Entertainment

PHILIPPE PETIT

Those idiots who climbed the New York Times building have nothing on Philippe Petit.

On August 7, 1974, the French street performer stepped onto a high wire he and a handful of co-conspirators had illegally strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center, and proceeded to walk back and forth for 30 minutes, seemingly dancing in the air 1,350 feet above the sidewalks and gawking crowds below.

Cops arrested him. Hours later, Petit left the police station, promptly had sex with a groupie and entered the history books as one of the city’s most beloved curiosities. Now the entire story behind Petit’s walk is being told in director James Marsh’s fascinating documentary “Man on Wire,” opening July 25. (The title comes from the decidedly understated description of Petit’s crime on his arrest report.) Petit, now 58, lives in the Hudson Valley and still performs regularly.

“Man on Wire” feels more like a heist movie, with your scheming to pull off this elaborate operation.

Absolutely. It’s part of my life to feel like a criminal, to have eyes in my back and see if I’m being followed. It’s a feeling that comes from street juggling, because I have been arrested so many times. Little arrests – it’s not a big deal. But for a performer, it is a big deal when the police interrupt you. So I’ve grown eyes in the back of my head so I can see the police come, knowing that in 30 seconds, they’re going to stop my show, confiscate my props and steal my money – depending on the country and the times. I have this childlike paranoia. It’s pretty healthy.

Would an illegal walk like this be possible today?

After 9/11, absolutely not. We are in a time where people shoot first and ask questions later. It’s a complicated time. People are checking IDs for six hours. It’s totally impossible. It doesn’t mean I stop thinking of it.

Did you achieve what you wanted with the WTC walk?

You see, this is the first time I’m being asked that question. The honest answer is that I wasn’t trying to accomplish anything. I did not know in advance that I would spend more or less 45 minutes in the air. I did not know I’d [walk back and forth] eight times. That was not planned. I think that was why this performance was so far from what the world had seen at the time. I had nothing to accomplish, in the same way I still don’t have an answer to the “why” that all the journalists ask me. Probably the most beautiful part of the event is that there was no why.

Is it true wire walkers aren’t supposed to look down?

It’s a legend. I don’t know where it comes from. Maybe it comes from people who are not accustomed to height and think that if you look down, you’re more easily assailed by the void. But I am not there by chance – I am there by choice. I live to be there on the roof and look down. It doesn’t bother me. But it is treacherous on a high wire to change your focus point and suddenly look down. But I wanted, needed to look down. I wanted the joy of remembering where I was to be there for eternity. What I saw is imprinted in my memory and will never be erased.