NOTE: This audio interview begins with the trailer for the new film Bernie, followed by stills from the film.
This interview contains spoilers.
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Bernie is clear-cut evidence to the cliché that nice guys really do finish last. Or in this particular black comedy based on a real-life, extremely bizarre story set in the backdrop of a small town in East Texas, nice guys sometimes don’t get to finish at all.
In November 16, 1996, sweet and peachy assistant funeral director Bernie Tiede, then 39 years old, shot and killed 81-year-old widow and millionaire Marjorie Nugent after being her confidant, business manager, and suspected lover for six years. However, her murder wasn’t discovered until nine months later, for Bernie managed to hide her body in a freezer in her garage. Given her reputable nastiness and dour disposition, nobody in the tiny town of Carthage looked for her or even cared that she had gone unseen for almost a year. It was only when her former financial advisor began to get suspicious of his unanswered calls that the gruesome discovery was finally made.
Limité Magazine recently sat down for a round-table interview with Jack Black, who excellently portrays the flamboyant but enigmatic Bernie Tiede in writer/director Richard Linklater’s newest, quirky tragi-comedy of this 16-year-old true crime story that continues to baffle until today. Bernie showcases Black’s spectacular acting (and singing) range. He first worked with Linklater in 2003′s hit School of Rock.
As the auteur of “talkie films,” Linklater’s effervescent style dazzles even more in this film as he puts the focus of the story’s narration on the town’s eager and oftentimes unwittingly funny residents, rather than on the main characters themselves.
Black talked to Limité about being part of this utterly strange story and what it was like for him to meet the real Bernie Tiede in jail. He also discusses the joys of working with Linklater a second time, as well as getting to share the screen with the legendary Shirley MacLaine. As Black expounds on his experiences, it is evident that he has shared a connection with the real Bernie, who now spends life in prison, but is still very much appreciated and longed for in his beloved small town.
The film’s limited release expanded in New York City on May 11, 2012.
