The cinematographer for "The Zookeeper's Wife," starring Jessica Chastain, grew up in Wayzata and graduated from The Blake School and Carleton College (1995) before attending NYU's film school.
C.J.: Carleton-educated Andrij Parekh is eye behind gloriously shot 'Zookeeper's Wife'
April 8, 2017 at 12:53AM
Moviefreak.com states that "Zookeeper's" was "gloriously shot" by Andrij Parekh." His name, pronounced An-dree Par-rick, was Andrew at Blake.
His movie credits include "Blue Valentine," "Sugar," "Half Nelson" and "Madame Bovary." Parekh and I endured a noisy connection while he rode a train from Boston to New York; then he was off to Prague to finish work on a movie starring Paul Giamatti, Sienna Miller, Paul Rudd, Guy Pearce and Jeff Daniels.
Parekh is the son of Pravin and Lesya Parekh. For 26 years his mom was a fourth-grade teacher at Sunset Hill Elementary in Wayzata. "My mom [contacted] you," said Andrij, joking, "She's also my agent." She's apparently a fan of mine.
I don't know from whom Andrij gets his dashing good looks, but one glimpse at his photo and you'll see why I think he's on the wrong side of the camera. In this interview Andrij explains why he's not.
Q: I'm chuffed that I get to bold face Jessica Chastain's name because she's a great actor. Did you freak out when you heard you were shooting "The Zookeeper's Wife" with Chastain?
A: Yes. I was definitely very excited to shoot a movie with her, mainly because she is an incredible actress.
Q: Which animals could you not resist petting on the set of "The Zookeepers Wife?"
A: The baby lions were pretty amazing.
Q: Do you have a list of actors you'd like to work with, and will you name names?
A: I don't have really a list. I can tell you actors I've worked with actors who are incredible. Jessica, a guy named Oscar Isaac, who was in a TV show called "Show Me a Hero" that I shot for HBO a year and a half, two years ago. I shot with David Bowie once; that was very exciting. I don't really get too star-struck but Jessica was something very special. Paul Giamatti, I've worked with three times: "Cold Souls," a movie called "Madame Bovary," which my wife [Sophie Barthes] directed. I'm in the middle of a movie "The Catcher Was a Spy" that we are shooting in Prague.
Q: When a cinematographer, whose job it is to set the mood of film, is married to a director, who is in charge of establishing the atmosphere at their house?
A: I'd say the secret to success and harmony is total collaboration.
Q: You admitted in an interview to being afraid of the speed of baseballs being thrown when you shot the movie "Sugar." Does this mean you didn't play Little League?
A: I was very bad at T-ball, let's put it that way.
Q: You seem to like depressing movies?
A: I like very human movies, and I don't think life is happy all the time.
Q: How did you become interested in cinematography?
A: I went to film school at NYU, graduate school, and I realized very early that I didn't like talking to actors. Actors are very special people and they have very specific psychologies, in general, and you know being a director is a lot about getting actors to do things. I found out I liked making pictures instead of trying to get emotions out of actors.
Q: Did you do anything as a child that foreshadowed your interest in becoming a cinematographer?
A: I was always into Legos and kind of architecture. Cinematography is a lot about architecture and light, about framing things.
Q: Aren't you on the wrong side of the camera? You're kind of a dream boat. Your mother loved it when I said that to her.
A: Thanks, Mom. I'm a little bit shy, sooooo, you know, I like that side of the camera.
Q: You've done two movies with Ryan Gosling, so that means he returns your phone calls?
A: Yep. I don't see him socially and I haven't talked to him in about five years, so I have sort of lost touch, a little.
C.J. can be reached at cj@startribune.com and seen on FOX 9's "Jason Show." E-mailers, please state a subject; "Hello" does not count.
