David O. Russell

Nobody can talk like David O. Russell. He talks about his borderline attention deficit disorder ("I'm an ADD guy, kind of a little; I'm not a stranger to the notion"); he talks about Harvey Weinstein ("I love Harvey; he's so passionate"); he talks about writing every day, plowing on for years without recognition: "I wrote several scripts, and I would write them 20, 30 times [to] find out how many ways I could write something and make it better."

THR COVER: David O. Russell: 'I Was Meant to Tell Stories That Exhilarate and Give Life'

‘A Piece of Naughtiness’

"Yippee!" Russell yells during his interview with THR. "Look at this evil sandwich (referring to the grilled cheese from Brentwood diner Early World). This is a bit of heaven. If you want to have a piece of naughtiness — oh my God! Will you do me a favor? Will you just have one bite of this?"

Russell on ‘Silver Linings Playbook’

Silver Linings Playbook not only earned eight Oscar nominations but also got Russell an invitation to discuss mental health with Vice President Joe Biden — an issue Russell knew well through his bipolar older son. "Silver Linings Playbook was an enormous emotional thing for me," he says, "because it was like taking all the anguish of the experience with our son that had been an ingrown struggle and bringing it into the light of day."

On Courting Christian Bale for ‘American Hustle’

Over and over, he would drive to Bale's house and discuss real-life conman Mel Weinberg, soon renamed Irving Rosenfeld. "He's like, 'Why are we talking about this? Why is this worth my time? I'm not planning to work this year,' " remembers Russell. "So I start to tell him about it. And pretty soon, he's saying, 'Oh, so he's not a handsome guy, but he's a family guy? He's not Mr. Cold Gangster, [but he's] trapped with a woman whom he can't seem to get around?' " Bale quickly suggested Rosenfeld be overweight — and later herniated a disc after adding 40 pounds for the role. ("He's still dealing with that," says Russell.)

‘Just Call It Encino’

He says one of his producers was shocked at the comparative modesty of his house at the top of L.A.'s Mandeville Canyon, high above the homes of the rich and famous. "He's literally like, 'Wow, you're way up,' " laughs Russell. "I'm like, 'Yeah, let's just call it Encino.' Because 100 yards further, and you're in the Valley. He goes, 'David, you gotta get some f—in' money, man. What are we gonna do for you to get some money?' "