So let me ask you about the controversial part, which is the conversation between Nixon and Frost which the Nixon people say does not happen, didn’t happen in real life.RH: Right.
HH: Why use that device?
RH: Well, we said, of course, we say it didn’t happen. I mean, it’s an example of creative license, but creative license born out of research and a desire to offer a more comprehensive sense of both of these characters.And of course, the president was known for some of these rambling, late night phone calls, and not that he was any kind of a heavy drinker, but by all accounts, very light-headed. And you know, I mean if he had a couple of drinks, and if he was taking any sleep medication or anything like that, which he was also, would sometimes do, these calls, he wouldn’t always remember them the next day. And so when Peter Morgan bumped into that in the research, he was looking for a way to have a really personal confrontation between he and Frost off the record that would allow him as the writer, and us as the audience, to really understand that as different as these guys were in personality and outward appearances, they had so much in common.
A bit stilted "plot device". "he was drunk and called him and used expressions that showed he was uncomfortable..."
I heard the interview yesterday. Hugh is good at drawing people out.
Sadly, most people who see this movie will believe every word of it.