Q&A: Baumbach finds a cinematic playground in ‘White Noise’

By LINDSEY BAHR
AP Film Writer

Noah Baumbach doesn’t often look for books to adapt. But early in the pandemic he picked up Don DeLillo’s 1985 classic “White Noise,” about a professor of Hitler studies at a generic Midwestern college, his blended family and the airborne toxic event that has everyone in a panic. In it he found a voice that was both inspiring and familiar and the themes a little uncanny in the context of the pandemic. So he decided to try his hand at an adaptation. Baumbach spoke to The Associated Press about making the film, which hits Netflix on Dec. 30 and stars Gerwig, Adam Driver and Don Cheadle.