Andrew Marcus learned a lot during the two years he spent documenting the late Andrew Breitbart. The director of "Hating Breitbart" saw the man's loyalty, his fierceness and his passion; he also learned that Breitbart was fond of rollerblading through protests and that Breitbart didn't care for how he looked in underwear.
Marcus had unprecedented access to Breitbart, who was a hero to the right for holding the media's feet to the fire. "He was an open book," Marcus said of his time with Breitbart. "He didn't have anything to hide." Marcus said Breitbart saw a rough cut of the film and like it, except for one thing: a few unflattering underwear shots, captured in hotel rooms.
"I think he felt he was a little overweight," Marcus said, but added that Breitbart didn't ask for any edits and let the crew film at will. (His family was off limits.) "He was very willing and brave to make that choice."
The documentary includes interviews with members of Congress, including Rep. Michele Bachmann and Rep. Steve King, and members of the press, including Tommy Christopher of left-leaning Mediaite, who expressed how much he liked Breitbart personally.
One of Marcus' favorite Breitbart anecdotes came from actor Orson Bean. Bean was having dinner at the Breitbart house when Breitbart leaned back in his chair, talking enthusiastically. Suddenly the chair fell back, sending Breitbart crashing into a glass window.
"As Orson described it," Marcus said, "he didn't stop talking."
Breitbart later denied the story to Marcus. "He was adamant," Marcus said. Breitbart insisted on getting his wife on the phone with Marcus to back him up.
"His wife said, 'yeah, you leaned back in your chair and fell through the window.'"
By the time filming wrapped on "Hating Breitbart," Marcus considered the man a close friend.
"I think there might have been things that I didn't understand at first," he said of some of Breitbart's more controversial moves, like when he screamed at the Occupy folks camped outside of CPAC in February. "I saw that and thought, oh my god, what is going on? He looks out of control. But then I realized it's classic Andrew Breitbart."
Like Breitbart, Marcus believes the media ran interference for Occupy and failed to report on violence in Occupy encampments. "They whitewashed it," Marcus said. "And he was furious about this. So he did what he needed to do to...get his voice heard. He had to put on a show."
"Hating Breitbart" premieres at the Regal Ballson Common Stadium 12 in Arlington on Friday.
