MCU President Kevin Feige recently sat down with a group of students at New York Film Academy, where he was interviewed by the school’s Director of Industry Lecture Series, Tova Laiter. After the interview, the floor was opened up to the students in the room, who were able to ask Feige a bunch of questions about making movies and the Marvel world he has built.
One of the questions that was asked was about failure. The student wondered if there was ever a time when Feige was in production and felt like what he was working on just wasn’t going to work, and he asked how he managed to get through those times. He responded:
“Well, it happens a lot. It kind of happens all the time.”
He explained that he was rejected from the film school he wanted to go to five times before he finally got in. He said he faced constant doubts about being good enough and didn’t know if he would make it in this career at all. He said that even once he got into the room with the decision-makers on his earliest films, he had many thoughts about them kicking him out. But even now, not everything works out the way it’s originally planned. He explained:
“It happened the other day, with an actor. If there’s an actor we want for something, they come in, you give a big pitch and you can sort of tell they’re not into it. ‘I guess I’m a failure, I’ll show them, we’ll cast somebody even better.’ So, it’s just part of it and don’t linger on them, is what I usually try to do, don’t think too much about it, don’t stew in it, move on quickly. When you’re producing a movie, you have no choice. ‘I found the perfect location! This is gonna be the greatest!’ It just fell through. You’re never going to have it. ‘Oh no.’ Well, gotta make a movie, find another location. And then it really is better, or you convince yourself it’s better. But it’s constant. So get used to it, and plow through.
I like his attitude. It’s very realistic, and his hardworking spirit has gotten him through a lot of disappointments to where we are today. The whole interview is great, and you can watch it here. Enjoy!