Nick Hornby, novelist
There was a version of High Fidelity in my head before I wrote Fever Pitch. It wasn’t a high-concept book: the original idea was to write about a relationship from a guy’s point of view. I remember telling my agent about it and seeing her eyes glaze over as I mumbled about record shops and relationships. I’ve spent a lot of time in record shops but I have never worked in one, so I based it on people I’d seen and conversations I’d heard. The girlfriends were archetypal.
The film rights were sold before the book came out in 1995. Then it went very quiet and I thought it was dead. By early 1999, I had a flat at Highbury Hill in London and there was a guy beside the station who ran a kiosk. He was a fellow Arsenal fan so we were always chatting. One morning, he gave me a slip of paper that read: “Call Stephen Frears.” It had a phone number on it. This was an unconventional approach and pretty hilarious. Stephen told me, “We’re working on your book!” adding that John Cusack and two screenwriters – Steve Pink and DV DeVincentis – were in London wanting to meet.
I liked what they were doing with the script. They had done Grosse Pointe Blank, which I really enjoyed. I was shocked at how close the movie was to my book – some of Cusack’s fourth-wall monologues came straight from my pages. It was very brave of them to do that. They simply wanted to re-create the book! The Barry character was easy in prose, but who do you cast? I’d never heard of Jack Black: the role transformed the types of movies he got offered. I am proud to have played a part in that.
I wasn’t concerned about the story being relocated to Chicago. John, DV and Steve had grown up there. They were 10 years younger than me, so the frame of reference for the music completely shifted. The story felt like it was about them, completely genuine and perfect. As a writer, that’s the best you can hope for: that people are that invested in it. The music budget alone for High Fidelity was the same as the complete budget for Fever Pitch. Any English-based, independent film wouldn’t have been able to do that. We all made compilation tapes for each other to listen to. Stephen was out of his depth on the music, so it really came down to John and DV.
The movie wasn’t a hit initially. It found its audience over the years and continues to. I took my son to see it right before lockdown and was really pleased about how it held up.
Stephen Frears, director
I loved Fever Pitch and I read High Fidelity very quickly after, but I didn’t think you could make a film from it. There were no car chases. I got a call from John Cusack asking if I would direct the movie, and that it was going to be set in Chicago. I thought: “Well, that’s a mistake, moving the story’s location.”
Then I read the script and realised it wasn’t. There is a suburb of Chicago called Evanston and John, DV and Steve had grown up there together. They were writing about their own lives. I had worked with John on The Grifters in 1990; by now, he had grown significantly as an actor. I wanted Nick to remain involved, but I have no recollection of how that message to him via the newsagent actually happened.
The fourth-wall approach was my decision but it never felt like a big risk – the first draft had it as a voiceover and it felt just too easy to miss that way. The likes of Groucho Marx often talked to the camera.
The guys suggested this new actor called Jack Black for the part of Barry. I met him and said: “Great, you’ll be fine.” Then I got a call a few months later telling me that he didn’t want to do it any more. I asked him what the matter was. He said: “Well, you didn’t make me audition. Doing auditions gives me confidence.” It got sorted out and he was brilliant. Spirits were so high on set, everyone loved making it.
I kept out of all of the music, but said that I would be the judge and they’d have to get songs past me first. John, DV and Steve argued it 24 hours a day, non-stop. Meanwhile John had endless phone calls with Bruce Springsteen to get him onboard for the cameo. God knows what they were talking about. Bruce seemed like a nice fellow, but he was very nervous. It definitely put the wind up him.
The studio bosses in the main left us alone to get on with making the movie, but I remember them asking: “Can’t Rob and Laura get married at the end?” “No,” I said. “Absolutely not.”
