The Challenge Of A Short Interview

The first magazine I worked on in the 1990’s wouldn’t dream of consenting to an interview that lasted less than an hour. In some cases, it would dispatch a journalist to interview a celebrity multiple times. Once, a journalist shadowed a celebrity for three days. And these were A-list people, not Philip Schofield. 

But that was then. Now, interviews are shorter, and getting shorter still. In 2015, I remember laughing when I was assigned a 20 minute interview with Kim Kardashian.

Earlier this month, I was given 15 minutes with an actor whose life is so interesting that it broke my heart not to have time to ask her about subjects she held dear, grateful as I was to speak to her. 

A good journalist will always try to extrapolate a good quote, however little time they have to do so. But it’s hard, and harder still when the interview is part of a junket, because the subject is more likely to be bored and tired. 

I’m interested to know how PRs feel about this subject. Do they, like journalists, worry the interview will be too short and pressurised to be of any value? Personally, I love the challenge of a short interview, but they are not for the fainthearted. When decent quotes are thin on the ground, you tend to have to write around them, meaning the intended focus – the reason you’ve been granted the interview – can be lost. This feels like a lose-lose for everyone. But maybe I’m wrong. Topically enough, the longest interview I’ve done in recent years was with Brian Cox, a man so generous with his time that we over-ran by half an hour – unheard of in 2023.

You will see from the five stories I’ve chosen below that I remain obsessed with Succession. One day, I hope to interview another cast member – and for longer than 15 minutes.