adult life in Hollywood trying to forge an identity of his own, determined to escape the legacy of blood, betrayal and secrets that follows him.
But when federal prosecutors come knocking, Chase is pulled back into the empire he has spent decades trying to leave behind. As the investigation exposes the family’s financial crimes, it also begins to uncover a more complicated inheritance—the secrets handed down from one generation to the next, the silence demanded in exchange for loyalty and protection, and the carefully constructed lies that have shaped Chase’s understanding of family and belonging.
Spanning continents while remaining deeply intimate, Crime Family combines the urgency of true crime with the psychological depth of literary fiction. It is a story about money and memory, loyalty and betrayal, and the complicated bonds that endure even when you are desperate to escape the family you never chose.
Cliff Dorfman is a screenwriter, novelist, and director whose work spans film, television, and literature. He co-wrote Warrior, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and was a WGA Award nominee for HBO’s Entourage. Born and raised in New York and now based in Los Angeles, Dorfman makes his literary debut with Crime Family, a novel exploring family, loyalty, ambition, and inherited secrets.
Here is his Novelpro Junkie Interview:
Chase grew up with two unshakable truths: he never quite belonged, and the family that raised him lived by rules the outside world could never understand. Adopted into a powerful dynasty built on organized crime, he spends his adult life in Hollywood trying to forge an identity of his own, determined to escape the legacy of blood, betrayal and secrets that follows him.
But when federal prosecutors come knocking, Chase is pulled back into the empire he has spent decades trying to leave behind. As the investigation exposes the family’s financial crimes, it also begins to uncover a more complicated inheritance—the secrets handed down from one generation to the next, the silence demanded in exchange for loyalty and protection, and the carefully constructed lies that have shaped Chase’s understanding of family and belonging.
Spanning continents while remaining deeply intimate, Crime Family combines the urgency of true crime with the psychological depth of literary fiction. It is a story about money and memory, loyalty and betrayal, and the complicated bonds that endure even when you are desperate to escape the family you never chose.
Cliff Dorfman is a screenwriter, novelist, and director whose work spans film, television, and literature. He co-wrote Warrior, which earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, and was a WGA Award nominee for HBO’s Entourage. Born and raised in New York and now based in Los Angeles, Dorfman makes his literary debut with Crime Family, a novel exploring family, loyalty, ambition, and inherited secrets.
Here is his Novelpro Junkie Interview:
1. In three words describe your debut novel “Crime Family”?
How many words do I have? Because I don't have enough—three words. Um, Wild Fucking Ride.
2. Before choosing the title “Crime Family” were there other titles you considered? If so, what were they?
Never. It was the only title from the beginning, when I started the musings—and right up until the day we published, it was never anything but Crime Family.
3. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the novel?
Well, the first half of the first draft came out in three months. It just poured out of me. And then the second half took about another, I’d say, 12 months.
4. What is the genesis of the book?
That's a broad question. I mean, you know, every book, right, the origin is we have to write. We have no way out of anything. So I would say, for anything I write, the origin is always some form of therapy, some form of catharsis that takes us from where we are. As our characters go through whatever arc they're going through, the writer, the author, is going through the same or very similar arc. And, I say that is the... catharsis of anything we write, especially this. This was the real meaning of the cliché, when you have to write something and there's no way around it.
5. What challenges did you face while writing the book?
In the writing scope, I would say the biggest challenge that I faced, especially when you're setting out—so you set out to write an anti-hero as your protagonist, right? Excuse the oxymoron, but when you set out to write an anti-hero, you are already faced with a somewhat daunting challenge.
But when you pit that anti-hero against an antagonist who is a malignant narcissist—I don't know if you're familiar with any of the psychopathy that goes into being a narcissist, or a malignant narcissist especially—you are faced with an entirely different challenge.
When you pit an anti-hero against a malignant narcissist, you are not afforded the luxury of an "aha" moment. You're not afforded the luxury of "I won," because there's no winning against a malignant narcissist.
When you have a villain who is built in that way, with that specific DSM-5 or -6 diagnosis and psychopathy, there is no winning. They do not ever create a narrative where they're wrong. Everything in their narrative—it doesn't matter what happens. They could be on their deathbed. They are always right.
So you will never get a moment where it's like, "Oh my God." Whether they're on their deathbed, whether they're shot, whether they're arrested, whether they're going to prison for the rest of their life, you are never going to get what we get in most novels, stories, and films: the, "Ah, damn," where you feel like the hero got him, got her. You know, it's like, we don't get that.
So when you have to find an arc where the character grows only within themselves and has to relinquish any sort of winning in an external way, that was the biggest challenge in writing this—and still getting some sort of satisfaction.
6. Did any character surprise you as the story developed?
Yeah, I would say the character of Kendra surprised me the most. Everybody's a truncation of all the people writers meet, right? And Kendra was a truncation of a bunch of different, very strong, powerful, intelligent women that I've had the pleasure of knowing in my life.
And as I started building that character, the first worry, as a male especially, was writing a—what are they called? A manic pixie—oh, I can't. Do you know the term? Dream girl? Manic pixie dream girl.
And that's basically saying, "I'm gonna write a character as a dude, who's a woman that I want, that's hot to me." You know what I mean? As opposed to writing a fully formed, fully fleshed, fully layered human being who is of that gender and not a fantasy of what a dude would like her to be.
And, you know, as I set out, that was another challenge, by the way. So you can add that into the challenge category.
And when I set out to do that, I found, as she evolved—and that's what happens when you're writing something that's working—the characters start living and breathing and growing in a very organic way. And I was so surprised that I was able to get her on the page in the way that I did.
And even now, I reread it because we all still reread our stuff. It doesn't matter if it's in print or not, because we want to see what we fucked up on. Uh, even when I read her now, she's one of my favorite, favorite elements.
And the other surprising thing was Helene, who is Chase Foreman's—our lead character's—mother. Again, being able to find that satisfactory ending between the mother and the son in a way that I have never been able to do before, especially when dealing with a narcissist.
7. Without giving away spoilers, what scene are you most excited for readers to experience?
I'm excited for them to experience Kendra's introduction in Paris. I'm excited for them to experience the Smokey and the Bandit movie lore that Chase unfurls about how he got his 1976 Pontiac Trans Am that was used in the movie. It was one of four picture cars.
I'm excited for them to see the mechanics of—and read the mechanics of—the very, very intricate money-laundering scheme using Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags as money-laundering tools. So, buying the bags, using mules to buy the bags, and then selling the bags on The Real Real and through private organizations as a reseller, and washing money that way.
And I would say, to put a cap on it, lastly, I am incredibly excited for them to read about Chase's exile in Kentucky for a while, and what goes on there with the thoroughbreds and the history of Kentucky. You know, I've known several amazing people from Kentucky, but the history behind that state is beyond fascinating, and I really dig into that. I hope I did Kentucky proud.
So, those would be the list of things.
8. What does your typical writing routine look like?
I wake up every morning and meditate for an hour right when I get up. Then I do my usual routine—I have my greens, you know, I make a drink with AG1, and then I have a coffee. I answer some emails, and then I sit down and write.
With the novel, I kept track of my word count every day. I have a huge list somewhere on this desk of how many words I wrote each day. I would put a slash through the number, and it's very satisfying to cross off the words you wrote and then fill in the total at the end of the day. I was never doing fewer than about 3,000 words a day.
When I'm writing a script, I try to do at least three to five pages a day. Then I'll stop and go work out or do Pilates—something that allows me to get into a state where I'm not conscious and I'm all subconscious. A lot of times, that gives me an opening when I'm stuck.
If I'm having a problem with something, once I put it down for the day, the physical fitness part of my routine, which is very disciplined, will often open something up. I'll be thinking, "I don't understand how Kendra's gonna do..." And then I'll be working out or doing Pilates, and suddenly I'll think, "Oh, that's how." I stopped thinking and started channeling again.
Sometimes I'll go back and write more, but mostly I'll go back and read whatever I wrote. Then the next morning, when I start all over again, I'll reread what I wrote the day before and flow into the next day.
I always like to stop knowing where I'm going the next day.
9. How did your background as a screenwriter influence your approach to writing a novel?
Good question. I would say that it influenced my approach. I've always been someone who novelized things. I was always given notes by agents, managers, development executives, production executives, like, "This is a screenplay. It's a blueprint. Stop novelizing. They don't need to know what kind of number-two yellow pencil with the lead. Stop with the weapons. They don't need to know the gauge and the..." I can't help it. I love details because they play into the character and the world.
And I was always told to stop it. "Stop it. Strip it out. The directors, the production designers, they're gonna take care of that." So I was gonna have that.
So in my approach, I was like, "Oh, great." First of all, now I get to be free in how I'm novelizing, because I'm writing a fucking novel. And then the second part of it was, as far as my TV and film background, it allowed me, as I wrote the novel, to understand how simultaneously I can adapt the novel to a film or television. I know exactly how to break it down.
I have characters that aren't even in the novel that are created from the writing of the novel that will be used in a film or a television series, et cetera, because no book—especially in a TV series—there's never enough characters. There's never enough stuff in a book to go five seasons.
So you always have to have other characters. And in building those characters, even though they don't make it onto the page in the novel, they inform what's on the page in the novel. And it gives me a really great runway and platform for how I can adapt this into a long-term series or a feature film.
10. Do you see this novel as a standalone or the beginning of a series?
Another really good question. I'll give you a simple answer: it is not a standalone. There is a prequel and a sequel.
So there's the "before time" of Chase Foreman and Helene and Meyer Lansky, diving into more of what made each of them who they are. And then there's the sequel, as to what happens when the novel leaves off where it is now.
11. You co-wrote “Warrior”, What was the collaborative writing process like with Gavin O'Connor and Anthony Tambakis?
I never wrote with Anthony. He came on after I finished the first draft. I've never—I met the guy once. Uh, I don't know his contribution to the writing process. I never saw it.
And, um, from what I can tell, the first draft that I handed in and the drafts that I handed in are mostly what made it onto the screen.
My process was, once Gavin and I fleshed out the story, which took us about three months of going back and forth in a room together, then, um, we went to our respective corners. I would write pages every day, send them to Gavin, and he would edit them and send them back until we had a first draft.
And then Anthony was brought on. And, uh, from what I understand, I think I had to sign off on him being brought on retroactively, like he was always there, even though, from my understanding, he was not.
12. What was it like seeing Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte bring your characters to life?
It's—it's indescribable. You know, I had worked with Nick for a while in New York on a project I was doing a rewrite on, which is how he ended up backing out of that project. But it's how Gavin and I knew that Paddy was always Nick, you know? So, when writing the movie, in our heads—in my head, especially—I just heard that voice all the time. Like, that was always Paddy.
And then to see—you think you know what you're writing for one of the greatest actors in the world, and then he comes on and does something that elevates it a hundred thousand times. And, of course, he's nominated for an Oscar because he's one of the best breathing thespians we have in this universe.
And for Tom Hardy, he was very little known at that point. I had been a fan. I had seen him in RocknRolla. I had seen him in Inception. I knew he was friendly with Leonardo, and Guy Ritchie loved him. And then I saw Bronson right when it came out in the U.K., and I was blown away. I said to Gavin, "This is Tommy." You know, it doesn't matter that his name's Tom.
It's funny because Frank Grillo—we wrote that role for Frank to play. And Tom Hardy—we didn't write Tommy knowing it was gonna be Tom Hardy, but that's how much no one else could have played that role.
And for Joel Edgerton, I had nothing to do with him. That was a Gavin thing. And, you know, Joel, he gave to me, when I watched the movie, exactly what I thought Brendan would be. And I say that in the way that it's not that he didn't elevate it, but I think the handle on Brendan, for me personally, was that I was channeling Joel somehow.
And somehow, without him even knowing me, he channeled my inner strangeness and generational trauma. So it was amazing.
13. Nick Nolte was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. Did you talk to him about this or even attend the ceremony?
No, no, no. They don't let guys like me attend those events at that point. Gavin attended. He was the writer, director and producer, so he and, I believe, his brother, Greg O'Connor, who's an amazing producer, attended the event.
But I did get several opportunities to speak with Nick about it. I'm not sure what to say, though, because he's a very humble guy. He's very much someone who channels these characters. He comes out of them, and then he goes on to live this crazy, wacky, amazing life.
When you're talking to Nick the person, you're not really talking to Nick the actor. They're two separate classifications, two separate living, breathing individuals.
But there wasn't really much to say, to be honest with you, because we kind of knew this was one of those performances. You just know it when it's happening. Everyone feels it.
Then you start getting calls from people who have seen screenings around town. They're like, "This is going to be something. I cried. Like, this is something." And you're like, "Oh, shit. Is this something that might get a good reception?"
Because you never think anything's going to even get made, let alone get a good reception.
14. Warrior was remade in India retitled “Brothers”. Have you seen it and could you just express your thoughts on it being remade?
It's great. I mean, I'm so blessed. I asked Akshay Kumar, and to have an Indian production of that magnitude, with the biggest stars in India, remaking a movie that was an original IP, and then watching it—it was incredible.
And listen, the interpretation is fantastic to me because, how could it not be? They infuse their culture, their upbringing, and their life experiences into these characters that I created, and I sit there and I'm just humbled by it. The performances are amazing.
I would highly recommend anyone who liked Warrior to watch Brothers. It is a fantastic ride, and it is so well done. It is not derivative in any way. My hat is off to all of the filmmakers, actors, producers, and crew who helped make that a reality.
To have that in my life as a kind of checked box—"Oh, we created a piece of original IP, and then they went and remade it in a foreign country again." Put that on my fucking headstone.
15. Looking back, what are you most proud of about Warrior?
Everything, everything. I mean, here it is: Quentin said you can't really tell if a film's good for at least 10 years, right? Until 10 years go by and people are still watching it, referring to it, and talking about it.
So the thing I'm most proud of is that we've gone 15 years now, and that movie is still in the conversation. There's a huge Rewatchables about it. It's still posted all over social media, with clips of Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte, and people still come up to me on a regular basis. I'm saying a few times a month, they tell me what that movie did to them.
One person told me, "My dad was having chemo, and we would watch that movie together after his chemo sessions. We would both sit there, and it kind of got us through it." I just—I would say that, to have anything...
So I have two projects right now, between Entourage and Warrior, that are still in the conversation. Entourage is two decades later, and Warrior is a decade and a half later, and we're still being talked about, referenced, and spoken of highly.
And I would say that I'm beyond—"proud" is always, to me, hubris, right? I think John Milius wrote a great line: "It's only hubris if you lose."
But I still, when I say pride, I say I'm honored and humbled by that specific thing: that we're around all this time later and still in the conversation, still affecting people, and not dated or worn out.
16. In your interview with Satie Gossett, you mentioned being related to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Can you tell us more about that connection and how you discovered it?
Yes. I was adopted, and the lead character, Chase Foreman, was also adopted through the Louise Wise Agency. Louise Wise was the go-to adoption agency in Manhattan for affluent Jewish, upper-middle-class Jewish couples who wanted a Jewish baby. If the mother was Jewish, the baby was considered Jewish, so they were placed with Louise Wise and then parceled out to different families.
After the documentary Three Identical Strangers came out, it blew the lid off this incredible atrocity that had taken place at Louise Wise for a number of years. I think it was from 1965 to 1972, but I could be wrong; I'm going off the top of my head. What I do know is that this human experimentation was taking place during the years when I was adopted.
When the documentary came out, I found out that I had been part of that study. I then did Ancestry and discovered that my biological mother is Ashkenazi and my biological father is a direct descendant of Delano Roosevelt. I can now trace my roots back to ancestors who signed the Mayflower Compact. I've seen it. So, because my biological mother was Jewish, instead of placing me in a Protestant home, they put me through the Louise Wise Agency.
Then this horrible, sadistic piece of human trash, Dr. Peter Neubauer, and his accomplice, Dr. Viola Davis, were conducting this nature-versus-nurture experiment, separating children and studying how they developed in different environments. They decided, based on what I looked like, to place me in a Modern Orthodox, secular Jewish family and see what would take over—nature or nurture.
Being part of that experimentation and being studied without my knowledge was a big piece of trauma that ultimately led me to write this book. My upbringing, where I grew up, was not a pleasant one, and I think that experience became an important part of the emotional foundation for the story.
17. You were involved in the television series “Dream School”, which was executive produced by 50 cent and Jamie Oliver, could you talk about your experience on the series and whether it transformed you in any way whether professionally or personally?
Oh, that experience is one of the greatest experiences I was ever able to be a part of. Um, my dear, dear friend of probably 30 years, David Arquette, was doing the show. And at the time, he was about to do the first season, and I was going through something. I was depressed, as most artists tend to get. I'm not generalizing, but there is a depression that comes with what we do.
I was in some kind of depressive mode, and David, who's such a beautiful soul and a dear friend, said, "No, man, you gotta come do the show with me. I'm gonna call them and ask them. You'll teach screenwriting, and we'll teach you about these at-risk kids."
I was like, "Okay." I didn't know what it was. I had no idea, but I said, "Oh, okay." I had taught at UCLA Extension and had helped—I had consulted. Something that's in me, I love teaching. And I said, "Okay, sure. Let's do it, if they're into it and they'll have me."
And then he brought me down, and I met all the producers, who were just, again, beautiful people. And I met all these kids. This was the L.A. version. I got there the first day, and we had some kind of conflict with one of the students. It just—you know, I guess conflict is good in these things.
And all the producers kind of came to me afterward and said, "Would you like to stay for the rest of the season?" And I was like, "Yeah, that would be fucking awesome."
And then I got to teach these kids and kind of—you know, I said kids, but they're really, you know, a lot of them, in some ways, especially at that time, were more mature than me. They were teaching me things.
But I got to teach them about inciting incidents and writing, and how to take what's going on in their trauma and their normal lives and put that on the page, and how that can be cathartic.
And then the first season ended, and one of the producers came to me and asked me if I would do a TEDx talk. And I was like, "Hell yeah." So I did a TEDx talk. That was through Dream School. It was like all these amazing things that came from it.
And then when they went to New York for the second season, I was blessed enough that they reached out to me again. They were like, "We'll fly you to New York." You know, the pay is not—you know, it's those shows. It was Sundance Channel. I think it was like a couple of thousand dollars. It wasn't anything. It's not why you do it.
And I said, "Of course." And I got flown to New York, and I was treated so well. Then I got to meet a whole new set of people that I got to teach and be a part of their experience.
And it was, to this day, one of the more tremendous experiences I've had.
18. Last question, if you were to write a book about your life so far, what would the title of that book be?
Crime Family.
It's all fiction, but it would be Crime Family for sure. So I would highly suggest, if you want to glean into who I am, what formed me, and a little bit of my origin story, we write what we know. So, yeah, Crime Family.
How many words do I have? Because I don't have enough—three words. Um, Wild Fucking Ride.
2. Before choosing the title “Crime Family” were there other titles you considered? If so, what were they?
Never. It was the only title from the beginning, when I started the musings—and right up until the day we published, it was never anything but Crime Family.
3. How long did it take you to write the first draft of the novel?
Well, the first half of the first draft came out in three months. It just poured out of me. And then the second half took about another, I’d say, 12 months.
4. What is the genesis of the book?
That's a broad question. I mean, you know, every book, right, the origin is we have to write. We have no way out of anything. So I would say, for anything I write, the origin is always some form of therapy, some form of catharsis that takes us from where we are. As our characters go through whatever arc they're going through, the writer, the author, is going through the same or very similar arc. And, I say that is the... catharsis of anything we write, especially this. This was the real meaning of the cliché, when you have to write something and there's no way around it.
5. What challenges did you face while writing the book?
In the writing scope, I would say the biggest challenge that I faced, especially when you're setting out—so you set out to write an anti-hero as your protagonist, right? Excuse the oxymoron, but when you set out to write an anti-hero, you are already faced with a somewhat daunting challenge.
But when you pit that anti-hero against an antagonist who is a malignant narcissist—I don't know if you're familiar with any of the psychopathy that goes into being a narcissist, or a malignant narcissist especially—you are faced with an entirely different challenge.
When you pit an anti-hero against a malignant narcissist, you are not afforded the luxury of an "aha" moment. You're not afforded the luxury of "I won," because there's no winning against a malignant narcissist.
When you have a villain who is built in that way, with that specific DSM-5 or -6 diagnosis and psychopathy, there is no winning. They do not ever create a narrative where they're wrong. Everything in their narrative—it doesn't matter what happens. They could be on their deathbed. They are always right.
So you will never get a moment where it's like, "Oh my God." Whether they're on their deathbed, whether they're shot, whether they're arrested, whether they're going to prison for the rest of their life, you are never going to get what we get in most novels, stories, and films: the, "Ah, damn," where you feel like the hero got him, got her. You know, it's like, we don't get that.
So when you have to find an arc where the character grows only within themselves and has to relinquish any sort of winning in an external way, that was the biggest challenge in writing this—and still getting some sort of satisfaction.
6. Did any character surprise you as the story developed?
Yeah, I would say the character of Kendra surprised me the most. Everybody's a truncation of all the people writers meet, right? And Kendra was a truncation of a bunch of different, very strong, powerful, intelligent women that I've had the pleasure of knowing in my life.
And as I started building that character, the first worry, as a male especially, was writing a—what are they called? A manic pixie—oh, I can't. Do you know the term? Dream girl? Manic pixie dream girl.
And that's basically saying, "I'm gonna write a character as a dude, who's a woman that I want, that's hot to me." You know what I mean? As opposed to writing a fully formed, fully fleshed, fully layered human being who is of that gender and not a fantasy of what a dude would like her to be.
And, you know, as I set out, that was another challenge, by the way. So you can add that into the challenge category.
And when I set out to do that, I found, as she evolved—and that's what happens when you're writing something that's working—the characters start living and breathing and growing in a very organic way. And I was so surprised that I was able to get her on the page in the way that I did.
And even now, I reread it because we all still reread our stuff. It doesn't matter if it's in print or not, because we want to see what we fucked up on. Uh, even when I read her now, she's one of my favorite, favorite elements.
And the other surprising thing was Helene, who is Chase Foreman's—our lead character's—mother. Again, being able to find that satisfactory ending between the mother and the son in a way that I have never been able to do before, especially when dealing with a narcissist.
7. Without giving away spoilers, what scene are you most excited for readers to experience?
I'm excited for them to experience Kendra's introduction in Paris. I'm excited for them to experience the Smokey and the Bandit movie lore that Chase unfurls about how he got his 1976 Pontiac Trans Am that was used in the movie. It was one of four picture cars.
I'm excited for them to see the mechanics of—and read the mechanics of—the very, very intricate money-laundering scheme using Hermès Birkin and Kelly bags as money-laundering tools. So, buying the bags, using mules to buy the bags, and then selling the bags on The Real Real and through private organizations as a reseller, and washing money that way.
And I would say, to put a cap on it, lastly, I am incredibly excited for them to read about Chase's exile in Kentucky for a while, and what goes on there with the thoroughbreds and the history of Kentucky. You know, I've known several amazing people from Kentucky, but the history behind that state is beyond fascinating, and I really dig into that. I hope I did Kentucky proud.
So, those would be the list of things.
8. What does your typical writing routine look like?
I wake up every morning and meditate for an hour right when I get up. Then I do my usual routine—I have my greens, you know, I make a drink with AG1, and then I have a coffee. I answer some emails, and then I sit down and write.
With the novel, I kept track of my word count every day. I have a huge list somewhere on this desk of how many words I wrote each day. I would put a slash through the number, and it's very satisfying to cross off the words you wrote and then fill in the total at the end of the day. I was never doing fewer than about 3,000 words a day.
When I'm writing a script, I try to do at least three to five pages a day. Then I'll stop and go work out or do Pilates—something that allows me to get into a state where I'm not conscious and I'm all subconscious. A lot of times, that gives me an opening when I'm stuck.
If I'm having a problem with something, once I put it down for the day, the physical fitness part of my routine, which is very disciplined, will often open something up. I'll be thinking, "I don't understand how Kendra's gonna do..." And then I'll be working out or doing Pilates, and suddenly I'll think, "Oh, that's how." I stopped thinking and started channeling again.
Sometimes I'll go back and write more, but mostly I'll go back and read whatever I wrote. Then the next morning, when I start all over again, I'll reread what I wrote the day before and flow into the next day.
I always like to stop knowing where I'm going the next day.
9. How did your background as a screenwriter influence your approach to writing a novel?
Good question. I would say that it influenced my approach. I've always been someone who novelized things. I was always given notes by agents, managers, development executives, production executives, like, "This is a screenplay. It's a blueprint. Stop novelizing. They don't need to know what kind of number-two yellow pencil with the lead. Stop with the weapons. They don't need to know the gauge and the..." I can't help it. I love details because they play into the character and the world.
And I was always told to stop it. "Stop it. Strip it out. The directors, the production designers, they're gonna take care of that." So I was gonna have that.
So in my approach, I was like, "Oh, great." First of all, now I get to be free in how I'm novelizing, because I'm writing a fucking novel. And then the second part of it was, as far as my TV and film background, it allowed me, as I wrote the novel, to understand how simultaneously I can adapt the novel to a film or television. I know exactly how to break it down.
I have characters that aren't even in the novel that are created from the writing of the novel that will be used in a film or a television series, et cetera, because no book—especially in a TV series—there's never enough characters. There's never enough stuff in a book to go five seasons.
So you always have to have other characters. And in building those characters, even though they don't make it onto the page in the novel, they inform what's on the page in the novel. And it gives me a really great runway and platform for how I can adapt this into a long-term series or a feature film.
10. Do you see this novel as a standalone or the beginning of a series?
Another really good question. I'll give you a simple answer: it is not a standalone. There is a prequel and a sequel.
So there's the "before time" of Chase Foreman and Helene and Meyer Lansky, diving into more of what made each of them who they are. And then there's the sequel, as to what happens when the novel leaves off where it is now.
11. You co-wrote “Warrior”, What was the collaborative writing process like with Gavin O'Connor and Anthony Tambakis?
I never wrote with Anthony. He came on after I finished the first draft. I've never—I met the guy once. Uh, I don't know his contribution to the writing process. I never saw it.
And, um, from what I can tell, the first draft that I handed in and the drafts that I handed in are mostly what made it onto the screen.
My process was, once Gavin and I fleshed out the story, which took us about three months of going back and forth in a room together, then, um, we went to our respective corners. I would write pages every day, send them to Gavin, and he would edit them and send them back until we had a first draft.
And then Anthony was brought on. And, uh, from what I understand, I think I had to sign off on him being brought on retroactively, like he was always there, even though, from my understanding, he was not.
12. What was it like seeing Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, and Nick Nolte bring your characters to life?
It's—it's indescribable. You know, I had worked with Nick for a while in New York on a project I was doing a rewrite on, which is how he ended up backing out of that project. But it's how Gavin and I knew that Paddy was always Nick, you know? So, when writing the movie, in our heads—in my head, especially—I just heard that voice all the time. Like, that was always Paddy.
And then to see—you think you know what you're writing for one of the greatest actors in the world, and then he comes on and does something that elevates it a hundred thousand times. And, of course, he's nominated for an Oscar because he's one of the best breathing thespians we have in this universe.
And for Tom Hardy, he was very little known at that point. I had been a fan. I had seen him in RocknRolla. I had seen him in Inception. I knew he was friendly with Leonardo, and Guy Ritchie loved him. And then I saw Bronson right when it came out in the U.K., and I was blown away. I said to Gavin, "This is Tommy." You know, it doesn't matter that his name's Tom.
It's funny because Frank Grillo—we wrote that role for Frank to play. And Tom Hardy—we didn't write Tommy knowing it was gonna be Tom Hardy, but that's how much no one else could have played that role.
And for Joel Edgerton, I had nothing to do with him. That was a Gavin thing. And, you know, Joel, he gave to me, when I watched the movie, exactly what I thought Brendan would be. And I say that in the way that it's not that he didn't elevate it, but I think the handle on Brendan, for me personally, was that I was channeling Joel somehow.
And somehow, without him even knowing me, he channeled my inner strangeness and generational trauma. So it was amazing.
13. Nick Nolte was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. Did you talk to him about this or even attend the ceremony?
No, no, no. They don't let guys like me attend those events at that point. Gavin attended. He was the writer, director and producer, so he and, I believe, his brother, Greg O'Connor, who's an amazing producer, attended the event.
But I did get several opportunities to speak with Nick about it. I'm not sure what to say, though, because he's a very humble guy. He's very much someone who channels these characters. He comes out of them, and then he goes on to live this crazy, wacky, amazing life.
When you're talking to Nick the person, you're not really talking to Nick the actor. They're two separate classifications, two separate living, breathing individuals.
But there wasn't really much to say, to be honest with you, because we kind of knew this was one of those performances. You just know it when it's happening. Everyone feels it.
Then you start getting calls from people who have seen screenings around town. They're like, "This is going to be something. I cried. Like, this is something." And you're like, "Oh, shit. Is this something that might get a good reception?"
Because you never think anything's going to even get made, let alone get a good reception.
14. Warrior was remade in India retitled “Brothers”. Have you seen it and could you just express your thoughts on it being remade?
It's great. I mean, I'm so blessed. I asked Akshay Kumar, and to have an Indian production of that magnitude, with the biggest stars in India, remaking a movie that was an original IP, and then watching it—it was incredible.
And listen, the interpretation is fantastic to me because, how could it not be? They infuse their culture, their upbringing, and their life experiences into these characters that I created, and I sit there and I'm just humbled by it. The performances are amazing.
I would highly recommend anyone who liked Warrior to watch Brothers. It is a fantastic ride, and it is so well done. It is not derivative in any way. My hat is off to all of the filmmakers, actors, producers, and crew who helped make that a reality.
To have that in my life as a kind of checked box—"Oh, we created a piece of original IP, and then they went and remade it in a foreign country again." Put that on my fucking headstone.
15. Looking back, what are you most proud of about Warrior?
Everything, everything. I mean, here it is: Quentin said you can't really tell if a film's good for at least 10 years, right? Until 10 years go by and people are still watching it, referring to it, and talking about it.
So the thing I'm most proud of is that we've gone 15 years now, and that movie is still in the conversation. There's a huge Rewatchables about it. It's still posted all over social media, with clips of Tom Hardy and Nick Nolte, and people still come up to me on a regular basis. I'm saying a few times a month, they tell me what that movie did to them.
One person told me, "My dad was having chemo, and we would watch that movie together after his chemo sessions. We would both sit there, and it kind of got us through it." I just—I would say that, to have anything...
So I have two projects right now, between Entourage and Warrior, that are still in the conversation. Entourage is two decades later, and Warrior is a decade and a half later, and we're still being talked about, referenced, and spoken of highly.
And I would say that I'm beyond—"proud" is always, to me, hubris, right? I think John Milius wrote a great line: "It's only hubris if you lose."
But I still, when I say pride, I say I'm honored and humbled by that specific thing: that we're around all this time later and still in the conversation, still affecting people, and not dated or worn out.
16. In your interview with Satie Gossett, you mentioned being related to former President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Can you tell us more about that connection and how you discovered it?
Yes. I was adopted, and the lead character, Chase Foreman, was also adopted through the Louise Wise Agency. Louise Wise was the go-to adoption agency in Manhattan for affluent Jewish, upper-middle-class Jewish couples who wanted a Jewish baby. If the mother was Jewish, the baby was considered Jewish, so they were placed with Louise Wise and then parceled out to different families.
After the documentary Three Identical Strangers came out, it blew the lid off this incredible atrocity that had taken place at Louise Wise for a number of years. I think it was from 1965 to 1972, but I could be wrong; I'm going off the top of my head. What I do know is that this human experimentation was taking place during the years when I was adopted.
When the documentary came out, I found out that I had been part of that study. I then did Ancestry and discovered that my biological mother is Ashkenazi and my biological father is a direct descendant of Delano Roosevelt. I can now trace my roots back to ancestors who signed the Mayflower Compact. I've seen it. So, because my biological mother was Jewish, instead of placing me in a Protestant home, they put me through the Louise Wise Agency.
Then this horrible, sadistic piece of human trash, Dr. Peter Neubauer, and his accomplice, Dr. Viola Davis, were conducting this nature-versus-nurture experiment, separating children and studying how they developed in different environments. They decided, based on what I looked like, to place me in a Modern Orthodox, secular Jewish family and see what would take over—nature or nurture.
Being part of that experimentation and being studied without my knowledge was a big piece of trauma that ultimately led me to write this book. My upbringing, where I grew up, was not a pleasant one, and I think that experience became an important part of the emotional foundation for the story.
17. You were involved in the television series “Dream School”, which was executive produced by 50 cent and Jamie Oliver, could you talk about your experience on the series and whether it transformed you in any way whether professionally or personally?
Oh, that experience is one of the greatest experiences I was ever able to be a part of. Um, my dear, dear friend of probably 30 years, David Arquette, was doing the show. And at the time, he was about to do the first season, and I was going through something. I was depressed, as most artists tend to get. I'm not generalizing, but there is a depression that comes with what we do.
I was in some kind of depressive mode, and David, who's such a beautiful soul and a dear friend, said, "No, man, you gotta come do the show with me. I'm gonna call them and ask them. You'll teach screenwriting, and we'll teach you about these at-risk kids."
I was like, "Okay." I didn't know what it was. I had no idea, but I said, "Oh, okay." I had taught at UCLA Extension and had helped—I had consulted. Something that's in me, I love teaching. And I said, "Okay, sure. Let's do it, if they're into it and they'll have me."
And then he brought me down, and I met all the producers, who were just, again, beautiful people. And I met all these kids. This was the L.A. version. I got there the first day, and we had some kind of conflict with one of the students. It just—you know, I guess conflict is good in these things.
And all the producers kind of came to me afterward and said, "Would you like to stay for the rest of the season?" And I was like, "Yeah, that would be fucking awesome."
And then I got to teach these kids and kind of—you know, I said kids, but they're really, you know, a lot of them, in some ways, especially at that time, were more mature than me. They were teaching me things.
But I got to teach them about inciting incidents and writing, and how to take what's going on in their trauma and their normal lives and put that on the page, and how that can be cathartic.
And then the first season ended, and one of the producers came to me and asked me if I would do a TEDx talk. And I was like, "Hell yeah." So I did a TEDx talk. That was through Dream School. It was like all these amazing things that came from it.
And then when they went to New York for the second season, I was blessed enough that they reached out to me again. They were like, "We'll fly you to New York." You know, the pay is not—you know, it's those shows. It was Sundance Channel. I think it was like a couple of thousand dollars. It wasn't anything. It's not why you do it.
And I said, "Of course." And I got flown to New York, and I was treated so well. Then I got to meet a whole new set of people that I got to teach and be a part of their experience.
And it was, to this day, one of the more tremendous experiences I've had.
18. Last question, if you were to write a book about your life so far, what would the title of that book be?
Crime Family.
It's all fiction, but it would be Crime Family for sure. So I would highly suggest, if you want to glean into who I am, what formed me, and a little bit of my origin story, we write what we know. So, yeah, Crime Family.
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