Birdman Page #11

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS3333...the hallway. He slaps Mike on his sun burned back.

RIGGANSo, you wrote your own lines?

He slaps him again.

MIKEOw. F***. Yes I did.

RIGGANYou changed a few words, and mumbled a

little, you self absorbed prick.

MIKELook who's talking...

RIGGANLet me tell you something, you spiteful

nobody piece of sh*t.

MIKENobody? My hard-on has already fifty

thousand views on youtube.

RIGGANFifty thousand views? A cat playing with

a dildo has more than that.

MIKEI don't care.

RIGGANYes you do.

(Beat.)

Everybody says:
"Mike is so honest". (Smacks

him.) "So truthful". (Smacks him again.)

MIKE(Like a child.)

Ouch. Fuuuuuck. Cut the sh*t!

Riggan corners Mike against the wall.

RIGGANYou said in the interview that your father

was a drunk, like Carver. Is that true

Mike? Is it really true?

Riggan stares intensely into Mike's eyes. Mike looks away.

10/29/14 / 68.

(CONTINUED)

RIGGAN (CONT'D)

Because my father was. My father was a mean

f***ing drunk. Beat the sh*t out of us. But

we were okay with the beatings. You know

why? Because at least when he was beating

us, he wasn't thinking about taking us out

to his tool shed...

Mike's expression changes.

RIGGAN (CONT'D)

That sonofabitch would smile and say, "Do

you want to kneel down and unbuckle my

belt? Or do you want me to take it off and

use it?" I learned how to make myself numb.

But my sister-- (Holding back tears.) My

little sister...

Riggan can't go on. Mike is horrified.

MIKEJesus, Riggan. I'm really sorry. I

didn't-- That's f***ing horrible...

RIGGAN(Crazy smile.)

Yeah. It's also not true. See? (Cracking

up.) I can pretend too, you little dick!

Riggan shoves Mike violently.

RIGGAN (CONT’D)

Don't f*** with me, Mike.

MIKEYou're crazy...

RIGGANYou have no idea what I'm capable of. You

understand me?

Riggan pulls the paper out of his back pocket.

RIGGAN (CONT'D)

Working with Riggan Thomson is like

waltzing with a monkey?

He smacks Mike in the head with the paper and begins to jump in

front of him, ready to fight.

RIGGAN (CONT'D)

Let’s go. Put your hands up.

10/29/14 / 69.

(CONTINUED)

MIKE(Tauntingly.)

Don't you want to go put on your tights and

your--

Riggan punches him on the face. Mike needs a few seconds to

understand what has just happened. Then they begin to wrestle

in the hallway. Mike breaks free from the headlock.

MIKE (CONT’D)

What are you gonna do? You gonna get rid of

me? Huh? What do you think my friend

Tabitha is going to write in the Times

after you get rid of me?

Riggan stares at Mike, paralyzed by the truth. Finally, he

turns and marches to his dressing room, and we follow him...

INT. RIGGAN'S DRESSING ROOM - THEATER - CONTINUOUS3434...Riggan slams the door shut and paces in a rage. He glares at

a make-up box on the table and, points his finger at it, and

sends it flying across the room.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

You are lame, Riggan. Rolling around

with that third rate actor in an 800

seat shithole like this.

RIGGAN(Whispering.)

Breathing in, I feel my rage. Breathing

out, I embrace my mental formations.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

You're going to let that poncey theater

f*** threaten you?

Riggan continues breathing deeply with his eyes tightly closed.

He smiles a tiny artificial smile.

RIGGAN(Whispering.)

Breathing in, I am calm. Breathing out,

I ignore my mental formations. This is a

mental formation. This is a mental form--

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

Stop that sh*t. I am not a mental

formation. I am "you", a**hole.

Riggan looks down at the poster on the floor.

10/29/14 / 70.

(CONTINUED)

RIGGAN(Whispering.)

Leave me alone.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

You were a movie star, remember?

Pretentious, but happy...

Riggan opens his eyes, slowly. A sad expression on his face.

RIGGANI was not happy.

BIRDMAN...Ignorant but charming. Now you are a

tiny bitter cocksucker.

RIGGANShut up! Stop whining! I was miserable!

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

Yeah. But fake miserable. Hollywood

miserable.

Riggan points his fingers at a lamp and sends it flying.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

What are you trying to prove? Huh? That

you’re an artist? You’re not.

RIGGANFuck you!

Riggan points his fingers at a chair and sends it flying.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

F*** you, coward! And f*** those critics

that made you quit. Our franchise

grossed billions worldwi--

RIGGANAnd billions of flies eat sh*t everyday!

So what? Does that make it good? (Beat.)

And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but

that was 1992! Look at me! (He takes off

his shirt.) This is what's left!

(Grabbing his neck.) This! (Grabbing his

chest.) This! (Totally exploding.) I'm

f***ing disappearing! I'm the answer to a

f***ing trivial pursuit question.

Riggan sits down, exhausted.

10/29/14 / 71.

(CONTINUED)

RIGGAN (CONT'D)

What part of that don't you get? You're

f***ing dead.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

We are not dead. We’re--

RIGGANStop saying 'we'! There is no 'we'. I am

not you. I'm Riggan f***ing Thomson.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

No. You're Birdman. Because without me, all

that's left is "you". A sad, selfish,

mediocre actor, grasping--

Riggan points his finger and sends the poster flying, spearing

it on a coat rack, piercing Birdman right through the heart.

Finally, silence. Until...

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

What the hell did you do that for? I liked

that poster.

A confused Riggan looks over to the wall, where the lamp on the

floor is creating a shadow of his figure. Only in the shadow, it

appears as if Riggan is wearing the Birdman costume. Stunned,

Riggan slowly lifts one arm and in the shadow we see a wing.

BIRDMAN (V.O.)

It's always 'we' brother.

The television turns on by itself, playing an episode of the

original Birdman cartoon. Riggan points his fingers at the tv

and sends it hurling at the shadow. Then he proceeds to

destroy everything in his room with his telekinetic powers.

We slowly pan to see that, behind Riggan, Jake stands on the

other side of the half-opened door. We push in on Jake,

watching in shock. The camera turns and becomes Jake's POV...

INT. HALLWAY - THEATER - CONTINUOUS3535...and now, from his view, we see Riggan yelling at the shadow.

RIGGANFuck you! F*** you!

He picks up a chair and throws it down. He then picks up the

newspaper from the floor and tossing it all around. And now we

understand that he is not using telepathy. He has been using

only his hands. Completely mad. As Riggan turns to pick up

something else, he spots Jake on the other side of the door. He

immediately calms himself and walks over.

10/29/14 / 72.

(CONTINUED)

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