Why do so many actors turn their hand to producing, directing and writing ?
Here in Australia, Brendan Cowell, Matthew Newton , Leigh Whanell, Joel & Nash and Claudia Karvan are all in there having a go – in the US it’s Drew Barrymore, Helen Hunt, George Clooney, Sean Penn, Ben Affleck, Clint Eastood and Matt Damon to name but a handful who have crossed over to the other side – to call the shots while continuing to perform.
So what is the appeal ?
Do actors turn to writing ‘because’ of their experiences on the stage and screen where they have mastered the craft of translating words into actions?
Or is it just the reality of working in the 21st century – where we all job hop and criss-cross in and out of different roles in our working lives – is working today in the film industry no different to working in other industries like retail, HR or marketing? And is the apparent rise of actors who are turning to producing, writitng and directing merely a manifestation of having to be multi skilled to get a gig?
Aussie actor/writer Leigh Whannel of the Saw franchise and star of Aussie horror flick Dying Breed articulated his thoughts in an interview with IF magazine recently:
“I feel a little bit schizophrenic in terms of my creative life because I’m a writer and an actor, and I feel the writer side of me is very picky, I only like to work on things that I’ve come up with, and that I’m not doing it under any creative deadline. So I’m sort of very picky as a writer, but as an actor I’m a bit of a prostitute.”
Actor/writer/director/producer Brendan Cowell has described himself as having an ‘entire tool box of skills rather than one defined specialisation’ – as he moves effortlessly in and out of stage and screen productions both front and centre and also behind the scenes.
Cowell has said in newspaper interviews: “This is what I have to do to stay alive in a modern world”
And Matthew Newton, whose recent dabble at feature film making in the form of Three Blind Mice - a fast paced comedy drama about three naval officers on shore leave in Sydney, the night before they are set to ship out to Iraq (which incidently won a jury commendation at this year’s Sydney Film Festival and screened at both Toronto and London film fests) is a clever, well-made film with slick dialogue that is quite impressive when one considers it is just his second film as a writer/director.
Matthew Nweton is on the record as not being a fan of a lot of the mass-produced cinema we see today, and was adamant that he wanted to do ‘something different.’
Matthew will be at AFTRS on Friday November 19 for our regular Friday on My MInd - providing his thoughts on the the topic of actors who write – and produce and direct…
If you are in Sydney and have an hour to spare come along at 5pm to hear Matthew’s thougths on making independent films.
Theatre 1
Australian Film Television and Radio School
The Entertainment Quarter
pic: still from Matthew Newton’s Three Blind Mice