You get the sense watching Jim Jarmusch’s Only Lovers Left Alive that if vampires did exist, they’d appreciate Tom Hiddleston and Tilda Swinton’s interpretations of their kind over Twilight’s. Because in Jarmusch’s new drama—the latest in his cool, moody canon about the outliers among us—his vampires, Adam and Eve, are sophisticated bloodsuckers who lounge in silk kimonos, collect rare electric guitars, drive vintage cars, and sip their sustenance from long-stemmed chalices. Even more satisfying for viewers, these long-distance lovers are cultured—not just because they are intelligent and interested, but because they’ve witnessed centuries of historical events and interacted with the notable figures. (Our complete review of the film, can be viewed here.)

To discuss the film, out in theaters this Friday, we connected with Jarmusch over the phone last month. Among the topics discussed: his take on vampire mythology, Shakespeare conspiracy theories, and why Tilda Swinton is just so damn cool.

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VF Hollywood: Were you looking to make a movie about vampires?

Jim Jarmusch: I wanted to make a love story, which I had up my sleeve for quite awhile. I wanted to do something with vampires, and with Tilda. And then realizing that I wanted to make a love story, but have them be vampires. Things emerged from me in a series of stages.

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There’s something supernatural about Tilda, whom you’ve directed three times now, which makes her a perfect vampire. Why do you keep circling back to work with her again?

She’s just so amazing to watch. She is so striking physically, and so beautiful. Her interests are so vast. Her knowledge is so deep about so many things and her sense of wonder at the world and her own consciousness. She is a remarkable creature, and, I’ve said this before, but I wish we had a matriarchal system and Tilda was our leader. I would do whatever she said. In our background work coming up with her character, we determined that she was a druid that became a vampire 2,500 years ago. And in her cult of druids, they only had female chiefs or leaders. And that’s where she came from. It seemed appropriate for Tilda.

It was fun seeing the way you modernized and poked fun at vampire mythology—in one scene Tilda and Tom eat blood Popsicles.

The vampire thing was so much fun, with the blood and these characters, being modern vampires, [who] have to worry about the quality of the blood they drink. They are conscientious about how they attain it and how they dress to attain it. What things are they still interested in? It was fun figuring out what vampire-mythological things we incorporate, and which do we discard?

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And create. In your movie vampires wear leather gloves when they leave the house.

That was our own. We wanted to have one arbitrary contribution to vampire lore. Tilda does have the ability to sense things by touch, but [we decided on gloves] more because it looked cool. We thought they protected their hands when they are not in their own home.

You were working on this film for seven years during which time the vampire genre evolved into this mainstream fixation, with Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries. You are not a filmmaker who creates movies for the mainstream. Did vampires’ sudden popularity discourage you or depress you while you were making Only Lovers Left Alive?

It had absolutely no effect. I don’t see those films. I didn’t see the T.V. show. I wasn’t really interested in those. Maybe they were good, I don’t know. But they didn’t appeal to me, because they seem to follow the more conventional approach to the genre. I never read Anne Rice either, but I have a pretty extensive knowledge of vampire stories. Trends don’t really bother me because whatever I do is not going to be like what other people do, even if I wanted it to be. The vampire thing is classic—it’s been going on since the beginning of cinema. There was a film, with Theda Bara, in 1915 [A Fool There Was]. Nosferatu was in 1922.

There are subtle recurring knocks to Los Angeles throughout the film because your characters, Adam and Eve, think the city is full of zombies. Is this a reflection of your own opinion of L.A.?

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Category: WHY